Help on buying a camera

PL54

Any advice warmly received. I'm looking at buying a camera in the new year, obviously digital and up to about £400 or so. Ideally something fairly easy to use and with a good range of functions etc. Canon Eos always gets mentioned ?

Does cost get dictated by camera or lens ? I think I'd like one where you could change lenses in the future or go wide / long etc ?

Cheers

nolly

polaroid cant go wrong,good luck and happy hunting.

Stig

I've had a couple of EOS Cameras (400D and 7D) and can thoroughly recommend them. There's one exception to that range which I've had but wouldn't recommend, that is the 50D. This one is notorious for producing blurry images and is generally not as well thought of as the 40D that preceded it. Mine went back to the shop within 2 days.

My advice would be to spend more money on your lens(es) and less on the actual box. When I first bought an SLR, the advice I read everywhere was don't by a camera with a kit lens (these are invariably cheap and nasty). Purchase a body only and get a better quality lens as a separate item. I didn't listen to this advice and regretted it almost instantly.

I'd also make a point about thinking what you want the camera for. This will have a great bearing certainly on your choice of lens, if not the camera itself. Do plenty of research, I'd advise reading a quality review (perhaps from DP Review) also some consumer reviews may be useful (Amazon.com usually has a broader range of reviews than .co.uk, but remember some of the Canon cameras are marketed under different model names in the US).

I think this discussion is very useful. http://www.photoblog.com/forum/post/14774/
If you've got any specific questions I'm happy to try and help. Enjoy looking :-)

PopIcon

The Canon Eos range is great, but they don't come cheap. Even the lowest model in the range the 1000d is £350 and thats without the lens.

if you got a little more dosh i'd opt for the 450d, you can pick one up for about £400.

As for a lens, its better to buy one separate as the ones they bundle in are normally the very bottom of the range ones.
Imagine Jason Lee playing up from for man u and not being allowed a substitute.

As for a camera lens, this is a great beginners fixed focal lens (doesn't have a zoom)

http://www.ukdigital.co.uk/accs/canon_ef_50mm_f1_8_lens.htm

have a read at this, its really helpful if you can understand what you are buying before splashing the dough.

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/EF_Lenses/

Stig

I love that fixed 50mm lens. I think it's amongst the best value for money of any Canon product. The fact that it's fixed means that the image quality is better than many other lenses that are far more expensive. The down side is that you have to work a lot harder at getting your picture, you can't expect to stand on the spot an zoom in or out, you have to physically get into position. This can be a good thing though as it makes you think more about the picture you want to create. It's an amazing lens in low light situations - no need for a flash. It's also brilliant when combined with some extension tubes for macro shots.

stilladdicted

As a starting point, I would ask, what do you actually want your camera to do? If you want interchangeable lenses with an eye to the future, you'd be best to go for Nikon/Canon, but they are not cheap, even second hand lenses are very costly. But Nikon and Canon lenses are not inerchangeable, so once you buy one of the bodies, you have to stick with their lens mounts, although there are other lenses such as Sigma which can be bought for either. I have Nikon semi pro, Canon EOS and a Panasonic Lumix. One problem is that by the time you have bought all your fancy lenses, tripod etc you've got a lot of weight to carry about, and for overseas holidays, baggage allowances are getting very mean. The Panasonic Lumix is a pocket size fixed lens camera, but takes amazingly good 'snaps' for such a small camera and the newest ones have movie functions ( although this eats away both memory and battery). They perform well at night and you can buy underwater housing for them as well. We use it in situations where we don't want to be lumbering gear about. In the more serious camera market, I now prefer Nikon but it's very much a personal thing. Digital cameras now seem to have a mind numbing choice of functions, most of which people do not know how to use or understand what they are for. It's easy to get carried away and to be honest, the most challenging part is handling the digital images. Try the cameras out, see how they feel in your hands, can you take photos without getting camera shake etc., read the reviews. Good luck and if you ever master using Photoshop, let me know and I'll pick your brains!

EastStand

Lumix GF1.
My fella has one and it is boss.

BDL

Nikon D3100 is very basic - I've just got a D5000, absolutely love it. Build quality is far superior to Canon as well.

HarryHutchens

Bought a Canon 1000D EOS from Amazon for £353 in October. It's awesome. My pro-photographer buddy recommended it to me.

PL54

Thanks guys - I will try and understand what you've said soon ?....

bingaddick

Fuji HS10 and Nikon D5000 are excellent. I have a business associate and mate who sells cameras and is also a professional photographer and he runs photography courses. He can be contacted most days 9 to 5 on 01986892214. Call him in January. He is exceptionally helpful and a decent chap. If you call him, tell him Bing suggested you ring him.

TEL

Got the Canon 400d excellent camera, and very easy to use.

red_murph

Some very good advice above.

I would also add that going into a shop and holding a few cameras (within your price range) to see what you feel comfortable with would also help. What is good for one person is not always good for another.

I've bought into the Nikon system now and absolutely love it, but Canon and Sony also offer excellent value for money. Really does depend on what you want to get out of the camera.

Some excellent photographers on this forum who can offer much more of an insight than me than me though.

PS: if you get the bug, expect to spend one hell of a lot more than £400 in the years to come :0)

Rodex

What do you intend to take pictures of?

wickford

I used to use an Olympus OM2 with a variety of lenses. A few years back I bought an Olympus digital zoom camera, 4 megapixels and 10x optical zoom.
I recently purchased a Lumix DMC FZ100 whic has a 14 megapixel cmos sensor and 24x digital zoom starting with an equivalent 24mm wide angle. Haven't given it a real work out yet but it has got reasonable reviews online. An all-in-one was an 'easy option' and a lot cheaper than trying to replicate the kit I had for the OM2 with a digital SLR and new set of lenses! When you do decide to buy check all the online suppliers and read reviews about them as well as the cameras. A lot appear to be shipping from abroad with consequent problems with duty to be paid and ongoing support. Don't want to advertise on here so won't name names but whisper if you want to know who I bought from in the end.

EastStand

Wickford I have an OM2 also. I love it. Why did you stop using yours?

Mortimerician

The missus has got a 450D and the holiday pics have certainly been impressive. Some of the additional lenses cost a fortune, but despite not having much interest in cameras I must admit I was really impressed at the result she got out of a macro lens.

Shrew

Nikon d40 x great digital camera easy to use as point and shoot also great for really getting into photography on full manual, tough, dependable and good kit lens included.

wickford

EastStand
I think it was after buying the Olympus digital that I just got a bit lazy!
It virtually covered the full range of the three lenses that I normally carted around with the camera and had a built in flash.
As I say laziness.
My new Lumix has a built-in flash and a hot-shoe attachment slot, when I looked to see what flashguns they had to offer was rather surprised to find that I would need to double my investment on that front. Might try my old Olympus one on 'auto'.

Rodex

People ask me what is the best DSLR to buy and the truth of the matter is that there isn't a bad one out there. Yes that's right none of the current DSLR manufacturers produce a bad camera, not one of them, so no matter which one you buy you really these days cannot go wrong.
However if pushed i would simply say that I did not name our cat Nikon for nothing.

Steve Lamb
A founding member of the Nikon International Owners Club.
Registered Nikon Professional User.
Silver member of Nikonians.

Miserableoldgit

[cite]Posted By: Rodex[/cite]People ask me what is the best DSLR to buy and the truth of the matter is that there isn't a bad one out there. Yes that's right none of the current DSLR manufacturers produce a bad camera, not one of them, so no matter which one you buy you really these days cannot go wrong.
However if pushed i would simply say that I did not name our cat Nixon for nothing.

Steve Lamb
A founding member of the Nikon International Owners Club.
Registered Nikon Professional User.
Silver member of Nikonians.

Fan of American Presidents are We ?
;-)

Salad

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Lumix-TZ8-Digital-Camera/dp/B0031MA10I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293452455&sr=8-1

(can click on shop above to buy from Amazon, don't know how to link it though)

nth_london_addick

buy 400 £1 disposalble cameras


if it dont work throw it in the bin and open another 1

happyvalley

My nikon has a shutter speed so fast it can take a picture of Jordan with her legs closed.

bingaddick

[cite]Posted By: happyvalley[/cite]My nikon has a shutter speed so fast it can take a picture of Jordan with her legs closed.

Now that is funny. Has it go a built in flash....:-)