DSLR camera for beginners?

JustAnotherSaver

cymruchris said:

Nobody has asked before running away with recommendations - but what's your ideal target budget to get a camera body, macro and a longer zoom?

Well when I had a search on eBay before creating this thread, second hand DSLRs came up for a few £100.

What lenses were part of the advert is another question. Chances of it/them being what I need I would imagine to be slim so I suspect I'd need to buy those separately on top. What prices they go for I haven't looked at.

But that's the area I was looking at because I've seen that's what you can pick them up for.

I don't expect them to be as good as spending £5k on a setup or £10k on a setup but i'm not sure what beginner would be spending money like that. Well, i do - a beginner with much more disposable money than I have.

If that figure changes the whole thing to 'don't bother' then so be it.

Sandtree

JustAnotherSaver said:
What lenses were part of the advert is another question. Chances of it/them being what I need I would imagine to be slim so I suspect I'd need to buy those separately on top. What prices they go for I haven't looked at.

Most entry and hobbiest cameras are sold with a "kit lens" that tends to be a walkabout type zoom lens. Most of them are perfectly serviceable and will get you into holding the camera correctly etc. Once you know it wasn't a flash  in the pan thing you can invest more money into a macro and/or longer telephoto lens. lenses normally long outlast the body so some will say to spend a bit more on them so if you upgrade in the future you can get more out of them.

chrisbur

How big are the fish you want to take pictures of?  This may affect your lens choice.
Your phone has good general photo capabilities, but you are probably using it a bit beyond those capabilities.  You probably need something with a longer focal length ( I am assuming little fish not big fish)  and your phone despite having a lens called a telephoto it is really nothing more than a standard.  And it gets there by using a very small sensor with very very tiny photosites. However if you are getting one out of twenty pictures that you are happy with that is pretty good going.  
You say "The pictures are grainy. Especially zoom." None of the lenses on your phone are zoom lenses but it may have a digital zoom which is enlarging part of the picture, this might cause the graininess or you might be zooming in on the picture you took and are seeing the individual pixels. 

cymruchris

A fairly reputable supplier of used kit that comes with a guarantee is MPB - just had a quick scan, and came up with:

Canon EOS 7d DSLR - in excellent condition with a shutter count of 28k for just over £200:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-digital-slr-cameras/used-canon-digital-slr-cameras/canon-eos-7d/sku-1232536/

A Canon 100mm macro 2.8 lens for your close up work at £389 (it's a good macro lens - and can also be used for portraits)

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-lenses/used-canon-fit-lenses/canon-ef-100mm-f-2-8-macro/sku-1243997/

A Canon 75-300mm lens for longer reach at the budget end of the market at £89:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-lenses/used-canon-fit-lenses/canon-ef-75-300mm-f-4-5-6-iii/sku-1137287/

Or a better quality zoom but slightly less reach would be the 70-200mm f4 at £469:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-lenses/used-canon-fit-lenses/canon-ef-70-200mm-f-4-l-is-usm/sku-1232589/

Canon EF and Canon EF-S lenses will all fit the 7d body. 

Depending on what you are photographing, you might also have to consider lighting, particularly if your subjects are moving.

chrisbur

cymruchris said:

A fairly reputable supplier of used kit that comes with a guarantee is MPB - just had a quick scan, and came up with:



A Canon 100mm macro 2.8 lens for your close up work at £389 (it's a good macro lens - and can also be used for portraits)

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-lenses/used-canon-fit-lenses/canon-ef-100mm-f-2-8-macro/sku-1243997/

If the OP decides to go with a dslr and a macro lens, then it would be worth looking at the 105MM Sigma macro....
https://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lens-item/macro-105mm-f2-8-ex-dg-os-hsm/
I have used this lens for nearly eight years taking over 10000 pics a year with it and would highly recommend it. You can get a new one for less than this cannon second hand and it has optical stabilisation; though have no idea how good this is as never used it. 

Sandtree

chrisbur said:

cymruchris said:

A fairly reputable supplier of used kit that comes with a guarantee is MPB - just had a quick scan, and came up with:



A Canon 100mm macro 2.8 lens for your close up work at £389 (it's a good macro lens - and can also be used for portraits)

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-lenses/used-canon-fit-lenses/canon-ef-100mm-f-2-8-macro/sku-1243997/

If the OP decides to go with a dslr and a macro lens, then it would be worth looking at the 105MM Sigma macro....
https://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lens-item/macro-105mm-f2-8-ex-dg-os-hsm/
I have used this lens for nearly eight years taking over 10000 pics a year with it and would highly recommend it. You can get a new one for less than this cannon second hand and it has optical stabilisation; though have no idea how good this is as never used it. 

I too have the Sigma model but unfortunately mine has the slipping focusing belt which is a known issue that plagues this model. I did discover it just before the end of the warranty but other things took priority so it didnt get sent off in time.

If the OP is used to camera phones then they may be surprised at the working distance of a 100/105mm macro lens, I think canon has discontinued the EF-S 60mm but that should mean plenty of cheaper secondhand options.