or second hand mid range dslr?
Budget about 400 quid.
How about an Olympus Pen? Or a Panasonic GF1?
Micro four thirds neat small and fully featured.
Not the best at high ISO's but as a camera for general photo taking they are brilliant, having a camera that's small enough to carry with you most of the time is very important.
Something like this.
Sony A55
Nikon D3100 - now being knocked out at Jessops for £399 - that's £25 less that I paid on Amazon a few weeks ago!
Really nice camera and great to use after deciding to take the plunge and make the move up from digital compacts...
or second hand mid range dslr?Budget about 400 quid.
's exactly what I did.
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/ctg/Canon-EOS-500D-Digital-Rebel-T1i-15-5-MP-Digital-SLR-Camera-Black-Kit-w-Canon-EF-S-18-55mm-Lens-/100188455 ]Canon 500D + kit lens[/url] within budget, for instance. Better than my 450D. (-:
As a rule of thumb, lenses hold their value, bodies depreciate, so there's lots of second hand bargains to be had.
If you're looking at Canon / Nikon, play with both in a shop and see what 'feels' right; they both have strengths but overall they're as good as each other.
second hand camera gear doesn't seem to work out all that much cheaper, your probably not going to get a mid range DSLR with lens for entry level money unless you go for something a bit older or that's been well used and abused, in which case a new entry level is probably just as good. Plus I find it's nice to have the peace of mind and the warranty you get with new gear.
You should be able to get a new Nikon D3100 or Canon 500D for around the £400 quid mark, and either are more than capable as first DSLR's
Sony a55 or a35.
Forget the cheapies, get a second hand Canon 40D body for around £350 and a second hand lens, 50mm F1.8 or a is kit lens. It will urinate all over 500d, d3100 etc, no mucking about with going through menus to get to the often used settings and it feels like a camera rather than a lump of plastic.
Forget the cheapies, get a second hand Canon 40D body for around £350
Why?
It's old, out of warranty and doesn't perform anything like as well as a camera with a modern sensor (2 stops down on dynamic range).
So a 500D is better than a 40D is it? Ummm no, IQ on the 40D id far better.
No, that's got an old sensor too. It's been around seen 2009. That's practically an antique.
Check out all of those that are within your budget.
The one to chose it the one you feel the most comfortable
with
40D has a dynamic range of 9EV, what are you trying to compare it to, a Sony A55 as is it has a dynamic range of 9EV?
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I bought a D3100 last month as a graduation present for my daughter.
£440 from Jessops but with £40 cashback from Nikon.
I like it so much I may well buy one for myself 🙂
entry DSLR - Pentax K-r
this should be in contention and heres a good deal on it
I'd probably get a m43 camera though - Panasonic G3 or Olympus EP2 though .. or wait for the EP3 to fall in price ..
A Pentax K-r which can be had new with a 18-55 for £400. Better built than most in its class, very compact, has image stabilisation in body and a very good sensor. You also get access to some brilliant VERY compact lenses if you decide to get into the whole prime lenses thing 🙂
Moved from a D40/D7000 to a K-5 and I am far too happy with that.
Another happy D3100 owner here.
I'm not sure why anyone is suggesting the Sony A55 - cheapest online (reliable) price with kit lens is Jessops @ £599 - I'm getting one with a bag, spare battery, card, cheap Tamron zoom and already I'm up to £800