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Been thinking recently, I spend all my money and time on my bikes and Mrs Jackass hasn't really got a hobby or anything. She's had a few over the years but now with the family etc. she doesn't seem to have anything.
However the one thing she does do a lot of is taking pictures. Shes got a little Fuji compact camera which came highly rated on the gadget show and she is very pleased with it.
Now I would like to treat her and I am thinking of buying her a 'proper' camera and maybe getting her on a course or something. She did a City & Guilds many years ago in photography and really enjoyed it so I think she'll like the idea.
Now help, where do I start with a 'proper' camera? second hand or new? are those new mini digital SLR's any good??
Personally I am happier spending a smaller amount now and if she gets into it then spending more money on something specific later.
I always treat things like bikes, if I didn't ride I would prefer a £500 starter and then later spend £1500+ on a bike that I choose than go straight into something expensive and regret it later (not looking at spending this much just a reference).
There are a few deals in the classifieds IIRC atm so advice on any of these would also be appreciated.
Cheers
I have a Nikon D70 body she can borrow long term, so you'd just need a lens. It's not exactly 'mini' though...
Depends how much you want to spend?
For well less than £500 you can get a decent new or secondhand entry level DSLR with kit lenses of various lengths.
Not sure what compact Mrs Jackass has at the moment but maybe a bridge camera would be an upgrade but still without the 'faff' of changing lenses and still keeping the size down.
About 18 months ago, I posted a request for camera info on here and someone (soory for not remembering the name - very poor of me) offered me a secondhand Fuji S9600. This soon became a DSLR (with 5 lenses and counting). The S9600 is now with my son and seems to be doing the same trick ......
So what I'm saying, a Fuji bridge camera could be a good way to introduce all the functionality of a DSLR without all the lenses etc.
I'd go for a budget DSLR with a decent range zoom lens - 18-105 or something similar.
You should be able to pick up a 2nd hand Nikon D40 or D60 pretty cheaply with the kit 18-55 lens. Perhaps even the D80 won't be that much now the D90 is out.
Personally I would steer clear of budget Canons as they don't seem to have great build quality & the 18-55 kit lens when I was looking to buy about 3yrs ago was considered pretty poor.
The budget end Sony Alpha's get a pretty good write up.
EDIT - Oh and as above - a decent budget SLR can be had for about 350 quid so you might not need to go for second hand.
Camera for wife
-Whats the wife like? 😉
IGMC
£500 is mid-range these days. The Sony's a2xx/a3xx series are small and girly sized. The Olympus and Panasonic offerings are even smaller.
Personally I would steer clear of budget Canons as they don't seem to have great build quality & the 18-55 kit lens when I was looking to buy about 3yrs ago was considered pretty poor.
I disagree entirely here. At the budget end they're much of a muchness, and the 450d I had came with an 18-55 IS lens. Plus, unlike the budget Nikons, you can use any canon lens on a budget canon. There are many Nikon-fit lenses you can't use on a budget Nikon...
Not long since I posted the same thing. [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/st-photographers-recommend-me-a-good-proper-camera ]See here[/url] As it says I went for Nikon d5000 in the end, ended up costing just over £400 with 18-55mm VR lens, and £50 cashback
LX3 if you want something pocketable yet extremely capable and as close you can get to DSLR features without the bulk.
Otherwise if you are determined to go for a DSLR D5000 which is only like 100£ more than the LX3.
If she is after something lighter than the dslr then the Canon G10 and SX1 are good cameras and get good reviews.
Not long since I posted the same thing. See here As it says I went for Nikon d5000 in the end, ended up costing just over £400 with 18-55mm VR lens, and £50 cashback
Just about to post that I was having deja vu and that I'd read this before, until the above was posted 🙂
zokes - true about the lenses - I have a D80 so never really consider that.
There's still loads of lens choice from Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina even if you avoid the ones without a built in focus motor (they will still 'work', you just have to use manual focus).
But - every budget Canon I have fiddled around with felt really cheap to hold. When i got my D80 I was also looking at the Canon 350d as I wasn't sure I wanted to pay the extra for the D80. The switches/controls on the 350D felt the same as on my plasticky KonicaMinolta Dimage Z3, and it didn't have much 'heft' to it.
But, as I said that is just my personal opinion & to be honest probably makes no difference to the functionality of the cameras or the quality of the images.
Yep, I have heard that the 18-55 IS lens is better than the non IS kit lens, but I was just making the comment that the standard 18-55 is pretty widely considered to be a bit pants.
[url= http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1087875262.1264195635@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccgeadejgmijhifcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&page=Product&sku=443264 ]Pentax[/url]
Thanks for all your responses, I am interested in Plant's input as she has a fuji at the moment so it might be a good progression and I appreciate the comments about weight as I could see it being left at home if it isn't right 🙄
Having a quick look it might be a good price to start with too.
Has anyone else spend any time with the Fuji S9600??
Cheers
Fuji S9600 ?
I had a somewhat earlier version, and was deeply unimpressed by the electronic viewfinder - which also drinks the batteries. The viewfinder looked so bad you had to make an act of faith that the shot would be much better 🙁
I'd say if you go beyond a compact go for a DSLR.
I do own an older super zoom and it is in many ways amazing. But I found a DSLR alot better
I'm not a big believer in the need for huge numbers of pixels etc. THe super zoom took some good shots
What lets the super zoom down is the evf (electroniv view finder) which always lags the action, as well as being a bit grainy. The autofocus is slow and they can't follow action
I'd look at something like this for a lighter DSLR
Although my camera is a Nikon D70. Great but not compact....
The best thing to do, is buy something like a Canon 1000D and get her the single most important thing for a new SLR user - training
an SLR is only as good as the user, or in the case of always using it in automatic - a compact!
- experience seminars are pretty good, and should you purchase a Canon SLR from Currys you can get the training half price!
Oh and in case your wondering, this is an informed opinion, as I work in the camera industry.
So that obviously makes me an expert/guru (i don't mind either, lol 😆 ) - drop me a message if you want any advice/help
Also, beware if she gets into it - it's a very expensive hobby! (think bikes, and having at least one specific bike for each type of riding you do)
Lens' are the investment and will last for years, the camera body is relatively cheap in comparison
an SLR is only as good as the user, or in the case of always using it in automatic - a compact!
this is just plain wrong - you may play with exposures if you wish but the image is the important thing.
How about getting her an old 35mm film SLR? Dead cheap these days and a requirement for most photography courses (the examining bodies need to see you can actually take a good picture rather than be good at using photoshop) A camera without the many many functions of digital cameras also helps you to understand the basics of operating a camera too.
Not sure how thats"plain wrong"?
- Think you missed my point (although it may not of been clear)
What I was saying is that a photo taken on an SLR in auto will be pretty much the same or worse (not talking actual image quality) but the auto modes in most compact cameras now days are far smarter than those found in an SLR - because an SLR isn't designed to be used as a point and shoot, it's designed to give the user the control of what they are shooting!
- It also depends on how you define "image" - to me the quality of the photo includes the use of depth of field and composure, aswell as the [i]chosen [/i] exposure - all should be user decided!
"Play with the exposures"? - I think you'll find there is way more to it than that! Depth of field?
