what shall I buy with £1000?

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Help please..…I have £1000 to spend (Argos vouchers)…I want the ability to take all round fantastic pictures- close ups of nature , documentary style, portraits, beautiful landscapes etc. In the next two years I hope to start a photography business-wedding photography...so I don’t want to waste money on a basic dslr and lenses that aren’t going to cut the mustard as I build up my experience. Can anyone offer advice on what to buy….which they wished they knew about when they were first building up their photography equipment?:help:
 
I would advise full-frame, a decent lens and a flash gun to gain experience. Once you feel you are ready to start the business then you'll need two of everything to a certain extent.

For £1,000 you may struggle but going down the 2nd hand market would probably be the best option. Nikon will be out of reach if going full-frame so it'll have to be Canon at that budget.


:)
 
Help please..…I have £1000 to spend (Argos vouchers)…I want the ability to take all round fantastic pictures- close ups of nature , documentary style, portraits, beautiful landscapes etc. In the next two years I hope to start a photography business-wedding photography...so I don’t want to waste money on a basic dslr and lenses that aren’t going to cut the mustard as I build up my experience. Can anyone offer advice on what to buy….which they wished they knew about when they were first building up their photography equipment?:help:

£1000 at Argos will get you a nice setup that you can use as an amateur but forget using it as a pro wedding tog etc I have spent £14K and feel I have the kit to do it now but you would be looking at at least £4-6 realistically (remember you have to double up on things too).

Anyway this WILL turn into a Canon v Nikon debate probably.....
 
£1000 at Argos will get you a nice setup that you can use as an amateur but forget using it as a pro wedding tog etc I have spent £14K and feel I have the kit to do it now but you would be looking at at least £4-6 realistically (remember you have to double up on things too).

Anyway this WILL turn into a Canon v Nikon debate probably.....

as above, 1k wont get you anywhere near enough kit to start wedding togging... a good start would be to look into the 5d mk2 as this seems to be the tog standard and some L Glass not forgetting the flash, your going to be looking there at a minimum of 5k or there abouts....
 
running before you can walk springs to mind, do it as a hobby for a while building up kit as you go, rather than having aspirations to jump into the deep end from the get go.
 
Having had a look at Argos and only considering Nikon as that is what I know (someone else will tell you a Canon camera etc).

Nikon D90 with 18-105 £799.99 plus about £25-30 for some memory and then a bag.

They don't seem to sell a decent Nikon flash but that would have been my next item. An SB600 would cost just under £200 but I couldn't see that on their site and the flash they do list is an SB400 which is not so good.

The D90 would be an adequate backup camera for a wedding.
 
Be VERY careful about doing wedding photography. There's far more to it than just having a big camera.

In argos your options are limited.

The ability to take fantastic pictures is more down to you than your camera.

Since you want to take a large variety of subjects, I would spend more on lenses than on a body.

for bodies, I'd be looking at:

nikon D5000
canon 500D
canon 450D

maybe nikon D90, but that doesn't leave you with much cash for extra lenses.

For lenses:

perhaps an 85mm f/1.8
50mm f/1.8 for portraits(this will be manual focus only with nikon unless you get a D90)
18-55mm will do for landscapes. (if it's a canon make sure it's the IS version, it's sharper)
sigma 70-300. OK quality, does reasonably close focusing.
If you go canon, I'd maybe go for a cheaper body and a 70-200mm f/4L, it's got unbeatable value as a general zoom.


To be honest, if I was going to be doing weddings, I'd want much better stuff than that.
something full frame for high ISO (like a 5D or D700) and a fast lens (something like a 70-200mm f/2.8)

Really you need to try out some camera bodies.

Go to a jessops or somewhere and have a good look at a couple of camera bodies, and pick the one that feels best in your hands.


To be honest, I'm quite put off by looking through argos's online catalogue of photography equipment.
They have several lenses listed twice under slightly different names and with slightly different prices. They're still selling the old canon 100-300 new. They list the SB-400 as just 'nikon flash gun'.
Also the prices are awful. They're selling a 24-105mm f/4L for £1079 on 'special offer'. Warehouseexpress are selling it for £799

Personally, I'd go with canon because i prefer their ergonomics/ button layout. BUT that's a very personal preference. You might prefer nikon.


Oh and one more thing.
Ignore anyone who just says something like 'get a nikon' or 'get a canon'. If they can't give at least one valid reason for that opinion, don't pay attention to it.
 
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it might be worth having a chat with jessops (or other Camera retailers) to see if they might consider accepting the argos vouchers. It's a long shot but not unheard of.
 
it might be worth having a chat with jessops (or other Camera retailers) to see if they might consider accepting the argos vouchers. It's a long shot but not unheard of.

Rather unlikely as what are they going to do with them, sometimes they will accept a £20 off voucher or similar just to get the business and then bin it :shrug:

You could try doing a wanted add on here with these as the exchange. There might be someone after a new TV or similar and selling a camera or glass that you would want.

EDIT: Oh, you only have one post.....
 
I've had a look at the Canon offerings - tbh their range is limited and the Nikon D90 Darren pointed out is a much better deal than anything they have for sale in the Canon stable.

They do have the 550D for £699 with the 18-55 IS lens but IMO the D90 + 18-105 is a better camera / lens combo..
 
Rather unlikely as what are they going to do with them, sometimes they will accept a £20 off voucher or similar just to get the business and then bin it :shrug:

You could try doing a wanted add on here with these as the exchange. There might be someone after a new TV or similar and selling a camera or glass that you would want.

EDIT: Oh, you only have one post.....

I agree it sounds unlikely, which is why I said it was a long shot, but some retailers have behind the back agreements on stuff like this. I've done it before in sporting. If they want your business they will find a way.
 
considering the position Jessops is in as a company i cant imagine they would be interested in other companies vouchers :shrug:

for £1000 and limited by Argos I wouldnt even think about starting to do weddings, I have spent 4 x that and I still dont have what I would consider the right gear to start taking peoples hard earned for that.

I would get a D90 with kit lens, battery and mem card, then work from there if it was me. Get out start shooting as a hobby, then IF you still want to do it in a year 18 months time then the D90 would make a reasonable backup camera
 
Nikon D90 kit with 18-105 lens
1/2 price Nikon DSLR case
Sandisk extreme 8GB memory card
Nikon EL3E spare battery for camera
Nikon ML remote control
Camlink circular polarising filter

Job done
 
considering the position Jessops is in as a company i cant imagine they would be interested in other companies vouchers :shrug:

for £1000 and limited by Argos I wouldnt even think about starting to do weddings, I have spent 4 x that and I still dont have what I would consider the right gear to start taking peoples hard earned for that.

I would get a D90 with kit lens, battery and mem card, then work from there if it was me. Get out start shooting as a hobby, then IF you still want to do it in a year 18 months time then the D90 would make a reasonable backup camera

Perhaps this is why Jessops got where there are
 
Be VERY careful about doing wedding photography. There's far more to it than just having a big camera.


Oh and one more thing.
Ignore anyone who just says something like 'get a nikon' or 'get a canon'. If they can't give at least one valid reason for that opinion, don't pay attention to it.

Hear hear. :thumbs:
 
I hear people saying you need thousands of pounds worth of kit for weddings, I am not a wedding photographer as such so probably should not comment (but I will) but I have done two weddings in the past and I did those with my old 35mm camera which was not an expensive camera. But the people were more than happy, at the end of the day the photos are usually at most going to be less than A4 size so as long as your camera can do that (and most can) and is pretty good in low light, then a reasonable camera will do I reckon (but of course a spare camera would be a must)

I personally think what matters is

Artistic talent behind a camera
Being good with people
A good organiser
Being calm
being a level headed business person
 
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