Which DSLR would you recommend?
Posted by: Gareth on 28 June 2009
Hello
About to dip my toe into the DSLR arena and would like to hear some comments from your good selves regarding what would you recommend.
I have always been a keen photographer and owned a film SLR 20 years ago but have stuck with fairly decent non DSLRs recently.
I have a total budget of £1000 to cover camera, lenses, bags, memory, batteries etc and mostly take scenery, portrait and family shots. Video would be great bonus too.
I have searched the internet for reviews and comments and think I know what I want, but these forums have always given me good advice regarding hifi so I thought I would try here again.
Kind regards
Gareth
Posted on: 30 June 2009 by Ron Brinsdon
Must emphasise, get the 18-200 VR not the standard 18-200.
Posted on: 30 June 2009 by JamieL
I must say have found this thread very interesting, and informative.
Last year I did some shots indoors of a model/friend against a backdrop, and I used some film lights (from work), as opposed to a photographers flash kit.
I was surprised to discover how much a zoom lens limited my F stops/exposure during this, and as far as possible used a prime lens. Up to that point, I had only used the prime lens for photographing bands live, but I was surprised how much more light a zoom lens needed under indoor conditions.
The two zooms I have have been fine for outdoor shots, and general snaps.
Posted on: 01 July 2009 by Phil Cork
Gareth,
Have just had a sniff around on the web.
If you were to go for Nikon, you'd be looking at a D90. Body only is approx £650 (from Jessop). If you're into good glass, you could then get the 50mm f1.4 prime lens for £250, which on the DX sensor would equate to the equivalent of a 75mm 'zoom'.
Your last £100 could then afford a 16GB SDHC card, which is pretty hefty, and should equate to several hundred fine jpeg photographs - less if you select Nikon RAW also...
You should be able to get 'them' to throw in a bag given the spend.
Of course, the 50mm prime doesn't give you the felxibility of a zoom, but it'll give you better photographs! At 75mm equivalent it'll also make a good portrait lens.
The 18-200 sounds pretty impressive, and it is (technically), but such as wide range is only made possible by the small sensor (25mm) and there'll be distortion at the bottom end. A mate bought one but isn't overly impressed with the results.
Phil
Posted on: 13 July 2009 by Gareth
Hello
Decision made, just purchased a Nikon d40 with 18-55 VR lens 2nd hand. With the money saved can get lots of other bits as the need arises. And if I change my mind can flog it for what I paid for it, or near enough.
Many thanks for the advice/info, Ken Rockwells site was most useful.
Cheers
Gareth
