Camera Advice, Cheap Prosumer Or Dive Into Dslr?

[gib786]

Right, long story short (well not really..). Im looking to buy a new dig cam. Ive only ever had basic point and shoot cameras, mju 300, mju 400, mini mju and ive toyed with my brothers fuji f460. I tend to only take pics at family things like birthdays etc, plus on the occasional night out with mates. Im looking at getting a half decent camera, with a budget of around 250 at the very very top

Ive been looking at the s5600 for a long time now, as well as the s9500/9600 but im also very very very tempted by a eos 350d. Looking to buy off the bay second hand rather than new to save some cash. Im hoping that buying the camera and actually taking a few good shots instead of the terrible noisy shots my old cameras produced will motivate me to get more into photography. So taking my rambling post into account what do you think is the best camera for me?

[Yandros]

Sounds to me like you either want a top quality compact, or a 'prosumer' bridge camera. If £250 is your top limit, then a DLSR is going to prove very expensive for you in the long run, as you need to factor in lenses, which can easily be £250 each.

[gib786]

thanks for the reply. the higher costs of dslrs puts me off, but would the normal lens kits not be ok for a starter compared to the lens on a bridge camera?

[senu]

Have a read
EOS 400d/ D40 or a prosumer model

The advantage of the Bridge would be the range and not nessesarily quality of its built in lens (others would be cost as you've noted , and size)...
Oh.....with a DSLR .it is unlikely you'd stop at the camera too... eventually

Although my situation was different from yours ( having been into Photography for years prior),
I had a comparable scenario a few years ago
Back then I had a (now unused) Fuji 602Z and was at a send off party where a colleagues husband came with his Canon 300D .

A few days later we got to compare identical Pictures ( I had taken shots with his camera as well as mine)

The sheer detail and noise free quality of images (no PP) from his camera compared to mine (enhanced in Software) was to ensure that the 602 would be my last non-DSLR.
Saying that, I have used a friends Canon Pro one ( high end Bridge) which comes with a 28- 200mm L lens, which is far better in quality and range than the Kit lens from the 350/400/30D .
I was a bit less impressed by its slightly greater shutter lag and somewhat greater noise at higher ISO (max 400 ) , but in modest light conditions it is a compact unit which proved very capable. (It had a "noisier" Sony sourced 8Mp CCD as opposed to the 8Mp CMOS used in the 350D)
It was more than £250 in its heyday though
HTH

[icemanonline]

Hi,

I know you say £250! But if you could put out another £49.99 you could have this.....

http://www.jessops.com/Products/Prod...px?SkuId=35905
Pentax K100D with lens.

If £250 is your limit then this is a good deal I think........Fuji S5700 7MP Digital Camera 10X Optical Zoom 512MB XD, Case & Charger..............From here.............http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.as....yah.UKEL-UK20

The price £219.96 and the Fuji uses XD or SD Memory. Hope that helps

icemanonline

[gib786]

the budget could be stretched, would mean waiting a month or so before buying the camera but if it means i end up with a better camera then i dont mind. ive been looking at some "prosumer" cams on ebay and it seems most people sell up after several months when they decide to upgrade to a dslr. i dont mind buying a dslr with the basic lens and then upgrading to diff lenses etc as time goes on, but id rather buy one camera that costs a bit rather than a cheap one, then sell it to upgrade again etc.

how does the k100d stack up to the 350d?

[senu]

Originally Posted by gib786

....how does the k100d stack up to the 350d?

Look
HERE

The anti-shake feature of the K100D is a big plus otherwise its a wash with the Canon 350D now costing the same of less because of the 400D

You can also read the reviews of each on that same link

[Pirate!!]

Worth considering if you can stretch a tad more. Look here and here.