How long is a piece of string

[emmarky]

Ok, so that’s not my question, but I am guessing it amounts to the same. This thread if all goes well will be my introduction to photography beyond the point & shoot Kodak Z740. Don’t get me wrong the camera is good; it just doesn’t tick all the right boxes anymore.
I have no idea how I go about choosing a new camera! Normally I buy things based on how new they are or how nice they look, I neither have the money to afford a really good new camera or the lack of sense to think looks count for anything with cameras…
I have asked myself some questions that seem obvious.
Realistically at this time I would be looking at buying the best used camera I can with a budget of around £300.00. What I would look for would be an ebayer or similar selling a kit of parts. (Camera & Lens) Ideally a camera that has been tried and tested with numerous available accessories.
I have used a Minolta Dynax for a day which I found had a very user friendly design, semi auto mode and good manual control all easy to use. Something along these lines could be a contender only this one was rather dated and had no view screen for framing the photo. Only reviewing. (Saying that my budget is just as dated I guess)
It would be very much for taking out and about and photographing “life” as I encounter it. I am yet to find a particular favourite, I like to photo everything from Landscapes to bugs.
So going complete 360.. How do you choose…

The Mohne Dam Last Saturday

Fancy Dress

Castle

My Cat

 

[pete.rush]

With alot of reading and research, going down to the camera store to try out (very important) all the brands (nikon or canon was all I had to choose from at the time), then working out which system (as a SLR is a system consisting of camera bodies and lenses) offered me the best selection for what I needed now and what I might want or need in the future.

nowadays you have a far greater choice, probably making the decision harder, but which ever entry level camera you choose, they're all very much the same.

But £300 ain't a significant budget to start with, although you could buy a camera and kit lens, you might get a better deal as you said if you went 2nd hand, but perhaps avoid ebay, as you don't know the history of the camera, you're better off to speak to MPB (who advertise on here), ffordes, Mifsuds, Camtech, Park camera's (all good 2nd hand camera dealers) or head to a London Camera Exchange where at least you can get you hands on a camera, plus a little bit of peace of mind with a 3-6 months warranty on the equipment.

 

[Scarecrow]

A lot of people will advise to go for Nikon or Canon. That's not to say that any of the other brands are no good, more that Nikon and Canon probably offer the greatest flexibility in choice of equipment once you start looking beyond your initial purchase.

Also there are a lot of Nikon and Canon users on here to offer all sorts of advice if you end up with either of those options and have questions to ask regarding your gear.

 

[emmarky]

Standard lens kits.

Looking around the web I see that some feel that certain brands supply a higher quality “standard” lens in the kits than others. It appears as if Canon are commonly accused of such things whereas Sony & Nikon are believed to supply a good quality “standard” lens. Is this true in any form? Or would an entry level photographer “me” not even notice.