Budget Beginner's Kit?

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Superewza

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Hey, just starting out here and getting sick of either using my phone camera or 'borrowing' a Cannon PS S3 IS. Budget? Around £200, can go over but obviously i'd prefer not to. What do i want? Just a body and a lens to get me started. What will i be using it for? Taking photographs :p But largely people and landscapes, though i might dabble in a bit of nature if i get lucky, and at some point in the near future hopefully astrophotography.

I quite like the look of the Nikon D40, for around £150 for a body used it seems pretty reasonable. That does imply i would probably have to go over the initial budget which i am prepared to by a reasonable amount. Lens, i think something on the 'wide' end of the scale would suit me better, been looking at a few Sigma 18-35mm F3.5-4.5's, for around £50-£70. Am i right in thinking this would have the obvious downside of not auto-focusing? It's not so much that i'm afraid of manual focus, more that i'd like to have the choice. Another consideration would be a 'nifty fifty', but the AF-S models seem to be somewhat out of my budget. The obvious choice would be a 'kit' 18-55mm, but i'm not entirely sure.

So yeah... any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :D
 
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£200 wont get you much,but atleast youve put a thought, i would go for the Sigma lens,but the kits a good option if you Really want Af. Manual focus will give you more time to compose your shot :)
 
Well my only problem with manual focus would be that i often find myself in situations where i see a good shot that will... go away soon, if you catch my drift. It would just be a speed thing, but i assume that you get better with practice? May well go for it, i'll keep you posted, thanks! :)
 
If you arent worried about a fixed focal length, the Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.8 might be worth a look. A bit more than the nifty 50 cost wise, but a much better length on a crop camera, and it will autofocus.
 
I've just picked up my first DSLR which should be with me any day now. I settled on the D40 after getting advice from here, friends and lots of reviews. I got mine off ebay paid a little over £200 for it but it does look mint. I actually contacted a lot of the sellers to see what they were wanting for their D40 to give me a good indication of prices. There is a reasonable one on there and the seller wants £160 posted for it posted. Let me know if you like and i'll pass you the details, could be a good start for not much over your budget.
 
Go Canon and you won't have to worry about finding auto focus lenses. Pretty much all common ones are auto focus lenses. I wouldn't go manual focus, the viewfinder won't give you accurate enough view to judge focus and it'd be too slow.

For the budget of £200 I'd go Canon 20D £150 + 18-55mm "IS" £50. Nikon D40 as you suggested does also seem like a good choice.
 
Interesting, i'll need a few days to get my money in order (it's all over the shop at the minute) but i'll have another look then. As for Cannon, i might but at this sort of budget there isn't really much between the kit, so it comes down to the user. If it's up to me to make it take decent photos then it's mainly a question of the user interface, and while i'm probably more familiar with Cannon what i've seen of the Nikon looks a lot more pleasing.

What would you say is the minimum to spend on a decent quality wide angle nikon lens with auto-focus?
 
MPB(one of the forums ad sponsers and great people to deal with) currently have a Nikon D50 for £149, you get 6 month warranty with that and then you can go for the cheaper 'd' lenses as it has the motor in body..

would defo be on my consideration list as a cheap starter.
 
Okay, since sorting out my money is proving to be a real pain and is taking ages, another idea has been knocking around in my head for a while... how about shooting in film? Bodies seem to be a fair bit cheaper (if older), although i have no idea what to look for. Leaves a fair bit for a lens, an armful of film and some chemicals. I found a seemingly unused developing tank gathering dust in a cupboard and i might have access to a scanner that was bought to convert a number of slides we found that my grandfather took.

Thoughts? Cheers :)
 
I set myself a £200 budget to get a DSLR and found it very difficult to stick to.
I picked up a used Canon 350D for £130, a 18-55mm IS lens for £70, a 50mm F/1.8 for £50 and I'm going to be purchasing a 55-250mm IS lens for £160 this week. My £200 budget very quickly became £410! :eek: :lol:
Luckily I'd been saving up separately for the additional lenses.

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to go with 35mm if you want to. I decided against it myself though as I really wanted to be able to see the pictures straight away after I'd taken them, and I wanted to be able to put the images onto the PC and have the flexibility of editing them.
If you feel you an get what you want from a film camera then go for it. If not, then save up for a bit longer until you can afford to go digital.
 
Superewza said:
Hey, just starting out here and getting sick of either using my phone camera or 'borrowing' a Cannon PS S3 IS. Budget? Around £200, can go over but obviously i'd prefer not to. What do i want? Just a body and a lens to get me started. What will i be using it for? Taking photographs :p But largely people and landscapes, though i might dabble in a bit of nature if i get lucky, and at some point in the near future hopefully astrophotography.

I quite like the look of the Nikon D40, for around £150 for a body used it seems pretty reasonable. That does imply i would probably have to go over the initial budget which i am prepared to by a reasonable amount. Lens, i think something on the 'wide' end of the scale would suit me better, been looking at a few Sigma 18-35mm F3.5-4.5's, for around £50-£70. Am i right in thinking this would have the obvious downside of not auto-focusing? It's not so much that i'm afraid of manual focus, more that i'd like to have the choice. Another consideration would be a 'nifty fifty', but the AF-S models seem to be somewhat out of my budget. The obvious choice would be a 'kit' 18-55mm, but i'm not entirely sure.

So yeah... any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :D
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I don't mean to be bias but when it comes to entry level dslr, I must say I prefer canon. But when it comes to higher end models, I prefer the NIKON. U can pick up a 400d in the used section for a cheap price nowadays. N its a great little camera to start with!
 
Thanks everyone!

Mandoo said:
I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to go with 35mm if you want to. I decided against it myself though as I really wanted to be able to see the pictures straight away after I'd taken them, and I wanted to be able to put the images onto the PC and have the flexibility of editing them.
If you feel you an get what you want from a film camera then go for it. If not, then save up for a bit longer until you can afford to go digital.
Click to expand...

So are you implying that film is a compromise? Surely it's a matter of it just not being the same as digital. They both have their market...

Still, after peeking in this thread i think i'm in love :love: Anybody have any suggestions as to what i should be looking at before diving into film or am i better of asking in the film and conventional forum? Cheers :)
 
Um, if I were a beginner, still learning which settings to use (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, WB), I'm not sure I'd want a film camera in this day and age. Firstly, you might grab a shot only to find a week later that you got it horrible wrong! Also, the cost of developing film will very quickly catch the £200.00 up front cost of a digital SLR.

You should be able to easily grab a cheap DSLR and kit lens. A Sony a100 + kit lens will set you back under £200.00 or a Canon 300D and kit lens will probably shave £50.00 off your budget.

All IMO.
 
It's not like i'm a complete beginner to photography, i've been using a Cannon S3 IS which has taught me a lot about shutter speed, aperture etc., my mate won 'Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year' in 2009 and i did have a two day film photography 'course' type thing last summer... although, i probably wasn't paying as much attention as i could have been since i was utterly infatuated with a girl on the course :p

Besides, with film cameras you don't really have to 'worry' about ISO per se, since you can't change it without changing the film. Is there not a lot to be learned from setting up everything about a shot yourself, and having to get it right due to a limited number of exposures? You can get lazy when you've got a mini-computer in your hands working half of it out for you.

Oh dear, now it sounds like i've already made up my mind ;)
 
Small world, aye? :p

Whatever happens i'll not be able to actually get anything until i've sorted my money out... i think i can speak for the majority here when i say: i hate banks.
 
Superewza said:
It's not like i'm a complete beginner to photography, i've been using a Cannon S3 IS which has taught me a lot about shutter speed, aperture etc., my mate won 'Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year' in 2009 and i did have a two day film photography 'course' type thing last summer... although, i probably wasn't paying as much attention as i could have been since i was utterly infatuated with a girl on the course :p

Besides, with film cameras you don't really have to 'worry' about ISO per se, since you can't change it without changing the film. Is there not a lot to be learned from setting up everything about a shot yourself, and having to get it right due to a limited number of exposures? You can get lazy when you've got a mini-computer in your hands working half of it out for you.

Oh dear, now it sounds like i've already made up my mind ;)
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Cool, go for film then, it will certainly be the cheaper option up front and it sounds like you'd enjoy it more :) Are you thinking of an AF or MF film camera though, just thinking about your original quote:

Superewza said:
Well my only problem with manual focus would be that i often find myself in situations where i see a good shot that will... go away soon, if you catch my drift. It would just be a speed thing, but i assume that you get better with practice? May well go for it, i'll keep you posted, thanks! :)
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Good luck whichever way you go :)
 
Im selling a Sony A350 with Sony SAL 18-70 Kit lens for £300 if thats any use? Great condition has live view and great for a beginner!
 
I started with a £200 D40 with 18-55 lens.

For that money, I don't think you can get any better.
 
Since I think I read you wanted a wide angle...
;)

Tokina 11-16 has given me some good to great results. Link in the siggy - a set on the right hand side to tokina.

It is however a bit out of the price range you've quoted... And there are some which aren't quite sharp out there.

Anyways.. its approx 400new, won't af with the d40, but will on a d60 or d70 (also good cameras to start with).

You might be lucky and find a second hand/used one around.

Good luck with the search/choice and I hope you enjoy the photography!
 
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