My wife wants to get a new camera, we have had point and shoot type ones in the past but she fancies getting a DSLR type as she wants to learn how to take wonderful photo’s. She is a successful designer so I have no doubt she’ll take to it well and she always puts lots of time and effort into learning something (unlike myself, I am lazy). She has a budget of around £350 and wants to buy new, so what should we be looking for? Any recommendations etc. Thanks in advance.

I’d recommend a second hand body and a new lens something like a canon 500D and a 50mm 1.8mm would be a good starter setup.

I think you’ll struggle to get anything new with decent lens in the SLR class even a 4/3 system for £350.

As above,secondhand Canon,or Nikon..Have a play with both in the shops and decide which she prefers.

Latest Canon 600d is on ebay from their refurb outlet, with lens for £399. search ebay for ‘canonoutlet’

^ The 600d would be a good buy.

Otherwise you’re looking at the bottom of the pile. Something like the 1100d, which is the budget offering from Canon (I’m sure Nikon will have an equivalent too, but I’m not up with them).

I’d second the 50mm prime lens. Not as versatile as a zoom, but the kit lenses on the budget cameras aren’t the best. The 50mm is a little long for general use but makes a great portrait lens, and will give you the depth of field and sharpness of much more expensive lenses. Definitely worth considering as it’s an absolute bargain.

On the whole, Photography is bloody expensive, so there are not many options on the cheap.

On the whole, Photography is bloody expensive, so there are not many options on the cheap.

Only if you choose to make it so. A 3-4 year old DSLR body will be more than enough for most users and can be had for very little cash. As for lenses, really good glass costs, but most people don’t need it and can just buy cheap Tamron / Sigma lenses which will take excellent shots.

As for lenses, really good glass costs, but most people don’t need it and can just buy cheap Tamron / Sigma lenses which will take excellent adequate shots.

😉

Have a look over on the TP classified section. TBH I’d say that a 30 or 40 D plus kit zoom lens can be had for well under your budget and will be way better that the xxxx series bodies

Only if you choose to make it so. A 3-4 year old DSLR body will be more than enough for most users and can be had for very little cash. As for lenses, really good glass costs, but most people don’t need it and can just buy cheap Tamron / Sigma lenses which will take excellent shots.

Clearly cheap is a relative term 😉

There’s some good stuff on the secondhand market though. Definitely worth checking out.

I have loads of L series Canon lenses and also a razor sharp Sigma 150mm f2.8 Macro leans so please don’t think Sigma or Tamron don’t make very good lenses as they do.

Have a look over on the TP classified section

Not until you have been a member for two months and made the requisite number of eligible posts

I agree with the above comments, you might need to increase the budget a bit to get started

Have a play with both in the shops and decide which she prefers.

+1 – good handling is. IME, an important consideration – how is it to hold? How intuitive are the menu’s?

I’d second the 50mm prime lens

Butcher has it right – a way sharper lens than the budget zooms. It may be a little long for a some situations but, that’s what mother nature gave us legs for – move back, move forward, move up, crouch down 🙂 Or, stretch the budget a little and go for a 35mm lens = roughly a 50mm lens on a ‘crop sensor’ camera – use of legs still applies 🙂

If video is completely irrelevant, I would suggest a Canon 40D.
The more I look into the 600D, 60D and 650D, the more I realise that Canon haven’t really improved things since the 40D.
(unfortunately I fancy video).

Second hand prices are about £200 for a mint body on ebay.
The new Canon 18-55mm IS II kit lens doesn’t seem as bad as I initially thought. They go on ebay for £50.

Even though your wife is probably comfortable in Photoshop, I would really recommend Lightroom as taking an awful lot of hassle out of post-processing and photo organisation.

Alternatively, if you want new (or video), there is a good deal on a 600D here:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/canon-600d-dslr-with-18-55mm-lens-free-remote-free-battery-only-449-99-with-cur499-1345262

As mentioned, handling is important. I personally prefer the cheap Nikons to the cheap Canons in this department, but the 40D is lovely to hold and use.

Probably the most disappointing thread in a while, was really hoping the OP had cracked and was having conversations with a Fuji Finepix

I opened this thread as I ordered a Panasonic LX7 online at the end of last week. As I read through, it landed on my desk! So hooray for me and my shiny new camera.

Might be worth at least considering a premium compact, LX7 and competitors. (Although for all I know she might have already discounted them). All the full manual control of an SLR, without the bulk. Some sacrifice of image quality and ability to blur background, but certainly able to take wonderful photos and learn the interplay of aperture and shutter speed, and obviously composition.

I find I’m more likely to take photos if I’ve got a camera with me, hence taking as many on my phone than current compact, and more on the compact than the SLR.

Something she can have with her in a handbag all the time might be quite attractive.

Whilst I agree with nedrapier in some respects, it doesn’t personally work for me.
I have an iPhone 4, an LX3 and a 40D.

I use the iPhone and the 40D because one is always on me and I can process on the iPhone and the other takes the best photos. The LX3 has become my wife’s and kid’s snapshot camera.

But that’s because photography for me is a hobby. I don’t just want to record some good events in the best way possible, I also want to experiment and play. So I’ve got off-camera flash kit, filters, macro lenses, etc, etc.

I will say this, however. When I first bought my 40D I wanted to learn photography. I thought that at any point I could take the kind of photo I saw and loved on Flickr.

I now know that the most important things are timing and setup. I.e. It’s no good going out in the middle of a summer’s day and expecting to take a moody landscape shot. You have to wait for the ‘magic hour’ and preferably in Autumn, and combine multiple exposures, and consider an ND grad filter, and have a long exposure to get dramatic clouds, etc, etc, etc. Photography is quite a bit of effort as well as knowledge.

I find it fun though, and I think a designer’s brain is well suited to it, because there is technical knowledge required as well as creativity.