[RoseM]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, and forum's in general, really!
I am a student hoping to take A-level photography next year and am starting a digital photography course in january in preperation. Can anyone give me advice on an SLR digital camera to buy, hopefully under £1000 which will serve me through my course? I want the best camera i can get which will take the best pictures possible, and fairly easy to use as i'm a total amateur! Haha. I have very little kowledge of SLR cameras, so any help at all will be greatly appreciated

Thankyou very much!

[Pirate!!]

Ahoy!

For your budget you are going to get the complete list I fear! I would like to put in my 2 cents, but dSLR cameras by their very nature are not 'point and shoot' so to speak, but can be if used in it's most basic form.

This I think is going to be hard. There are a number of manufacturers: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax/Samsung, Panasonic/Leica/Olympus to name a few.

How do you intend to buy your camera and lens(es)? High St, internet, eBay or other? Prices vary a lot depending on method used.

My first thought would be to go to the High St (Jessops, Comet, Dixons etc) and go and have 'a feel' to see how they are in your hand.

That's just one part. In the meantime, research the web and try and make a list of what you think would be best for you in terms of features (live-view, image stabilisation, sensor type, lenses).

You may be able to make a short list which can be discussed on here later on. We are all guilty of some bias towards our own brand, but there are many choices to be made.

[RoseM]

Thankyou Pirate!!, I really am a complete novice! I need something i can learn with. I tried to go to my local Jessops but they tried to make me buy it and i didn't really know what i was buying. I will probably be buying on highstreet as my mum (haha!) doesn't trust the internet.

[Pirate!!]

Guys and gals . . . recommends and advice needed here.

[Paranormalist]

£1000 gives you plenty of scope.
There are an abundance of DSLRs to be had under that price.

Pentax K10D
Canon EOS 400D
Nikon D40X
Sony Alpha A100
Olympus E-510
To name but a few.

The Pentax K10D, Olympus E-510 & Sony Alpha A100 offer both built in image stabilisation and a dust reduction system. And the Olympus E-510 has the added bonus of Live View which lets you compose your shot without having to look through the viewfinder.
If you buy Canon or Nikon for instance and if you want image stabilisation then you'll have to buy it in a lens which can be a bit on the expensive side.
The Canon EOS 400D has a reputation for being a very good entry level DSLR and has a dust reduction system although perhaps not as advanced as the previous camera's mentioned.

I think it's more to do with the eye behind the camera rather than the camera itself when it comes to producing best pictures possible. From browsing through your Flickr I can see that should not be a worry to you.

Hope this helps.

[RoseM]

Thankyou Paranormalist, you're very kind. Most of my pictures on Flickr were taken with a point-and-shoot, just coming to terms with an SLR film camera borrowed from a friend - it's at least 20 years old!
All advice is greatfully appreciated, thankyou.

[salubrious_k]

If you're on a budget and are interested in Canon cameras, then it's worth keeping an eye on their ebay store:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Outlet

The cameras are refurbished by Canon UK to factory specs and come with 12 month warranties.

Looking at their completed listings, it seems the going rate for a refurbished 400D (without lens) is about £290-£300.

I've been using a 350D (the predecessor to the 400D) for the last 2.5 years and have found it very versatile and an excellent camera (although I've just upgraded in the last couple of weeks to a more expensive one)

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by RoseM

I will probably be buying on highstreet as my mum (haha!) doesn't trust the internet.

Before you do buy on the highstreet, you should certainly compare the prices to the internet. Although I personally would buy from many different online retailers, to someone who is less sure I would recommend Amazon. They have offered better customer service when things go wrong than most high street stores - eg, I had a monitor go wrong - they turned up with a replacement the next day, and took the old one, sorted. You don't get that from any high street store.

[senu]

Before you spend any money why not do a Search on recent similar threads to this..
They abound.
A few
Which Digital SLR?
New Camera Advice - DLSR or Prosumer
Which Digital SLR camera?

Have a "feel" for what is out there then ask for specifics

£1000 Buys you pretty much all the budget DSLRs in the market ,an extra lens or 2 , extra battery, Extra cards , a tripod ( maybe external flash) and a Copy of Photoshop elements to get you going.

You can learn with any of them and TBH the absolute differences in image quality are few despite each of us praising our own faves

Even the slightly more "upmarket" Nikon D80, Canon 30/40D ( well within your budget) are not Unfriendly to a Newbee.. You just use the more intermediate features and grow with the Camera.
But I think a Budget DSLR and a few bits and Bobs will be money better spent

[vulkan75]

The most important thing is handling,You really have to get the cameras in hand.
Most Dslrs these days are pretty damn good and I reckon youd be more than happy with any of them tech wise.

I reckon though, you'll develop quite quickly and so Id recommend a camera that will stay with you as you progress.

something like the Nikon D80 with 18-200vr lens or equivilent,should be do-able for the budget and give you great flexibility through the focal range as well as some pretty nifty camera features....Youll not need to buy anything else for sometime.

all the best with your decision....dont forgot to come back and post some pics

[Yandros]

Hi Rose,

Firstly, your gallery is superb. I can see why you're wanting to do an A Level in it.

I have to be brutally honest and say that my experiences of high street stores has not been great, in terms of advice, price and range. Certainly in some stores (even specialist camera shops) you may find someone who knows nothing about DSLRs, but will wing it and try to sell you one. Others are very biased towards certain brands, or deals of the day. They are all very much guilty of trying to sell you want they have in stock, not what you want/need. Anyway, enough grumbling...

I bought my camera body from a high street store, but all lenses, accessories (in particular memory cards!) were bought online.The highstreet chains rip you off on a lot of the extras, and carry a VERY limited ranged of lenses etc. When you've decided on a package, we can advise you on the best places and prices if you can persuade your mother to buy online.

As others have said, for £1000 you've got a lot of options, so take your time. A DSLR+kit lens is a good starting point, but has limitations, which you may hit fairly quickly if you're studying photography formally. Before we talk brands and cameras, I'd like to suggest some lenses, as these will have more direct influence on your creativity than the body:

A safe choice is a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. These are usually very cheap (about £60 on Nikon/Canon), extremely sharp optically, and allow you to play around wonderfully with shallow depth of field. Because it's a fixed focal length (and quite long actually - a short portrait) it forces you look at the world in a particular way...it's FAR more fun than wandering around with a zoom.

Another prime lens that should be high on your list is a macro lens. These will cost you about £250 but are the best quality lenses you can buy, and open up a whole world of possibilities for cool photos (as you know, judging from your gallery). Like the 50mm f1.8, these macro lenses allow a lot of flexibility in depth of field, so you can create some wonderful effects, as well as opening up a whole new minature world. Macro lenses in the 90mm-105mm range are also very good at big subjects too - they are a superb long portrait lens.

Depending on your areas of interest, you might also want to look at a 10-20mm superwide zoom (£280), or a telephoto zoom up to 200mm or 300mm (roughly £150-£300). I might be corrected on this, but I reckon a superwide would be a lot more use for a photography course than a telephoto - for a start they need a lot of skill to use well, as you need to be very careful with your composition.

As Senu says, also budget for a tripod, a memory cards and possibly a spare battery and external flash...and a bag to put stuff in!

As for cameras...

If you're actually not planning on getting many lenses, the Nikon D40 would be a top pick for value (£290 with kit lens). The D40 doesn't autofocus with some popular good value lenses, so although it's great value at first, it could mean you have to buy more expensive lenses for it later. It's also very beginner friendly and very small and light.

Next up the price ladder are the Pentax K100D, Sony A100 and Canon 400D. Canon has the edge when it comes to lenses and accessories (and the prices of the lenses is often less), but Pentax and Sony have built in vibration reduction. This is a killer feature, as it makes ALL your lenses image stabilised, whereas Canon/Nikon make you pay for it on each lens. All three are about £370-£400 with kit lens.

I'd also seriously consider the Pentax K10D, which at £460 offers a more 'pro' feel camera at a bargain basement price. Like the Pentax K100D you get image stabilisation in the body.

£600 gets you a Nikon D80 or a Canon 30D. If you play with these, you'll find them very tempting, as they're both very nice bits of kit, but be aware that they'll not leave you as much for lenses.

[Yandros]

Originally Posted by vulkan75

something like the Nikon D80 with 18-200vr lens or equivilent,should be do-able for the budget and give you great flexibility through the focal range as well as some pretty nifty camera features....Youll not need to buy anything else for sometime.

Oh you meanie...you're throwing my trusty 18-200 into the mix! Hmm, tempting (£457 Rose...and the best superzoom on the market). Actually my first love is my Nikon 105mm VR Macro (£459). If you made me choose, I'd probably take that over the 18-200 and slum it with a kit lens. I don't use the 100-200mm range on the 18-200 except for wildlife, and that's a bit on the short side.

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by senu

You can learn with any of them and TBH the absolute differences in image quality are few despite each of us praising our own faves

I agree

Even the slightly more "upmarket" Nikon D80, Canon 30/40D ( well within your budget) are not Unfriendly to a Newbee.. You just use the more intermediate features and grow with the Camera.
But I think a Budget DSLR and a few bits and Bobs will be money better spent

I don't agree While the budget models will be good enough, since this is clearly a hobby that's not going to go away I think you might as well get something to last, like the D80. It would be annoying to want to upgrade after a year or two, so you might as well get something better now. It's only just over £500 for the D80.

Originally Posted by vulkan75

Most Dslrs these days are pretty damn good and I reckon youd be more than happy with any of them tech wise.

I reckon though, you'll develop quite quickly and so Id recommend a camera that will stay with you as you progress.

That's my feeling too.

Originally Posted by RoseM

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, and forum's in general, really!
I am a student hoping to take A-level photography next year and am starting a digital photography course in january in preperation. Can anyone give me advice on an SLR digital camera to buy, hopefully under £1000 which will serve me through my course? I want the best camera i can get which will take the best pictures possible, and fairly easy to use as i'm a total amateur! Haha. I have very little kowledge of SLR cameras, so any help at all will be greatly appreciated

Thankyou very much!

Two possible answers here, No 1, join a local photography club,No 2. join a local evening class in either photography or digital course, depending on your age and local authority . total cost can be Zero! then don't be afraid to ask uestions until you are sure you do understand any answers you are given. Fianally on't spend any money until you are sure about whta you require and why you require it. then just take your time as whatever you buy tomorrow is always being replaced by another item which is already on it's way into the shops for you to buy probably cheaper still next week.
Sfter having bought my own very first camera in 1954 photogrqphy is still my fvourite hobby which unfortunately due to now present health problems I now find even more frustrating than ever to obtain what \I would like to obtain in either a technological or mechanical way or in an to my mind artistic manner. It doesn't matter that anyone else thinks, as it is all subjective , its what and how you feel that counts.
Happy trialling and hunting and wishing you many many years of enjoying a great hobby. which does not have to expensive.
Hao

[lowmans100]

Rose

You won't go wrong with any of the current crop of popular DSLR's, they are all great and very capable cameras
Nikon D80 with 18-70mm or 18-135mm kit lens
Canon 400D or 30D with kit lens
Sony A100 with kit lens
The D40 or D40x is also an option but you will be limited with the available lenses if you want auto focus since the auto focus mechanism is in lens and not in camera.

Look on Flickr Groups to see what can be done with these cameras.

They all have auto/scene modes so can be used as point & shoot and they all have priority and manual modes for you to play and learn with.

I wouldn't try to spend your whole budget just because you have it available to spend. I would go to a high street store and get a feel of them and go for the one that feels best in your hand. As you get a feel for what you like to do you can buy more lenses, filters etc. I wouldn't buy loads of accessories only to find you don't use them.

If you must buy from a high street retailer I would buy from one that you can order on-line and collect in-store you will get the best price that way. Look on camerapricebuster.co.uk for the best prices.

Another option would be to talk to the course tutor for advise.

[dazza74]

I was a begineer to the whole D-SLR camera scene back in January this year and went for the D80 as it's a camera you can grow into and develop your camera skills.

[ush flynn]

You will find a lot of people recommending a camera from thier favourite manufacturer.... And im one of them! the d40x from Nikon is a great little starter camera but its somewhat limiting in functionality with some of Nikons lenses. Its slightly difficult to explain if you are not up on all the different types of lenses but basically, it wont be able to give you autofocus on some of nikons older (and in some cases more afordable) lenses.

So i would recommend to you a D80 from Nikon. I have one and i love it to bits. Its done everything i could ask of it and is only let down by by current poor choice of lenses! but i have hired some beautiful glass for it for a few jobs and its performed like a dream.

By studying A-level you should be able to learn the functions of a camera much faster than someone teaching themselves, and you will have people you can ask for advice on photography both her on the forum and in your A level class. The D80 is more than capable and will... if you are interested... take you well along the way in hobby and potentially as a pro.

So get back on here and ask more questions!

[mansell]

I’m another one who recommends the D80, for about £600 you get a camera that is well built, feels good and offers room for you to grow into. If you did purchase the D80 then I would recommend either the 18-70 or 18-135 lens (comes with it), you really can’t go wrong with either.

That leaves you with about £400 for a flash (SB-600 £150)

Maybe a tripod for about £40 and then some filters.

Or you could leave the flash for now and purchase a longer 2nd lens, such as the 70-300vr, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

at the end of the day you can’t go wrong with any of the DSLR’s, IMO the most important thing is to shop around and actually handle them yourself.

If I were you though I would buy online.

[salubrious_k]

I personally don't think the OP should necessarily spend £1000 straight off. I think it would be better to spend around £500-£700 on a good quality DSLR and a standard zoom and then basically see how she gets on with that. She may want to get into flash photography or she may want to get into macro photography, no point buying either a flash or a macro lens right now... better to wait and see how her tastes/style develop.

[mansell]

Originally Posted by salubrious_k

I personally don't think the OP should necessarily spend £1000 straight off. I think it would be better to spend around £500-£700 on a good quality DSLR and a standard zoom and then basically see how she gets on with that. She may want to get into flash photography or she may want to get into macro photography, no point buying either a flash or a macro lens right now... better to wait and see how her tastes/style develop.

I agree, DSLR and kit lens, then see.

that's what I did.

[richard plumb]

agree.

Something like the Nikon D40 or Canon 400D + kit lens, and i'd probably recommend one of the budget 50mm 1.8 lenses so you can play with depth of field a bit.

then save the rest for when the inevitable lens bug bites you!


if you really think you'll get into this, then consider buying the next models up and growing into them - eg the Nikon D80 and Canon 40D

[loz]

If the first requirement is your A level, then you need to choose a camera that is going to support all the things you will be covering on the course.

You might try asking someone at the school/college what they recommend.
Not in terms of camera brand, but what range of equipment you should need.

For example, they may say that it is more important for you to have a small range of good lenses from wide angle to telephoto because you will need them all on the course, rather than spend all your money on the latest DSLR body. They may also suggest you get a good quality flashgun - which aren't necessarily cheap - because you might need that too. Also, they may say make sure you get a DSLR that is capable of connecting to studio flash outfits, because you will use those on your course too. Some entry level cameras don't have this.

So when you say a £1000 budget, is that just for the camera, or everything you might need.

[Yandros]

Originally Posted by loz

If the first requirement is your A level, then you need to choose a camera that is going to support all the things you will be covering on the course.

You might try asking someone at the school/college what they recommend.
Not in terms of camera brand, but what range of equipment you should need.

For example, they may say that it is more important for you to have a small range of good lenses from wide angle to telephoto because you will need them all on the course, rather than spend all your money on the latest DSLR body. They may also suggest you get a good quality flashgun - which aren't necessarily cheap - because you might need that too. Also, they may say make sure you get a DSLR that is capable of connecting to studio flash outfits, because you will use those on your course too. Some entry level cameras don't have this.

So when you say a £1000 budget, is that just for the camera, or everything you might need.

Good point about the flash. One advantage of a D80 in particular is inbuilt support the Nikon Creative Lighting System, so you can use wireless off-camera flash out of the box.

[RoseM]

Thanks everyone for taking your time to help! I'll keep you informed as to what I buy!
And thanks for the comments on my pictures