Hi all,

I'm looking at SLRs and wondered if any of these were decent (£500 or less ones due to budget):

http://www.bestbuy.co.uk/category/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-slrs/digital-slrs.aspx

They all seem relatively well priced and so wasn't sure if that would mean they are low quality. All comments appreciated

Lee

Personally think the lense is the major factor, as Micky has said, the body just stores the picture and changes the settings, the quality of the lense is the thing to look out for, don't forget you will want a long range lense so look at the cost of them

The 18-55mm lenses don't actually zoom in as far as you would think

A few of the guys on here use the sonys. Most are Canon with a few nikon users

Main things to look out for are number of aftermarket lens avaliable. Nikon and Canon both have the most.

Mega pixels are only a marketing tool. You can print A3 size pics from a 3mp camera

Also go to a shop and see how they feel in your hands! No point in using a camera if it dosn't fit your hands or feels odd.

Canon
****d are the very basic
***d are enthuastic
**d are semi pro.

If you can strech to a *** series camera go for it. They have better senors and build quality.

Nikon are similar d3000 cheapest to d7000

Adam is right about the lense but at the lower end of the scale they are all about the same. Only when getting more glass does does it pay to spend a bit more.

Out of the above i'd go for the 500d but you may want to budget for a telephoto in the future for track pictures or anything far away.
A get you by lens could be
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-75-300mm-4...9825&sr=8-2

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-tamron-70-300mm-f4-5-6-di-ld-macro-lens-canon-fit/p1013817

+ remember you will need memory cards, case and possibly a spare battery. Does that all need to come into your budget?

Most of the pictures on my flickr accout were done with the kit lens.

And these with the canon 70-300
http://www.flickr.com/photos/micky_photography/sets/72157624534600536/

If you are on a tight budget maybe consider a bridge camera? Dslrs require you to put effot in to get good results. The main reason for going for a dslr is to take more control on how you take a picture. shutter speed, aperature control, no delay when you push the shutter ect.

If it's just better quality pics most recent brige camera can match a dslr for image quality.

Hope thats help out a little and isn't too confusing

I have a Canon 400D and today played with a mates 40D an it felt brilliant and the photos were good too

Canon SLR user here, get a good lens for zoooooooooooooooooooooom shots and you're away

Its like anything mate, if you buy an £800 camera it doesnt automatically make you a good photographer, get something you can afford and then upgrade the lenses if you really get into it

Micky covered it I would add that it would be best to go and try several different brands before you buy. I couldn't get on with the ergonomics of Nikon and Sony felt weird in my hands to hold

Try this web site, http://www.dpreview.com/ I always follow the reviews on the cameras from this web site. Been using slrs for years now, and still get tempted by a new Model that Comes out. But in the end I spend big bucks on lenses. It still surprises me how quality of the picture changes from lens to lens not the camera. Simple rule with lenses is the larger the zoom range the more compromise in quality, as more internal lenses are needed for the focal range. Go for a focal range you would use. But in the end if your only going to view on screen or print to A4, you really wont notice that much.

i got the canon 1000d kit and im very happy with it and it was cheap! but its my first proper camera! i probably would have been impressed with a disposable.

Thanks to all for the advice, really appreciate it - will have a looksy at those suggested

I've got a Sony a350 - It has the live view screen which DSLR's don't have. It flips out so you are able to see pictures that you wouldn't want to get down on the ground or can't see what your looking at over a crowd etc. It's come in veryyyy handy having the live view.

Great pictures and very easy to use. I agree with others. It's not all about the most expensive camera out there. It's about knowing how to use it. My old sony digital camera took some amazing pictures. You'll find loads of them on here in the archive threads.

I loved the tilting screen on one of the cameras i had. It was very usefull. All new dslr's come with live view now but the move able screen on the sony is a bonus if you use it. For me it's not a prioity as 95% of my shots i'm using the eye piece anyway.
Live view comes into it's own when shooting macro stuff as you can zoom in and get the focus bang on!

I mainly take photos of moving objects and as our weather is often so rubbish I find it hard to get enough light to support the fast shutter speed

Thats the beauty with the dslr. Using the eye piece is easier to pan with and low light dosn't have to be a problem.

Overcast today and crap light. 1/640 f4.5 iso1600. Dslr's can use a much higher iso than compacts allowing faster shutter speeds with less noise.


51/365/2011 Hunting you down by Micky Photography, on Flickr

For motorsport you won't need anything as fast as that

Thats quality for iso 1600, I cant see any noise at all

There is some backgorund noise if you view large but i was suprised how little there was.