Entry level DSLR

Rosscoah · 17th January 2010, 01:42 PM

A little help required.

I am in the market for a DSLR but unsure as to where to start. I have been keeping tabs on the second hand D40's (as they seem to be the most highly recommended) but tbh it's a bit more than i would like to spend on my first "serious" camera.

Ideally i'd like to get something around the £200 - 250 mark, and have noticed that the Olympus E-510's are going for around this price 2nd hand, with a lense or sometimes 2 included.

What do you lot reckon? Anyone got any experience with this camera or are there any others you'd recommend instead?

*just to clarify, it is the Canon 40D's that i have been looking at not the Nikon D40*

AB22 Easy Tiger · 17th January 2010, 03:01 PM

The EOS 40D is a good camera but it's certainly not entry level.

If you're looking at Canon, look for a used 400D or see what deal you can get on a 1000D.

I've never used an Olympus SLR but I would say that you'll be able to get more 2nd hand lenses fro Canon or Nikon than Olympus, just because these two brands are the most popular.

There are a lot of people on here who use Nikon and they'll be able to advise on an entry level camera from that manufacturer much better than I can.

Rosscoah · 17th January 2010, 03:51 PM

Yeah, the 40D is a bit further up the ladder than i require at the minute.

Those 1000D's seem like they could be a goer, some reasonably priced deals around, and the Olympus E-420 seems ok and comes with a pretty decent quality pancake lens too.

Cheers for the help, anyone else have any advice? Nikon users?

not spavin · 17th January 2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosscoah

Yeah, the 40D is a bit further up the ladder than i require at the minute.

Those 1000D's seem like they could be a goer, some reasonably priced deals around, and the Olympus E-420 seems ok and comes with a pretty decent quality pancake lens too.

Cheers for the help, anyone else have any advice? Nikon users?

You should be able to pick up a second hand D40 for next to nowt - iirc mine was only €300 or so when I bought it new a couple of years ago. Try eBay - that's why I bought my D40, and my D2X.

Personally, I wouldn't look beyond Nikon / Canon. While there's nothing wrong with the other brands, there are loads more / better value accessories available for the big two - especially lenses, especially second hand.

Marsden Mackem · 17th January 2010, 09:37 PM

I think the d40's might have gone out of production recently and this seems to be pushing the second hand prices up from what I am seeing on ebay. But bear in mind if prices stay strong you wont lose too much money if you come to sell the body on if you upgrade later.

I would recommend it although I ended up upgrading the lenses to VR pretty quickly and moved onto a d90 after 5,000 or so exposures.

Might be worth checking out D60 prices in comparison, it may also be worth buying some of the latest camera magazines that generally have loads of camera retailers advertising decent second hand kit.

Its also better to maybe spend a bit more now and commit to canon or nikon as you can improve the cameras with better lenses and keep the lenses if and when you upgrade the body, wheras if you start with Olympus and deciede to move over manufacturere its going to cost you a lot more in the long run.

taipeisafc · 18th January 2010, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosscoah

A little help required.

I am in the market for a DSLR but unsure as to where to start. I have been keeping tabs on the second hand D40's (as they seem to be the most highly recommended) but tbh it's a bit more than i would like to spend on my first "serious" camera.

Ideally i'd like to get something around the £200 - 250 mark, and have noticed that the Olympus E-510's are going for around this price 2nd hand, with a lense or sometimes 2 included.

What do you lot reckon? Anyone got any experience with this camera or are there any others you'd recommend instead?

*just to clarify, it is the Canon 40D's that i have been looking at not the Nikon D40*

IIRC Olympus changed their lens mount for the Digital series so any legacy Olympus lenses don't work (which is a bit of a problem) I have a Pentax K10D and love it and it takes any Pentax K mount lenses so there are thousands of lenses available on Ebay. But to be honest I would go and grab a hold of a few and get the one that feels right (Olympus are too small for me) which is part of the reason I bought the Pentax over the Nikon and Canon equivalents. You can take a great photo with any entry level DSLR.

AB22 Easy Tiger · 18th January 2010, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taipeisafc

IIRC Olympus changed their lens mount for the Digital series so any legacy Olympus lenses don't work (which is a bit of a problem) I have a Pentax K10D and love it and it takes any Pentax K mount lenses so there are thousands of lenses available on Ebay. But to be honest I would go and grab a hold of a few and get the one that feels right (Olympus are too small for me) which is part of the reason I bought the Pentax over the Nikon and Canon equivalents. You can take a great photo with any entry level DSLR.

Excellent advice.

Rosscoah · 18th January 2010, 07:17 PM

Thanks for the help chaps, gonna have a dodge into town this weekend and do as advised above before committing to a particular brand/model.

I am leaning slightly more towards the Canon/Nikon now as the point made about lenses is a very good one, I also have a feeling I will be wanting to upgrade as soon as i get started properly so may hold out for a decently priced 40D (provided it feels right) or something of that standard and save myself the time further down the line.

AB22 Easy Tiger · 18th January 2010, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosscoah

Thanks for the help chaps, gonna have a dodge into town this weekend and do as advised above before committing to a particular brand/model.

I am leaning slightly more towards the Canon/Nikon now as the point made about lenses is a very good one, I also have a feeling I will be wanting to upgrade as soon as i get started properly so may hold out for a decently priced 40D (provided it feels right) or something of that standard and save myself the time further down the line.

The 40D and 50D feel very similar to use if you can't find a 40D anywhere.

clyde · 18th January 2010, 07:38 PM

i was in this predicament too about 6 month ago, only had around £300ish to spend so it had to be a real cheap one, in the end i opted for the sony alpha a200 and found one on sale in asda of all places for £250, now the good thing about the sony's is that sony bought out minolta and so sony based the dslr camera's on the old minolta mounts meaning that minolta AF lenses work on new sony's and the lens can be found for very cheap on ebay ( i have 3 that cost me less than a hundred quid) and they are quite easy to get because minolta made some of the best slr cameras in the 80 and 90's and they sold by the boatload.....so give the sony's a try too!