OK this is my first post in the Photography and Photoshop section and I am not camera savvy!

Basically my daughter is doing digital photography in college and needs a camera, one better than here phone one!!!

She has been told to get a Canon SLR digital camera with a lens and thats it.

So can anyone point me in the direction of a decent camera that wont break the bank.

Thanks in advance

Canon, Nikon, Sony, all roughly same price point. I have a Sony A350 which I like, if a little heavy and Autoefocus struggles in low light. It does have Live View which I find very useful, for high or low shooting.

I would have a look at reviews in photo magazines and go and try a few. Ignore any snobbery if you encounter any about Sony not doing good cameras, 'cos they do, especially for beginners!

As Buster said, there are many manufacturers and models out there. Don't be hung up on a Canon. I'm not saying Canon are bad, all models and manufacturers have their pros and cons.

If it's not a "surprise" and she knows she'll be getting a camera, I'd go to your local photo store / Jessops, and have a play.

The ergonomics and feel mean an awful lot in terms of usability and satisfaction. Of course, there are technical elements, but whilst a entry level dSLR from any manufacturer will have similar features and performance, one might feel fantastic to hold, yet another may be terrible.

Er 'scuse me. Pentax as well.

Check out the available lenses. No good having a camera if the lenses you need are out of reach pricewise. Nikon DSLR, for example, can be used with older lenses, with lots available second hand.

Andy

thanks so far! I'm learning, as I know now, when it says body only, there is more to pay for!!:(

You are right. What you will also find is that Pentax/Samsung (Rebadged Pentax) and Sony are the only ones that offer in camera shake reduction.

I am biased and to be fair others such as Canon and Nikon offer many more options however its the end result that counts.

In-camera shake reduction would be good, as is Live View if you are vertically challenged like myself, and can't always see through the viewfinder to take the shot. That's why I plumped for the Sony. Admittedly, Canon and Nikon have more lenses available, but Sony are catching up and both Sigma and Tamron do good lenses for all 3 makes of camera, from very reasonable to pretty pricey, you just have to check what make they are compatible for. I have a Sigma 75-300 and I'm very impressed with it, just need to practice more!

Err, Hedge you forgot one there. Olympus and Panasonic (Lumix) also do In-body shake reduction, not just Sony. It makes the lenses much cheaper and lighter. The later Olympuses are definitely getting better with things like Noise reduction and Dynamic range. The earlier ones weren't so good in low light. I bought my Nikon D90 because of that (and It feels a little more comfortable with my sausage fingers. I've still got my E-510 and still undecided whether to sell or not as I still like a lot of things about it.

One of the good things about the whole Four Thirds system is the lack of weight compared to the Canon/Nikon big boys. Comes in real handy during a long shoot.

Lozparry, you might want to consider something like the E-620 or the E-30 if weight is going to be an issue. The downside is, there's not as many add-ons available for Olympus from other manufacturers, but then again this could come in handy with the "Dad, I need one of these" discussions later down the line. hehe

just a thought do the collage have canon lenses that she can use and this may be why they have said to buy canon.

what I would suggest is that what you do is to buy an entry level canon body and a couple of decent lenses then if she really gets into it she can keep the lenses and trade up the body becuase the lens can be carried over.

with canon lenses any ef lens will fit on the body so there are loads of both new and second hand lenses providing some great value for money. the only ones to be careful with if you are thinking long term are the canon ef-s mounts as they are designed for the lower end dslr's

Good point, Iain.

Another thing to bear in mind using older lenses - I'm not sure what bodies this applies to with Canon, but the real low end Nikon bodies don't have a screw drive in the body to drive the focus mechanism in the lens. Only the newer AF-S lenses will autofocus on the low end Nikon bodies. AF lenses can still be used, and they can still be focussed manually, just not auto. Any mid-range body upwards will have the screw drive in the body enabling autofocus on AF only lenses.

Not sure if this is also the case with Canon

Having said that, with Nikon, you can use just about any old lens that's F mount. "Ai" lenses (which aren't autofocus) work great and it's brilliant to use a 40-year old lens and get that "old" quality to it Although again, with these lenses, you don't get light metering on the low end bodies. Not that it matters too much with digital as you can always take the shot again

I guess she means a "camera with a lens" means an SLR, Single lens reflex. They do cost about £400 upwards but then you are getting real quality with Canon being the best by a mile, some colleges insist on these and most college course have a selection of Canon accessories for experimenting . Nikon and Pentax are not far behind. Best to buy a brand that has good pedigree in camera quality like the afformentioned, a couple more worth mentioning are Fuji and Olympus. Don't get hung up and assume the more pixels the better, the lens is equally important and again the established Camera makers are the best at this technology. Some of the compact digital cameras are really good quality and have some degree of manual intervention, Canon Ixus and Nikon Coolpix I know are worthy but they are still about the £100 mark. Another option is buying a 2nd hand Canon EOS or dare I say it a D1. I'm afraid when the kids go to College or University it does get expensive, one of the modern facts of life.

Despite there being a lot of good entry-level DSLRs out there I'd recommend Canon or Nikon purely from the point-of view of them being the most established brands with the greatest body of knowledge, users and accessories out there

Of those two I'd suggest Canon may perhaps have the edge due to the wider range of lens compatibility (due to the fact that entry-level Nikons can't auto-focus a lot of Nikon lenses) although the ergonomics of the Nikon are arguably better.

The Canon EOS 1000D is a fantastic camera at around £385 with the Image Stabilised 18-55mm lens as standard.

Check Camera Price Buster for prices too, whatever you decide.

Canon, Nikon, Sony, all roughly same price point. I have a Sony A350 which I like, if a little heavy and Autoefocus struggles in low light. It does have Live View which I find very useful, for high or low shooting.

I would have a look at reviews in photo magazines and go and try a few. Ignore any snobbery if you encounter any about Sony not doing good cameras, 'cos they do, especially for beginners!

Indeed they do, I am getting great results with my A350 and all the old Minolta Alpha lenses fit and are plentiful and cheap on fleabay.

I bought a canon 400D, after looking round at all the comparable ones at the time.

Why did I choose the Canon? Cos I have small hands, and it was the most comfortable for me to hold! The Nikon was just too 'fat' for me... same is true of the Sony my other half now has

something else to consider, I guess?

Surely, they gave a better description than, "get a Canon with a lense"? I'd hope they'd advise what type of facilities it has, or even recommend a model. The entry level Canon SLR's are the 1000D or the 500D

Phil

Edited 24 September, 200916 yr by philc

I guess she means a "camera with a lens" means an SLR, Single lens reflex. They do cost about £400 upwards but then you are getting real quality with Canon being the best by a mile

:rofl: Really

Hi

Ok I'll add my 2p's worth, I'd go with a camera from either of the big 2 Canon or Nikon, because there is more second hand kit available for these two, personally I'm a Canon user only because I've got a fair bit of money invested in lenses and I'm used to the camera's and how they work, but some of the new Nikon stuff is brilliant I know a few users and they get some awesomer results from them especially at high ISO's (Nikon seems to have the advantage at the moment in this area over Canon)

But at the end of the day a camera (digital or film) only records what the lens see's, thats what REALLY matters is the glass, buy the best lenses you can and you can't go far wrong, buy cheap lenses and even with the best camera and skills you'll still be left wanting when you look at your photo's.

As has already been said I'd say get a 1000D, or a second hand 350D perhaps, cracking little camera's.

Cheers,

Alan.

Well thanks for all the comments and advice, my daughter has now comeback, with the instructor recommending a Canon EOS 1000D with 18-55mm DC (non IS) Kit!!

looking at prices so far cheapest seen on fleabay for £350... or £360 on simply electronics

I know its about £100 more but having looked at both entry level Canons yesterday I felt the 450D with 18-55IS kit was worth the extra cash over the 1000D.

Hence I now own a 450D and just getting to grips with using it now.

A magazine I read recently recommended the Nikon D3000 as an excellent beginner SLR as it had a neat guide feature built in it seems to come in at about £415.

Well thanks for all the comments and advice, my daughter has now comeback, with the instructor recommending a Canon EOS 1000D with 18-55mm DC (non IS) Kit!!

looking at prices so far cheapest seen on fleabay for £350... or £360 on simply electronics

I know it's going against the advice you've had, but I really would see if you can stretch to the IS lens - it looks to be about an extra £17 on Amazon.

First of all the optics are much better on this lens (it was something of a redesign over the earlier non-IS version) so it's sharper in the corners and less prone to chromatic aberrations (weird coloured fringing on high contrast areas).

Secondly, and maybe more importantly it will give a lot more leeway for using the camera in low light (i.e. you can use a shutter speed about 4 times longer than you would normally be able to) AND it will drastically reduce the number of blurry images rejected due to camera shake.

By the way, worth checking the official Canon outlet seller on eBay - some good bargains there - eBay UK Shop - Canon Outlet EOS SLR Cameras Compact Cameras Digital Cameras:.

Well thanks for all the comments and advice, my daughter has now comeback, with the instructor recommending a Canon EOS 1000D with 18-55mm DC (non IS) Kit!!

looking at prices so far cheapest seen on fleabay for £350... or £360 on simply electronics

For 2nd.hand or new?

For 2nd.hand or new?

I take it as for new?

check out this website Digital Photography, Digital Cameras & Photographers | Photo Answers is practical phography magazies website ,it was very usefull when i bought my nikon

I guess she means a "camera with a lens" means an SLR, Single lens reflex. They do cost about £400 upwards but then you are getting real quality with Canon being the best by a mile, some colleges insist on these and most college course have a selection of Canon accessories for experimenting . Nikon and Pentax are not far behind. Best to buy a brand that has good pedigree in camera quality like the afformentioned, a couple more worth mentioning are Fuji and Olympus. Don't get hung up and assume the more pixels the better, the lens is equally important and again the established Camera makers are the best at this technology. Some of the compact digital cameras are really good quality and have some degree of manual intervention, Canon Ixus and Nikon Coolpix I know are worthy but they are still about the £100 mark. Another option is buying a 2nd hand Canon EOS or dare I say it a D1. I'm afraid when the kids go to College or University it does get expensive, one of the modern facts of life.

Might want to check the order of grandeur there I suppose it depends on your definition of quality, but there is hardly anything to differentiate all dSLR manufacturers at entry level in terms of quality. Some features will be different, but overall, they're pretty much all the same