Advice Required

[chrisbassist]

Jessops is bad advice. Jessops are always one of the more expensive shops. Normally even when they have deals on. If you can find an independent store they will be much more helpful and most of the time cheaper. But then once you've decided you can always buy online from places like 7dayshop.

Like I said there's no reason not to go for any camera. Canon and nikon are the big names on the slr Market but slr just means single lens reflex. As in when you look through the viewfinder you're looking through the same lens as the sensor is when you hit the button.

So as long as you can Manually adjust exposure time, aperture, iso, White balance, and focus then you can learn how they work and how the relationship between iso, exposure time and aperture works.

Then you can learn about them, you can take photos and learn about composition. My first camera which I could do all that with was £150 and it served me well. Yes eventually I wanted to upgrade. But by then I knew why. I wasn't going blindly into buying a camera, I had requirements.

I now have new requirements which neither my D40 or my D100 cover so I'm thinking about getting a spangly new D3s if I can afford it, if not probably a D300.

But yeah my advice is to buy a bridge camera for now so when you buy a "proper" slr you know exactly what you want to buy.

 

[razer121]

Jessops is bad advice. Jessops are always one of the more expensive shops.

£298 for a canon 100d? no im pretty sure they can do some good deals

But you are right online is always cheaper

 

[chrisbassist]

They can and I think I once saw something cheaper in there than anywhere else, but that tends to be rare, and always on very specific things to get you through the door, then they add on other bits. Trying to sell you extra to make up for the cheaper price. If you happen to spot what you want on offer, it's worth checking out their price. But independent camera shops will be much more helpful in letting you test out a camera. Canon and nikon tend to feel slightly different in your hands, how do you know which you want if you haven't had chance to get every camera out and have a play? Gaurantee you jessops staff will get annoyed at the third camera you ask to take a look at.

 

[kaivalagi]

For what it's worth I have a Canon 450d and cannot fault it...it has all the features you'd want and there are a good deal of lens options. I bought the kit with 2 lenses (18-55 and 55-250), both of which have image stabilisation. I've since added a Sigma 150-500mm lens and a Tokina 100mm prime "true" macro lens...all very capable lenses in my opinion, just the later 2 are more solid (and heavy) than the cheaper kit lens.

IMHO the camera body, as long as it has a half decent set of features is far less important than the lenses. I will stick with my 450d and spend money on lenses...if I do get a new camera body it will be a 50d or better but that would be some way off and would probably be second hand.

Might be worth buying second hand?

Have you looked at reviews here yet: http/www.dpreview.com/
Also this site is worth a visit for reviews: http/www.cameralabs.com/ and http/www.youtube.com/user/cameralabs for video reviews

My favorite pic (so far) which I took with my 100mm macro:

 

[razer121]

They can and I thin.....Snip..... to take a look at.

agreed, they did that with me lol insisted i bought a bag tripod and all sorts of other bits, but i was only trying the cameras out there XD i ended up getting mine second hand from cash for £250 with everything, 3 memory cards 3 batterys case the lot, so second hand is a good place to look (just as before see how many pics it has taken and look at all the settings and see the condition properly)

For what it's worth I have a ...snip............

Man if only i was as good as you are with a camera! this is my best with the standard kit lens that comes with a 350d (to give you an idea of how good they can be)

of fish ive not really done many but there is this one, excuse the mess XD

so as others have mentioned the camera body, as long as it does what you want you dont need to go crazy, the lens is the bis in slrs

im not pro (far from it) but i can take decent shots with the basic of slrs, go have a feel of them bodys (see what i did there?) then decide which you like best

 

[kaivalagi]

Man if only i was as good as you are with a camera! this is my best with the standard kit lens that comes with a 350d (to give you an idea of how good they can be)

Pure luck, honestly...with any photography you may take 500 shots and only 10 you'll be happy with. For that shot I was poised in front of the tank (with a very good macro lens) for about 1 hr, taking shot after shot when the HRPs were getting busy with the fry.

I paid over £250 for that macro lens, it was well worth it though, it's all I use for fish pics now...it has no stabilisation though (most true macros don't) so getting the shutter speed up is the ticket...not easy though when taking pics of fish ina tank, the lighting is not great especially with glass reflecting lots. I need a UV filter next for that lens which should help a great deal. If you ever want a macro for your Canon I can't recommend it enough, it's a Tokina AT-X 100mm F2.8 Pro D Macro lens (http/www.shutterbu...ses/0106tokina/)

I also have this bad boy which hasn't been used nearly enough yet: http/www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lenses/telezoom/150-500mm.htm

 

[razer121]

That is a very impressive lens! but out of my budget at the moment, im still new to the camera scene, got to get better and understand it all before i get some exspesive len's, saying that i tend to use manual focus alot XD

 

[kaivalagi]

That is a very impressive lens! but out of my budget at the moment, im still new to the camera scene, got to get better and understand it all before i get some exspesive len's, saying that i tend to use manual focus alot XD

I totally understand, I was making good money on a contract so decided to spend whilst I had the cash and this was something I wasn't going to change my mind on...I am still an amateur for sure, learning all the time.

What's great about DSLR's is that you can put them in "Program" mode where you have some ability to alter shutter speed/aperture/iso and the camera handles the balancing act as it were, this then gives you a really feel for what would be required in a normal manual shooting situation and aids the learning process. I use program mode a lot to get an understanding of the normal settings for a decent shot, then if I want to override the behaviour for effect I know I can adjust one thing or another. Mind you I use shutter priority for fish shots as I can command the shutter speed to stop blur (no stabilisation on the macro) and let everything else adjust.

The other good thing with the 450d and onwards is the live view, you can see exactly what you will get with the settings on the screen, it's also great for macro shots where things aren't moving...the 10x mag on the view to enable really crisp manual focus is a god sent!

I'll shut up now and let others have a say

 

[ZoddyZod]

I recently got a Canon EOS 50D with an additional macro lens. Cant fault it so far. Was meant to be for limited use at work but can see me becoming a camerophile very quickly....

 

[kaivalagi]

I recently got a Canon EOS 50D with an additional macro lens. Cant fault it so far. Was meant to be for limited use at work but can see my becoming a camerophile very quickly....

Lucky you, nice camera!

It's as bad as fish keeping for sucking you in

 

[ZoddyZod]

Lucky you, nice camera!

It's as bad as fish keeping for sucking you in

luckily it wasn't my money that was spent. Was quite shocked when I received the quote for it!

Too many functions to play with to not get hooked!

 

[gaz gun man]

That is a very impressive lens! but out of my budget at the moment, im still new to the camera scene, got to get better and understand it all before i get some exspesive len's, saying that i tend to use manual focus alot XD

That is a very impressive lens! but out of my budget at the moment, im still new to the camera scene, got to get better and understand it all before i get some exspesive len's, saying that i tend to use manual focus alot XD

I totally understand, I was making good money on a contract so decided to spend whilst I had the cash and this was something I wasn't going to change my mind on...I am still an amateur for sure, learning all the time.

What's great about DSLR's is that you can put them in "Program" mode where you have some ability to alter shutter speed/aperture/iso and the camera handles the balancing act as it were, this then gives you a really feel for what would be required in a normal manual shooting situation and aids the learning process. I use program mode a lot to get an understanding of the normal settings for a decent shot, then if I want to override the behaviour for effect I know I can adjust one thing or another. Mind you I use shutter priority for fish shots as I can command the shutter speed to stop blur (no stabilisation on the macro) and let everything else adjust.

The other good thing with the 450d and onwards is the live view, you can see exactly what you will get with the settings on the screen, it's also great for macro shots where things aren't moving...the 10x mag on the view to enable really crisp manual focus is a god sent!

I'll shut up now and let others have a say

yeah lenses are the one thing that pretty much last forever, regardless of how old your glass is, it can still compete with the new releases (almost).

It makes sense to buy once, and buy decent grade, because bodies will come and go, lenses stay.



Heres my baby:

Though I have to say, for someone new to photography, they should concentrate on using the standard kit lens for a while, and see what sort of photography they like, then buy a specialist lens to suit their needs.

 

[ChesterRaven]

My favorite pic (so far) which I took with my 100mm macro:

That's amazing!!!

My friend has a Canon EOS 450D which works pretty well

Seems like a good beginner DSLR

x x x x

 

[ZoddyZod]

Heres my baby:

look at the length on that! phwoooooooar!

 

[kaivalagi]

Though I have to say, for someone new to photography, they should concentrate on using the standard kit lens for a while, and see what sort of photography they like, then buy a specialist lens to suit their needs.

That's a beaut!

Totally with you on the lens purchase, I used my kit lenses for more than 6 months before buying more. I wanted a macro for close up work, both fish and the little things that look so interesting close up and I got the super zoom because the 250mm just wouldn't reach a lot of things I've tried taking pics of in the past, cropping back left me with a very poor quality photo.

I just had to take a pic (crappy mobile) with the super zoom attached (my camera body is quite a bit smaller than yours I think

)