celeste Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 I'm pig sick of my rubbish "point and shoot" job and would like to up grade to an entry level DSLR, any idea's whats a decent camera round about the £500 mark ? I've been looking at the Nokia D60, but it might work out more than I'm willing to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Just found this one Finepixwhich looks really good, any thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) It depends on what kind of photographs you want to take really. If you just want to take photos/snapshots that is a fab camera. If you have an interest in a certain type of photography ie portraits or landscapes, and this are going to need more lenses, then you are better off going with one of the more 'popular' DSLRS, Nikon, Canon etc as lenses are easier to come by. I have a Canon 1000D which I love! I believe the new Sonys are pretty good too for an entry level camera. You could look for a second hand camera? There are some good bargains on Ebay. Not sure what area you are in, but London Camera Exchange are in several areas too and are supposed to be good. I went into our local one and they were very helpful when I was trying to find filters. You also really need to hold a camera before you buy it. The last thing you want is to find that its too heavy or the buttons are in the wrong place for the size of your hands. The 1000D fits me perfectly as its smallish and lightweight and I have tiny hands. Edited December 17, 2009 by safneo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) I have a Nikon D70 which I love except for the screen on the back which is too small. Take that into consideration when making your choice. Also remember to factor lenses into your budget if going for a DSLR. I got all my kit second hand on ebay. If you want the convenience of throwing your camera into your handbag/pocket, then go for a compact. There's some great ones out now. I'm going to need a large hold all soon. Edited December 17, 2009 by Mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 thank you Some really good points,I'll go into Jessops in Perth and have a feel of the various ones,my friend suggested the Panasonic G1, looks fab, but once you start adding the lenses (I'd really like a zoom) the price rockets to £7-800 , I'd mostly like it for landscapes and dog action,off to look at Canon now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 No idea myself but when last looking for a camera I found this reviews site quite good & assuming you meant Nikon there is a review of the camera you have in mind http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 For best prices try http://www.pricerunner.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 (edited) I found http://www.photographyblog.com/ great when I was looking for my camera which I recently bought. It has advice on buying and the reviews are really detailed and include sample shots. It also suggests alternatives I didn't get a DSLR because I wouldn't play with all the buttons and I know I would get fed up of carrying the camera and lenses around, but I didn't want a point and shoot either, so I went for the Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ7, which is sort of in the middle. There are some examples here of the pics I took with it (it has all sorts of modes including a sports one for action shots, but the pics I took were just on intelligent auto setting) ETA :This pages gives you all the DSRL reviews. Edited December 18, 2009 by merledogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Do you mean Nikon D60 (as opposed to Nokia) - the review is here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 (edited) First decision is DSLR or compact superzoom. The superzooms (like merledogs, and my old thing, and that Finepix) are cheaper, all in one and smaller. In terms of the software, you will be able to pretty much manually set up anything that you could do on a DSLR - so if you want to change the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, colour balance etc, or shoot in RAW format, you can do all that with a superzoom. (and it's a good idea to work out how to, it can really improve your pictures). You can certainly take good action shots, zoom in on things, take nice portraits with one. The big limitation is that you can only have one lens, and that lens will probably be just a bit smaller. There's a limit to what you can do with a certain amount of glass. I find that I can generally take pictures that please me using my superzoom, but I don't generally print them out - in particular, I don't print them out HUGE. I reckon that a superzoom can almost compete with a DSLR in terms of the sort of photos it can take, until you really zoom in and start examining the fine detail, or print them out at a large size. The other thing is that with a DSLR with a big lens, you'll be able to take really good pics in lower light levels. I can take reasonable pics in low light, but my poor little lens is never going to be able to let in as much light as a whopping big DSLR one, so I start losing the fine detail before the DSLR user would. If you are used to a point and shoot compact that just takes basic snaps, then either would be a big step forward, but a DSLR will be a bigger step. The tradeoff is that you will need to spend more, and get used to carrying stuff in a bag. That's kind of why I haven't got one: I tend to just grab my camera and take pics as we are out walking, and I felt I wouldnt' take a larger camera with a bag and spare lenses with me. That said, if I had a spare £500, I'd buy the Panasonic G1, even though you only get the one lens to start with. I have fallen in love with it, and I want one! Edited December 18, 2009 by cycas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Did I write Nokia ?...... what a plank yes I ment Nikon Really useful advice, thank you When I used my old Ricoh SLR I mostly used the zoom lens, but the thought of lugging lenses out with me is a down side to the Panasonic, it is a much better camera, but there's not much point if it's a pain to take it out on a walk, which is when I'd be using it most,the Panasonic is very tempting though, the photo's I've seen from it look gorgeous, in it's favour the Fuji is supposed to be very good in low light, and it has a function where it over lays the image three times so you get a really lovely sharp image with a lot of depth (or something like that )and there's the price, I can get the Fuji for £299, do I really need to spend £200 more for a camera that I won't use as much cos it's a faff to take out, and tbh the Panasonic would probably be wasted on me, I'll probably get into the shop and end up choosing something completly different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wasn't sure what lenses etc you had in mind but before I suggested pricerunner last night I did a quick search on D60 you first mentioned & they listed Jessops as selling it with 18-55 & 55-200mm lens kit at £229 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/29-1108433/Digital-Cameras/Nikon-D60-Black-18-55mm-55-200mm-Lens-Kit-Compare-Prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisebt Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have one of the new Sony camera's, the A350 http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dss-digital-slr/dslr-a350 I've added 2 Lens' now and I have to admit I love this camera... you also get live view with it, you can see what your trying to photograph on the screen, tis fab! An example of pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wasn't sure what lenses etc you had in mind but before I suggested pricerunner last night I did a quick search on D60 you first mentioned & they listed Jessops as selling it with 18-55 & 55-200mm lens kit at £229 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/29-1108433/Digital-Cameras/Nikon-D60-Black-18-55mm-55-200mm-Lens-Kit-Compare-Prices Ooooo, now that's a good price, and it's in Jessops which is the only camera shop round here, I'll put that one on my list for Tuesday. Lovely photo's Lou :biggrin:haven't looked at the Sony's at all, but I'll see if they have those ones when I go in to Jessops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingrid Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 One thing to remember with the D60 is that is does not have an internal focus motor so you would be restricted to lenses that have them unless you want to manually focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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