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£200 for first DSLR?
- Thread starter Gigabyte
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I bought a Nikon D40 with kit lens in mint condition for £205 a month or so ago. It's about as good as it gets at that budget, and you buy into the excellent Nikon system of great optics. It has a 1/500 flash sync (better than 40x and D60), excellent low noise, RGB histogram, back button focusing, excellent spot and matrix metering, and plenty of megapixels for 16x10 prints. I am a fan of Nikon stuff so might be a bit biased, but I'd go for one of these over a Sony/Pentax any day.
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- Timmy
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now, having owned an a200 and a D40 (got mine for £180 with kit lens) in most ways I preferred the Nikon handling but the a200 had a lot going for it and I was very fond of it, you won't go wrong with it
I'd recommend the D40 too. It was my first DSLR and I slowly added a few more lenses to my collection after using the kit lens for a bit, then I upgraded to a D200 without having to worry about replacing lenses.
I still have my D40 for when I want something a little lighter because it takes great pics.
I still have my D40 for when I want something a little lighter because it takes great pics.
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- Rucel (but call me Rusty)
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I say go with the a200. I just recently bought an a330 and have loved it so far. As the a200 is virtually the same thing, and can be had for cheaper, go for it! But I have heard that the new 18-55mm lens is sharper than the 18-70mm kit lens that the a200 comes with.
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- Mark
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Normally everyone can read the for sale section here if they are registered and logged in I thought, unless you have upset someone
. There are a couple in the classifieds section of avforums, but they are kits and over your budget.
It is always work keeping an eye on dyxum ( www.dyxum.com ) for alpha mount stuff for sale, plus I think you can access the wanted section and post there without any post count restrictions (unlike here, for example).
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- Graham
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I've just bought a Sony a450 as a wildlife camera...it's only £329.99 at Comet with the 18-55mm lens and there's discount codes flying about as well 
I paid £316.00 delivered for mine which is cracking value, as it has the newer 14MP sensor from the a550 and very decent high ISO performance.
A little bit pricier than the budget you specified, but might persuade some a200 owners to upgrade and edvertise their existing cameras here
I paid £316.00 delivered for mine which is cracking value, as it has the newer 14MP sensor from the a550 and very decent high ISO performance.A little bit pricier than the budget you specified, but might persuade some a200 owners to upgrade and edvertise their existing cameras here
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- Graham
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a230 has a very small grip BTW...many people have found it uncomfortable. There are less features than that of the a200 too Look out for an a100 as well, which are going VERY cheaply at the moment, and is actually in some respects higher specified than the a200 (nicer body, DOF preview and mirror lockup, but lacks ISO 3200 which is terrible anyway lol).
Look out for an a100 as well, which are going VERY cheaply at the moment, and is actually in some respects higher specified than the a200 (nicer body, DOF preview and mirror lockup, but lacks ISO 3200 which is terrible anyway lol).
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I was in this position 2 months ago. I was looking at Nikons mainly (no real reason but the few DLRS I had held were Nikons and I liked it). I was looking at the D70(s), D50 and D40.
In the end I went for a mint D50 as it had the lens AF motor unlike the D40 and was a touch newer than the d70(s). The only real down side to the camera is no cable remote shutter port, which if I had realised I would have gone for a D70s I suspect.
I paid £190 collected for the mint D50, 18-55 kit lens and a spare Jessops battery. This was all in the origional Nikon box with about 4700 shutter releases on the clock.
While I would have preffered a D80, the additional money just isn't available , even if you total up the extra I have spent since a D80 was out of reach. Also this gives me the chance to learn and make sure that this really is something I want to be dropping £500+ on for better equipment. Used DSLR stuff also seems to hold value well so I should at least make a bit back when I upgrade by selling my current gear.
In the end I went for a mint D50 as it had the lens AF motor unlike the D40 and was a touch newer than the d70(s). The only real down side to the camera is no cable remote shutter port, which if I had realised I would have gone for a D70s I suspect.
I paid £190 collected for the mint D50, 18-55 kit lens and a spare Jessops battery. This was all in the origional Nikon box with about 4700 shutter releases on the clock.
While I would have preffered a D80, the additional money just isn't available , even if you total up the extra I have spent since a D80 was out of reach. Also this gives me the chance to learn and make sure that this really is something I want to be dropping £500+ on for better equipment. Used DSLR stuff also seems to hold value well so I should at least make a bit back when I upgrade by selling my current gear.
