Newbie to SLR Cameras

[Danny McGee]

Hi Guys,

Am after some advice on slr camera's.

Am a begineer at all this so would liek opinions on where to start, what to look for etc etc.

I've had a little look on the web and so far im looking at this one.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/...8032/show.html

Any advice, opinions and all that would be much appreciated.

Also, places to get them cheap would be good who price matches etc etc.

Thanks

Danny

[spud31]

Good choice i have an older nikon d50 and love it.
Have you been and felt the weight an feel of the camera as some of the newer nikons are plastic body so feel very light.
Best thing is older lenses fit an work with the auto focus so can be picked up 2nd hand

[Chris Green]

Hi Danny,

I can't comment directly on the camera you mentioned, as I have only ever owned canon's in the past.

As Spud has mentioned, the D3100 is a plastic bodied camera, it is light, and quite compact for an SLR.

Would you consider buying used? You'd be able to pick up an older metal bodied camera within budget. (I recently sold a Canon 40D for £290 ish, which was mint, a 50mm F1.8 for £60, a 55-250IS lens for £130 or so).

What will you be using it for? I'm assuming you might try and take photo's of RC cars? If so, you'll need a decent lens or two.

Take a look at www.talkphotography.co.uk Its an excellent forum, with a classifieds area.

[eyeayen]

Photo Radar is another good forum, attached to Digital Camera Mag by Future Publishing.

The Nikon has had favorable reviews over the other entry level camera's and if I was to go for one it would be the Nikon D3100. However you need to go into the shop and hold each one and see which suits you best.

Also this is where manufacturers snare customers, you aren't just buying a camera you are buying into a system, look later down the line because you will get hooked, it's unavoidable, so what might you want to buy later on, flash, extra lens, remote shooting device. Look at costs of these.

I don't think you'll go wrong with the D3100 though. As for price...

http://www.camerapricebuster.com/

[colmo]

Are you sure it's a DSLR you want? There are now DSLT cameras (primarily Sony - permanent non-moving semi-transparent mirror) and EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens - modern day rangefinders where the composition is made on screens or electronic viewfinders straight off the sensor).

Each perform different jobs well. The DSLTs, smaller than DSLRs as there is no prism, are excellent for shooting video as they utilise superior focusing techniques, have no mirror slap (a slight problem in long exposures for DSLRs) but have no optical viewfinder (though the OVFs on cheaper DSLRs are crap anyway). The mirror loses 1/3rd of a 'stop' of light, which in practice is a fair trade considering the light sensitivity of modern sensors.

EVILs are great because they're so small - for holidays, I love my Sony NEX 5 (can be had for £312 with lens, the slightly newer C3 is £400 or so), which pushes Leica digital rangefinders (£4k body only) close for image quality. Fuji, Olympus and Nikon all have similar efforts too, though I believe the Sony is the market leader of that particular camera type.

My pick for a jack of all trades camera right now would be the Sony A77 (24MP, 1080P video at 60FS, 12 frame burst shooting, weather sealed), though at £1500 or so with lens, maybe a tad steep to start!

For the more traditional DSLR, I'll leave the Canon and Nikon shooters to advise you, I don't really keep up with those. They possess a superior range of lenses to Sony (especially expensive telephotos, which folks may hire). Pentax released the well regarded K-5 not long ago too. Sigma and Tamron have an excellent range of cheaper lenses for most mounts.

[poopers]

For SLRs I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the current offerings from either Canon or Nikon, they’re both excellent.

Like others have said, the best bet is to go to your local camera shop and have a good play around with a few, see which you like the feel of. Often the deciding factor can be small personal preferences, such as being able to feel the shutter button properly, checking you don’t keep catching buttons, or if the camera’s a comfortable size for your hands etc. That stuff makes more of a difference than camera body specs imo.

18-55mm is a good general use lens (though I have no experience of the Nikon version), but might be a little on the short side if you wanted to shoot RC racing. Whatever you buy, it’s probably best to get a UV filter for the lens as well, more to protect it from damage than anything.

And as a side note, this may well be obvious but you’d be amazed how many people do this. Try to get a camera that’s not so expensive that you’re nervous of using it. I see loads of people get awesome cameras then never take any shots because it’s hidden away in a bag waiting for perfect conditions and they’re scared to get it wet in the rain or have dust blow all over it etc.

Finally, check out warehouseexpress.com I've used them quite a bit and they often have good deals.

[ejw]

What are you going to use the camera for Danny?

Different cameras for different things,

static people pics? sports stuff involving fast moving subjects? low light level stuff/indoor shots or mainly outside brightly lit? Not all slrs are equal and some are inherently better for certain things!

[Danny McGee]

Originally Posted by ejw

What are you going to use the camera for Danny?

Different cameras for different things,

static people pics? sports stuff involving fast moving subjects? low light level stuff/indoor shots or mainly outside brightly lit? Not all slrs are equal and some are inherently better for certain things!

To be honest, I'm not massively sure, just want one . An going on holiday soon so pictures from there. As well as touristy shorts in day / night. Guess a good all rounder would be my best bet.