Conrad Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'm in the market for a budget SLR, something less than £300. I'm not looking to do this professionally or necessarily start photography as a hobby. I'd just like to be able to take better pictures than I can with my compact digital camera (Casio 7.0mp Exilim). After a recent trip to South America I couldn't help but being annoyed at how un-impressive my pictures looked compared to how impressive it really was. Pretty much all my wildlife pics from the Amazon were rubbish due to being too faraway or slow shutter speed.! None of my scenery pictures justified how beautiful the places really were... I'm off to Alaska in May and I want to be able to capture better pics of the wildlife and wider pics of the scenery. It seems I'm looking at a Nikon D40 kit but I've read that you have to get auto focus lens' for these? Does this really matter? Link for my camera choices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 have you got a link to your current camera? i'm 99% sure it's how you've set the camera up and not how good the camera is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 so I would REALLY recommned learning how to use your current one and it's features before spending out a lot of money to be in the same position it's honestly the best advice I can give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 What Tom says but if you still feel the need how about a faux SLR like the Panasonic FZ50? Most of the SLR features but without the temptation to spank lots of money on lenses because it has a fixed one. Obviously this can then be a restriction later but with excellent Macro and zoom it's pretty versatile and you can get screw on lenses for wide-angle etc. I have the FZ30 and I'm now at a point where I want to upgrade, unfortunately none of the current affordable SLRs have the one feature I love about the Panasonics - the multi-position LCD screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 Thanks for the replies guys Tom - my camera is this one I believe a lot of the settings can be changed manually unlike most compacts so what you've suggested is possible. My only concern was the lack of optical zoom for what I want and not being able to get wide enough shots for scenery. Plus shutter speed for getting those shots you really want etc... Michael, I was looking at cameras like you suggest actually - the ones that 'bridge' Compacts and SLR's - in particular this Samsung I just thought for the price of the Nikon D40 I may as well go for a full SLR - saying that though I haven't looked into the additional cost on lenses tbh... Any advice appreciated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 tbh that looks to be a fairly good compact, with the zoom you would have to as you've said factor in the additional cost of a zoom lens and from my experience you do have to pay decent money to get anything half good, but it does depend on what your taking pics of as my lens is pretty crap for what I want as its too slow for motorsport or fast moving objects. an SLR is a much easier camera to work with, but only once you really understand what everything does, I would say to spend some serious time with your current camera, maybe a 100 pics a day and trying different settings and reading the manual throughly then once you feel quite capable buy an slr as the jump will be much much easier as you can get it to do what you want straight away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I learnt/learning with a canon 350, they can be had second hand for under £300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steb9780 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 tbh that looks to be a fairly good compact, with the zoom you would have to as you've said factor in the additional cost of a zoom lens and from my experience you do have to pay decent money to get anything half good, but it does depend on what your taking pics of as my lens is pretty crap for what I want as its too slow for motorsport or fast moving objects. an SLR is a much easier camera to work with, but only once you really understand what everything does, I would say to spend some serious time with your current camera, maybe a 100 pics a day and trying different settings and reading the manual throughly then once you feel quite capable buy an slr as the jump will be much much easier as you can get it to do what you want straight away I need to do this really as I bought a Fuji E900 and have been a bit disappointed with my pictures. I only use the "Auto" setting though really, so could do to learn about shutter speeds and all that stuff. I seem to have problems with night shooting in particular, but from what I hear it's a hard environment to photograph in anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 I think I'll have a read through the manual for my compact and start having a play. That said I think I'm still going to get an SLR or one as suggested by Michael. I'm in no rush to get one so will keep tabs on ebay until a bargain turns up. I like the idea of an SLR and would like to learn how to use one properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam bell Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 i bought a sony digital slr they are really easy to use not shure how much they are now but worth a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harps Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'd highly recommend the Canon G9. Even though it isn't an SLR its pretty damn close. I've just bought one for the days that I can't be bothered with carrying around the 350D plus lenses, which can be a chore & very expensive, and it can do more or less as much as the SLR (other than being limited to the lense). My boss is a professional photographer and he raves about it. You can buy other lenses for it - at least a wide-angle that he has (though it does obscure the viewfinder when its attached). If it wasn't for the idiots at City-Link I'd be messing with mine now. Fingers crossed it turns up tomorrow! Anyway, linky for you. Available at Amazon for about £294. http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/PowerShot/PowerShot_G9/index.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 Cheers Harps The more I think about it the more a 'faux' SLR makes better sense to me. I liked the scope for learning with an SLR but I know I'd find it a PITA carrying Lenses around - what you and Michael have suggested sound more practical for holdiays etc and they can almost do as good a job as a real SLR. From what I can gather there's the Canon G9, Samsung Pro 815 and the Panasonic FZ50. I'm thinking either the G9 or FZ50. The Panasonic has a better zoom range but the G9 is a Canon.... I'll have a think If anyone has any other advice it's more than appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_g9%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz50&show=all You can increase the zoom on the Panasonic by dropping it down to a lower number of megapixels too. Two quite different beasts though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 Cheers for that Michael - cool comparison website. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 It's a useful resource, they have a standard review for each camera so it's a good way to compare them - I suspect you'd be happy with either but the Panasonic looks more like a real camera and the swivel LCD is very useful (So useful in fact that I can't anything SLR and affordable to replace my FZ30 with because I really want to retain this) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I love my 350D, but then I really wanted to play around with different lenses etc. I don't understand these people who'll buy an SLR then just buy a 18-200 lens to use on it all the time, why? If you only ever plan on sticking with the one lens don't bother buying an SLR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonW Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I learned photography using a Canon EOS 50 SLR (not digital) it's a good camera. The lenses I have are 28 - 80mm and 75 - 300mm. These two give scope for most types of shot both scenic and wildlife. I would say from experiance if you want good wildlife shots then you really need 300mm of zoom and a good quality lense to get enough light in. If and SLR seems like a bit of a minefield then I would go for the Panasonic Lumix DMZ TZ3, it's optical capabilities give it a range of 28mm - 280mm. That's the best you will get with a compact. It also has image stability systems so you avoid camera shake at high zoom and at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 I suspect you'd be happy with either but the Panasonic looks more like a real camera and the swivel LCD is very useful Never noticed before that the Canon was a compact, not SLR-style. I was on my lunch so only got a quick look. As you say the FZ50 is more like a real camera. I think I'll go with this or something similar like the Samsung. The Samsung is heavier than the FZ50 but it's quite a bit smaller. Reckon I'll have a look in Jessops to get a feel for which one I prefer. Cheers for the advice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fish Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 as some people have said, its not the camera, its how you use it Have a play with the settings on your compact, and see what different results you can get... I think the fuji s6500fd and s9600 are quite good, sort of a cross between a compact and a SLR.... quite cheap now aswell.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARDA Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 The Nikon D40 is £269 in currys ATM is this a good price? Ta Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 The Nikon D40 is £269 in currys ATM is this a good price? £299 with £30 cashback on that - sounds cheap to me, I presume it's because the D40X is available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 D40 with lenses do it's job very well. Bought one for 269 pounds (after 60 pounds cashback) and I can honestly say quality of picture is great, autofocus work fine (although I prefer manual focus), still getting through all strange functions Easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 One for the £300 budget perhaps? http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?p=1667959 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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