Camera Advice please

Hey everyone,

I've currently got a "bridge" camera in the Fuji Finepix S8000FD which i've found to be a fab camera and has taught me a little bit and trained my photographic eye a bit.

Anyway within the next month or so i will have a bit of cash become available to me and i'm thinking of splashing out on my first full DSLR but am unsure which direction to go.

My Brother in law has a Nikon D60 which he takes fantastic photo's on so thats one thats on my mind, the other way i'm swaying is the Canon range but unsure which one.

My ideal price range is around £500 but would stretch to £600 at a push.

So just looking for some guidance and suggestions really. I really want to develop my photography and learn the ins and outs of it with a decent camera.

Thanks in advance.

Before you get any responses I'll just say that you'll find a lot of people on here will almost 'campaign' Nikon or Canon.

To be honest if one was better than the other - we'd all be in the same camp by now.

My advice would be to listen to what people have to say, read a few reviews and then go and try them out to see what feels best for you.

I loved my Nikons but at the time I upgraded, the Canon 40D was the right option for me.

What I would say is that if you just snap and compare - Nikon seem to produce more satisfying images more easily. They certainly seem to be set up (in camera) to produce sharper more vivid images. At first I was a bit perplexed with my Canon as I was getting far less shots that I was happy with but I soon figured out that it just needed a bit more thought on my part.

It's been 12 months since I was in the market for a camera body so I'm perhaps not as clued up as I was but I'm sure there's plenty of folk who will keep you right.

Enjoy choosing anyway - it's half the fun !

Definitely have a good scout about and play with cameras - see which is best for you!

xx

What kind of photos do you want to take?

The Nikon D60 Lens Kit (AF-S 18-55mm) is only £342 so that leaves you plenty to get an extra lens too

Canon's counterpart is the EOS 1000D Lens Kit (EF-S 18-55 IS) at exactly the same price.

I would go to Jessops and ask them if you can handle both to compare, then see which feels better for you

The upper end (or just about) your budget at around £700 is the canon 40d and the Nikon d90, but again it depends which feels better for you and what you want out of the camera

There is also the Nikon 5000 at a similar price point.

To be honest all the cameras will produce similar results as we are all saying. Some of it is on feel and ergonomics but you won't really know that either until you have owned the camera a few weeks. I had a Nikon D70 and it was ok but my Nikon D300 feels exactly right and big enough in hand to do what I want. If you have someone in the family willing to share stuff then it would make sense to have access to that.

A DSLR may appear a little basic in some ways compared to your 8000. That is a flexible camera with long zoom, bells and whistles. As Azz says, part of this is what do you prefer to take pictures of? If for example it is motor racing or something you will need to be buying a telephoto lens to get at least the reach of the 8000. On the other hand, one of our contributors here, Bob, has the lens that came with his camera and has happily done 90% of his photography on it. This Nikon kit lens 18-55mm is considered to be a good performer and slightly better than the Canon equivelent although we had one person here who's lens fell to bits after a few weeks (unusual!).

The DSLR is not meant to be an all encompassing camera in itself, it is considered the centre of a kit and a means to use the lenses and accessories needed to do your photography. Once you start down a path and build up more kit it is expensive to change but I reckon Nikon and Canon will be around a few years.

Many thanks for the advice so far folks.

In terms of what I plan to photograph it's probably mainly on a nature based theme as I spend a lot of time walking with my dog. I'd love to be able to take good action shots of my dog or of birds and insects etc. I also go to the beach quite a bit so nice landscape shots would be good.

Currently my 8000 does a lot of this and is a fanastic outdoor camera, for some reason it doesn't perform as well indoors but that maybe user error! I get the occasional good action shot with it but not as many as I'd like.

I think I might ask my brother in law if I can have a go with his D60 and see how I get on with that then go to jessops or somewhere and have a feel of the other possibilities.

My OH is also asking at work to see if they are selling anything second hand from the photography department as he is in the navy and they change their cameras quite often apparently. Might also speak to our photographer at work and see what he uses and if I can have a go with it.

Does the amount you have stated have to include the lens as it is more than possible to pay more for a lens than for a body.

I have neither Nikon or Canon and would suggest you go and try different cameras to find one that comfortable fits your hand.

These days there are not that many independent photographic shops in the high street so I would suggest your best bet would be either Comets or John Lewis if you want to try as many different makes as possible.

Yeh that's an all in budget amount. I know it's not much in the world of photography!!