Beginner Starter kit for a novice

SK617

SK617

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Evening all, been a while on here for me.

My Niece (13 yr old) is waning to dive into photography. She's been using a compact for a while but wants to go further with it and get creative.

She has saved up about £130 and asked me for advice. Bad move.

At the moment she's looking at a couple of bridge type cameras (new)
To my mind she would be better off with a cheap 2nd hand SLR. would I be right?

I'm willing to chuck in £20 to take her up to £150 which might get her a deal somewhere.

Thoughts??
 
A new basic DSLR with lens will cost at least double the amount mentioned so it would have to be the used market route. If you do decide to take the used route Always ask for a shutter count and not so much on condition. Think of it this way, a car may look good on the outside but the engine may be clapped out. Same with used cameras, most have a live expendancy of around 150,000 clicks, some pack up much sooner and some last a lot longer but use this as a basic guide. Anything under 10.000 would be worth getting if the price was right ,over that the value of the camera would or should drop on par with use.
I think you mean a DSLR = Digital Single Lens Reflex camera

OOPS forgot to mention memory cards usually arn't included so budget for that as well
 
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I think a cheap proper DSLR would be ideal, but don't know which kit zooms are up to snuff. (I wouldn't get a cheap Sony as my copy of the kit zoom was rubbbish, and a friend was disappointed with the Jpegs from an a230, got it cos it was cheap.)
I would also tell her folks to throw some dosh into the pot.
I spent £140 on my first from e-bay and got lucky with a very nice camera, nice lens (Olympus e-410 makes lovely Jpegs)
but having £200 might net a better thing, or add the all-important 50mm-ish F2-ish prime if you get a cheap Canon.
 
Well £ 91 will buy you a secondhand Canon 400D from WEX with 12m warranty, and £ 45 will get her a 18-55 IS kit lens, which is enough to get her going.

Another £ 90 would get her a Canon 55-250 IS lens, again secondhand.
 
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As Andrew says, something like a 400D, 18-55 IS and 55-250 would be a perfect starter kit.
Would you not consider getting her something from the classifieds on here?
She could add the 55-250 once she's saved up again.....or you could buy her one as a present. ;)
 
Cheers guys,
I'd like her to have nikon, for joint trips etc so she can use my lenses

Her parents have chipped in a bit, most of it is from babysitting, chores etc (single parent of 3, so not much spare cash laying around)
The ideal would be a D something with a 50mm, but as I understand it a lot of the cheaper bodies don't work (autofocus) on the nifty fifty.
 
I would consider classifieds, in fact I've asked one guy if he still has a D60
 
Just to through a spanner in the works.

I'm new to this as well coming from a Fuji hs10 bridge.

All though the Nikon I have gives me options, I regret selling the bridge, I think a good bridge would be fine, you have the added advantage of the zooms built in, they have manual to play around with, and don't have to lug around all the equipment, I had this for around 2years before I made the jump.

The only downside I found was low light stuff was very hard or just plain poor.
 
SK617 said:
My Niece (13 yr old) is waning to dive into photography. She's been using a compact for a while but wants to go further with it and get creative.
Click to expand...

Although I see where you're heading, a compact doesn't prevent creativity. It's about what she wants, have you asked her why she's considering a bridge camera? - it may be what she needs, she may have good reasons for not wanting a DSLR other than budget, she may have put quite a bit of thought into this. But go listen to her thoughts on the subject - what you think isn't as relevant as what she thinks You haven't even mentioned what style of photography interests her.
 
Picsta said:
Someone posted a link to a cheap refurb nikon d3000 earlier today. £159 with kit lens - would this not be ideal?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/cheap-refurb-nikon-d3000-kit-lens.534115/
Click to expand...

It's an ok camera, basically the same as the D60 but with better auto focus. It lacks live view and video.

It's also not good in low light, even when compared to other cameras made at the same time. ISO 800 is ok, but 1600 is horrible.

But at the price it's not bad, and also unlike a £150 compact she can probably get a fair chunk of her £150 back if she wants to sell and upgrade.

Just bare in mind you will also want a case and some memory cards.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, if won't auto focus with any Nikon AFD lenses, only AF-s. But that is the case with also Nikon entry level DSRLs since the D40.
 
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Do not get a bridge camera. They are just compact cameras in an bigger body with an compromised lens on the front.

A good compact (cheaper, better, more portable), a mirrorless/CSC camera (more expensive, just as portable, significantly better) or a second hand DSLR (cheaper, MUCH better, less portable) would all be much better options, depending on her needs.

The key advantages to the latter two are the ability to buy better/different lenses at a later date. These can make far more difference to her photography than a change of camera ever would.
 
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I repeat : a 50-ish-mm f-2-ish lens is a godsend for actually learning about taking photographs,
but something cheap, a kit zoom, and a 50mm.
 
I know its not what you were originally looking for, but ask her if she would like to learn to take photos on film also. If she says yes, I have a Nikon F401x id be happy to give to you/her for free. Its fully working, very good condition and auto focus works with the AF-D lenses. Let me know.

Cheers

Nick
 
I am totally new to photography aswell, I bought a second hand Canon 1000D DLSR with all the inbox items including a lens,battery charger etc.. it also came with a remote control and had 14000 shutter count out of 100,000 and a 16gb memory card.

It cost me £130 including postage and has been amazing as my first ever camera. Just have a nosey around the second hand forums/places for the bargins.
 
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