Starter Digital SLR

[Gixer Rob]

took my daughter to silverstone last Sat for MotoGP qualifying and she enjoyed taking loads of pics with her compact digital camera...she took some OK shots and even got into pre pressing the shutter to allow for the delay in the picture being taken..

I'd like to suprise her and get her a DSLR to use when we go to BSB rounds.....
i know nowt about cameras!!!!!!
dont want to spend more than £150-£200, if possible...so i know second hand is my option....
anyone selling anything or point me in direction of what i should be looking at..anything on ebay??

cheers

 

[Hacienda71]

I have a Nikon D3100 which was about £400 ish new and seem to retail from circa £300 new now so you might get a secondhand one close to your budget. It takes great photos and I would recommend it.

 

[bluemint]

I just had a quick look on ebay and you'll be able to pick up a Nikon D50 for around your budget. You can get them with or without the kit lens, which isn't great at 18-55mm. It's a solid camera, the screen is tiny but I got a lot of use out of mine before I went up to a D90. I upgraded the kit lens to a Sigma 18-125mm to get a decent zoom.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to recommend a Canon...

 

[ufkacbln]

Cheaper and with many of the features are "Bridge Cameras" such as the Fuji Finepix S Series.

Lots of details and functions, large lenses and zooms, fast shooting rates, burst shooting, bracketing of exposures, sports and night settings......

Far better than a compact, but not quite as good as a DSLR.

I used one for years with good success including sporting events.

.

 

[Gixer Rob]

cheers fellas,,got couple of D3100 on my watch list now....

Nikon D50....whats wrong with the 18-55mm lens? and what would i need to upgrade it too??
does this one look OK??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIKON-D50...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item4ab8fbadd7

 

[Gixer Rob]

Cunobelin.....
so with say the Fuji FinePix SL240 14MP Bridge Camera, can you buy other lenses for them??

 

[meenaghman]

Whats she most likely to be taking photos of ? If taking fast action sport, then the Canon 300/350/400/450 series are easy to use, but may not be quick enough. ie number of frames / sec.. but probably quicker than the compact. They're also a bit smaller for female hands. If you can afford it go for a canon 40D. about 6 frames / sec continous shooting... the newer 50/60d Canon series are slower. The 40d series is a bit of a heavy beast though. Lens wise most will be offered with an 28-80mm lens which should be adequate.

 

[Gixer Rob]

itl be used to photograph motorbikes on track mostly....whats the least frames/sec she'd need??

think those models are a bit out of my budget after quick look on ebay......

would this be any good?? and what you think its worth??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170862654988?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[bluemint]

Nikon D50....whats wrong with the 18-55mm lens? and what would i need to upgrade it too??
does this one look OK??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIKON-D50...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item4ab8fbadd7

the 18-55mm lens is just a bit poor quality and not a great range of zoom, I did fine with it for some time though.

That ebay link looks quite a good deal. The lens looks like it's got a bit of quality about it and as if it's come from an older possibly film camera so taking the sensor size difference into account would be around 50-115mm on a D50 which isn't bad if you might not be able to get close. Would be good for portaits but not group shots. It might be manual focus and aperture settings, but that's all part of the learning curve. You might be able to pick up the kit lens elsewhere for not too much money and have a half decent lens selection.

 

[Andy_R]

the 18-55mm lens is just a bit poor quality and not a great range of zoom, I did fine with it for some time though.

That's where the thing with DSLRs...you need the right lenses. The body is secondary really to the lens.
Have a look here Camera and lens reviews for some ideas.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

I started with a fuji finepix bridge camera, now I use a pentax, all the old pentax lenses still fit the new bodies! I managed to pick up a telephoto 28-200 mm lens for £65!

Sent from my LT15i using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hacienda71]

That's where the thing with DSLRs...you need the right lenses. The body is secondary really to the lens.
Have a look here Camera and lens reviews for some ideas.

Good point.

When I bought my Nikon I tried quite a few cameras in the shop to see which stock lens suited my requirements best. Digital Slr lenses can cost substantially more than the body so choose carefully.

You can get converters for much less than a new lens, I haven't tried one but tbh the quality is unlikely to be great.

 

[ufkacbln]

Cunobelin.....
so with say the Fuji FinePix SL240 14MP Bridge Camera, can you buy other lenses for them??

No - that is why they are not as good as a DSLR.

However on my S9600 the lens was a massive equivalent of an 18mm to 700mm lens.

They will be a personal taste, but as a starter they are fine and will enable most of the settings and other features to be changed including RAW images.

 

[defy-one]

I just bought my wife the Nikon L120 bridge camera. Argos doing them at 1/2 price for £130!
I have a Sony Alpha A300 and her picture quality isn't far off my DSLR

 

[bluemint]

No - that is why they are not as good as a DSLR.

However on my S9600 the lens was a massive equivalent of an 18mm to 700mm lens.

They will be a personal taste, but as a starter they are fine and will enable most of the settings and other features to be changed including RAW images.

I agree. A bridge sounds the best option for the OP.