New guy to DSLR's :) (Help needed)

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Mark M.K

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Hello all,

I'm new to the world of DSLR camera's and i am planning on buying my first DSLR camera, however i'm not sure where to start.

I'm going to the F1 GP next weekend at Silverstone so i would like to get some good pictures from it :) I'm also going to Las Vegas later this year so i would love to get great pictures from there too.

My budget is around £450, and i would like a live view LCD to make things a lil easier for myself. What cameras should i be looking at? Many thanks
 
If you want a Liveview DSLR for taking shots of moving objects then Sony's implementation is by far the best.
However, once you put a long lens onto a DSLR body you may not want/be able to hold it in such a way as to use the Liveview LCD.

Jessops are doing the Sony A300 for £299 body only, £329 c/w kit 18-70mm, £399 c/w18-70 +55-200mm.
They also do Sony Alpha 300 with 18-70mm lens,Tamron 70-300mm, f4-5.6 Di lens & Sandisk Extreme III 4GB Compact Flash memory card for £489 but you could probably knock ~£20 off that by buying the Tamron & Sandisk elsewhere.
If you don't want the Liveview then the A200 is cheaper (~£270 c/w 18-70mm) & has a better optical viewfinder

best advice is to get to a shop & try handling a few bodies from the different manufacturers as there isn't a bad current production DSLR.
 
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Do you need live view? As a recentish convert to DSLR I much prefer viewfinder. On sunny days Live View is hard to see, and it seems a bit slow as well. Using the viewfinder makes you fee like part of the camera and allows me to get those split second shots just right.

Been to Vegas and love it, but at the time had a point and shoot camera. I would suggest something like a 18-55 or 18-70 lens plus a 55-200 or 70-300 type zoom. You sometimes need to stand back at Vegas as it can be busy so the zoom would be useful. If budget wont get that then maybe an 18-105 lens would be a compromise.

I use Nikon, but in all honesty there is probably little between that and Canon, dont like the look and feel of Sony myself. I would say the D60 with the kit 18-55 and the 55-200 may come in around £450.

Vegas is amazing, take a tripod if you can as you may want some night shots.
 
:welcome: to TP :wave:

Live View is a bit of a gimmick (unless macro is your thing) and totally useless for motorsport. My D300 has it and I can't think of one situation where I've needed to use it :shrug:
 
Hi & Welcome :wave:

As has been said above, live view isn't any use for motorsport - a DSLR is a different beast from a compact point & shoot camera. Live view does have it's uses for things like Macro photography.

As regards which camera, here are a few pointers

1) what is your budget
2) do you have any friends / family with a DSLR (re poss of trying / sharing lenses that aren't used very often to keep costs down)
3) find a local camera shop and try them out, see which feels the most comfortable and which ones controls feel the most intuative to use - everyone is different

Good luck with your search :thumbs:
 
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