Seeking Advice - SLR Camera's - (I have purchased one...)

[RickT]

For some time time i have wanted to get my self a SLR camera...

I am not wanting to spend mega money on one, I'm looking for a decent quality digital SLR camera with an additional 40-150mm lense...

I'm currently looking around for a good deal..

Any advice on "budget" SLR's??

Rick

[gav_j_crompton]

For full on SLR's you want to be looking at Nikon or Cannon (purely my own opinion). You could do a bit of research yourself if you wanted as there are quite a few camera magazines out there, basically walk into WH Smiths and browse for a bit.

How much of a budget do you have? Plus be carefull not to let any salesman talk you in to getting a crossover SLR type camera. These are the camera's with an SLR type camera body and a lens with decent optical zoom, but you can't actually change lenses, as it is actually part of the camera. Most people I have spoken to with this sort of camera are bitterly dissapointed and wish they shelled out a bit more for a proper SLR.

It really does depend how much you want to spend at the end of the day. Another idea would be to go to somwwhere like Jessops and just ask to have a look at some different camera's, take some pictures with them have a play and see what feels right for you. (Though if you are looking for a lower budget Digi SLR have a look at a Nikon D40)

Hope this helps

[sayloday]

Rick

You should have a look at www.dpreview.com - a lot of indepth reviews.

Dave

[Levi_501]

I would start with Canon then move to Nikon.

First ask yourself, do you really want digital imager ???

Buy a proper film camera, the results are far superior, much more life to you pictures.

It like listen to vinyl, then turning on a CD player !

[MalcQV]

I was keen back in the 35mm days. Had a Nikon SLR and loved it. I read that Canon have the edge over Nikon in the digital world.

I own a Fuji 5000 digital camera. One that looks like an SLR but is not. It was the first generation of Fuji 5000 series camera hence the name . They are up to the 5500 or something. I can't fault it. 35mm aside it still stands up to present day digital cameras.

As for 35mm vs digital, well I forget the resolution of 35mm film but digital can't really match it, however most of us on photos up to A3 probably would not notice on the best 10megapixel cameras. What I love about digital is seeing the picture (all be it a little small) on the back of the camera. With 35 mm if you want to get into post processing you need a dark room and equipment. There are post processing applications out there that come with a digital camera to do this for free on your PC.

For me digital far out ways the benefits over 35mm. But then I am not a professional.

[sayloday]

Better for kids to learn photography as well, my 4 year old takes fantastic pictures with my Nikon D50, can you imagine how much we would have had to spend on film and processing if she had learnt photography on a film camera!!!

Dave

[RickT]

Rick

You should have a look at www.dpreview.com - a lot of indepth reviews.

Dave

Cheers for the advice,

Im going to do some reading before spending my cash... once i have found something i will post a few options on here and see your thoughts..

I will be looking at spending around £400.00, so i am looking for the best deals with hopefull a 40mm-150mm lense also.. looking at going for a 2007 model and these seem to be discounted a fair bit now..

i will post my thoughts when i have done "loads" of reading!

Rick

[Crasher]

I bought a Nikon D40 although I wish I had waited a few weeks as the D40X came out. Having said that, I am very pleased with it and have used it for a number of articles in the magazine I write for.

[dansansome]

http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm

its an american site, but gives good write ups on all the cameras tested, and also has full res images taken with each camera.

i had a good look on there when i bough my non-slr snapper earlier this year.

[johnlich]

What do you intend using the camera for? I am assuming general purpose photography rather than anything really specialised.

I'm on to my 3rd generation of Digital SLR - but then I always did love gadgets. Canon and Nikon are the most popular choices but Sony (was Minolta), Pentax and my personal favourite Olympus have a lot going for them.

All will give good results.

If you read the forums (eg dpreview.com) you will see endless discussion about the number of pixels and picture quality but in my experience it is the person behind the camera that counts most and if I were you I would try to handle a few before I make up my mind and make sure that if you wear glasses that you can see the whole of the viewfinder including the info display and that the view is nice and bright with the lenses that you have selected mounted.

The majority of my digital pictures were taken using a 5 Megapixel Olympus E1 camera and I was pretty happy with the quality up to A4 sized prints so any of the current crop of 10 Megapixel cameras should do the job unless you are going to produce some really large posters. Many people no longer make prints of course and just display pictures on their computer screens most of which require a 2 Megapixel or less image to fill them.

And as you have spotted there are bargains to be had on outgoing models with most manufacturers upgrading their range on an annual basis.

I know they are a long way from Yorkshire but I just thought that I would mention the dealer that I use most often - www.digitaldepot.co.uk.

Now is also a good time to stock up on memory cards with 2Gb and 4Gb cards being ridiculously cheap at the moment.

John

(www.pbase.com/johnlich)