Upgrade from Fuji HS10

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mumin999

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Mumin
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Hi all, new here and also a newbie starting out in photography.

I got myself a Fuji HS10 a while back and have been playing around and getting used to the camera settings etc.

I think I'm ready now to take the first steps onto DSLR territory and wanted to know where to start.

I'm looking at second hand items as I know there are tons of decent priced used cameras out there. I need something that can be used in everyday situations and can take both portrait and landscape photos with a decent lens, I'm also interested in using off camera flash - any help is appreciated.

Thanks
:)
 
Hi, sorry forgot to mention this. I will be selling the HS10 to fund the DSLR purchase, all in including lens I'm not looking to spend more than £250. As mentioned before I'm not planning to buy new unless theres a very good deal going on.
 
Hi guys, I've done some research and would like to share my findings in the hope that someone can provide buying advice.

Main Usage - Indoor photography, portraits, babies etc, some macro work and scenery photos when I improve my skill level and when daylight hours are a bit longer!

Requirements - These are not in any order but some of the main factors are:
1) High Quality/Sharpness of image in camera (RAW or JPG)
2) Ease of use, ergonomics, GUI, functions etc
3) Within the budget (around £250)
4) Ability to use remote trigger (wired or wireless)
5) Needs to auto focus in the body (to save on lens costs?)
6) Excellent low light ability
7) Slow exposures - I can only do 30 seconds on the HS10, I want to be able to do at least 5 minutes

Optional:
1) HD video quality. I can currently record HD video on the HS10 and its pretty handy to have one device that can do both. However having read up on DSLRs and HD video ability it seems that to get top quality in both aspects I will have to up the budget to £600+ for something like 600D, A65, or GH2 - I'm not ready to spend that sort of money yet.
2) Good upgrade potential if I want to buy more lenses, filters etc
3) Good resale value if I wish to move up the scale to more professional devices

Hope this is enough to start getting some ideas through. One of my work colleagues wants to sell a 400d with kit lens for under £200 and I hope to try this out first to get an initial idea.

Thanks
Mumin
 
Just wanted to update regarding the 400d experience.

Initial reaction was disappointment - no live view! Having used compacts and my HS10 I expected this to be available as standard. After I got over my initial shock I agreed to take it home and try it over the weekend which I did. It came with the standard 18 - 55m kit lens.

Like:
Feels good
Easy to use
Improvement in picture quality over HS10
Some sharp pictures in same lighting as HS10
Fast start and focus (compared to HS10)

Dislike:
Picture quality improvement not significant
Focusing sometimes misses in low light, thus doesnt shoot
Have to raise the flash to help with focus
Sometime fires off a series of rapid flashes and makes a loud crackling noise!
No movie mode
No live view

So the overall impression was that yes I want to go the DSLR route but the 400d isnt quite suitable for me. I spent the whole weekend researching and have come accross reviews of the Pentax K-X. It seems like very good value for money and according to this site the image quality surpasses that of the 600d (I was actually contemplating upping my budget to £600 at one point out of frustration!)

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-600d-vs-Pentax_K-x

It ticks all the boxes, has live view, movie mode, bulb mode.

The Pentax sells for around £240 - £270 on ebay/gumtree so not much more than the 400d.

Any one have any experience of this unit? Am seriously contemplating buying one. Any reasons why this may not be suitable?
 
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