Noob want cheap dslr!
Sorry about the thread title, basically im a newbie to photography, but would like to get into it.
Can anyone suggest a cheap new/used (CEX or something) DSLR to get just for starting off.
Im not looking to take 14MP photos, even 3 year old 5MP equipment is good enough ... i think?
Yes you can still learn and take great photos with an old camera. New-wise you're fine with anything from any of the main manufacturers - they all have the manual/semi-manual modes you need to learn. What's your budget?
I'm trying to get something around £100-150, as far fetched as I may be, hence the hunting in the pre loved cameras.
Yup well there's loads available on Ebay etc. Hard to suggest any particular one as there's so many. You could go for a canon eos 20D, or any number of Olympus E4/500 series kits, or a Nikon D80 etc. Don't forget to budget for a cheap lens as well to get started if they don't come with one already.
Agreed, my son found his Nikon D70 and a std 18-55 for 165 on the bay !
Good Hunting
Cheers, David
Well your looking second hand, which is a good bet, but word of warning/wisdom.
Glass holds value, bodies do not.
By this I mean any lens of any resonable or greater quality holds it's value, some even rise in value.
Bodies on the other hand just drop like a stone.
As such, given your budget I'd really say to look to spend more on the lens, than the body!
That said, for a friend I found a K-X and two kit lenses for £180~ a few months back. So good luck.
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I agree with TheAnimus, Got all my money back on my lenses. But as for bodies, I have never bought high end models so the most I have lost is £80, I did make a tenner Christmas on a D3100, But those lovely people @ ebay took that away from me plus more in fee's. I started Dslr photography with a Sony a290, found it to be a good starter camera as it made you use the view finder as it has no live view.
I can count the number of times I've used live view, on one hand (without using any binary or such cheating).
Live View doesn't remotely interest me in camera buying, when its an SLR rather.
However, some people say my diabetic mother, having a live view is a useful feature, but if you've good to OK eyes, then pointless imsho.
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I wanted live view when I got my DSLR but I never really use it because you have a better optical viewfinder
- and some(all?) DSLRs have slower focussing when using liveview too.
Depends what you do. It can be VERY useful for tripod-mounted work at awkward angles, like macro, when it's tricky or uncomfortable to get to the viewfinder.Originally Posted by TheAnimus
Also, a digital zoom on liveview (but not digitally zooming the captured image, of course) can help focus.
Also useful, if you have it, is an ability to liveview by remote, i.e. from a PC monitor, and remote control the camera at the same time. Set the camera up aimed at a birdfeeder, nice and close, retire to a discrete distance, watch on liveview and trigger the shutter without disturbing the feeding birds.
Or, though slightly different, remote liveview in a studio. Tether the camera and use can use live preview, click shutter, and immediately (or almost immediately) review the image on as decent-size screen.
Liveview isn't for everyone, and certainly isn't for all situations, but it can have really useful .... erm ..... uses.
I use live-view at least 25% of the time on my Oly E-620 - with the flexible/tilt screen it's very handy especially when shooting very low to the ground or on a tripod. Most of the Oly lenses are designed to work with it and the hybrid mode for those that don't works really well.
But it's not anything I'd especially consider for an ultra-cheap bargain DSLR.
As for a cheap DSLR, samuraiweasel, consider the Olympus E20.
The downside, it's 5MP, and the lens is fixed, not interchangeable.
The upside .... :-
- it's quite old and you can get them very cheap
- when new, it was a £1500 camera, and it's built accordingly.
- that fixed lens (fixed to the body, not fixed focal length) is very, very good.
- the lens is fixed, but you can get adapters to give longer or wider focal lengths, and they are built to the same very high standards (and were sold at very high prices) as the body
- the lens is fast. It's f2 to f2.4 across the 35-140mm equivalent range.
- the lens construction is high end, and so are the results
Those adapters I mentioned. One gives you a 420mm f2.8. I have one, and there are some issues, but overall it works well. Price up a 400mm f2.8 for a Canon or Nikon.
Another turns the lens into a 200mm, and it's still f2.4. Another gives you 28mm. I don't have that one. Yet Another is for macro.
This is a "think outside the box" suggestion, but as long as 5MP is enough, the rest of the spec is very high end.
g8ina (09-01-2013)
I think Saracen is on to something there.
With your budget unless your willing to buy a very old body, and even older, ie fully manual lenses (no autofocus, manually set apature) your not going to get much.
Are you wanting to spend £150 now, and then in a years time spend potentially another £150?
If so then going for a good second hand body, and simple kit lens is probably a good idea, because you can then use next years money (or whenever!) to buy another lens.
However if your not likely to want to do that, seriously check out Saracens advise.
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So basically get a body and spend the rest on a decent lens kit?
At CEX prices are like this, too much or?
Body only
Canon
350D £52
300D £85
20D £90
10D £90
Nikon
D70 £85
body + lens
300D + 18-55 £115
D70 + 28-80 £120
Which would be a better buy?
I prefer CEX because unlike eBay, ill get a 12 month warranty on the stuff.
Of those, I would say the D70 kit is better (cuz I use Nikons), BUT, and almost anyone here will back me up on this, go into the shop, put the Nikon and the equivalent Canon on the desk, and without looking, try them both in your hands.
Then decide, cuz on paper, there really aint much (if anything) in it.
Cheers, David
The 350D is the newest of the dSLRs,but I would probably look at the 20D as the 350D is basically a cost reduced version.
Also as stated before try the cameras too.
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