New here and could do with some advice

Pudding

Pudding

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kim
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Hello!

I'm new here, nice to 'meet' you all :wave:

I was wondering if i could get some advice...

I'm having to purchase my first set of equipment within the next few weeks in preparation for a place on a course i've been offered.

I'm looking to go pro which will take a few years, hard work and equipment upgrades but i'd like my first lot of equipment to still be of some use to me when i reach that stage.

I'm looking for something which will give me the opportunity to produce images at a quality where i could possibly sell them and also to be at a quality which will make my work stand out in my portfolio. Although i'm not able to spend £1000's as of yet.

I'll be purchasing;

a base
one lens (for the time being)
tripod
photo editing software (i'd like to be able to have a wide range of editing tools to play with, unsure whether there is seperate specific software for photoediting and digital art or whether you can get a combined software?)

I'm unsure whether i've forgotten or missed a few necessties...lens filters... i've not read into detail about them....yet

If anyone could give me any recommendations or know which equipment will be ideal please let me know as i will be immensely grateful! - I just don't want o make the wrong decision!

Thankyou :)
 
Hello and welcome!

First get the software for free to give you more money to spend so go for something like GIMP.

Red Snapper will give you a discount as a member on here and you will get something nicely useable and pro quality for maybe £70.

So this will leave you with around £930 :thumbs:

Lots of people will give you advice but this is MY advice.

2nd hand

D300 + 18-200 lens will cost you ABOUT this

New

D90 + 18-200 lens

And in either case you might have £70 left for a Younu (or whatever it is) flash.

From the above the D300 really would be nice.

EDIT: Sorry I read the above and thought you had a budget of £1000. Will wait and see what the budget is and edit it if nec.
 
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I'm planning on doing a pay monthly scheme, although i've been advised not to spend a huge amount on my first lot of equipment.

Haven't quite chosen a specific budget... maybe up to £500 for the base? Could possibly push that a little further if it'll make a great deal of difference to what quality i'll get out of it.

Lens erm, i've no idea how much a decent lens would cost!
Maybe £200?

A friend of mine just spent £900 on a macro lens!
I can't quite afford that just yet!

Sorry... i have spent loads of time trawling through websites for info on equipment but i still feel as though i know nothing! Frustrating!

I'm not sure how much photo editing software is either...or which?

I feel totally useless - i'm really sorry!
 
If you are planning on going pro then just get an entry level camera and focus on a good lens which not only holds its money better but can always be used later on with a pro level camera.

Besides, you'll get better photos with a Entry Body + Pro Lens compared to a Pro Body + Budget lens.

Canon EOS 1000D Body £286.97
Canon EF 17-40mm f4L USM £529.00
Lightroom 3 £79.99
Tripod £50.00

Total: £945.96

Is this doable? I'm not so clued up with Nikon gear but I reckon you'll struggle to get a pro level lens around the £500 mark although I would say their pro level bodies have the edge over Canon.
 
First of all do you actually like photography or have you tried it?

Sorry to sound harsh, but seems like you are buying the kit because of the course and its more usual the other way round
 
Hi Tijuana taxi,


I understand your concern but luckily in this case i'm really not that stupid. :)

I've been planning to get kit for a few years now i've just not had the means financially.
I have tried photography, it was part of an art course i took and also part of another course i took.
I love it. Which is why i'd like to eventually go professional.
Now i do recently have the means financially but have been a little more rushed into making a decision than i would have liked due to the start date of the course being so close.

Sorry for the slow reply, my internet isn't being all that great!

Thankyou to everyones replies so far, didn't expect this much so fast!

I've read the nikon D5000 is supposed to be a good entry level camera what are your thoughts?

So many questions - nikon or canon??? I'm lost!

I've heard that before about the lens being more important, how much would you reccommend to spend on a lens?
 
Hi Kim, don't rush it and don't panic too much about buying kit that will last that long. It can (and often does) take years to get where you want to go and to be honest by the time you get there your kit will be well worn and outdated. As you progress you will find the directions you want to go in become more clearly defined so pretty much any entry level camera and lens from the major manufacturers will stand you in good stead to get you going.
 
Kim - perhaps you should start the course before you buy anything. If you rush in straight away, you risk buying the wrong equipment for what you want to do. There are countless combinations for the items in your list and if you choose the wrong gear now it'll cost £££'s to change later.
 
Don't go for a Canon EOS 1000D, sorry they are too basic. I've had one and for those that want basic then fine.

But and it's a big but if you intend to go anywhere with your Photography they are too basic.

My choice would be one of the fantastic Canon 40D offers knocking about on TP or elsewhere and no I'm not selling one.

Add that a Tamron 18-250 which could be fairly cheap now as it's been replaced with the 18-270.

Now thats just MY opinion as a Canon user. I'm sure there will be a Nikon equivalent.
 
Hi Pudding,
Going second hand would be a good idea I think, However, there is a site: http://www.camerapricebuster.com/
which lists the current 'good' prices for new equipment.
I am thinking from what you have said, that perhaps you have not got a feeling as to what the focal length of a lens is. I am not sure as to how much of a feel you have for apertures.
Consider a square, about 3" by 2", held around 10cm from your eyes, This is going to be roughly what you will see with a 50mm lens, on a crop camers (D5000 I believe is).
The shorter the focal length, the closer this square would be to your eye, the longer the further away.
With the aperture, think of it (to begin with), as to how much light the lens lets in. Thus, with a smaller aperture number (where aperture is often quoted as focal length/N), then the more light your camera will see, and thus the less blurring from movement you will get (i.e. the quicker the camera will see the picture).

With lenses, generally a good lens will be around 80-90% of the retail price, when sold second hand.
A camera body, could be 30% of its retail price second hand. Thus, if you have a limited budget, but need to get good shots, look for a cheaper body, and a better more expensive second hand lens. Later on, if you need the extra features in a body, then you can upgrade the body.
I have a Canon camera myself, but often I see the basic, over-saturated images from Nikon that can be taken on a basic camera, and these seem to benefit the amateur/novice user. The canon cameras tend to be (my excuse anyway), less forgiving of any inaccuracies in getting the exposure correct.
That said, Canon is said to be much better for longer focal length images, i.e. birds and small animals, there are a better range of longer lenses (but you will end up paying a lot for these, the Canon 100-400L IS, is a good medium cost lens for birding, at around £1000)

As someone said, don't rush in now, but if you have to get good (i.e. non-damaged) second hand lenses as these will probably keep their value better should you need to sell them.
I had a canon 400d as a hobby piece, and I believe that this has been suggested before for A-level type courses. It doesn't handle high ISO very well, but I think that the 400d, 500d, or 1000d would probably be good enough to start with.
 
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Ozei said:
Kim - perhaps you should start the course before you buy anything. If you rush in straight away, you risk buying the wrong equipment...
Click to expand...

:plusone:

Your course might give you access to cheap or loan software and equipment so it might be best to wait a little.

People will be happy to comment on any advice you get.
 
Kim - just to add to my earlier post :)

Assuming:
  • You do have to rush in now
  • You can push the budget to £2,000
  • You want to buy new gear
My recommendations would be:

That leaves the tripod - there are far too many options to list here, so I'd get the camera & lens first, then try out a few tripods & heads in a really good photographic shop. Manfrotto have a good range, so do Gitzo but they're very expensive.

Hth.
 
No point in wasting money.

first wave:

D300, second hand, £700ish. If too rich, D90, £450
Extra batteries, £15
Tamron s/h 17-50 2.8 or sigma 18-50 2.8, £200. Both are very sharp and good lenses.
Bag, £50
Adobe Lightroom, £200, or £66 student discount
2x 1TB external hard drives, £110.
2 compact flash cards, £40

second wave:

Sb600, s/h £150
Battery grip, ebay, £45.
nano light stand, brolly swivel, £45, calumet + cotswold photo on ebay respectively.
sigma 70-200 2.8, £400 s/h.
 
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I would say swap your budget for a body and lens around a bit - then buy used.

I know Canon, but I'm sure there will be nikon equivalents.

You can pick up a Canon 20D for £200 - sure, it's an older body but still very capable and used by a lot of people now. With that you can then pick up the excellent 17-55 F2.8 for approx £500 used. That will give you an excellent starter kit. If you can stretch another £150 or so you could up the body to a 40D.
 
Hi Everyone!

Firstly thankyou loads for all your advice!!! It's massively appreciated!

I've taken it all on board,

I'm unable to go second hand as i'll have to pay for the camera etc on a monthly basis but thankyou for that advice it may come in handy in the future with other bits of equipment. :)

I'm leaning towards Canon at the moment as i believe professionaly Canon are future proof and have the move to HD filming from your slr nailed and i will need it as i'm planning to go pro its a very handy feature.

Although for quite a while i've leaned more towards Nikon due to the fact everyone seems to have one!

One thing which does confuse me is the ranges...

For example - There seems to be two catagories - Consumer/Entry Level and Professional.

On either of these two levels i struggle a little to work out the 'grading' of the cameras.

For example:

Is a Nikon D5000 better than a D90?

Is a Canon EOS 550D better than 5D MK11?

And i struggle even more with working out things like:

For example

What is Nikons equivelant to a Canons EOS 550D?

Could anyone simplify the 'grading system' for me please?

For exampe - Just putting them in order of quality? Like Nikon D700 being the the best quality for Nikon? (I've no idea if the D700 is the top but i'm just making an example and having a guess!)

Also what are your thoughts on Canon EOS 550D?
And 18 -135 mm lens or 18 - 55m len?

Thankyou :)
 
hiya, just my thought but go to a dealers and try the different body's out and get a feel as you want a camera that's comfy to hold as well ;)
 
Canon are no more future proof than Nikon, Pentax, Sony and all the others.
Don't base your decision on a brand alone.
It should take into account,
Budget
Comfort level (holding the camera)
Ease of use (contorl and menu layout)
 
Pudding said:
Hi Everyone!
I'm unable to go second hand as i'll have to pay for the camera etc on a monthly basis but thankyou for that advice it may come in handy in the future with other bits of equipment. :)
Click to expand...
If you purchase from a photographic shop that does second-hand, there may still be the chance of putting it on finance.

Pudding said:
Hi Everyone!
I'm leaning towards Canon at the moment as i believe professionaly Canon are future proof
Click to expand...
Both Canon and Nikon should be future-proof (although, I am a Canon user).


Pudding said:
Hi Everyone!
One thing which does confuse me is the ranges...

For example - There seems to be two catagories - Consumer/Entry Level and Professional.
Click to expand...

Canon appear to have 3 +1/2 ranges (as far as I can tell)

The 'pro' range, is the 1d, 5d, 7d, these may or may not have different 'marks' behind them. They are pro because they cost more, and have features which are not required by everyone, (and in the case of the 5d are full-frame, but you could consider this just another feature). The number in this case is the type of camera and features. I.e. I think the 1d is a 1.3 crop, the 5d is full frame, the 7d is a 1.6 crop, and high frames per second.

The 'pro-sumer' cameras are the 50d, 40d, etc. i.e. two digits. The lower the number in this case, the older the camera basically. The 40d is the oldest which has live-view.

The 'consumer' range is 3 digits long, the 400d, 450d, 500d etc. As with the higher range, it is the age for the model number. 450d I think has live-view (400d doesn't)

Then, there was the 1000d, which is a more basic version from the 500d I believe, I don't know that much about it.

All EF lenses can go on any camera. EF-S lenses can only go on the 7d, and then any other non-pro camera (I believe, maybe not the 20d or something, but you are unlikely to find that new).


On a 1.6 crop camera, I got away with 18-55 for portrait and landscape types, and 28-135 for a good walkaround lens, so the two you mentioned should cover the ranges to begin with. Consider that lenses are more expensive, you probably will want to upgrade them in future, but, they will hold their value more second hand.
 
PsiFox said:
Canon are no more future proof than Nikon, Pentax, Sony and all the others.
Click to expand...


Given the '87 Canon comment, I'd be wary about saying that Sony are future proof at the moment, given the rumours of the direction that they are going to take and their latest releases! :D


This isn't a dig about Sony btw!
 
PsiFox said:
Ouch but true;)
Click to expand...

OK, so I had to look that up. It was the introduction of EF lenses. These used electrical connections between the camera and the lens, rather than mechenical (FD mount) connections.

Come on, 23 years later we are still using basically the same connection!
And there must have been some decent benefits from it! (IS probably wouldn't exist on FD)

I would recommend going in and handling them though. I changed from the Canon 400d to the Canon 7d.
It is the same brand, the way you access the menu is the same, but still, the difference is large. It took a week of learning for me to get to be able to change settings and functions without looking. (important sometimes with bird shooting and stuff)
 
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coldpenguin said:
All EF lenses can go on any camera. EF-S lenses can only go on the 7d, and then any other non-pro camera (I believe, maybe not the 20d or something, but you are unlikely to find that new).
Click to expand...

EF-S fits my 20D, and will fit 30D, 40D, 50D and 60D.

Hello Pudding :)

You do not need to buy everything at once, same as you do not (and I'm going to tread carefully here) need to have a 1d and L lenses to be a pro photographer.

I use a 20D, currently on my 2nd after I had to sell the first one to raise some cash, and people pay me to take shots. Granted its not a massive income but it suits me, and can work around my day job which pays a lot more then I could make at photography. My second 20D cost me 135 quid with a warranty, and if I need to sell it I will definately be 135 quid, useful if for example I found togging wasn't for me.

I know you were looking at finance, however you might be able to get a much better deal/value for money without it, dunno if its possible to put it on a credit card or something, then you won't be tied into only being able to buy from a handful of places. And as has been said already, go to a camera store and fondle everything. My first 20D I bought because my mate had one, second one because that was what I had before. Reality is though starting again I might have bought a Sony because I find them a bit more comfortable!
 
Kim - Nikon ranges are as follows:

Professional - full frame (FX format)

  • D700
  • D3
  • D3S
  • D3X
Professional - not full frame (DX format)

  • D300S
  • D300
Consumer - none are full frame (all DX format)

  • D7000
  • D5000
  • D3100
  • D3000
  • D90
  • D60
 
RichardtheSane said:
I would say swap your budget for a body and lens around a bit - then buy used.

I know Canon, but I'm sure there will be nikon equivalents.

You can pick up a Canon 20D for £200 - sure, it's an older body but still very capable and used by a lot of people now. With that you can then pick up the excellent 17-55 F2.8 for approx £500 used. That will give you an excellent starter kit. If you can stretch another £150 or so you could up the body to a 40D.
Click to expand...

I'd second the buying used part, even if it means that you have to save up or put the body on a credit card, rather than using finance (which can get very expensive in the long run anyway!)

The 20D is still a very capable camera, although I'd be slightly more inclined to opt for a 30D for the larger LCD, which should cost about £200-250, or the 40 as mentioned above.

If you are going down the Nikon route then a D40 is meant to be a fantastic bit of kit, although you have to pick your lenses carefully.

The huge disadvantage of buying new, and on finance, when you first start is that you will take a big hit on the buyers premium and be paying for the kit for a longish time. If you then decide that you actually prefer another system, then you are going to make a loss, whereas second hand prices are relatively stable and you should be able to resell for something close to your initial outlay.


I suppose that this would be a bad time to introduce the idea of film bodies that support modern AF lenses, and how relatively cheap they are at the moment? :D
 
coldpenguin said:
The 'consumer' range is 3 digits long, the 400d, 450d, 500d etc. As with the higher range, it is the age for the model number. 450d I think has live-view (400d doesn't)

Then, there was the 1000d, which is a more basic version from the 500d I believe, I don't know that much about it.
Click to expand...

The Canon 1000D is a consumer camera and sits between the 400D and the 450D sharing some of the 450D elements.

Bit harsh to call it basic.
 
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DemiLion said:
I'd second the buying used part, even if it means that you have to save up or put the body on a credit card, rather than using finance (which can get very expensive in the long run anyway!)
Click to expand...

Using finance is no more expensive if you get a 0% interest deal - e.g. Jessops do 0% on some models.

If you can't get 0% finance on the chosen model, get two credit cards - one with a 0% 'balance transfer' promo. Buy the gear on one and transfer the whole debt to the other. This only adds 2.5% to 3% to the total cost as long as you pay off the balance at the end of the promo period. The best cards have 12-16 month promo periods.

Edit: do this twice (using a 3rd card) and you can get another 12-16 months. Overall cost of finance is then 5% to 6% over 24-32 months.
 
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can I suggest something different - go as cheap as you can to start with. until you know what you really want there is no point in spending £1k or whatever on kit. My siggestion is to buy a Nikon D40 kit to start and see how you get on. It is the very basic Nioon DSLR but until you know what you're going to need you only end up losing money on the body you buy and never having gotten to use it in earnest. You can pick up a kit (including cards etc) for<£200. Even if you then sell it 3 or 6 months later you're unlikely to have lost more than £50. The new alternative seems way out of whack with what you really need at this stage. I started with a D40 and at the time I was a bit miffed my wife hadn't got me a better Canon, but having used it for a while to cut my teeth I am very glad she didn't (for a variety of reasons - none of them to do with Nikon v's Canon).

just my 2pw.
 
Pudding said:
For exampe - Just putting them in order of quality? Like Nikon D700 being the the best quality for Nikon? (I've no idea if the D700 is the top but i'm just making an example and having a guess!)
Click to expand...


  • D700 & D3 have the same sensor so picture quality is identical. Both are exceptionally good in low light. D3 has a faster burst rate though (shots per second) and has better weathersealing, it's built like a tank. It also has two CF slots and a 100% viewfinder.

  • D3S is very similar to the D3 but it has video (yuk IMO). It has even better low light performance than the D3, in fact it's the best low light camera you can get.

  • D3X has twice the resolution of all the above - for huge prints or very hi-res work, this is the one to go for. Looks & handles just like the D3 & D3S, so again, it's built like a tank. It's expensive though.

I can't compare the consumer Nikons cos I haven't tried them all.

:)
 
Thankyou all! Again :)

Starting to gain a better understanding now through all your explaining!

I've just stumbled across a Nikon D90 18-105mm Lens Included
£799.99 Buy now pay 6 months later offer in Argos.

I've used a Nikon D90 before and was quite impressed with it (but what do i know compared to you lot haha, had a mere amount of experience in comparision!). It's a friends camera and i've always found the images produced through him using it quite inspiring.

This seems ideal to me, what do you all think? :)
 
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Jessops are also doing the Nikon D90 + 18-105mm Lens for £799 (also 6 month's interest free). If you want to spread the cost over 12 months interest free you can add a filter for the lens and get it from Jessops (12 months on order over £800).
 
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There's an alternative to the 6 month buy now pay later deal - and it won't restrict you to buying from Argos/Jessops.

If you use the credit card balance transfer method described in post 34 the cost of finance would be £20 to £24 (2.5% to 3% of £799.99) but you'd have 12-16 months to pay instead of 6. Minimum monthly repayment would be around £18 (at 2.25% p.m.). If you wanted longer to pay, for a finance cost of £40 to £48 you could get 24-32 months using the triple card method described.

NB. Exact % figures depend on the card supplier - e.g. Barclaycard, MBNA, Virgin, etc. I've quoted the 2.5% cost of finance and 2.25% minimum monthly repayment based on Barclaycard's rates.
 
Thankyou for all your responses and help :)

I think the Nikon D90 is for me! Feels good to finally make a decision! :D

robbino said:
Jessops are also doing the Nikon D90 + 18-105mm Lens for £799 (also 6 month's interest free). If you want to spread the cost over 12 months interest free you can add a filter for the lens and get it from Jessops (12 months on order over £800).
Click to expand...

Thankyou Rob, i'll have a look into this it seems really good!
 
Pudding said:
This seems ideal to me, what do you all think? :)
Click to expand...

I'd still go for a D300S and 18-200 VRII - total cost £1,599 from RGB.

Ok, it's twice as expensive as the D90 kit but it's still relatively cheap over a longer period of time (i.e. using the balance transfer system) but it's a pro body and it's a better combination overall IMO.
 
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