£200 for first DSLR?

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My brother-in-law wants a DSLR. He only has £200 to spare. What would you suggest for that price, obviously 2nd hand.

Not sure what would be his main uses for the camera but he does have kids and holidays quite a bit and loves old churches, building etc!
 
For that price, a canon 350D or nikon D40/D40X and 18-55 kitlens seem like the best options.
 
If you can go a bit more you could have a look in the classifieds on here :)
 
pentax k100d super, just got one for £130 delivered and it a great camera.
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Totally agree, I had one and its an excellent camera as is the K200D, kit lens is pretty good too I seem to remember
 
Ok, thanks. I told him to join these forums but he wants me to do all the leg work!
 
Not sure if this "in with the rules" but its my honest opinion when i was in the exact same situation, i was recommened a 350d and i got one and have used to and learn with it for a year now and it taught me alot.

And also its now for sale and in budget http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=258966

Again though its down to your opinion, just thought i would mention it.

Thanks
Andy
 
Would you say the A200 is a better camera than the K100D?
 
gibbon said:
Not sure if this "in with the rules" but its my honest opinion when i was in the exact same situation, i was recommened a 350d and i got one and have used to and learn with it for a year now and it taught me alot.

And also its now for sale and in budget http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=258966

Again though its down to your opinion, just thought i would mention it.

Thanks
Andy
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What spec is the camera? Condition? Many shots with it?
 
Eighth Avenue said:
There was a 30d for sale on this forum at £175, body only mind so a cheap lens would put you a touch above budget
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Is the 30D a step up from the 350D? I haven't a clue about which one lies in what order of abilities etc!
 
30D is a whole floor above the 350D, not a step...

With 200 as a budget, no way would I be buying new.
 
The 30D is what i have changed to, some say it is a step up although it is similer spec, its just slightly bigger so i feel i will prefer it. Although saying that i have been searching for one for a while and on ebay i checked everyday and wasnt finding many decent ones under the £250 - £275 range.

If there is a body on here for £175 that would be bargain if its in good cond.

Anyways, as im not sure about rules i wont go into advertising my 350d, i have wrote about it on the ad in the classifieds, if u have any more question please do ask me, but on that one or pm. :)

cheers
Andy
 
SparkUK said:
Same sensor and processor though... but a world apart in build quality and handling, plus bits like spot metering.
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Well this is a bit OT.. but 30D sensor has a higher resolution, one stop higher ISO available, shoots at 5 vs 3fps, has 9 vs 7 focus points, AI servo available, double the pixels on the rear LCD.. umm must've forgotten something else as well :)
 
vaizki said:
Well this is a bit OT.. but 30D sensor has a higher resolution, one stop higher ISO available, shoots at 5 vs 3fps, has 9 vs 7 focus points, AI servo available, double the pixels on the rear LCD.. umm must've forgotten something else as well :)
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I've had them both and it was the handling that really stood out for me rather than the 'functional' stuff, depends what you're using it for as ever though.
 
Ok guys, so if he can find a cheaply priced A200 would that be a good camera to learn with? As someone pointed out above, there are quite a few on Ebay.
 
gibbon said:
Only thing i would say, and im not actually upto scratch on sony DLSR's but be weary of the lens options, canon and nikon have large slection of lenses, unsure about sony and others.

A freind does have a sony a200 and it does take nice pics.

Thanks
Andy
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ignore this. Sony uses the same mount as the Minolta lenses and you can pick up loads of excellent minolta glass on ebay for real cheap. I had an a200, awsome camera
 
the sony a200 has more megapixels it has 10 and the pentax is 6meg, the pentax is alot more solid is about 100grames heavier, both have inbuilt stablilisation in my op the pentax poduces better pics, and there are more lenses in the pentax range i would say.

also the pentax has a top lcd which is handy.
 
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StevenFullerton said:
id say buy a panasonic compact rather than a crap old beat up second hand SLR thats 6 years old and could die at any minute.
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say wha? I paid £160 for my (now sold) D40...it certainly was not a crap old beat up SLR
 
StevenFullerton said:
id say buy a panasonic compact rather than a crap old beat up second hand SLR thats 6 years old and could die at any minute.
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Saying for £200 it'd automatically be a "crap old beat up second hand SLR thats 6 years old and could die at any minute" seems a bit of a stretch to me. Not everyone can afford such expensive cameras as you and I (I have a D90), and I can't quite see how getting a budget second hand DSLR would be a worse option than a new P&S. At the very least it would give him a starting point for getting a collection of lenses and such going. Where would getting a P&S get him in that regard? That's right, nowhere.

Added to which having a DSLR to start with will teach him how to use them. Everyone's got to start somewhere, and for someone who wants to start using DSLRs buying a P&S camera, makes no sense to me :wacky:
 
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Boopop said:
Saying for £200 it'd automatically be a "crap old beat up second hand SLR thats 6 years old and could die at any minute" seems a bit of a stretch to me. Not everyone can afford such expensive cameras as you and I (I have a D90), and I can't quite see how getting a budget second hand DSLR would be a worse option than a new P&S. At the very least it would give him a starting point for getting a collection of lenses and such going. Where would getting a P&S get him in that regard? That's right, nowhere.

Added to which having a DSLR to start with will teach him how to use them. Everyone's got to start somewhere, and someone who wants to start using DSLRs buying a P&S camera makes no sense to me :wacky:
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well said.
 
The Sony a200 is a brilliant first DSLR, I loved it! Only downside is the high ISO, but for a first camera it should be fine :) Nice big LCD on the back and it handles much better than the a230 that followed it.

The a100 is built better, and should be cheaper if you can find one. High ISO is worse though. Great starter cam though :)
 
It's getting a little long in the tooth but I think the Nikon D70 is a great little camera which I'm sure could be had within budget. And it has the motor to drive all your nice second hand lenses that the D40 etc can't manage.

I don't know what kind of lens the A200 generally ships with, but work bought a couple of A350s a while back and the kit lens is impressively poor.
 
D70 is also a pretty good buy because it's the only Nikon DSLR (that I know of) with a CCD sensor and electronic shutter, so the strobist guys love it (flash sync speeds of 1/4000s etc without HSS). This means it'll probably maintain a bit more value :)

(This maybe wishful thinking due to the fact that I own a Canon 1D with a CCD!)
 
Thanks for all your help. He could buy a Compact but has already had one and wants to progress. Getting a 2nd hand DSLR is a good way to go as i think he can use it to learn and see if it suits his needs.

The A200 looks the way to go and have told him what you guys have said. Thanks
 
neilia said:
I don't know what kind of lens the A200 generally ships with, but work bought a couple of A350s a while back and the kit lens is impressively poor.
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I bought my A300 (basically the same as the A200 but with live view) as my first DSLR two years ago, I bought it body only as I already had Minolta lenses. So the answer might well be "none."

The newer Sony 18-55 "kit" lens is considerably better than the older 18-70 by all accounts. There are also a large number of second hand options if buying body only, some of which are very good performers for the price e.g. Minolta 24-50/4, 35-70/4 etc.
 
I bought a Canon 20D around that budget, its been great and I have friends with Canon so plenty of lenses to borrow :)
 
I've seen the below for £165 (not ebay):
'Sony A200 w/ kits lens 18-70mm/3.5-5.6 + 4GB Sandisk Extreme III 30MB/s'

Not sure if it's a good price though.
 
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