DSLR for sister

divine`

divine`

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My sister is thinking about doing a photography course at college and they require people to have a DSLR.

My mum would be buying it for her but doesn't want to spend loads.

£250-£300 would be the limit ideally.

Initially I thought seeing as I have Nikon gear that would be the obvious choice but i'm not sure how much difference that would make ultimately, as half my lenses wouldn't autofocus due to lack of motor etc.

How do the cheap options from Canon/Sony/whoever else stack up?

However, I think there may be a stipulation from the college it has to be Nikon/Canon. I'm not 100% sure and if so, depending on why it may or may not matter all that much.
 
Divine, this has been asked before on a different forum i visit and the consensus there was to ask the college what they expect the student to have. At one colege they actually wanted Film SLR's. So an idea is to check with the college what are there minimum specs and if they have any she can trial before buying. They may also have a discount scheme with a local shop as well.

My tuppence worth but generally sensible answer. ;)
 
You could do a lot worse than this at the price... she would even have some pennies left over for something like tripod, etc.
 
canon entry level kit is better than nikon entry level (AF), and any ef lenses she had would work fine on a recent film body aswell so two birds one stone?
 
Hi

I have got a canon 1000d (body) that will be going spare tomorrow, with about 3 and a half thousand actuaisations, bought february 09, as well as a tamron 70-300 DI.

PM me if your interested
 
Well, I assume film is not a concern as from what I can gather they specified DSLR, not SLR.

I'll see if I can get her to pry any more information from them on exactly what she needs and why.
 
Probably recommend a D40 for something cheap but good. £240 inc. lens new, I managed to pick one up for my sister for £150 with lens used (but that was a very low price!).
 
Even better, give her your D70 and get yourself a new camera with the £300...!
 
I would say Nikon or Canon, simply because that is what most other people will be using and she can swap lenses.

What stuff does the college have for loan stock? Get that brand.
 
Cheng said:
Even better, give her your D70 and get yourself a new camera with the £300...!
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Whilst I did contemplate that, I'd need to go at least D90 (circa £650 I believe) to have any sort of decent upgrade. I just don't have the money for that and i'd be longing for the D300 all the while :p
 
Hi Divine,

You could always buy my D200 which is going spare! Will be putting up for sale on here soon at £425.

Regards

Chris
 
Grumpidad said:
Divine, this has been asked before on a different forum i visit and the consensus there was to ask the college what they expect the student to have. At one colege they actually wanted Film SLR's. So an idea is to check with the college what are there minimum specs and if they have any she can trial before buying. They may also have a discount scheme with a local shop as well.

My tuppence worth but generally sensible answer. ;)
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I was speaking to a tog lecturer on the weekend who mentioned in passing that they start all their students on film with manual SLRs. Worth checking before you spend the cash!
 
I'd vouch for a D200 - infact, I was in exactly the same situation. Sold my D70 and got a D200! It's such a difference! If anything for the RGB hists and better display alone, but build quality, controls and screen are definitely worth the upgrade too!
 
MJUK said:
Maybe consider 2nd hand D80 around the 300 mark.
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I haven't seen any really recently go for as little as that - when I was checking a few months ago D80s and D200s were so similarly priced (maybe 20-30 difference) that it wasn't worth getting the D80 for a little less!
 
My ex-girlfriend bought her mint 400D (with 18-55mm) off eBay for £220 and that was with the original box and so on. My friend got his for £190. It's so cheap to get into photography!
 
Cheng said:
I haven't seen any really recently go for as little as that - when I was checking a few months ago D80s and D200s were so similarly priced (maybe 20-30 difference) that it wasn't worth getting the D80 for a little less!
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I looked at both the D80 and D200 recently and there was at least £100 price difference between most of them - I settled for the D200 anyway, and am more than pleased that I did.
 
DekHog said:
I looked at both the D80 and D200 recently and there was at least £100 price difference between most of them - I settled for the D200 anyway, and am more than pleased that I did.
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That's weird, I certainly didn't see any D80s that cheap! Think with more D200s sold on forums, and more d80s sold via ebay (I haven't seen many at all on forums), the price difference was reduced?

I think kryptix must have got incredibly lucky to get them at those prices....if you could get a 400D with lens for £200 I'd definitely take one of them over a D40. Even if you can't get one that cheaply, I'm going to change my recommendation and say that if you can get her a 400D with lens for £270ish that'd be a pretty good setup, as the 400D is probably better than your D70!
 
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