New £200 camera advice

[tenohfive]

The missus has just given me the okay to start looking for a new camera and I don't know where to start really.

I've got an old Kodak Z710 which gives some tinkering/PASM options but it's basically a point and shoot. I'm hoping to get something that will work as a point and shoot for day to day stuff but which when the opportunity presents to get out and about will let me get some good landscape shots - I'm quite keen to do this more.

I appreciate those are fairly vague specifications but does anyone have any recommendations?

[dibbly dobbler]

If you're going to get serious(ish) about it you'll probably want an Digital SLR - they're a bit bigger though, don't know if that's an issue ?

For £200 you could just about get a second hand Canon 400D with kit lens - check eBay

[tenohfive]

Funnily enough I was just looking at the 400D on Amazon - £200 for body only. There do seem to be a few second hand on ebay though (a route I'm happy to take) but what sort of lens kit should I be looking for? I've never owned a camera that uses a separate lens kit before.

[Nickelson23]

Panasonic Lumix FZ45 would get my vote.

[-Pete-]

There's nothing wrong with a 350D or even a 300D, 6Mpixels is enough for A3 prints. Canon's a good choice IMO, good performance and a very wide range of Canon and non-Canon lenses available. The lens is more important than the body, for landscapes you'd probably want something wider than the standard lens.

I'd recommend a 2nd hand 300D (£130 on eBay) and a decent wide-angle lens, I'd suggest the Tamron 19-35mm but I can't find anything suitable on eBay.

[dibbly dobbler]

tenohfive said:

Funnily enough I was just looking at the 400D on Amazon - £200 for body only. There do seem to be a few second hand on ebay though (a route I'm happy to take) but what sort of lens kit should I be looking for? I've never owned a camera that uses a separate lens kit before.

With an SLR you have a vast range of lenses available to be attached to the camera body depending on what you are shooting. I'll not try and go into too much detail as you could write volumes on this, but for example a 'long' lens eg 400mm would be good for shooting wildlife and a 'wide angle' lens eg 10-22mm would be good for landscapes.

Typically when you buy an SLR it comes with a starter (or 'kit') lens (normally an 18-55mm with a Canon 400d) which is fairly cheap and cheerful but more than good enough to get you going

[Comacchio]

As DD has posted - the bigger the 'mm' of the lens, the further away you can capture. The smaller the mm, the more you can fit in.

A lens around 6-8mm will start to capture your feet in the picture! Starting off with the 18-55mm gives you a good base on which lens to go for next depending on which end of the lens you use more.

[tenohfive]

That all seems to make sense. So assuming I get one with an 18-55mm lens, how much would a reasonable lens for landscape work be? I know I'm being lazy and I will do some googling later today - but a ballpark idea would be nice.

[dibbly dobbler]

tenohfive said:

That all seems to make sense. So assuming I get one with an 18-55mm lens, how much would a reasonable lens for landscape work be? I know I'm being lazy and I will do some googling later today - but a ballpark idea would be nice.

18-55 will do fine for landscape work - it's a good compromise lens. To get a more specialized landscape lens would probably need double your budget so I wouldn't worry about that for now - lenses are pricey I'm afraid...

[andygo]

I have just bought a Panasonic TZ20. Now I'm not an expert, but it seems a good camera with loads of toys inbuilt. It was £220 less £35 cashback from John Lewis. Maybe worth a look.

[dibbly dobbler]

First big choice for the OP is whether or not he wants to go for a DSLR or a compact - after that the field narrows down somewhat

[gog440]

This
http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/refurbished-digital-cam...

With this code P258BTCC467
gets you the camera for £187.

I am in the same boat as you OP, wanting to do a bit more with a camera but not having a lot of money or experience and the camera I linked to seems to do everything I want and has almost universally good reviews. the only downside is the lack of interchangeable lenses but as at the moment I cant afford to go down this route this wasnt a big negative for me!
I cant say for myself how good it is yet because it hasnt arrived as yet but I am really looking forwards to trying it out!

[tenohfive]

gog440 said:

This
http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/refurbished-digital-cam...

With this code P258BTCC467
gets you the camera for £187.

I am in the same boat as you OP, wanting to do a bit more with a camera but not having a lot of money or experience and the camera I linked to seems to do everything I want and has almost universally good reviews. the only downside is the lack of interchangeable lenses but as at the moment I cant afford to go down this route this wasnt a big negative for me!
I cant say for myself how good it is yet because it hasnt arrived as yet but I am really looking forwards to trying it out!

I'd be interested to hear how you get on. It does seem to be a very good bridge camera, which leads me on to...

dibbly dobbler said:

First big choice for the OP is whether or not he wants to go for a DSLR or a compact - after that the field narrows down somewhat

Whilst a compact/bridge would probably be fine I do find myself looking more towards a DSLR. I like the idea of having something that I can potentially upgrade by adding lenses at a later date. It just seems like a good idea for future proofing - especially if I end up getting into my photography in the way I'm hoping. At the moment I'm veering towards the 400D with the boggo Canon lens kit (which does seem to get some bad press) or whatever alternative I can find second hand within budget.

[-Pete-]

tenohfive said:

...I'm veering towards the 400D with the boggo Canon lens kit (which does seem to get some bad press) or whatever alternative I can find second hand within budget.

There's nothing wrong with the standard lenses, in fact I'd advise anyone new to DSLR's to use the standard lens for 6-12 months, see what kind of pictures you get, then decide what lens(es) to buy next. There's an awful lot of snobbery about cameras.

The camera body is relatively unimportant unless you have a special requirement (high frame rate, for example), it's the lens(es) which cost the money.

I really ought to get a bridge camera one day, my main concern is focussing time. As I usually photograph people, I hate lag, and prefocussing isn't really an option with moving subjects. If someone made a bridge camera which focussed like a DSLR I'd buy one. But for landscapes, that wouldn't be an issue for you.

[gog440]

tenohfive said:

Whilst a compact/bridge would probably be fine I do find myself looking more towards a DSLR. I like the idea of having something that I can potentially upgrade by adding lenses at a later date. It just seems like a good idea for future proofing - especially if I end up getting into my photography in the way I'm hoping. At the moment I'm veering towards the 400D with the boggo Canon lens kit (which does seem to get some bad press) or whatever alternative I can find second hand within budget.

It has arrived
Less than 24 hrs from ordering it.
First impressions are that it is dead easy to use as a point and shoot, the zoom is spectacular! and the EXR modes are very simple. The more advanced features are easily accessible and there are lots of them! It will take me a fair while to get used to it I think, but I am pleased so far.

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

You can get a refurbished Canon S95 for £200 now – it's a high-end compact which gives you full manual control. A good compromise if you want to learn photography but still be able to get usable shots with less hassle than an SLR.

[gog440]

-Pete- said:

I really ought to get a bridge camera one day, my main concern is focussing time.

The one I posted earlier not only has manual zoom, you can turn the auto focus off and focus manually (there's a focussing ring on the lens)
Doesnt work in all modes,but the option is there. With my hour or so of messing about this afternoon the auto-focus actually seems to work prety quickly.

Oh and it has a thread for attaching filters etc and there do appear to be some lenses available that fasten onto this ring, I have found a fish eye lens and some telephoto lenses on amazon/ebay today.

Edited by gog440 on Thursday 15th December 16:40

[Dogsey]

tenohfive said:

... Canon lens kit (which does seem to get some bad press) ...

The older 18-55mm is not brilliant, the newer 18-55mm IS is a much improved lens and well worth getting as a starter. As has already been mentioned as you grow into the camera you'll learn where you need to spend money.

[tenohfive]

Dogsey said:

The older 18-55mm is not brilliant, the newer 18-55mm IS is a much improved lens and well worth getting as a starter. As has already been mentioned as you grow into the camera you'll learn where you need to spend money.

Roughly when was the age change, or is there something that's likely to be on ebay descriptions that makes it clear that it's the newer version?

[Dogsey]

tenohfive said:

Roughly when was the age change, or is there something that's likely to be on ebay descriptions that makes it clear that it's the newer version?

The IS bit is the important bit, the older lens doesn't have image stabilisation, the newer one does.