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Camera for Beginner?
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Hello, i was hoping to get some advise from the experts! Im 15 years in graphic design using photoshop etc and have good experience in colour, touch up, and all the bells and whistles but ive yet to invest in a decent digital camera for myself.
My budget is in the region of 500euro, and im daunted by the available choices & jargon.Ive been using a home-use sony camera but i want a better quality camera that i can add lens/flashes etc to handily enough. The camera would be prodominantely be used for a beginners photography course which im taking in January not to mention 10000s of shots of my new baby daughter, special events etc.
Any direction would be most appreciated,
Thanks,
Hi Scribbles, welcome to the site-
I don’t know, is the answer-
though you should be able to get a very good used DSLR-Paperdoll had one in the for sale section here a while ago-
A Nikon D70 and lens-Anyway, there’ll be plenty of opinions, I’m sure-
j
A good choice with plenty of options would be the Canon EOS 400D. It should be just around (or slightly above) your price range, but it will then support all of Canon EF and EF-S lenses, external speedlight flash and such accessories. Plenty of scope for growth and a great quality camera.
Welcome !.
If you get a chance, you should also try and hold a couple of cameras before you buy.
You could go into one of the camera shops before you get something.If you want something easy to use, and don’t want to spend fortunes on lenses and accessories check out the Canon Powershot S3, S5.. and the G7, G9.. cameras, I think, they are excellent. the G series also support external flash units, which is a bonus if you want to take photos of people or babies.
Go into a shop and ask to see and hold. Alot can be said for how it feels in your hands. I’d recommend any of the following cameras and all will do a quality job:
In order of my preference:
Sony A100 (that’s what I have and I love it :D )
Nikon D40x (again maybe a little expensive)
Pentax K100d
Nikon D40
Canon 400d (maybe a little out of ur price range)Also, don’t get caught up on how many pixels it has. The Pentax and Nikon D40 have 6Mp and will produce beautiful A3 size prints.
Also, note that the Sony A100 and Pentax are the only two with Anti-shake built into the camera. All the others have it in the lens, which means you have to pay for Anti-Shake each time you buy a lens.Good luck.
I’d recommend a secondhand Canon EOS xxD model (10D or 20D).
Why?
A well looked after and not heavily used one should have plenty of shutter life left in it; the body is solid and well built (much better than the 300/350/400D models); better viewfinders than the entry level cameras (real pentaprisms, not pentamirrors or porro mirrors?basically that means bigger and brighter, usable for manual focussing); better user interface than the entry levels?the rear thumbwheel is the bomb for fast EV adjustments and when you’ve used it you can never go back to fiddly buttons and menus.
Also Canon’s EF mount and metering system is the most compatible with a vast range of old (manual focus) lenses in different mounts via adaptors. I currently use a bunch of M42s, Nikon F mounts, Tamron Adaptall mounts and OM-Zuiko mounts, as well as a couple of Canon EF lenses. Haven’t paid more than ?100 for any of the old ones, and some were ridiculously cheap for the quality in them.
Canon 10D up for sale here if you’re interested.
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=10695
Thanks so much for all who posted, its a lot to think about, definately need to print this page out and study it a bit more. Really appreciate the feedback, cheers. :D
I’m selling a 400D body for ?500 in excellent condition if you’re interested Scribbles.
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