Which starter camera?

lewis105

lewis105

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I know this may have been asked thousands of times and i did search but souldnt find an answer that covered my question.

Im new to photography and want a decent camera for automotive photos and general photos.

I have a low budget at the moment of around £300 and was looking at getting one of the below;

Sony A200
Nikon D40
Canon EOS 400

Can anyone shed any light on which one is better or suggest another camera (new or s/h) that would be go for me to start with and the option to buy more advance lenses in the future.

Cheers in advance
 
If your looking second hand avoid the D40 and look at the D40x instead. I will let you check out the difference as that is the way to learn;):)

Realspeed
 
i think a200 offers more function than d40 and 400d . it all depends on what lens system you want to use. it is best try them out 1st to see which one suit your hand.
 
These are all pretty old cameras and the difference in price between, say, the D40 and a much, much newer D60 body might be as little as £10. The same goes for the Canon and its successors.

The A200 has a bit of a reputation for being problematic (no idea if this is true of newer models which, again, won't be much more expensive),there are fewer lenses (both new and secondhand) on the market for the Sony system and the cameras themselves are harder to shift on secondhand than comparable Nikon or Canon products when upgrade time comes around, which will be sooner than you think :naughty:
 
I started off owning a 400D which I still think is a cracking starter camera. However as pointed out above, it all depends on when lens systems you want because once you buy into a "family" its very hard to change.

Ian
 
I started with an A200, as it offered more for less compared to the D40 and 400D at the time.

However, I would also add that it's worth actually trying each of the cameras to see how they feel if you have an opportunity to do so (I appreciate this may be harder with s/h models), as it is important that the camera feels comfortable to you - if not, you will always be 'fighting' the camera, which will affect the pictures you take.
 
I'd throw the cheap as chips 1000D into the mix, but really you can't go wrong with any of the above mentioned cameras. My advice would be to also spend a bit of money on a prime too (most do cheap plastic 50mm 1.8 lenses) and force yourself to use it over a zoom. You'll learn much more and much faster. Well I did anyway.
 
Kemble3 said:
I started off owning a 400D which I still think is a cracking starter camera. However as pointed out above, it all depends on when lens systems you want because once you buy into a "family" its very hard to change.

Ian
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I too started with a 400D in 2008 and have since moved on, but only recently, it is a great entry in to DSLR. Can't reinforce enough the comments about buying glass. Once you buy into a system, EOS for example, it's not easy to change as most likely you will loose out on part of you investment. Before you spend a lot of money on any glass make sure you are happy with the body you've chosen. It may come down to what feels better physically, or which is most suited to you preferred subject. While Sony and Pentax make some nice camera in the long run I would start with one of the big two, Nikon or Canon. TBH similarly spec'd Canon and Nikon have little between then in terms of performance and IQ
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The A200 has a bit of a reputation for being problematic
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with whom? It's certainly not one that I'm aware of.
On the contrary the A200 was always reckoned to be 1 of the best entry level models of it's generation (& favoured by many over it's replacement the A230) as it offered more features for less money than e.g. a D40/D40X etc.
There may be fewer lenses etc. available for the MinoltaAF/Sony Alpha system than CaNikon but for all but a few very specialist applications there are more than enough.
& as all lenses become stabilised there are more stabilised lens options for Sony than either Canon or Nikon.

However, for the op the same advice as ever holds - try 1 to see what suits you best for handling.

Oh & you can get a brand new A290 + kit 18-55 for £300 - a s/h A200+18-70 should be £200 or under.
 
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That is way too expensive.

I got mine in January 2010 from the Canon Outlet store on eBay as a refurbished item for £280 including kit lens and although I've upgraded it still works perfectly. There is nothing wrong with going second hand for your first camera as long as you find a reputable seller (many offer guarantees), with the savings you can add a plastic fantastic 50mm to your kit.

One thing about the 1000D, it isn't much good in lowlight/high ISO situations.
 
heidfirst said:
with whom? It's certainly not one that I'm aware of.
On the contrary the A200 was always reckoned to be 1 of the best entry level models of it's generation
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It's fairly common for the A200 to suffer from a misaligned sensor, a quick Google brings up over 56,000 hits.....;)

Lee-on-sea said:
That is way too expensive.

I got mine in January 2010 from the Canon Outlet store on eBay as a refurbished item for £280 including kit lens including kit lens and although I've upgraded it still works perfectly. There is nothing wrong with going second hand for your first camera
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Refurbished isn't new, or even secondhand though, it's something that (in most cases) has been sent back because it's faulty and has been opened up and repaired. It may well work flawlessly after that, but plenty of people have bought refurb cameras from the outlet store that were still faulty.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
It's fairly common for the A200 to suffer from a misaligned sensor, a quick Google brings up over 56,000 hits.....;)
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To clarify, these are damaged (dropped) cameras. Not poorly made or designed. The in-body stabilization may break if you drop the camera, which in turn may result in a misaligned sensor. I say "may" because ive dropped both my sony's many times and (touch wood) not had the problem yet. Of course, it can be repaired if it ever happens, so I'm not concerned by the risk. Indeed, in-body IS is a big plus for me.
 
Johnd2000 said:
To clarify, these are damaged (dropped) cameras. Not poorly made or designed. The in-body stabilization may break if you drop the camera, which in turn may result in a misaligned sensor. I say "may" because ive dropped both my sony's many times and (touch wood) not had the problem yet. Of course, it can be repaired if it ever happens, so I'm not concerned by the risk. Indeed, in-body IS is a big plus for me.
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56,000 posts from people who have dropped their A200s? That's stretching it a bit, is it not? For the record I have owned an A200 and they're built waaay down to a price....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
It's fairly common for the A200 to suffer from a misaligned sensor, a quick Google brings up over 56,000 hits.....;)
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of which many probably aren't for the Sony Alpha A200 but happen to have 1 or more of those key words (e.g. at least both KM & Canon made A200s),some will be multiple entries (people often post the same query in multiple places) etc. etc. or are you saying that you have personally checked every single entry ;).
Even if all 56000 hits were genuine individual Sony Alpha 200s with a misaligned sensor (which as I've said they won't be) it would probably still only represent ~2% of production.
& whilst of course misaligned sensors do exist the vast majority happen because somebody dropped or banged the body.
I'm sure that you could find something similar that would bring up lots of hits for other bodies (e.g. 5D mirror problem, 40D error 99 etc.).
It's really pretty rare but as ever the internet magnifies things.
 
I never had the A200 but I did have an A300 which was exactly the same aside from having liveview and I thought as an entry level body it was very nicely built and certainly never had any issues with it.
Certainly better built than a lot of the currently entry level models are across all brands.
 
heidfirst said:
of which many probably aren't for the Sony Alpha A200 but happen to have 1 or more of those key words (e.g. at least both KM & Canon made A200s),some will be multiple entries (people often post the same query in multiple places) etc. etc. or are you saying that you have personally checked every single entry ;).
Even if all 56000 hits were genuine individual Sony Alpha 200s with a misaligned sensor (which as I've said they won't be) it would probably still only represent ~2% of production.
& whilst of course misaligned sensors do exist the vast majority happen because somebody dropped or banged the body.
I'm sure that you could find something similar that would bring up lots of hits for other bodies (e.g. 5D mirror problem, 40D error 99 etc.).
It's really pretty rare but as ever the internet magnifies things.
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To clarify, I searched for "sony a200 sensor misaligned", but yes, many be posts in threads etc and yes, 56,000 only represents 2% of the production total, but that's only the people who posted about the matter on the internet ;)

Even if it is just an issue with (a lot) of people banging/dropping it, you need to remember that the A200 is, as I said earlier, an old camera now, so there's a fair chance of running into the problem and the cost of repairing it would probably be more than the camera is worth.......
 
i may have stumbled into an argument here, but a relevant question, and didnt want to start another thread on the subject!

i'm wanting to move into the dslr world. i have a high mp compact just now, is there merit in dropping to a 10 or 12 mp 'older' dslr to save a few pennies, i'm thinking pickin up a decent 2nd hand from the classifieds on here? i remember reading somewhere that its better to spend more money on lenses? my plan was to spend say 150 on an older body, and build up lenses as i go, then when more experienced and with a few lenses in the collection already, buy a more up-to-date body? or would i just be better spending 300 on a newer one with a kit lens?
 
moodye said:
i may have stumbled into an argument here, but a relevant question, and didnt want to start another thread on the subject!

i'm wanting to move into the dslr world. i have a high mp compact just now, is there merit in dropping to a 10 or 12 mp 'older' dslr to save a few pennies, i'm thinking pickin up a decent 2nd hand from the classifieds on here? i remember reading somewhere that its better to spend more money on lenses? my plan was to spend say 150 on an older body, and build up lenses as i go, then when more experienced and with a few lenses in the collection already, buy a more up-to-date body? or would i just be better spending 300 on a newer one with a kit lens?
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Good glass is definitely the way to go, it always amazes me the number of people that shell out £2k plus on a high end body and then buy the cheapest Sigma or Tamron lens they can get for it :wacky:

I think you'll struggle to get much of a 10-12mp body (unless you go down the Sony route) for £150, fifty quid more brings stuff like the Canon 400D, Nikon D60 and some of the older prosumer Canon bodies (just about) into reach though.
 
ok, thanks. at least i know what to kind of aim for now.

cheers

G
 
Flash In The Pan said:
To clarify, I searched for "sony a200 sensor misaligned", but yes, many be posts in threads etc and yes, 56,000 only represents 2% of the production total, but that's only the people who posted about the matter on the internet ;)
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even looking at the first couple of pages of results for that shows a no. of non-relevant hits so imagine that multiplied across all results (esp. as they tend to get less relevant as you go away from the first page).

Even if it is just an issue with (a lot) of people banging/dropping it, you need to remember that the A200 is, as I said earlier, an old camera now, so there's a fair chance of running into the problem and the cost of repairing it would probably be more than the camera is worth.......
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yes, it's an older camera but it's still very capable of very good results (indeed i still use 1 at low ISO because I prefer the results to that of CMOS equipped bodies like the A700).
I agree that if you run into the problem then fixing it will likely cost more than the body is worth but I disagree about the prevalence.
 
moodye said:
is there merit in dropping to a 10 or 12 mp 'older' dslr to save a few pennies, i'm thinking pickin up a decent 2nd hand from the classifieds on here? i remember reading somewhere that its better to spend more money on lenses?
Click to expand...
yes, unless you are going to print very large then you won't see the difference between e.g. a 10/12Mp image & ~16/18Mp one.
Later model bodiess tend to have better high ISO results so if you plan to shoot a lot in low light consider that though.
 
I started with an A200, sold it to buy a later A series camera and found the 200 felt a lot better to use. Now I wish I never sold it, looking to get another A200 sometime soon. Waiting for a good deal.

Its a great DSLR.
 
I have decided to look into a canon 400d, this is because i have used both a 400d and a 40d and feel like canon is the "better Family" to buy into.

IS 200 a rough price to pay for a 400d body and 18-55 lens?
 
lewis105 said:
I have decided to look into a canon 400d, this is because i have used both a 400d and a 40d and feel like canon is the "better Family" to buy into.

IS 200 a rough price to pay for a 400d body and 18-55 lens?
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As someone who has recently sold my 400D I would say that's a fair price!

For me I needed 'Liveview' because my left eye started hurting after using the viewfinder for to long :LOL:

Check AVforums mate, a few 400D have popped up on there recently.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/digital-camera-camcorder-classifieds/
 
I am now a proud owner of a canon 400d with a 18-55 lens. Can not wait to get my hands on it,
 
Ok. I will intensionally hide what brand i use :)
It is more political design. Consider available accessories you can get for it, especially second hand lenses etc. Keep in mind you can't mix lenses, flash, etc. If you suddenly will change body.

There was the time then Canon was doing lot of budget lenses because of its clever marketing. And Nikon mostly expensive line for professionals. I think it is still much easier to find budget glass for Canon. Sony is newcomer, SLR professionals are still shooting Cannon and Nikon as they used to it and have lot hardware and knows how it works. Because you are new in photography, then you can try Sony. Old "professionals" can not suggest you Sony, but for you can be good start. Pay attention on available lenses for your new baby :)

Go to shop and see them first. Remember that you are who going to take picture. Not camera ;) Once design made, buy it and just use it.
 
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