I’ve seen the NX3000 and EOS M for £200 and have been looking at various second hand cameras at sub 200 beans. There are new X3000 bodies for £100 but by the time you add a telephoto lens it doesn’t make much sense.
I’d ideally like to spend as little as possible and the Samsung looks hard to beat at that price but what would you recommend?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-panasonic-lumix-fs2-camera

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I keep having to use maximum willpower not to buy myself a Panasonic GF6.

I’ve an EOS M cracking picture quality but its a bit slow locking focus, OK for static images but not so for moving ones, couldn’t resist at the price Argos are knocking them out at.

For an all rounder CSC I’d suggest an Olympus or Panasonic Micro Four Thirds as they have the largest choice when it comes to lenses.

I think that microfourthirds seems to be a good way to go. But we don’t really know what you want

But the early cameras are great and cheap as chips

Panasonic GF1 for £60-£80

I saw a Panasonic GF2 and twin lenses go for £155

Another one here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221618459714?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

But I recon prices will be lower after the big day

Nex 3 and 5 are readily available for well under £200 used. Big best of class sensor, lots of lens choice, endless adapters if you fancy playing with old manual lenses and an upgrade path of newer bodies with varied feature sets.

lots of lens choice

Really

I’m sure I’d own one if I though was true. Persuade me..

There’s 43 to date with lots more coming next year. It’s the fastest growing system.

Have a look on dyxum

Choose fixed, zoom or macro then select e-mount.

I’m still not sold

Its great for the a few short fast primes costing a fortune mob

But only one ultra wide option and only 2 tele zooms

The ultra wide is pricey as is one tele zoom

I have at least now seen the 55-210 cheaply now

You won’t find any cheap lenses in mirrorless land and don’t forget that the smaller sensors on m43 require faster lenses to compensate, or put it another way, apsc cameras can use slower lenses for the same end result.

If you want cheap lenses forget mirrorless and look at dslrs. Or in the case of sony just add an la-ea2 and use any of the sony/minolta dslr lenses.

What about the Sony A5000? I presume being an Alpha, it will accept all the Alpha mount lenses available for the SLR/SLT models, which includes all the old Minolta offerings – the 50mm f1.7 being a lovely piece of cheap glass. Can be had for £269 @ Jessops.

I like the fact you can use your smartphone as a remote too

Ah, this is where it gets complicated.

Sony have recently rebranded the nex line as alpha so both e-mount and a-mount cameras start with an a. With an adapter a mount lenses can be used without penality on the e mount but you can’t use e mount lenses on a mount cameras.

Four numeric digit alphas, like the a5000, are e mount apsc.
Three numeric digit alphas are the old flappy mirror dslr a mount apsc cameras, except the a850 and a900 which are full frame.
Two numeric digit alphas are a mount apsc, except the a99 which is full frame.
One numeric digit alphas are e mount full frame.

So, no, the a5000 is really a nex. You’d need an a58!

Ah, I see….

Way over your budget but a lot cheaper than anyone else seems to be selling it :

http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/panasonic-lumix-dmc-g6-kit-black–14-140-power-ois-2509-p.asp

I bought this kit a while ago and am glad I did – the 14-140 zoom is very useful.

It is only very slightly bigger than my old Lumix FZ38 and just fits into the same Lowepro Apex 100 case.

For use without the case I use a peak designs leash, which if attached on one side lug and the tripod mount lets the camera hang lens down and therefore a lot more discretely than a DSLR.

By the time you have a zoom lens on the smaller cscs they will take up nearly as much room, and they don’t have a viewfinder, which I find very useful.

By the time you have a zoom lens on the smaller cscs they will take up nearly as much room, and they don’t have a viewfinder, which I find very useful.

Yeah, big lens don’t make much sense. Plenty of mirrorless cameras have view finders now, but they start getting expensive.

Its great for the a few short fast primes costing a fortune mob

It’s Sunday, it’s grim out and i’m bored so i’ll do some more evangelising.

Sony 16mm f2.8, much maligned but better than the 17mm olympus I had. Good stopped down. £149 new.

Ultra wide adapter for above (12mm). No drop in quality. Better than the expensive ultrawide dslr zooms I’ve owned. £89 new.

Sigma 19mm f2.8. Very good lens. £129 new.

Sigma 30mm f2.8. Excellent lens. £129 new.

Sony 50mm f1.8. Excellent and stabilised. £198 new (often less than that)

Sigma 60mm f2.8. Excellent again. £129 new.

So, while there are lenses to cater for the short fast primes costing a fortune mob there are plenty of reasonably priced good quality primes too.

Wow lots to take in for a n00b. I’ll be using the camera for all sorts but mainly holiday snaps and portraits. If budget allowed the A5000 for £259 looks ace, otherwise a Nex 3 or 5 and an E-A adaptor, I quite fancy having a play around with the cheapy Holga and Lomo style lenses too.

Well, in the end I went full circle and got a new NX3000 for £185, I just couldn’t justify paying thirty quid less for a two or three year old camera, very happy so far although I have little to compare it against. Cheers anyway.

That’s a bargain.