Sorry ... but I need to ask !!

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GingerNinja

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I promised myself I wouldn't bother you with this type of question but I'm really sick of reading review after review and getting nowhere :bonk:

Before the end of the month I WILL buy a nice DSLR.

The camera will only be used to take family photo's at the weekend, my kids playing football and pics of my dog.

I'd like to spend under £400 and have narrowed it down to the following NEW one's ......

1. Nikon D3000 @ £389 - cashback of £30
2. Cannon 1000D @ £399
3. Sony Alpha A330 @ £399

All come with lenses for the above prices.

I will go to Jessops at the weekend to " have a feel " to see what I prefer but on the " best for noob " front which would be best for what I want ?

I am also open to s/h suggestions if anyone feels I be better to do so ?

Really sorry for the long post and to ask the question that must get asked 100 times a month on the forum but any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks :help:
 
canon and nikon, sort of the same things in different boxes. Very hard to split but there's possibly more choice of lenses for canon and I've always liked nikon ergonomics a little more. Bought canon though. :thinking:

Sony possibly offer a little more in terms of specs at each price point, less choices when it comes to lenses and accessories.

Whichever you choose, it's going to be good. There are small differences but no-one makes a bad DSLR these days.
 
The camera will only be used to take family photo's at the weekend, my kids playing football and pics of my dog.
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Give it a couple of weeks and then you'll be thinking, ah the kit lens is ****, i need to upgrade this, and whatever you go for, you'll wish you originally bought the next one up.......... 6 months down the line, you will be putting the kids and dog on ebay to buy a "L" lens (if you go for Canon) - filthy stuff, but not as filthy as Nikon...........:lol:

Now I have offended 90%+ of the forum, I'll shut up!


Seriously, if all you want to do is what is mentioned above, ask yourself do you need a DSLR - maybe a good compact or bridge may be better options?
 
Truth be told, all modern DSLRs are very capable and sophisticated pieces of equipment and will handle what you want to do easily.

There are more accessories out there for Canons and Nikons, so personally I'd go with one of those, and it really does come down to which you like the feel of most. If you're planning on using it out and about, take a pair of 'normal' gloves and wear those whilst handling to see if you still prefer your preferred option.
 
well you are correct in having a feel with the camera which might let the sony a330 down, i tried it out a few weeks ago when i popped into jessops and werent that bothered about the grip but some people hate it.

the advantage is that the sony is the better camera as the d3000 and 1000d and beginners and for people who no nothing about photography but want to know whereas the a330 has a few more advanced features because it is entry level but more of a mid range entry level.

if i was you i would get a sony a300 (second hand) which can be had for around £250 and then buy a minolta 50mm f1.7 for around £100 with £50 left to buy a bag to put it in.
 
Lynton said:
Seriously, if all you want to do is what is mentioned above, ask yourself do you need a DSLR - maybe a good compact or bridge may be better options?
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I didn't even know what a bridge camera was until I looked it up ..... turns out that's what I have. Fuji S5700 :nuts:
 
Definitely go and have a feel of them! I came from a canon bridge camera, so the Canon felt more intuitive in my hands. I liked how the Nikon felt, but all the buttons were in the wrong place! They're much of a muchness at this end of the market, personally (hugely biased, sweeping statement coming up) I'd go canon because it has a better choice of lenses than the Sony, and I don't understand how some lenses in the Nikon lineup will autofocus on the lower end bodies, and some don't!

If you look at secondhand deals on here you can get much more bang for your buck. Consider the 450D as well, it's got a few more useful features that the 1000D doesn't have. And that has nothing to do with the fact that mine is currently in the for sale section ;) :lol:

Chris
 
ah so ready for the big step into the deep divide then............ as others have mentioned....... go have a play....... canon seem to have a wider range of lenses, but any of the major players, will have more than what you need, and then there's always the 3rd parties, such as Sigma / Tamron etc who all make some decent but cheaper than OEM lenses...........

Whatever your budget is, add as much again and a bit more as you'll soon realise you "NEED" a tripod, you "NEED" filters....... etc.........

Welcome.......
 
Chris makes a good point about 2nd hand body and then buying lenses............ I have bought a few things off here and "Pentaxuser.co.uk" - i am the 1% who doesn't do Canon or Nikon......... not been disappointed yet, but treat it as you would ebay......... look for feedback, and recommendations
 
Lynton said:
Whatever your budget is, add as much again and a bit more as you'll soon realise you "NEED" a tripod, you "NEED" filters....... etc.........

Welcome.......
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Yep, that's me !

When I took up golf I NEEDED a set of £600 clubs which have been used 5 times in 3 years ! To make matters worse I also NEEDED £90 shoes and £150 trolly !

So no doubt cameras will be no different.
 
I remember being where you are now and after a little research I decided that it was the sony that I wanted. I ended up getting a sony, but a 350 instead of the 300 (? I think, it was exclusive to jessops) that I was going to get.

You say now that you just want pics of the kids....in 6 months you'll be thinking "how niave was I?!" photography is addictive.

TBH I'd say go to a shop, ask to play with them all and get the one that "feels most right" ;)
 
GingerNinja said:
Yep, that's me !

When I took up golf I NEEDED a set of £600 clubs which have been used 5 times in 3 years ! To make matters worse I also NEEDED £90 shoes and £150 trolly !

So no doubt cameras will be no different.
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Is easy then sell your clubs and you will have more towards the camera
Simples!

Love the username by the way
 
yep, wife and kids on ebay as well, and go straight for the 1ds IV and some L lenses.........

of the 3 you mentioned, all will do well, if you can stretch to about £500, check out the Pentax k-x on warehouse express, apparantly other than a slightly smaller snesor does all the top end K7 does and has HD video recording (if that interests you)
 
dazzajl said:
canon and nikon, sort of the same things in different boxes. Very hard to split but there's possibly more choice of lenses for canon and I've always liked nikon ergonomics a little more. Bought canon though. :thinking:

Sony possibly offer a little more in terms of specs at each price point, less choices when it comes to lenses and accessories.

Whichever you choose, it's going to be good. There are small differences but no-one makes a bad DSLR these days.
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Very well said , the only reason why i went for canon was there was more lens choice and i liked the feel plus a few friends have canon so we can share .
Good luck with what ever you get .
 
chris321 said:
I don't understand how some lenses in the Nikon lineup will autofocus on the lower end bodies, and some don't!
Chris
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If you get the D3000 any lenses will need to be Nikon AF-S, or 3rd party equivalent (Sigma HSM)

Personally i would say that if you are a beginner then go for the Nikon as it has the built in guide mode which is apparently very good.

The nikon also has very good ergonomics and great IQ.
 
Whichever canon erm I mean camera you choose you will be happy :)

One word of advice though, IF you go with a Canon look for a deal on a 450D, it is much better than the 1000D and not much more expensive (you can easily find it for under £450)

EDIT, you can actually find it for £439 AND there is a £30 cashback making it £409 - deal of the year IMHO!
 
micloi said:
One word of advice though, IF you go with a Canon look for a deal on a 450D, it is much better than the 1000D and not much more expensive (you can easily find it for under £450)
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Just found a 450D for £379 New :thumbs: No lens though :thumbsdown:
 
You can get the 18-55 IS kit lens for about £60, £70 (secondhand). It's an absolute gem for the price, you have to spend quite a bit more to get anything better!

Chris
 
Also, with sony the IS or VR, image stabilisation is built into the body and thus you can use slightly older but excellent quality minolta lenses and still have the stabilisation.
Come to think about it there are actually plenty of lenses for a sony if your prepared to look for them (ebay?) and are quite good value IMHO
 
chris321 said:
You can get the 18-55 IS kit lens for about £60, £70 (secondhand). It's an absolute gem for the price, you have to spend quite a bit more to get anything better!

Chris
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Chris, can you tell me where ?

Also £379 for body less £30 cash back :thumbs:

However ..... is this model too advanced for a noob like me ?
 
pretty much every body until you go into semi pro / high end stuff, has the "green box" setting (full auto)...... you probably won't get the best results using that but you won't fcuk it all up either......;)

Once you start learning about different (camera) priorities, you will soon become happy and comfortable with them.........
 
GingerNinja said:
Chris, can you tell me where ?

Also £379 for body less £30 cash back :thumbs:

However ..... is this model too advanced for a noob like me ?
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They come up in the 'for sale' section every now and again, as most people get one with the camera, then upgrade later on, so they're usually floating around. No such thing as 'too advanced'! You can put it in point-and-shoot mode if you want to have no input, or all the manual controls that the more expensive models have. It's definitely better to have functionality that you can grow into, rather than outgrowing the camera and having to buy twice.

I'm in the process of selling the 450D and upgrading to a 50D, but that's not because I need more from the camera (I still the the 450D is more advanced than I am), it's because I've started to get big, heavy lenses, and they feel much better balanced on a bigger body.

Chris
 
I got my first D-SLR for Christmas and while choosing, it was a tossup between the 450D and the D3000. Went into Jessops and handled both of those and a Sony although I can't remember what model it was. I found the Canon was quite small and didn't feel right in my big fumbly hands not to mention feeling quite cheap and 'plastic'.

Ended up with the D3000 as they believed I could benefit from using 'Guide Mode'. It's good for about 5 minutes while you play about and then you spin the dial over to full manual mode where it will no doubt stay.
 
OK...

Last question .... well for tonight anyway !

Of the cameras I like ....

One has 2.5 fps, one 3 fps and one 3.5 fps.

Will I notice the difference when I try to take pics of my kids running arond etc ?
 
nope :)
 
Yeah, that's the one. Personally I don't like the idea of gumtree very much, heard too many dodgy stories about it! Personally I'd prefer to wait for one to come up in the for sale section, that way there's a better chance it's been looked after properly.
 
GingerNinja said:
Yep, that's me !

When I took up golf I NEEDED a set of £600 clubs which have been used 5 times in 3 years ! To make matters worse I also NEEDED £90 shoes and £150 trolly !

So no doubt cameras will be no different.
Click to expand...

No different?!

Nah. It will be much, MUCH worse! :D
 
i would highly recommend going 2nd hand, especially with the slighter older bodies. Theres not much difference in the bodies to be honest (referring to Canon bodies). But lens make a huge difference. How about starting out with about £250 on a 400D, a £60 on the 18-55mm IS kit lens, £40 on a entry level tripod, and you could buy a bag and still have some change left over. all sourced 2nd hand ofcourse.
 
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