Bridge Camera to DSLR

Rod Boughton

Rod Boughton

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Rod
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Hello,

I recently got back into photography after about a 20 year break, and i thought i would be happy with a bridge camera. So i did loads of research and ended up purchasing the Nikon P500 which i am really happy with. BUT, it has its limitations and i am now thinking i should have gone for a DSLR.

So, what would you knowledgeable people advise as a good all round DSLR thats not going to cost the earth, for a beginner ( I say beginner, because thats true when it comes to digital photography ).

I look forward to your replies.

Rod
 
I don't think you can go far wrong with the Nikon D5100, or Canon 600D but a lot of it will depend on your budget. Also, don't discount the Pentax range. Good cameras, but the grips puts a lot of people off...you either love it hate it!

If I were you I'd go down to Jessops (if you have one nearby) as they are very good at letting people try out cameras. Have a play with any that are within your budget and see which one you prefer the feel of.

That's what I did recently when I upgraded from a Bridge to an SLR. I went in several times over the course of a few months and tried out quite a few!
 
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Thanks for responding, i was thinking about the D5100, i'll have a look at the 600D. I think the D5100 is about £600, don't know about the Canon but that may be too much for me at the moment, any other suggestions.
 
Also look at the SLT-A55 and/or DSLR-A580 from Sony. The former uses a translucent mirror to obtain faster shooting but has an electronic viewfinder which may put off some people. The A580 has a more conventional optical viewfinder but the same highly rated sensor as the A55.
But before you jump, may I ask why you're not happy with your bridge camera?
 
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Rod Boughton said:
Thanks for responding, i was thinking about the D5100, i'll have a look at the 600D. I think the D5100 is about £600, don't know about the Canon but that may be too much for me at the moment, any other suggestions.
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Hi Rod,

The 600D is a little more than the D5100. It was £750 with the 18-55mm kit lens when I was looking at it a few months ago, but I believe it's dropped a little now. In fact Jessops currently do it for £640 online and the D5100 for £620 so there is not much in it! Jessops will also let you reserve online, to pick up in store and pay the online price. Plus they have a 30 day money back guarantee if you're not happy with your initial choice.

Good luck with your search. Keep us updated in this thread!
 
I'm sure if you've had a bridge camera you will welcome the reach of it, so dont forget that if you get a DSLR you will need something other than the kit lens. With the crop factors on most DSLR's a 250mm lens will get you the equivalent of a 400mm lens, which is probably a lot less than on most bridge cameras so you should factor that into your budget. You should be able to get a canon 550d with twin lens kit within your budget and the 2 kit lenses are very good quality for kit lenses.
 
Hey there

Last month I was using a bridge (Fujifilm S5700), and was in the same boat as you.

I went into Jessops and tried the sony/canon/nikon range. Sony was very clever, but I felt most comfortable with the Canon 500D and kit lens. I feel it's a great all rounder, so that would be my reccomendation.

Certainly go try for yourself though, and buy online cheaper.
 
Thanks everyone, Eccles, the reason i am not totally happy is that i havent got the range of shutter speeds, and apertures that a DSLR has, my depth of field is also restricted and the photo quality of a DSLR with the bigger sensor appears much better than what i am getting ( unless its me ). I know you will probably say i should have done more research but at the time i had no camera, and the P500 seemed liked a really good idea, but it's only since i have had it and been using it that i realised it's limitations.
 
OK, thanks for the confirmation Rod. As you say, bridge cameras tend to have restricted aperture ranges because of the small sensors that they use. Diffraction due to small apertures sets in much quicker when pixel density is high so manufacturers don't bother to go much higher than F8 or even less. But most of the time this isn't a problem because apparent depth of focus on these small sensors is quite large, and it's actually quite difficult to get a narrow diffuse effect (called bokeh) to isolate your subject. When the light goes down is when the small sensor hits hardest as most, but not all, compacts don't do very well in low light.
You do have to take care when going from compact to DSLR though as it can quite easily come unstuck. I know that when I did so I wondered what on earth I'd done as my pictures weren't as good, and it's not as if I'd never used an SLR camera before. In the 1980's I had two SLR film bodies and several lenses. It's just that compacts are designed to work with very little effort, while a DSLR needs you to work a little harder to get good pictures. I know one or two people for which this just hasn't happened. For whatever reason they went back to their compacts and are quite happy producing nice pictures with them.
Assuming therefore that you have an SD card with your compact I suggest you take the card to your local camera shop, stick it in a DSLR, format it if necessary and run off a few shots. Hopefully you have a card reader in your PC, in which case you'll be able to bring the card back home and examine the images. This will give you some idea whether the potential improvement from a DSLR is what you're expecting.
As for me, after a couple of weeks of owning a DSLR there was no going back. But beware, as many others here will no doubt confirm, lens lust is a terrible thing...
 
I do get what Eccles is saying.

Only last week I made the (rather large) jump from a Fuji 6500fd bridge camera to a Nikon D7000.

It's a massive leap, but I'm so pleased I made it. Already I'm seeing the benefits of being able to isolate subjects more easily using the larger apertures. And this is with the 18-105mm kit lens, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what a 50mm f.18 can do!
 
A K-r maybe? Better built yet smaller than the rest sub £500 DSLRs out there, built in image stabilisation small and light and you get a choice of some great pancake primes. Maybe a bit lacking in the video side of things but it can be had new with lens for less than £400. Excellent for a beginner!
 
Or what about the best of both worlds and go for a mirrorless camera?

it's compact enough so you don't worry about size and weight of a DSLR and the image quality is on par with a DSLR especially looking at such mirrorless cameras as the Sony NEX series :thumbs:
 
Entry level canons are ok if you like your equipment to feel plastic fantastic.
 
Well thanks everyone for your input, youve certainly given me a lot to think about. Finances are an issue at the moment, mainly because i have just bought the P500. I think the wife would put me out on the street if i even suggested buying another camera just yet, so i will keep your comments in mind and try and learn more and improve with what i have, whilst i try out some DSLR's and save some money. Thanks again.

PS if there are any ardent bridge camera users reading this, then i would be more than happy to gain some tips from them

Regards

Rod
 
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