Discussion
well more advice really, but i'm after my 'first' real camera and i realllllllly want an SLR. know i've looked in mags, shops and net and Ebay and have a budget (i reckon) of about £330 - £350.
1 - i've seen Quiet a few 'cheap' SLRs on Fleabay, is it a good idea to buy one off Ebay, anyone had good luck or bad?
2 - failing that, does anyone know of anyone, sites or shops, that do SLRs for sub £400, would be a big help.
3 FAILING THAT, does anyone recomend a non SLR digital cameras which would ennable me to improve my skills before i can afford an SLR.
many thanks(Y)
1 - i've seen Quiet a few 'cheap' SLRs on Fleabay, is it a good idea to buy one off Ebay, anyone had good luck or bad?
2 - failing that, does anyone know of anyone, sites or shops, that do SLRs for sub £400, would be a big help.
3 FAILING THAT, does anyone recomend a non SLR digital cameras which would ennable me to improve my skills before i can afford an SLR.
many thanks(Y)
A quick search of amazon.co.uk reveals a Canon 400D (body only) for £349.99, with the 18-55 kit-lens its £389.
The 450D has just been announced, might be a good time to try and get a deal on a 400D.
On the Nikon side of the street - both amazon and warehouse express have the d40x with the 18-55 kit lens for about £400.
For a comments on the two models check these recent threads:
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?t=479...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=477...
What sort of shots do you want to take ? Eg. neither of those combinations have a long lens for shooting motorsport. They both come with a general 18-55mm 'walk about' lens.
Cheers.
The 450D has just been announced, might be a good time to try and get a deal on a 400D.
On the Nikon side of the street - both amazon and warehouse express have the d40x with the 18-55 kit lens for about £400.
For a comments on the two models check these recent threads:
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?t=479...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=477...
What sort of shots do you want to take ? Eg. neither of those combinations have a long lens for shooting motorsport. They both come with a general 18-55mm 'walk about' lens.
Cheers.
Edited by flat-planedCrank on Monday 4th February 00:08
firsty cheers for the help man, very greatful, secondly, i am amatuer, so i'm building up my skill and just trying to improve myself, i would like to get to the point when i can shoot motorsport but right now i just want to get better on a whole so a basic lens kit is fine for the time being, cheers thougth man, any idea for a starting price for a long lens thougth.
ALfooy said:
firsty cheers for the help man, very greatful, secondly, i am amatuer, so i'm building up my skill and just trying to improve myself, i would like to get to the point when i can shoot motorsport but right now i just want to get better on a whole so a basic lens kit is fine for the time being, cheers thougth man, any idea for a starting price for a long lens thougth.
No probs 
I'd just read-up as much as possible
there are plenty of review sites out there, dpreview being a popular one (400D, d40x)You can always post questions on here, lots of knowledgeable people
I'd always suggest going to have a look at the camera's in a shop, can help to make your mind up. Helps you asses build quality, button layout, etc...
Both Nikon and Canon have a decent lens range, plus their lens mounts are supported by 3rd party manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron, etc...
The starting price of a long lens ? i guess it starts from less than £200.
Try browsing a like like warehouseexpress, take a look at the lenses they have for canon / nikon.
I'd say for motorsport you'd want a zoom with probably 200mm on the long end. Eg. 70-200mm
So for Canon ('cos i know that best
):You dont just get a 200mm zoom lens, you get the choice of many versions.
Warehouse express lists 200mm zoom lenses from £169 to £1247
(and that's just the ones canon make!)If you want to know whether a lens is well regarded or not, you can check a site like Photozone
Some popular 'motorsports' lenses for Canon:
EF 70-200mm f4.0 L USM - approx £460
EF 70-200mm f4.0 L IS USM - approx £730
EF 70-200mm f2.8 L USM - approx £890
EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM - approx £1247
In general, some possible reasons for price differences -
-Better optics (sharper, better colour reproduction, better contrast, etc.)
-Larger maximum aperture (smaller 'f number')
-Faster focusing (can be important for motorsport)
-Better build quality
-Image Stability (helps stabilise camera-shake when zoomed)
Hope this helps.
Cheers.
Edited by flat-planedCrank on Monday 4th February 05:08
ALfooy said:
1 - i've seen Quiet a few 'cheap' SLRs on Fleabay, is it a good idea to buy one off Ebay, anyone had good luck or bad?
i had a bash at buying and selling camera stuff on ebay a while back. bought a few dslrs and had no problems (in fact i had very few problems with anything). they all seem to go for similar money tho,check completed listings. a good idea might be to find one thats close to you and offer the seller an average price less the 6% they will save on ebay and paypal fees ;-) for cash on collection. that way you save on postage and if it's a complete dog you can just walk away.Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff