DSLR for begginer

[Marshalc11]

hey guys, i've been thinking about dabbling in a bit of photography for a while now, and with xmas coming up i thought it'd be an ideal time to get a DSLR. from reading reviews on here etc i am a little confused on what to go for. i'm mainly looking to be taking photos of the great outdoors and wildlife as i'm currently studying zoology....

any suggestions for something around the price of £500 max that would suit my needs?

cheers guys

[Ramedge]

Mrshalc11
My advice would be to first go out and handle some cameras in your price range and decide which ones feel good in your hands. Then do some comparisons online. The entry level cameras all have their pro's and cons all will do the job.
A lot of people on this part of the forum seem to be either Nikon or Canon users and by the looks of another thread there are a few Sony users too but Nikon and Canon being the big two.
Its worth mentioning that it has been said that you can buy a second hand mid range Canon for £200-£300 which will out perform the entry level cameras and will be of higher build quality, however you may have to sacrifice a nice big LCD display and a few megapixels.
Ideally for wildlife photography you'd want a fast lens like at 70-200 f/2.8 or longer. But lenses like this start from £500 and go upto £1300 so thats the budget out the window.

If you go for one of the entry level Nikon or Canon cameras, lens wise your best bet is to get the either Nikon 18-200mm VR or the new Canon 18-200mm IS and the good thing about these lenses are that they are being bundled as kit lenses with the cameras if you hunt around.
VR and IS are nikon and canons shake reduction technologies that are built into the lenses keeping your images steady when zoomed in.

[YorkieBen]

there are a few threads already on the forum regarding this and its a can of worms but tbh honest you can't go wrong with any of the dslrs on the market imo.

For £500 and you want to wildlife etc you will need a telephoto lens as well, plus you need to factor in carry bag, tripod if necessary.

As an owner of a Sony A200 I would say I think it is an excellent camera that would meet your needs - if you want live view like you get on a standard point and shoot camera then go for the A300/A350.

It has image stabilisation built in which will help with telephoto shots. I have the A200 and bought the Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD Macro telephoto lens for £100 from ebay. Its a cheap but decent telephoto lens.

Some shots I have taken either with the Tamron 70-300, the kit lens or with a cheap Sigma 24mm prime lens I picked up from ebay for not much (the Sony alpha series are descended from minolta and so can use alot of minolta lens that are no longer made but good and cheap 2nd hand).











But like I said you can't really go wrong with any of the new cameras from Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Samsung etc. Each have their pros and cons and everyone here has their favourite. Plus there is the option of going second hand.

Oh and I agree go and handle to cameras in a shop to see what you would like.