Which DSLR for beginners?

[tse_adam]

Like the title suggests, which sub £400 brand new or good condition used DSLR is good for a beginner like me?

I have only got a compact digital camera but i would like to move into the wonderful world of amateur photographing inpired by the photos of the month competition.

I have done a fair amount of research and I have looked at several brands but only Canon and Nikon stood out for me. I have read about the Eos 400d, 1000d, 450d, Nikon D40 and D60. I am spoilt for choice! fwn

Ideally i would like the whole package from box and instruction to lens etc to get me started, and i will be learning from scratch that means reading the manual from the very first page. :down:

any advice/suggestion/opinion will be appreciated, cheers guys.

 

[Arnold]

I have the 400D and i love it! It's now been superseeded by the 450D, which means you can probably pick up a 400 at a very good price. It's way more advanced than the 350D, so don't bother with one of them now. I doubt you'l pick up a 450D for less than £400.

 

[tse_adam]

whats so good about the 400d arnold? does not having live view create a problem?

Dixon is selling the 450D for £450 with £50 cashback, i wonder how much better is that compared to 400D?

not that i will utilise all of the features fully but its nice to know that i have it. lol

 

[Arnold]

Low Rider has the 450D. It's a 12mp camera and has automatic ISO, on some of the manual modes, which the 400D hasn't, but working out which ISO to use is very easy anyway. 10MP is still more than enough. You can get automatic ISO on some of the built in modes, like sports etc. Can't remember which ones.

Live View. I'm assuming that's where you can see what your taking on the screen? Pointless. There's no better way to see your shot than by looking through the view finder.

 

[Pete]

For that kind of money I'd have thought the 400D would be the best bet. On a budget the EOS range makes the best sense with tonnes of bits and advice out there for them. I'm still too skint to get one yet.

 

[NeX]

i personally recommend the Nikon D40x

it comes with a nice 18-55 lens for general shots,
uses SD which makes the memory cheap
the batteries last so long i manage to loose the charger between chages
the auto function and picture quality is amazing
they are fairly well featured, there are some things they lack but mostly ok

i use a nikon D40 and a nikon D200 and i actually prefer the D40 out of ease of use

 

[Arnold]

With regards to battery life on the 400D, One battery lasted the whole of JAE. About 7/800 photos and used the onboard flash plenty of times

 

[tse_adam]

Do i need to buy any accessories to go with the camera package?

my heart is set on EOS range for this present moment because of the good reviews from all over the net.

i notice that second hand price is not that much cheaper than brand new ones. apart from appearance how can i tell whether the camera is in good mechanical condition or free from mis-use?

i have only looked through Jessops/Dixons/PC World for brand new prices and they are as follow:

1000D = £388
400D = £349
450D = £454 + £50 cashback

which one would you buy?

i thought Jessops is supposed to be a specialist in photography meaning a more competitive retail price, but i find them to be the most expensive of them all.

 

[Arnold]

I got mine from Jessops. The warranties are very good. Take your camera in if it's damaged etc and swap it there and then for another one.

I'd buy the 450D, as it's newer and only £50 in it.

 

[Low Rider]

I spent a great deal of time researching on prosumer SLR's. I ended up between the Nikon D40x and the 450D and ended up choosing the Canon over the Nikon. There's very little in it to be honest, you either like one or the other.

I was very taken by the Canon 40D but I set a budget of £500 early on and that was a fair bit more lol. The only thing I can comment on both of these models is the bodies are plastic and the grips are small compared to their entry level pro range brothers. Still for the money both the Nikon and the Canon offer exceptional value, especially with a good lense addition.

 

[jc1234]

any SLR camera takes good photo, as long as you use it propeply, great for taking pictures of people pretending to act dead. but i good book is Langford's Starting Photography, helped me passed and better understanding

 

[capnmchl]

Everyone at college buys the Canon 400D basically.

I think it's the standard DSLR camera for everything.

 

[tse_adam]

great info guys thanks, like arnold said the price difference between the EOS range isnt great so i might as well go all out for the top budget DSLR in the 450D.

furthermore I am now so used to the live view LCD i dont think i can do without.

they do hold their prices very well dont they? second hand prices on ebay are only like 10-15% cheaper than new!

Yes lowrider, i went into PCworld and have a good play around. both D60 and 450D felt quite tacky to be honest. but £330 for a D60 is what i call value for money!