£500 FOR STARTER KIT help please

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Chris
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Lookinfor a starter kit to move up from p&s for small hands. Must be new and budget of £500. Nikon d5000 plus 18-55 & 55-200 vr can be had for 499. But perhaps this may be too complex. Need good low light and hd video. Any suggestions to look at also needs to be fashionable

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Why does it need to be fashionable?....and what exactly is fashionable when it comes to cameras?

Janet
 
To be honest, it's hard to buy a bad SLR. The D5000 will be fine, as would Canon's offerings. Don't forget other manufacturers - the Pentax K-X gets good reviews and is a decent price for a 2-lens kit. It also comes in different colours, which may appeal?

You'd get more for your money by buying 2nd-hand though. Perhaps a 2nd hand D40/D40x/D70/D70x, plus a mid-range zoom lens (18-55VR / 18-105VR / 18-70?) to start and go from there. Makes more sense to spend the budget on lenses rather than having a 1st-hand body.

Will the user be able to borrow your lenses?
 
JL and Jessops have the Sony a33 for £499,my wife has one and loves it as her hands are small.
 
^ SOny suggestion is good, that SLT technology is fairly cool.
 
Thanks for all the helpfull comments. Looking at nikon 3100 v 5000 & cant make our minds up. Any experiences anyone

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D5000 has faster FPS, bracketing, more D-lighting options and an articulated screen. D3100 has a bigger screen (same pixel count) and better video (1080 and AF).

Which is important is up to you!
 
DPReview did a comparison with their D3100 review. Also google "D5000 vs D3100" (and vice versa)
 
Fashionable? Maybe a GF2 or EPL or NEX, doubt the bulk of a DSLR is fashionable.

The D3100 is good also has better High ISO performance than the D5000 but no tilt screen. I'd second the second hand D40 + a decent normal zoom lens like the 17-50 Tamron. Those can be had for 400£ if you look a bit hard second hand.
 
Lack of Internal focus motor would stop me getting a cheaper Nikon.
 
Lack of Internal focus motor would stop me getting a cheaper Nikon.

In reality, it's not an issue. There is only one lens I would like that won't AF and that is the 50mm 1.8. Having a 35mm 1.8 cushions the blow of that somewhat.
 
In reality, it's not an issue. There is only one lens I would like that won't AF and that is the 50mm 1.8. Having a 35mm 1.8 cushions the blow of that somewhat.

I agree. There are also less options available for superwideangle lenses (Ken R reckons the Nikon AF-S one is OK, but not the best in class or best bang/buck), but most of those are sufficiently expensive anyway that I'll probably have upgraded my body by the time I get round to buying one (if I ever do).
 
Avoid Nikon for budget low-light as you can't use the older primes (non-AF-S) to get fast glass so you're spending at least £150 for low-aperture primes.

Pentax might well be the most fashionable with their colours, though DSLRs generally aren't fashion items. Perhaps a Sony NEX-5? They're pretty little things with an APS-C sensor putting it above the other CSC cameras for low-light.

Basically you'll want an inbuilt focus motor, and maybe sensor stabilisation

That puts you in with mainly the Pentax K-r/K-x, Sony a33 or the Sony NEX-5 (Though the NEX-3 isn't much less good looking and a fair chunk cheaper)
 
As for the 'fashionable' thing - what about an Olympus PEN? They're very 'retro'

Though they might not be as good at low light (though to be honest I dont have any experience of using one!)

Regards

Neil
 
Are you sure the twin lens kit contains both vr lenses as my wife looked at the same kit in our local jessops and the 55-200 was a sigma and wasn't vr/vc blah blah!.
 
Are you sure the twin lens kit contains both vr lenses as my wife looked at the same kit in our local jessops and the 55-200 was a sigma and wasn't vr/vc blah blah!.

On the Jessops website it shows as being the 18-55 and 55-200 VR Lenses, so I think it should be.
 
I second d5000. I've been using one for over a year now, and it's been absolutely brilliant! The only downside might be a lack of focus drive, but there is quite a range os af-s lenses on the market. It's also pretty light and will fit in small hands.
 
I second d5000. I've been using one for over a year now, and it's been absolutely brilliant! The only downside might be a lack of focus drive, but there is quite a range os af-s lenses on the market. It's also pretty light and will fit in small hands.

I have a D5000 and quite like it. (Though I'm very far from being an expert.) My wife also likes it, and her hands are small. She has no problems with it at all.
 
^ This is good advice except I have recently found shops like Jessops having a severe lack of in-store models to play around with, lots of lenses and hardly any bodies, what's the point in that!
 
^ This is good advice except I have recently found shops like Jessops having a severe lack of in-store models to play around with, lots of lenses and hardly any bodies, what's the point in that!

Yeah it can be hit and miss, I'm lucky the Edinburgh one isn't too bad, Currys/PC World is almost better for trying them these days.
 
I recommend for £500 a good canon 30d with a couple of good primes.

But if you like the new fancy stuff currys/pc world will be your best bet.
 
get a decent body, if you got that money. Like a 500d or something. Maybe a newer one second hand to save a bit?

I just got a 18-250mm lens and the convenience is excellent! Hardly compromising on quality. I also use a 50mm 1.8. Probably my favourite lens. Thats all the lenses I use.

+ my tripod, uv filters to protect mainly. external tigger when using tripod
 
Thanks for the advise guys, I got the Nikon D5000 in the end, but can't use it :LOL:

Also just seen the D5100 :eek:
 
You will quickly learn! Forget about the Auto and Program mode, go straight in to Aperture priority as a starting point. Take lots of photos of the same thing, changing the aperture each time that will give you some idea how Aperture and f stop values have an impact on how a photo looks.
 
I am learning... currently looking for some free photoediting software :)
 
Try Picasa free, or something like Aperture 3 from the App store (if you have a Mac) that's about £50. Superb value for money and as well as basic editing, is an awesome organisational/workflow tool.

For free, with big editing features, have a look at the Gimp. Very powerful, but not so user friendly.
 
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