Help picking first slr

yabbiebee

yabbiebee

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jay
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hi all i hope i have this in the right place so sorry if it aint.

ok im looking to buy my first slr cam but not really sure what to get when i find something people then tell me that the lens arent the best
so ive turned to the forum to find the right cam for me. ok i have £500 to spend all i need at the moment is just them basics to get me started case,card that sort of stuff
when i then know how to use the cam i will look into getting bigger/better lens

So on my short list i have looked at the following
d60
canon 450d
olympus e520

ive been to the shop to have a look at these the only one they didnt have was the e520 only the model below this but have been told its a little bigger.

As i said before this is my first slr and would like to get the best i can for my £'s. any info advice would be great thanks jay :)
 
My personal opinion throw the Olympus idea out of the window, your not just buying a camera you are buying (usually) a lifetimes worth of Lenses, as Canon and Nikon are the major players I would go with either of those off your list. then its a case of whatever feels best to you, I don't think you can go wrong with either manufacturers TBH,
 
Although I am a Canon user I must disagree with MrAngry,there is not a bad DSLR out there its just that some do certain things better than others and vice versa.
My advise is go in with a totally open mind and look at and handle all the cameras in your price range,read reviews on them to find out their plus and minus points and then make your decision.
But remember what they handle like is vital because hopefully they will be in your hands for a very long time
 
Although I am a Canon user I must disagree with MrAngry,there is not a bad DSLR out there its just that some do certain things better than others and vice versa.
My advise is go in with a totally open mind and look at and handle all the cameras in your price range,read reviews on them to find out their plus and minus points and then make your decision.
But remember what they handle like is vital because hopefully they will be in your hands for a very long time
 
As others have pointed out, try and stick to the big two of Nikon or Canon - you will get more choice of second hand lenses that way.

I'd just go back to the shop to try both - one will feel right.

To me Nikons have felt easier to use...that was after I'd already committed to the Canon brand and lenses. Just bear in mind that you are buying into one brand.

I'd be tempted to spend as little as possible on the body and buy a decent lens - bodies will come and go but a lens is for life :)
 
I only said disregard the Olympus as I don't think I have ever heard a good thing said about them that's all, I'm a Sony user so I have no loyalty to Cannon or Nikon just my 2p worth from the camera choices posted.
 
Indeed drop the Olympus purely because of future lenses, I'm sure the body is up to it but you have to look to the future.

As for the cameras, is there much of a difference between the d60 and the 450D ?

My only doubts about the D60 would be it's auto focusing (or lack of it), due to the way it uses lenses with servo's mounted in them for the AF (the body won't autofocus). This would sway me towards the Canon. You may be able to pickup a D80 somewhere pretty cheaply which could combat this problem.

I bought a D80 at christmas with the kit lens and an 8GB card for about £420, however I don't think theres many kicking around anymore.
 
Just gone through exactly the same process you're going through! As said by others - it's mainly down to personal preference/feel. However, the D60 versus the 450D ain't really a fair comparison as they're a different price range. Saying that, I decided on the 450D as it seemed to give that much more - and I preferred the menu system. Brilliant results to date! What I would say is that if you can afford it, get the Tamron 75-300mm (Nikon or Canon) as well as the kit lens (usually offers available at Jessops etc) as it's a cracking starter zoom lens and very reasonably priced. You won't go wrong with Nikon or Canon! :wave:
 
thank you guys for all the input i will drop the olympus and stick with the big players.

The d60 is alot cheaper than the 450d. and i did like the feel of the d60 and the 450d. :thinking:

i will look online to see where i can get a good deal
 
Good choice to stick with either the canon or nikon.

I have an Olympus e420 and it's a great camera (in my opinion) but there seems to be a lack of accesories and as such that limits the potential for upgrading in the future.
 
ok so if i get the d60 18-55 VR Len i should also get Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di with AF Motor - Nikon Fit lens to go with it £500 then i would just need a card and stuff

or if i got the Canon EOS 450D with 18-55mm IS Lens and Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD Macro Lens - Canon Fit £630 :bang:

would the lens they come with not be good enough to get me going ? im guessing with a better lens i will get much beter pics
 
If you're willing to wait then there might be cashback offers on, I got my 450d for £350 back in october through amazon, thanks to a £50 cashback from canon. Dunno if that's going to be possible with all the economic hoohah but worth researching maybe.
 
does the d60 have a focus motor built in?
 
No it is in the lens. I in fact went for the D60 two weeks ago. Getting on with it not too bad:)
 
No the VR is nikons method of reducing camera shake etc, nothing to do with the auto focus.
 
sorry when i put in the reply about the vr i was talking about nikon. canon its built in right ?
 
yabbiebee said:
would the lens they come with not be good enough to get me going ? im guessing with a better lens i will get much beter pics
Click to expand...

Nikon 'kit' lenses (the ones that come with the bodies) are very good, no worries about their quality.

Your best bet is either Nikon or Canon, you have a greater choice of lenses and other accessories, both new and on the second hand market.

Go to a camera shop and pick them up, see which feels right, its as simple as that.
 
will the card change the preformance of the cam. i was told to watch out for the card speed or something like that. someone said it slowed down his cam in some way

looking at this post i would say its a 50/50 between the d60 and 450d
 
Also have a look at the Sonys (& indeed the Pentaxes).
they pretty much all output the same sort of picture quality so it's things like ergonomics/UI, whether you have friends with the same mount so that you can share gear etc. that can make a difference to you.
 
Go handle and play with all the bodies.

Buy the one that fits your hands best and has the most intuitive menu/control system for You.

All the makes can take good pictures. You are what will make them great.
 
If you're shooting mainly landscapes & night shots i'd go for the D60, it has less noise at iso 800 and above over the others in the price bracket and it's a lovely camera in the hands.
AF can be a problem but not so on single focus.
 
All the budget DSLRs are very similar in terms of image quality, the most important thing is how it feels in your hand.

I ended up with a Nikon D60 as it felt right, the 450D felt really awkward in my hands. Granted having to stick to AF-S lenses is a it of a pain but Nikon are about to release a load of cheaper good AF-S lenses (besides, the 18-55 VR lens could be all you need).

Also, I wouldn't discount Olympus, their kit lenses are very good, as is the rest of their glass, the only reason I didn't go Oly is that they use Xd cards which are pricey, especially if you already have tons of SD cards..

Pick your price range, try them in your hand and pick which is most comfortable.
 
Everyone will have an opinion on what make / model is best. Each manufacturer approaches things in different ways too so whereas camera X has feature Y, Camera Z has feature N etc. Go have a play is the best advice I think.
 
ok im gonna be a pain and ask someone to explain this af/single focus/vr thingy to me.
is the fact the d60 lack to autofocus a pain ? does the 450d have the auto focus ? im at the point of pulling out my hair lol
 
The Nikon D60 doesn't have an internal motor to work auto focus lenses. In order to autofocus the lens needs to have a built in motor. For Nikon lenses this means the lens must have an AF-S designation (Or HSM on Sigma lenses, BIM on Tamron).

Ultimately what this means is that you won't be able to pick up cheap old 2nd hand lenses for your camera. For example, the 80 quid 50mm AF aka "the nifty fifty" won't autofocus on the camera. The AF-S equivalent is around 300 pounds (on an international keyboard so the pound symbol key doesn't work).

Other makes don't suffer from this problem, if it really is that - if you're going for zoom lenses you really are much better off with the newest lenses as the benefit from CAD design makes them better than the old stuff. (this isn't true WRT the, for eg, 50mm prime lenses).

edit: VR = Vibration reduction, the Canon equivalent I think is OS (optical stabilisation) or something similar.
 
don't get hung up on af-s lenses. I have just got a nikon 50mm 1.8 e series, its a much older lens which requires you to manual focus and meter( you set your required aperture on the lens). I am enjoying learning how to use this lens with the help of a great book 'understanding exposures' by Bryan Peterson.
 
wow guys thanks for all this info all i need to know now is this other lens the
70-300 lens do i really need it to start with. what im think is just getting the camera and using the standard lens to learn then when i know how to use it look into getting more lens.

i will get either d60 or 450d i found a store that has both in and i what to have a look at their menus. i watch a review from camerlabs last night on both and the 450d just seems to have more options ;)
 
What do you want the 70-300 for? I have the nikon 70-300 VR I upgraded from the kit 55-200 for motorsport but I am also looking to use it for wildlife as well.
 
just was told if i can get one i should lol. mostly i will be taking photos of my fish my kids and that sort of stuff like i said before ive never had a slr cam but would like to try and get something good so i may grow with the camera. i was looking at £500 but i think its going to be more around the £650 mark now
 
My advice would be to start with the kit lens which ever camera body you choose. Prices at the moment make upgrading a difficult decision. It sound like an 18-55mm would be a good start for what you need, the best type of zoom is your legs:LOL:
 
i would like to say thank you all very much for helping me and giving me the advice i needed. today i brought my self the canon 450d with the ef-s 18-55is lens. when i was in the shop i tried out a sigma 18-200 os lens which hopefuly i would like to buy in the future thanks guys. im sure i will have loads more to ask..... now where is this power button lol :naughty:
 
450D all day long for me...
 
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