£350,whats best ?

powell7

powell7

Messages
731
Name
chris
Edit My Images
Yes
a mate of mine whats to get a starter dslr,whats the best within this price range?
it needs to have a lens as well not just the body,thanks all chris.
 
I would be tempted to suggest looking second hand as you can get much better kit for the money.

You could pick up a new canon 1000D with kit lens for that, or may be able to find a used 450D/20-30D with a decent lens for the same money. It is the route I took to get second hand kit for now and that way if I sell it on to upgrade the loss is a lot smaller also ;)
 
Canon 350D and a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 would be a perfect camera to start with. The Tamron is highly praised is is always sharp. Only down side is it will be very hard to keep to your budget for £350. You may be able to get them for another £30-£50 but its worth it as im sure many other people will tell you.

If you want to keep in budget or go a little higher than the Canon 350D (although you will have to downgrade the lens) then a Canon 30D can be the next step up. Though you won't find a lens as good as the Tamron to keep in the budget. Having a Canon 50mm f1.8 prime would give you amazing quailty and with a aperture of f1.8 you will be able to shoot low light without flash or really high ISO. You can get them around £60 second hand or around £80 brand new. The downside to a 50mm prime is there is no zoom at all. If you wanted a a lens with a zoom then there is a few choices. Canon 28-135mm for around £150 or a Canon 17-85mm for about the same price. These two lenses slower then the Tamron and the Canon 50mm. If you wanted to save money on a lens which I don't recommend you do you could look towards a kit lens like the Canon 18-55mm, these normally go for the price of around £50-£60.

If it was me I would want the Tamron more than the other lenses so I would go with a smaller camera like the Canon 350D.

Thats the Canon side of things though and im sure you will get a few Nikon cameras thrown at you. :)
 
I recently bought a 450D from this shop on ebay

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/digigood/

The items are refurbished but are in brand new condition. I got my 450D for £375 i think it was, that was with the basic 18-55mm lens and a 4gb memory card.

They are price is very good as long as u dont mind it being refurbished. Have bought a camcorder of there as well they are great. Ordered on the Friday evening got it Monday morning.
 
I think people are missing the point here and recommending stuff that is not needed. The OP said its for a starter dslr, plus no mention has been made of type of photography needed. Why a starter would want a 50mm is beyond me unless they were very serious about this and looking to do some creative stuff.

My brother in law recently picked up a Canon 1000d with kit lens, was looking at that or Nikon D3000 which I suggested but he preferred the feel of the Canon. Both are very similar and good starter cameras. All he wants at the moment is to have a better quality camera than a compact for taking pictures when out (currently on honeymoon in Thailand) and of friends/family. He will be taking everything on Auto and saving to jpg. Nothing wrong with that (it did me fine on my D40, until I was bitten by the bug!!)

If he is like my brother in law then its far better to go to jessops or similar, try the camera, and get it from there. If however he is looking at this from a 'photography angle' rather than a replacement for a compact, then by all means, start looking second hand and at 50mm etc...
 
cambsno said:
I think people are missing the point here and recommending stuff that is not needed. The OP said its for a starter dslr, plus no mention has been made of type of photography needed. Why a starter would want a 50mm is beyond me unless they were very serious about this and looking to do some creative stuff.

My brother in law recently picked up a Canon 1000d with kit lens, was looking at that or Nikon D3000 which I suggested but he preferred the feel of the Canon. Both are very similar and good starter cameras. All he wants at the moment is to have a better quality camera than a compact for taking pictures when out (currently on honeymoon in Thailand) and of friends/family. He will be taking everything on Auto and saving to jpg. Nothing wrong with that (it did me fine on my D40, until I was bitten by the bug!!)

If he is like my brother in law then its far better to go to jessops or similar, try the camera, and get it from there. If however he is looking at this from a 'photography angle' rather than a replacement for a compact, then by all means, start looking second hand and at 50mm etc...
Click to expand...

Well say that 30 years ago and people would laugh at you...
 
Or a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 plus a 10D ;) Winning combo for a fantastic starter camera, affordable and good quality. I have been using my set up for a while now and it does 99% of the things I want it to. Only real downside to me is the screen size isn't fantastic.

Most will say the 10D is old etc now but for a beginner camera it's fine, and I prefer it to a 350D/1000D as the build quality is that much better.
 
James306 said:
Or a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 plus a 10D ;) Winning combo for a fantastic starter camera, affordable and good quality. I have been using my set up for a while now and it does 99% of the things I want it to. Only real downside to me is the screen size isn't fantastic.

Most will say the 10D is old etc now but for a beginner camera it's fine, and I prefer it to a 350D/1000D as the build quality is that much better.
Click to expand...

Anything on a Tamron 17-50mm would make a cracking pair.
 
Well say that 30 years ago and people would laugh at you...
Click to expand...

er..... we are not living 30 years ago! :shrug: 30 years ago it was film only... I dont get your point?

Personally, I love my 50mm and would not be without it, I use it 90% of time for paid work and probably over 50% of time for personal pics. If someone was looking at getting into photography as a hobby, rather than just to take pics I would strongly urge them to get a 50mm. BUT, many people who buy DSLRs are just looking for a camera to to take nice pictures, and to replace a compact. They have no interest in off camera flash, RAW, filters, spending time processing etc... I persuaded my Dad to get a 50mm and he never uses it, preferring his kit lens (18-105mm) as he can zoom in and out.
 
It's fine recommending 350ds, 10Ds and the like, and they are decent cameras, but as the OP said, it's for a mate to dip his toe in the water.

Personally, I would go for something BRAND NEW for £350 with a nice big screen with decent resolution and take it from there. Most of the entry level models will satisfy his needs to begin with and then he can starting looking at better quality lenses later once he "catches the bug" :D

Yust my tuppence worth.
 
Get him to go to Jessops or similar and try the Nikon D3000, Canon EOS 1000D and the Sony Alpha a290 for starters. Pick the one he likes the feel of as they are are all fine entry level DSLR's, all are just under £350 and come with 18-55mm kit lenses as standard and most importantly a warranty which you will not have with a secondhand camera.
 
PeteMo said:
It's fine recommending 350ds, 10Ds and the like, and they are decent cameras, but as the OP said, it's for a mate to dip his toe in the water.
Click to expand...

Why is there a but in there?
 
Hi Chris

I'll go with what I know. For general photography my wife has a Canon 20D and a 28-135 IS.

Perfect for walk around and general photography. I can't recommend the combo highly enough. If they get more into in they can then get some of their own lenses etc. My wife is perfectly happy with just these two, all on Jpeg.

Sure there are equivalent Nikon, Sony versions but I don't know what they are!

Al
 
Well for a start, a Nikon would be better. :LOL:

Although.. if you live nearby and are good friends.. it may be worth him having a sony so you can borrow lenses etc between you.

Otherwise though, how about something like a used D70 - there's also a used D3000 on there for £239, but the D70 would leave him £180 for lenses, with which he could probably get.. a 18-55 and 55-200?

And possibly an SD card as well.


It really depends if your friend would rather new or 2nd hand though besides all else.
 
I picked up my Sony a450 with the kit 18-55 lens for £299.99 at Comet, they had it on offer and the offer had finished but they still had the display model, may be worth a shot!
 
powell7 said:
a mate of mine whats to get a starter dslr,whats the best within this price range?
it needs to have a lens as well not just the body,thanks all chris.
Click to expand...

Best advice is go to the camera store and try them out. All the entry level camera's will get you started and give you a taster. You could go down the 2nd hand route and get abit more camera for your money but its probably more sensible to go new.

But your friend really needs to try out the camera bodies and ignore buy this or get that, its a personal choice and he really need to handle the camera(s) and see which one he feels comfortable holding and operating.....
 
thanks all,i`ll let him have a read of this.(y)
 
a450 + kit lens, £330 at Comet at the moment.
 
Luke - unfortunately body + 50mm only applies if you have full frame body. as 50mm on crop is weird. 35mm would be ideal, but still - I would recommend a prime for a starter.

a body which he likes + kit lens he can afford - yes .
a450 + kit I think is the best there is now on the market.
 
onomatopoeia said:
a450 + kit lens, £330 at Comet at the moment.
Click to expand...

there is a code to get 5% off too, and it works. Brings the price down to £313ish.
The code is 5OFF
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top