Best Budget DSLR For College for Daughter, please?

Sandtree

Lucyeff said:

The college have specified DSLR as a minimum and have said £300/£400 is around the price range. 

It may be an idea to have a conversation with them beforehand if possible. I'd suggest that "DSLR" is either a throwback/hasnt been updated or is just a general shorthand for a camera with an interchangeable lens 

cymruchris

Sandtree said:

Lucyeff said:

The college have specified DSLR as a minimum and have said £300/£400 is around the price range. 

It may be an idea to have a conversation with them beforehand if possible. I'd suggest that "DSLR" is either a throwback/hasnt been updated or is just a general shorthand for a camera with an interchangeable lens 

Not necessarily - A DSLR is a more traditional camera in build - yes mirrorless may be taking over the world (although I won't be changing anytime soon) a DSLR with it's flappy mirror and a viewfinder is along the lines of an older 35mm film camera in terms of internal layout. It may be that the course wants the students to learn using a more traditional camera in this respect. Without seeing the actual course being applied for - we don't know. If they specify a DSLR - then that's what I'd be getting.

I'd be looking (as a Canon user) of something along the lines of a used Canon body (maybe something at the small and light end of DSLR's like the 200d), an 18-55mm standard zoom, and a 50mm 1.8 for a bit of creative shooting, and having a wide aperture available, as a starting point - but again without knowing what specifically is needed it's hard to know exactly what to get.

Another used retailer that does give good service, and mostly decent equipment are mpb.com - also worth a look alongside WEX.

Sandtree

cymruchris said:

Sandtree said:

Lucyeff said:

The college have specified DSLR as a minimum and have said £300/£400 is around the price range. 

It may be an idea to have a conversation with them beforehand if possible. I'd suggest that "DSLR" is either a throwback/hasnt been updated or is just a general shorthand for a camera with an interchangeable lens 

Not necessarily - A DSLR is a more traditional camera in build - yes mirrorless may be taking over the world (although I won't be changing anytime soon) a DSLR with it's flappy mirror and a viewfinder is along the lines of an older 35mm film camera in terms of internal layout. It may be that the course wants the students to learn using a more traditional camera in this respect. Without seeing the actual course being applied for - we don't know. If they specify a DSLR - then that's what I'd be getting.

I was indeed speculating hence saying to double check.

I'd somewhat challenge the "more traditional"... the physical construction clearly is however our 5D can be fully operated from the touchscreen or we can sit on our laptop viewing its live view, set focus, all controls and capture the image all over wifi. Its flappy mirror locks up to allow all this to happen. Its autofocus is technically better in both these modes than via the viewfinder in many circumstances. 

Mirrorless also have a viewfinders even if its a LCD screen rather than a reflected image. I'd struggle to see what course would insist on a DSLR over mirrorless unless its a short course on how to deal with mirror slap.

Personally I'd replace my camera with an R series if I could afford to replace it and all my lenses... yes I know I can use an adaptor but the balance is even further out.  I'd even give up my Eos 3 as a consequence.

On-the-coast

Being the "camera guy" in my place of work I'm often asked this question... 
There are many many correct answers, and i agree that a "mirrorless" "ILC" would be very suitable - as long as it had a decent viewfinder.
Having said that, if you're on a tight budget, and you've been asked to provide a DSLR, here's the cheapest solution - go to ebay and find something like a used canon 400D or 450D with a standard (kit) lens for £85-£125 (or the Nikon equivalents)
You can edit photos online (in a browser) using something like photopea, or there are several free software packages (that might not be chromebook capable)
A camera like that in the right hands will give a lot of control and quality, and imo is the best learning experience possible.

However, if you want modern connectivity (wifi/BT) which makes it easy to transfer photos to phone, that's more difficult. The older DSLR's (that are cheap second-hand) did not include that as default until quite recently.
You could buy the following model new (for just under £400)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B1B265L
and quiet a few mirorless cameras (including second hand) will have that capability - but it will be harder to meet the college requirements with them unless you're very sure of what you're doing. 
Good luck - and i hope it's an enjoyable and creative process for your daughter.

Lizbetty

On-the-coast said:

Being the "camera guy" in my place of work I'm often asked this question... 
There are many many correct answers, and i agree that a "mirrorless" "ILC" would be very suitable - as long as it had a decent viewfinder.
Having said that, if you're on a tight budget, and you've been asked to provide a DSLR, here's the cheapest solution - go to ebay and find something like a used canon 400D or 450D with a standard (kit) lens for £85-£125 (or the Nikon equivalents)
You can edit photos online (in a browser) using something like photopea, or there are several free software packages (that might not be chromebook capable)
A camera like that in the right hands will give a lot of control and quality, and imo is the best learning experience possible.

However, if you want modern connectivity (wifi/BT) which makes it easy to transfer photos to phone, that's more difficult. The older DSLR's (that are cheap second-hand) did not include that as default until quite recently.
You could buy the following model new (for just under £400)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B1B265L
and quiet a few mirorless cameras (including second hand) will have that capability - but it will be harder to meet the college requirements with them unless you're very sure of what you're doing. 
Good luck - and i hope it's an enjoyable and creative process for your daughter.

Brilliant. Thanks so much for this, and to everyone for the replies. 

I'm really not techie at all and so I really appreciate the guidance.
Grandma has offered to help with the cost of the camera luckily so that's a bit of pressure off at least! 

She has a really old HP laptop which has ground to a halt, and I'm wondering about getting that upgraded somehow as we can't afford to replace it.  She's also doing music at college and having that for DAW stuffs would be useful too. Another thing I'm trying to get my head around 😩 Haha!

Thanks again I really appreciate your help! 

Lucy  

BestDSLR

Being a photography lover, it gets harder to look at the specs of all DSLR available in the hawk and then select one.
So, I have been looking for some websites where I can get top picks of DSLR for perfect photography. Finally, I visited your website, and i must say, i was quite impressed with your collection of Best DSLR Cameras.
Also the in-depth detailing of features of Canon and Nikon DSLRs made me read the whole article without losing interest. Thanks to the blogger indeed you did a great job!

movilogo

Contrary to popular belief, good photography is result of good photographer rather than good camera. 
Having said that, a photography student should have ability to control shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc. manually. DSLR is a good choice over mirrorless cameras because they are cheaper and battery lasts longer due to optical view finder. If you buy used Nikon D3100 with kit lens is now cheap as chips. For new model, Nikon D3500 is a competent camera. You may choose equivalent model for Canon if you prefer that brand. Both make good DSLR cameras. You may have to budget some lenses as well.