Camera reecommendations for a noob.

I've never had a proper camera before so I'm fairly overwhelmed by the options. I don't want to spend much over £200 for a first camera, though I don't mind getting a 2nd hand jobbie from the cex shop. My phone is shite, especially at night and when I'm out hiking and stuff. I've had a look at some in the review sticky, but it's too much to take in. Any suggestions?
 


I think the first step will be to decide what sort of "proper" camera you want.

A compact camera

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Small, pocketable, a step up from a phone in terms of image quality. Typically not many manual settings to play with


A bridge camera

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Bigger, bulkier but with better lens and full range of manual settings. Can't swap lenses.

An SLR or Mirrorless with interchangeable lenses




The stepping stone to spending a lot of money on more lenses, tripods etc etc and bigger and bulkier than the rest, but will take the best photos.
 
I think the first step will be to decide what sort of "proper" camera you want.

An SLR or Mirrorless with interchangeable lenses


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The stepping stone to spending a lot of money on more lenses, tripods etc etc and bigger and bulkier than the rest, but will take the best photos.
Can I get a decent 2nd-hand SLR/Mirrorless for £200? I'm not too bothered about bulk. I've got my phone for taking shite photos. :)
 
I've never had a proper camera before so I'm fairly overwhelmed by the options. I don't want to spend much over £200 for a first camera, though I don't mind getting a 2nd hand jobbie from the cex shop. My phone is shite, especially at night and when I'm out hiking and stuff. I've had a look at some in the review sticky, but it's too much to take in. Any suggestions?
Nikon D3200.
 
Can I get a decent 2nd-hand SLR/Mirrorless for £200? I'm not too bothered about bulk. I've got my phone for taking shite photos. :)

Yes you should be able to manage that. Most of the relatively modern camera bodies are very capable. The only issue being at that price point its probably going to come with one of the standard "kit" lenses and no more.
The lens will still be a big step up from your phone and you will get some zoom (it won't cover wide angle or telephoto shots) but they are cheap for a reason.

Have you got any friends that have SLR cameras? It really helps if you can have a "play" with a couple - all of the brands have their strengths and weaknesses as far as taking decent photos is concerned, but they all have different user interfaces etc which can make a huge difference when using them.
 
:(

CEX do a 2-day returns policy, so I could play about with theirs...

There's D3400s available for a little more. Any reason not to go for one of those?
My suggestion is based on my own personal experience of entry level SLR’s. I bought a D3200 - which was in the price range and spec you indicated - when I went to Australia a couple of years back and I think it’s a good camera. I also know a couple of people who are more serious about photography and do professional work who’ve used them to good effect.

I haven’t had an experience of the D3400. Go to a camera shop and have a look at both of them and see which one works best for you.
 
Can I get a decent 2nd-hand SLR/Mirrorless for £200? I'm not too bothered about bulk. I've got my phone for taking shite photos. :)


WRT this.

If you don't mind a bit of a gamble you can buy a much better compact camera on ebay for buttons than your phone camera.

I got a boxed Canon Ixus Ti 900 Titanium from an auction from a charity ebay seller for £10 a few months ago.

Its small enough to carry around with you and will take (I believe?) much better pictures than a phone camera.

If you're happy to go higher than a tenner the sky's the limit! (relatively speaking :lol:)

One of the reasons l like carrying at around as well is having it in my pocket and being aware of it means I actually start noticing things much more and start thinking about potential photographs wherever I am.

Its obviously much easier to do this with a compact than a bridge or SLR.
 

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