New camera - advice

mmikey82

mmikey82

Well-known user
Jul 17, 2009
2,369
1,527
manchester
I am thinking of taking up photography and i am looking into buying a new camera but i dont really have a clue what to look for.
Ideally i want it for family portraits , holidays but i want to be able to add on if i decide to take it seriously.I have been told Cannon are very good and was looking at a cannon EOS1100D DSLR camera but i dont really know what i am looking for so any advice would be much appriciated
 
1100 is a very good starter camera just make sure you get it with the stabilised kit lens 18-55 IS II

For a bit more zoom the 55 -250 IS lens is also a very good zoom with good image quality especially for the money, avoid the older 75 -300 as its not stabilised which for a medium tele lens is not what you need!

Be warned its a very expensive hobby!

What have you been using up to now?

EDIT:

this is a very good deal (and is a very reputable seller)
http://www.parkcameras.com/18416/Canon-EOS-1100D--Black----EF-S-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6-IS-II.html

note the lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II) the IS part identifies it as the stabilised lens, and the II part identifies it as the mk2 version which came out around a year ago, be wary of any bundles that don't have these identifiers

such as this one from Currys:
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/canon-...era-with-18-55-mm-zoom-lens-09819591-pdt.html

read carefully and you'll see it 'includes the Canon non-IS EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens'
 
Yeah that's a good starter camera. As Steve mentioned - it does get expensive......next you'll be wanting a remote shutter control, tripod, more lenses, filters...........cherching! :LOL:
 
My Nikon D5000 was surprisingly easy to get on with. I got a great deal at the time for extended full warranty including accidental cover, an extra lens and a memory card. I'd shopped around online and in the end my local Jessops matched the best deal I could find plus a bit. And the lady in store showed me a few different cameras, showed me how to get started and said to go back in if I got too lost with it all.

Unfortunately I just don't use the kit as much as I'd hoped which is why it's for sale. Also I want to do some video work now Karishma is charging about like a loon lol. The D5000 does record video in 720p however it is a DSLR and primarily a photo device.

Good luck in whatever you choose. I do suggest you go and hold and have a play with as many as you can. I found that useful as the Sony camera I was looking at originally felt crap to hold in my hands. Also you can plant within us and stuff to see how they're laid out.
 
We have the Canon 500d, and although not the high end camera it takes excellent photo's, we have bought a couple of extra lens's for it including a portrait lens the EF 50mm 1:1.8 II which is a great lens for just snapping stuff randomly the other lens we had with the camera is 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 which is ok but not the best i have used, the good thing about the 500D is the 1080p video recording, these have now been used to record some parts of movies.. also the price of the 500D is quite cheap.. (y) I love the time lapse facility on the camera using the remote timer.. ;)
 
Good point there about holding them, get yourself to a store and play with them for real, although better now some of the older Sony DSLRs have awful grips and get really uncomfortable to hold

if there's one hard and fast rule it would be this, choose either Canon or Nikon. (the Nikon D3100 is equally as good as the Canon 1100D)

EDIT:
Add - the 50mm 1.8 is absolutely the best bang for buck you can get, a truly excellent lens, I have one and it's attached to my camera most of the time
 
spjmorris said:
Good point there about holding them, get yourself to a store and play with them for real, although better now some of the older Sony DSLRs have awful grips and get really uncomfortable to hold

if there's one hard and fast rule it would be this, choose either Canon or Nikon. (the Nikon D3100 is equally as good as the Canon 1100D)

EDIT:
Add - the 50mm 1.8 is absolutely the best bang for buck you can get, a truly excellent lens, I have one and it's attached to my camera most of the time
Click to expand...

Yep, it's the one that is attached to our camera all the time too, unless i want the long distance or sports shot.. :)
 
Cheers lads,I am about to go and have a look and feel and now i have some kind of idea what i am looking for.
I only use a fuji fine pix 1000 and although its quite good for point and shoot i want to go better
 
mmikey82 said:
Cheers lads,I am about to go and have a look and feel and now i have some kind of idea what i am looking for.
I only use a fuji fine pix 1000 and although its quite good for point and shoot i want to go better
Click to expand...


I hope your not popping to Jessops ?? you may be a little let down when you arrive there... :LOL:
 
Lol, happy shopping mate, try as many different ones as you can and if you end up fancying a D5000........:LOL:

Seriously though I was reading up or about 6 weeks or so prior to my purchase and taking advice from people I knew. I got a couple of magazines with real person reviews and price/feature comparison charts etc and then once if settled on the model I set about finding the best deal :)
 
Try a Pentax K-5. It's a fabulous camera. Just been superseded so the price has dropped. Don't know what you're budget is but you can get body with 18-55 standard lens for about 600. It's weather proof, in body image stabilisation and great low light performance.

But to be honest, any decent slr will give you great pics (if used correctly :))
 
i've used several Canon's over the years and can't fault them, however a few of the well known brands will produce similar results
one thing when you get your lenses there is a thread size on front, it's well worth buying screw on u/v filters, these won't effect picture quality but help protect lens from scratches etc
 
Hi, Ive been into photography for years and I had a canon eos 1100d, if you dont want to go as far into it as an slr try a decent bridge camera, they have the benefits of an slr without the expense and lens changing!
I have had slrs in the past but I prefer my fuji hs10 now as it has a massive focal length built in, fantastic image quality and i dont need to carry round loads of lenses! You can pick up a good secondhand one for about£150!!
depends on how seriously you are going into this i suppose, an slr will take you as far as you want to go, finances permitting!
 
Well many thanks for all the advice,ended up getting the Cannon EOS1100D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and the 55 -250 IS lens with case 8gb card and reader cannon book on photography(dedicated to my camera) and 2 workshops instore for £450 all in at wilkinson camera shop.It was a little bit different than the bundle they offered but the wife was buying and she drives a very hard bargain(twice she was walking out till they changed their minds) :):):)
 
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