Which DSLR

zivilesi

wba31 wrote: »

why not buy second hand? i follow prices on camerapricebuster.co.uk, they seem to be up and down all the time, just not down enough for my liking...

Thanks, I was thinking of getting it second hand. Is it not too risky though? Just it is still a lot of money for me to pay and in case something is wrong with the camera that I, as a newbie, won't notice when buying?

And where would you look? in second hand shop or on eBay, amazon etc?
Camerapricebuster gives links to websites that sell new cameras, right?
thanks

daggy

nsbarker wrote: »

Have you determined a budget? I think that helps narrow down your potential DSLR pool. I personally own a Canon T2i, it's a great newbie/starter DSLR.

Hi, if you're asking me, erm I was thinking of no more than £400... ideally less

PenguinOfDeath

FWIW I got a 2nd hand Canon 400d from LCE (London Camera Exchange) for around £250 inc kit lens just over a year ago. May be worth a look as their wesbite shows some of the stock in stores across the country

Dolly66

Don't get yourself drawn into this Cannon V Nikon stuff. Try as many as possible and pick the one that suits you best. Even the guys in camera shops have their own favourites and often try and convinve you that one brand is better than the other.

moonrakerz wrote: »

There are a couple of independent lens makers (Sigma & Tamron) who make lenses to fit other cameras. Some of these are VERY good and much cheaper than the branded makes.
These lenses will nearly always fit Nikon/Canon, whether they will fit Sony, Pentax, Olympus, etc, can be problematic.

Sigma & Tamron definately do pentax lenses, and I can say from experience that the Sigma's fit and work perfectly. Never tried Tamron but I doubt there would be any issues with them either. I think with the Pentax ones you can use some of the older lenses as well (maybe minolta??) but I've never tried them. I'm sure someone who knows more about older cameras will be able to clarify that.

daggy wrote: »

Hi, if you're asking me, erm I was thinking of no more than £400... ideally less

That's similar to the budget I had and in the end I settled for a Pentax K100D (that was a couple of years ago).

You might have to look around a bit but there's second hand lenses etc for very little. Also their own stuff isn't that badly priced, particularly compared to Cannon & Nikon.

What I would say is get your hands on as many as possible, and pick the one that suits you best. My OH is a cannon fan, but to be honest, I wasn't keen on any of the ones I tried, although I do like his old film SLR (another Cannon).

The only reason I can see for having to stick with the main 2 is if you want to be able to hire lenses, as that's all that most hire companies stock.