what one to buy?

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fidel

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As mentioned earlier,

My son is starting a photography course in September and needs a digital
SLR,

So my question is this what is a good digital SLR to buy??? I have a
Limited budget so it has to be cheap but good enough for a A level
course ( around £200) it would need at least one lens. Do I buy
second hand?? or go brand new??? and where to buy from.


Mnay thanks
 
Pretty much anything from one of the big players. You'll get a Nikon D40 +18-55 lens, new, for not much more than that and similar offerings from Canon, Sony, Olympus etc. Any of these will do the job, it depends if your son is planning to invest in more glass at a later date, in which case it's probably best to pick a range where the lenses aren't too dear (Nikon/Canon).

I usually end up in Jessops, they tend to be as cheap as anyone, if not cheaper, but if you do go there one tip is to buy online and collect in store. That way you can sometimes save a bit extra - at the moment they have a "luchtime" promo on that would save an extra £10-20 off cameras in your budget.
 
At £200 you really are looking at the bottom of the scale of DSLR's.
If you think your son will take this further afterwards, I would double if nor triple that budget. Even then, im sure he would want to invest in new equipment in 2-3 years. Actually, anyone with a keen interest in photography will want to invest in new stuff 2-3 minutes after buying ;)

If its only for A-level, then the cameras above are fine for the job.

Nikon and Canon are both good.

Jessops isn't that cheap, if you look around, you can find better deals. The good thing about Jessops, is you can buy, and pay a year later. You can start a reoccurring payment, and add in bit by bit. Or chuck the whole payment in one go later. The only extra cost is a one off payment of £30. Interest is only added if you do not pay off by the end of the year, then it almost doubles, so best not to forget!

Buy memory cards from another site. Amazon sometimes does great deals, about 1/3 of the price or jessops.
 
Look here for cheap new prices: http://www.camerapricebuster.com/

Second hand cameras can be good bargains - Canon EOS 350D/400D or even 20D can be picked up for a good price these days.

I buy memory from http://www.mymemory.com/ who are as cheap as anyone - Sandisk Extreme III cards are very reliable and come with a free recovery program.

Another good site for some extra bits is http://www.7dayshop.co.uk - I buy batteries and other bits from them and they have good prices on other stuff too.

For a camera bag, some magazines give a free bag as part of their subscription package - could be an option - instead of spending £40 on a bag, spend it on a subscription and get the bag free.
 
First off, i would start with going into a camera shop and getting your son to handle a few cameras to see which ones he likes the feel of. Many of the newer cameras are similar in size and feel to the earlier models that would be in your budget, ( Nikon D50, D40, D40x, canon 300d, 350d)
For your budget, you are probably looking at a used camera, so any entry level used Nikon or canon dslr will do the trick, look at Nikon D80 ( similar in size to Nikon D50 which is generally available with kit lens for your budget or less) Nikon D40 or D40x. Canon are generally similar in size to the D40, so you would be looking at a canon 400d in the shop to get a general idea what a canon 300d or 350d would feel like. Both of these with a kit lens should be in budget.

Happy hunting, plenty of good used dslr`s about, many advertised on this site or try www.mpbphotographic.co.uk and I think Jessops still do used cameras at good prices with 12 month warrantys.
Allan
 
mifsuds, ffordes, mxvphotographic and others all stock a selection of pre-owned kit at reasonable prices but £200 isn't a very large budget to play with. I think Jessoips stopped doing 2nd hand kit a couple of years ago but I could be wrong.
 
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