Newbie with a £200 limit for a DSLR?

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shadowmaster

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Hi all

Looking to get a dslr. Its my first time, so not too sure what to get. My budget is about £200, I suppose I could stretch to £220 if its a really good deal.

There is a sony alpha a230 at currys for about £230 (after voucher and quidco). That seems like a good deal.

I also dont mind second hand, as long as its in good nick. Any recommendations? I will greatly appreciate it :thumbs:
 
Its a good starting point and at that price I doubt you would get much better in the second hand market,from what I understand the Sony standard lens is a bit above the average of kit lenses so I think its a good deal
 
Whats this image stabilisation feature I have been told about? I know Sony has it built in, and the likes of Canon and Nikon have it in the lenses. Is it an important feature to have?
 
the a230 is probably the cheapest new dslr you can buy at the minute and doesn't look too bad for the money in my book. i have an a390 with the same kit lens and it does the job for me well enough at the minute. like all sony dslr's it has in-body stability which saves money when buying lenses, like the old minolta lenses which are highly recommended by a lot of people.
my girlfriend just bought me a pair of minolta lenses for the princely sum of £160. one was a 50mm f1.7 and the other was a 70-210mm f4. to put it in perspective, today a 70-210mm f4 with some sort of stability control will set you back over £1500. obviously the modern equivelant will be a superior lens, but if you're on a budget it's definitely something to consider
 
Image stabilisation as fantastic, there are pros and cons to each way of doing it (body vs. lens) but having it in the body means EVERY lens has IS.

To be honest, £230 for a brand new DSLR is a bargain and not really something you'll better on the 2nd hand market.
 
Go any try a few cameras, I tried a Alpha 230 and found the grip completely uncomfortable. Although for £200 there isn't much choice. For about £280 I bought a used Nikon D60 which I'm very happy with. That was after I went on a couple of shopping trips tried several Nikons, a couple of Canons, and the Sony. For me the Nikon D3000 was the most natural camera I tried in the right price range. I ended up plumping for a used D60 which is fairly similar camera be cheaper.
 
you need to be really hunting to get something.

I suppose the best would be to get a camera + kit lens.

the a230 is very uncomfortable, the a200 was much better. and the built in IS - don't know what the people rave about.

definitely wait till after xmas & NY deals will be thrown to people I think.
 
Nawty said:
Image stabilisation as fantastic, there are pros and cons to each way of doing it (body vs. lens) but having it in the body means EVERY lens has IS.
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As you said there are pro's & cons, but as with my Nikon the VR/IS etc is in the lens, which means if the stabalisation goes wrong only the lens goes back and I can still use my camera with another lens.

If the IS/VR goes in your camera then its goodbye camera for a while, at least I will still be out there shooting.
 
its all personal preference. id rather have the IS/VR in the camera rather than the lens
 
Thanks for the advice so far :thumbs:

So far I have saved up £235 but I will probably wait till the NY in hope that a few good deals will come about. I was tempted with that a230 at currys but ideally I want to test it out in terms of whether its comfortable before I buy it.
 
andy182 said:
its all personal preference. id rather have the IS/VR in the camera rather than the lens
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Yep certainly is Andy.

Can I ask why you prefer the IS/VR in the camera....just curious....as I would sooner have the use of my camera.

Or have you got a 2nd camera you're keeping quiet....:lol:
 
I think waiting would be best.
A friend in Germany bought the Sony alpha-230 and wasn't happy with the initial results ... I think it was the less-than-sharp sensor-AA-filter combination and the less-than-sharp kit zoom lens.
You should save up about £300 I reckon.
We got an Olympus e-600 & kit lens but they aren't available new anymore. Currys had them at £299 a couple of months ago. Great camera&lens for that price.
 
2 good starter kits HERE and HERE although you would need a kit lens for the D70 but you could pick one up for about £40, you won't get any better for £200ish, if you can stretch some more though THIS would be ideal with a kit lens :)
 
Kerso's clearance list has an Olympus E510 double lens kit for £229 which is a billy bargain!
 
AFC said:
Yep certainly is Andy.

Can I ask why you prefer the IS/VR in the camera....just curious....as I would sooner have the use of my camera.

Or have you got a 2nd camera you're keeping quiet....:lol:
Click to expand...

What are the odds on the IS going? And you can always use the body without IS.

I don't think this is worth worrying the OP with TBH.
 
I think you would be better going for an older 2nd hand body (prob Nikon/Canon) this way if you enjoy it you can start to buy some budget ranged glass to add to your equipment. Although this will be possible with the sony etc, you will find the 2nd market for other brands isnt as strong. I would look for a D50 Nikon or if you lucky a 20D canon with a lens.

But then all people are different in their brand preference.
 
shadowmaster said:
Thanks :thumbs:

Anyone have any opinions on the e510? Reading some reviews now, it looks really good.
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It's a few generations old (as is the Nikon D50 and Canon 20D) so its high ISO performance won't be as good as a new camera but then within your budget you won't be getting a new camera anyway.

For the money that kit will do anything you could reasonably want to do with a camera plus it has in-body IS and live view.
 
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There are a couple of cheap Sony DSLR / kit lens combos on Jessops clearance.
 
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The OP asked this question....

shadowmaster said:
Whats this image stabilisation feature I have been told about? I know Sony has it built in, and the likes of Canon and Nikon have it in the lenses. Is it an important feature to have?
Click to expand...

Then Nawty replied....

Nawty said:
Image stabilisation as fantastic, there are pros and cons to each way of doing it (body vs. lens) but having it in the body means EVERY lens has IS....
Click to expand...

And this was my take on the body vs lens

AFC said:
As you said there are pro's & cons, but as with my Nikon the VR/IS etc is in the lens, which means if the stabalisation goes wrong only the lens goes back and I can still use my camera with another lens.

If the IS/VR goes in your camera then its goodbye camera for a while, at least I will still be out there shooting.
Click to expand...

Then this was posted by Andy

andy182 said:
its all personal preference. id rather have the IS/VR in the camera rather than the lens
Click to expand...

Then I asked Andy a question....

AFC said:
Yep certainly is Andy.

Can I ask why you prefer the IS/VR in the camera....just curious....as I would sooner have the use of my camera.

Or have you got a 2nd camera you're keeping quiet....:lol:
Click to expand...


lawrie29 said:
What are the odds on the IS going? And you can always use the body without IS.

I don't think this is worth worrying the OP with TBH.
Click to expand...

So if you had read the the thread properly you would have seen that we were not WORRYING the OP.

Firstly we were answering his questions and I replied as to 'my preference' to what I prefer and also to offer some information which was originally given to me which I found valuable.

Then Andy posted his preference to having stabilization in camera and I wanted to know why he preferred this, as I was interested and wanted to understand the other side of the discussion.
 
WIthout wanting to get the handbags out ;), as I read the thread the way the conversation came across was that you'd be mad to get a camera with in body IS.

If that is the way I have read it, then it is certainly the way the OP could have read it.

Your comments "at least I will still be out there shooting" and "I would sooner have the use of my camera" do suggest that this is a big problem, and happens regularly. Having been on TP for quite a while now I don't recall anyone having had this issue, so am pointing this out to the OP, who has, at there own admission, very little knowledge of DSLR's, so may appreciate knowing that whilst it is a concern of yours, it is not one of many people.

And if you read the origional question, the OP asks what IS is, rather than whether it should be in lens or body, so the whole conversation went a little off tack.
 
Nawty said:
Kerso's clearance list has an Olympus E510 double lens kit for £229 which is a billy bargain!
Click to expand...
If that's a current price then I'd say don't delay : buy it!
Those lenses, especially the 40-150 are excellent. The body is good, the photos are sharp, the thing should last well.
That is a stonking price.
 
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