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Beginner DSLR, talk to me?



  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
Hi guys, looking for my first DSLR

Just seen a canon EOS 1200d in currys for £199.99

Is there a better alternative for a bit mirror is this a good starting point?

Thanks in advance
Jamie
 

gambit

ClioSport Club Member
  182 Trophy
Great starting point , frankly any dslr now days is good, invest in a good lens and or course on photography and you won't look back.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
Thanks :)
I was wondering if I'd be better of buying the Nikon d3300 for £80 more

What lense would you recommend?
 

Ben

ClioSport Club Member
Lenses purely depend on what kind of photography you do but a must have in any collection is a 35mm or 50mm f1.8, so much fun to be had with those.
 

Sunglasses_Ron

ClioSport Admin
Hi guys, looking for my first DSLR

Just seen a canon EOS 1200d in currys for £199.99

Is there a better alternative for a bit mirror is this a good starting point?

Thanks in advance
Jamie

I got one of these for Christmas mate. Great bit of kit and a superb starter camera.
 

gambit

ClioSport Club Member
  182 Trophy
Whats the best price on a Nikon D5500 body only? These use one of the best/top of the range sensors in the category on the market, couple this with a 50mm 1.8 G and your set. A 50mm will be good for portraits.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
That would most Probably be out of my price range.

And as in portraits of people? That makes the 30-50mm lens sound not so versatile :/
 

Ay Ay Ron

ClioSport Club Member
Using a 35/50 mm prime will make you a better photographer imo. You will have to learn better composition rather than just zooming.
It's a good walk about lens (the 35mm will be a bit better on crop (like the cameras you are looking at) but both would be a very welcome addition to a camera bag.
I think the 50mm 1.8 was the second lens I bought and now the only original lens I have in my kit. The only way if get rid is if I was upgrading to the 1.4/1.2 version.
It's not just for portrait, you can shoot a lot with it but you have to think more about it that's all.

As for the camera, any would be a good starting one. Best thing to do is go to a shop where you can hold both and have a play with them. I couldn't get on with the setup of Nikon but that doesn't mean you won't.
Main thing, go out and use it. Look at Flickr for the type of images you want to get and then look at the setting used. Helps a lot when getting started. And read the stickies at the top of the photography section here.
 

Ay Ay Ron

ClioSport Club Member
Course you can, providing they have them on display. If they don't let you then they are pretty s**t at trying to sell you something.
 

Chrisgti6

ClioSport Club Member
  MR2,TT V6,Mini x 2
Whats the best price on a Nikon D5500 body only? These use one of the best/top of the range sensors in the category on the market, couple this with a 50mm 1.8 G and your set. A 50mm will be good for portraits.

The I believe the D3300 uses the same sensor, it certainly the same size and MP count at least.

I bought the D3300 dual zoom kit before xmas, £319 with the cashback (which I received in less than 2 weeks). It's basic in the fact that it's not got WiFi, GPS, touch screen but in terms of picture quality etc it matches the D5300 & D5500.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/camera...-5-5-6g-telephoto-zoom-lens-10029673-pdt.html

Youtube has been great to get me up to speed with basic stuff, and I'm looking to learn much more in the coming months.

EDIT: Just realised that for that price I also got a Nikon bag, spare battery and lens cleaner. I can't see that on Currys site anymore though.
 
Last edited:
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
Thanks for the info guys!
£459 was more than I wanted to pay really, change was going on accessories!
 

TheEvilGiraffe

South East - Essex
ClioSport Area Rep
Fear not. You'll spend more money ...

Here's my stuff, (almost all of it) since I got my 450d back in about 2007 (!?)..

IMG_20151231_130006.jpg
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
Nice set up!
I just wanna be able to do time lapse videos lol
I want to be prepared for next year and time lapse the northern lights.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
What would you class as a wide angle lens?
Would I be better off buying the camera without a lens then buying a wide angle one?
 

Geddes

ClioSport Club Member
  Fiesta Mk8 ST-3
17-40mm or there abouts would be a wide angle lens, if your wanting to do time lapse stuff you'll want a wide angle lens would be best but any lens will do the job. If your buying a body only best spending a few ££ getting a decent quality lens, the stock lens you get with the camera will get you going and the quality isn't that great. If your getting the Canon save up for a 'L' lens top spec they are.
 

Ay Ay Ron

ClioSport Club Member
No. Unless you are only going to use it for landscapes then get the kit lens that comes with the camera. It will be more than good enough for a walk around lens and for you to start with.

Wide angle. Cheap is a Sigma 10-20 for a crop body. Can get them for under £300. Wide enough with out the distortion of a fish eye lens. If you don't mind that then go for an opteka 8mm fisheye. Can be had for around £150 ish delivered.

Iirc, some of the Nikon cameras have built in intervalometers (for timelapse) but to shoot Northern lights, you just need to keep it on continous shooting on something like exposures of 10/15 seconds, f3.5/4 whatever the lens goes down to, iso 3200 and you'll get it. You can pick up an external intervalometer for £15 on eBay. It'll also cover as a standard remote shutter too.
 
  Clio 1.2 16v
Thanks guys!
Also what's meant by crop body?
Is it just the way the lens attaches?
These are all the questions I had when I first started out! I'm still finding things out 6 months on but it'll all start to make sense, the 1200d is what I started off with and it's great for learning.
 

massiveCoRbyn

ClioSport Club Member
  Several
I think it depends how much you're going to use it. I don't do a huge amount, so wanted something that was ok, but didn't break the bank. I also use it for work on occasion too.

We're going back a couple of years now, but I bought a used Canon 400D on eBay that came with a couple of lenses, batteries and a bag for £250 and it's been really useful for what I need it for. One of the lenses started playing up, so I replaced it with a better one but, if you're not going to be doing loads, and are just getting into it, I certainly wouldn't be throwing huge amounts of money at it, and there are some used bargains out there.

I did a couple of car mag shoots around two years back and the freelance photographer I used was still using a 400D. The pictures were still bloody brilliant, so it just shows that the camera is only a small part of it - it's knowing how to get the best from it.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
10 years old!
It just caught my eye on eBay, looked cool and a decent picture, no point paying half the price of the new cannon in currys for a 10 year old camera is there?
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
No. Unless you are only going to use it for landscapes then get the kit lens that comes with the camera. It will be more than good enough for a walk around lens and for you to start with.

Wide angle. Cheap is a Sigma 10-20 for a crop body. Can get them for under £300. Wide enough with out the distortion of a fish eye lens. If you don't mind that then go for an opteka 8mm fisheye. Can be had for around £150 ish delivered.

Iirc, some of the Nikon cameras have built in intervalometers (for timelapse) but to shoot Northern lights, you just need to keep it on continous shooting on something like exposures of 10/15 seconds, f3.5/4 whatever the lens goes down to, iso 3200 and you'll get it. You can pick up an external intervalometer for £15 on eBay. It'll also cover as a standard remote shutter too.

Just seen you night sky pics in another thread, they're awesome!

Will the 18-135mm lens be OK as a first lens or should I get a wide angle one as well?

Thanks in advance :)
 

Ay Ay Ron

ClioSport Club Member
It'll be a good walkabout lens and you'll get some good landscape shots with it but it won't be super wide.
Use it for a while. Get used to the camera and then have a look at other lenses. The 10-20 will be a good one for you though when you do decide to get more lenses.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
It'll be a good walkabout lens and you'll get some good landscape shots with it but it won't be super wide.
Use it for a while. Get used to the camera and then have a look at other lenses. The 10-20 will be a good one for you though when you do decide to get more lenses.

Thanks for your input bud, appreciate it.

Can you point me in the direction of some good sites/forums to do some learning other than here.

Right now I'm not even sure what lens would fit the body never mind what lens would suite me best.
 

Ay Ay Ron

ClioSport Club Member
Thanks for your input bud, appreciate it.

Can you point me in the direction of some good sites/forums to do some learning other than here.

Right now I'm not even sure what lens would fit the body never mind what lens would suite me best.
Talk photography is a very useful site for pretty much anything photography related.
Get on Flickr too and have a search for your camera body. You'll then see the images taken with it and the lenses used, gives you an idea of what it's capable of with what lens.

Other than that, just get out and play with it.
 
  Monaco 172 + mk1 RSi
Talk photography is a very useful site for pretty much anything photography related.
Get on Flickr too and have a search for your camera body. You'll then see the images taken with it and the lenses used, gives you an idea of what it's capable of with what lens.

Other than that, just get out and play with it.

Thanks dude, never thought of Flickr etc
I don't think the lens on it is the one that it came with.
 


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