If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Budget SLR camera

Discussion in 'Photography' started by petejd13, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. petejd13

    petejd13 New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2010
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Change Co - Ordinator
    Well I am finally going to go digital well budget digital !!! can anyone recommend a decent ALR camera my budget is around £300 quid, so I guess I am looking at second hand camera also I would like one that can use my old canon lenses , and a camera that can take quality pictures of moving objects at speed, and also take decent images at night?

    any advice gratefully received
     
  2. oddsocks

    oddsocks Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2009
    Messages:
    1,813
    Likes Received:
    289
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired / Dodging a Coffin for as long as I can.
    Location:
    Half a mile east of Snells Nook Halt. (1883-1931)
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Advert in today's Times. Jessops have a Sony A390 with 18-70mm lens at £329. Includes free Velbon Tripod.:thumb:
     
  3. northernblue109

    northernblue109 New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    North East England
    The good news is that there are very few bad digital SLRs around. It's very much a personal choice, my own preferences being Nikon or Canon - I'm currently a Canon user. Before considering secondhand, check out http://camerapricebuster.co.uk/ for independent price guidance (Canon 1000D body just under £300 or with lens £339) and http://www.dpreview.com/ for independent reviews. Old Canon lens may work in theory, but in practice can be problematic (I gave up on mine). As for night photography, digitals are easier to use (you can see what you are doing) and more tolerant of poor light, but don't expect too much without a tripod. Hope this helps.
     
  4. gavferg

    gavferg New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Try nikons budget d40, d60, d60x secondhand re great little lightweight cameras with slr's the money is in the lenses and the extras try ebay to get an idea for prices
     
  5. bobldoo

    bobldoo New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2010
    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    0
    Are you sure you really want to go down this route? DSLRs are big and bulky the lenses to get really good results can be expensive and there's the perpetual problem of dust (okay I'm laying it on a bit thick - the problems not the dust), but is not worth considering one of the super-zooms with a manual zoom, for example the Fuji HS10. Now, I must say from the off I haven't tried this camera for shooting moving objects but it seems to do everything else pretty well and it has a remarkable zoom range.

    Oh, yes, I have DSLR and I'll happily cart it and and it's lenses around to get that shot!
     
  6. ianh

    ianh Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2006
    Messages:
    319
    Likes Received:
    179
    Occupation:
    Farmer -
    Location:
    Brecon In Wettest Wales
    Any comments on the Sony NEX5 ---- Interesting price but 1080 video and quite high fps shooting rate seemed interesting.... though must admit that most photos will feature equines rather than ferroequines.
    ian
     
  7. Paul Grant

    Paul Grant Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Messages:
    1,194
    Likes Received:
    989
    Location:
    Fife
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Pentax K1000
     
  8. spanner

    spanner New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2009
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    37
    He did say digital!
     
  9. Paul Grant

    Paul Grant Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Messages:
    1,194
    Likes Received:
    989
    Location:
    Fife
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I know, I thought I would bring some balance to the matter.
     
  10. Guest

    Guest Part of the furniture Account Suspended

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    3,614
    Likes Received:
    21
    Occupation:
    Occasional
    Location:
    G C & N S
    Take a careful look at Panasonic Lumix cameras - amazing results, zooms, and you may not need either an SLR or second hand status.
     
  11. Neil_Scott

    Neil_Scott Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Messages:
    3,155
    Likes Received:
    302
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway servant
    Location:
    Worcester
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Wrong thread.
     
  12. Britfoamer

    Britfoamer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    2,175
    Likes Received:
    2,028
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Chemist (semi-retired)
    Location:
    Within 2 miles of the ELR
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Just about finishing up film with my trusty old Olympus OM1's and Zuiko lenses, but I have had a Panasonic 10 mp EVS + fixed Leica zoom lens for 2 years for some 'experience and learning' with digital. The image quality and fexibility of the camera has to be seen to be believed. I am still pondering if it's worth going down the separate body + lenses route.
     
  13. bobldoo

    bobldoo New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2010
    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    0
    Ianh,

    Sorry for the delay, I've not been in the office for a few days, but a guy there has a NEX5 and he is not overly impressed with it. He claimed the HD video was very grainy!
     
  14. MichaelWilliamTopham

    MichaelWilliamTopham New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2009
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    0
    The Sony NEX-5 is no CSC (Compact System Camera) slouch. It's slightly more limited with its 720p video recording over a Full HD CSC like the Panasonic GF2, however if it's still image quality you're after the NEX-5, with its APS-C sized sensor will deliver the goods.
    It's worth noting that a lot of the controls are menu based, so it can take a bit of using to get used to.
     
  15. Richard66

    Richard66 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2011
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    I.T.
    Location:
    Sandhurst
    I would recommend the Canon 1000D body-only. If you already have the lenses (as long as they're not the older FD mount) then you only need to get a body and save some money (the lenses you get with the bodies are budget models and not that great anyway). The 1000D also uses SD memory cards which are quite universal these days and seem to be the way cameras are going rather than the older and physically larger compactflash cards. Check out the spec here: http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital_slr/eos_1000d/
     
  16. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2009
    Messages:
    1,330
    Likes Received:
    2,113
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Carriage & Wagon
    Location:
    Sheringham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I am considering the Canon 1000D myself, so would anyone on here who has one be willing to share its strengths and weaknesses in the context of railway photography?

    I currently have a 3 megapixel digital camera from 2003 and would like a new one that can provide me with much sharper images but without me having to be too skilful. Have never had an SLR before so am I barking up the wrong tree with the 1000D?

    Would welcome comments from those more experienced!
     
  17. Neil_Scott

    Neil_Scott Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Messages:
    3,155
    Likes Received:
    302
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway servant
    Location:
    Worcester
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I use a 1000D and find it fine enough for what I want to do, though I'm thinking of upgrading it quite soon. It provides you with all the functions you would expect of a DSLR - you can get the camera to set the shot up for you or you can take full control of all the settings if you're skillful enough. It writes JPEGs or RAW files, has 3 different types of Canon's auto-focus and is compatible with the EF and EF-S lenses. It's a good place to start if it's your first DSLR.
     
  18. Richard66

    Richard66 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2011
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    I.T.
    Location:
    Sandhurst
    The 1000D probably has more functions than someone entering photography would ever use. People who are switching to the 1000D from older (but high spec) film cameras will find the available functions, and capabilites, at least a match for their older camera (even if the older camera was higher up the range, such as the Canon A1!). I have a 350D and bought an entry level 1000D for my daughter (it was her first DSLR) only to realise that it has a better spec than my older camera (such is the constant advancement of the technology)!

    I would say that if you are after sharp images, then using a good quality lens is probably more important than the camera itself. If you buy a camera with a "kit" lens included (as I did), then you will find that the lens will be a budget (cheap) model. Comparing the results of a bundled lens with another (more expensive) lens I had showed that the more expensive lens produced a much sharper image than the "kit" lens - the result was that I've never used the "kit" lens again. I believe that it is better to buy a body only and then buy a good quality lens (or if you have compatible lenses from an older camera, you can continue to use them as the low-end Canon DSLRs can use both the older EF and well as the new EF-S lenses). If you find Canon lenses too expensive for your budget, then the lenses from other manufacturers (such as Sigma or Tamron) which have the EF-S fitting will be just as good, and cheaper.
     
  19. almurdoch

    almurdoch New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2010
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Merchant Navy Deck Officer (Trainee)
    Location:
    Bromborough
    How much will a decent SLR set me back?
     
  20. Neil_Scott

    Neil_Scott Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Messages:
    3,155
    Likes Received:
    302
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway servant
    Location:
    Worcester
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Depends what you want, probably at least £350 - 400 depending on what you get.
     

Share This Page