looking to go dslr

[LoveT]

I'm with you Eeyore - particularly on the finance front. Catalogues seem like a good idea but aren't cheap at all, and there are plenty of other options that could be considered instead.

As for which camera - I'm an Olympus owner (have been for many years), and have also had a Nikon Digital camera somewhere along the way as well, and for what my opinion's worth, I'd go with the Canon. If I could afford to change I'd go for Canon, given the quality of many pictures in the Gallery. As said before, you might try second hand from a reputable dealer - you'd probably be able to pick up quite a good bargain for your bucks.

Don't worry about not using the camera much (when you get it) - you'll get plenty of use out of it when baby comes along ! Just make sure you take plenty of wildlife pictures as well - and post the best ones here!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thea

[Geoff F]

A new baby is a good excuse to get a decent camera but you should think carefully about the final cost before you buy. There are some good 'point & shoot' cameras around and the best of them can take a good photo for a lot less than the price of the 400D body only.

I went digital with a secondhand Canon G2 which took good images including reasonable insect photos, if you follow the instructions. The current equivalent camera is a lot better and cheaper. If you go down the 400D road and want to take serious wildlife photos you will need to budget for some expensive lenses. You will need at least a 300mm lens which will cost more than the camera body. It is easy to spend twice the body price for what some would call a basic lens. As I am now finding out!

Equipment is available secondhand and I have friends who swear by e bay but my experience is different, although it can't be all bad, I suppose.

If you are looking at something new I have found ABC Digital Cameras to give good value; but it is money up front. They are worth a look even if it is just to compare the £10 a week total price.

[thes3raph1m]

ok ive made my choice and put in the order to recieve on monday...

and i decided to miss both and go with a solid lens fuji finepix s9600 which with its macro and super macro mode will provide me with the shots i desire and with the 10.7 telephoto should be good

its going to cost £349 in total (the catalogue has high prices but i can pay over 1 year with 0 interest, id get a credit card, but my credit is shot from a mistake i made when i was drinking heavily)

i think its a good decision and its only £6.71 pw... i cant ever put a different lens on it, but i should be ok... by the time im ready for that level... ill have the money to put behind it im sure

btw im working 60+ hours this week! now i know why im tired


edit - oh btw i decided based upon geoffs response... it has a built in 28-300mm lens

[Geoff F]

Never personally tried that camera but they do get good reviews. One additional piece of kit you may want soon is a cheap tripod. It makes all the difference for sharp close up shots.

[RichBrew]

Originally Posted by eeyore

its probably because a lot of third party manufacturers state that their lenses "may not" function correctly with the D40 - translation = they'll probably be fine but they are covering their posterior if they arent.

That still leaves 34 Nikkors. How many lenses do people think they'll need?

RichBrew

[Hobjob]

I'm with Eeyore here, overall you will pay through the nose.

Also compare the catalogue price with online price (from a reputable UK dealer) and I think you will be surprised.

But also realize that you want extra lenses fiarly soon - you may say you won't, but the xperience of many of here is that you will

Originally Posted by eeyore

also as regards the pay weekly option add up what it will cost in the long run - 10pw sounds good but the interest on these catalouges can be horrific - upto 30% apr or more meaning that you end up paying rather more than the camera is worth.

you dont say how old you are , but if you are over 18 you would be better off with either a 0% interest credit card, one of the deals from jessops or the like where you get 12 months 0% finance (at a tenner a week you can save up 439 before the end of the 12 month period) , or do it the ol;d fashioned way of saving up the money first.

you can also get dslrs cheaper by buying second hand (though I'd go to a reputable dealer rather than ebay as ideally you want a warranty) Camtech , mifsuds, ffordes, and T4 are all good places to look - on average a mint condition 20D or 350D will do you about 250 notes

[thes3raph1m]

ok so the camera i got is fixed lens so i cant use other lenses... good excuse not to bother buying them lol

its a 28mm to 300mm manual focus, has macro with 10cm focal length and super macro with 1cm focal length

9 million pixels, 10.7 optical zoom, saves in ccd RAW format not NEF compressed RAW, i bought an 8gb compact flash to go with it as it has no internal memory, large tft screen (with tilt for difficult shots) its slr obviously so thats good...

full control over aperture and shutter speed
Aperture range F2.8 - F4.9
Min shutter 30 sec
Max shutter 1/4000 sec
ISO rating Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

the aperture is a little less than id like, perhaps if it went upto say f22 lol... but beggars cant be choosers....

and i got the camera at 12months at 0% interest (£6.71 pw) so all in all... not bad, for a beginner, when i get better i can always upgrade