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i know a few people on here are into their photography, so throw some ideas at me
looking for a very good quality camera so i can start learning how to take good still, night shots, motion shots and landscape shots
i'd say i understand the basics better than you're average joe and will pick it up fairly quickly however i need to learn a fair bit more obviously
so equpiment wise, someone good for around the 300ish mark?
any ideas on what i should go for?
thanks

I've just ordered the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 from Comet as recommended by DanDiesel.

http://www.tigerstyle.co.uk/poloforum/v ... 42fee2be79

have a look at this topic buddy, theres a few good recommendations in there, mostly round the £300 mark! hope that helps

thanks!

think im going to look at a canon 400d

good good camera that mate! best thing about the canons is the fact that all old lenses from around 1987 onwards will fit on the modern body as they have the same fitting!
prices of d-slr cameras are really dropping! the 400d also has a self cleaning function which should keep the images crisper and clearer!

Canon Kits lenses are crap, Nikon are much better. 400D and Nikon D40/D40x cameras are so equal its not real.

Buy body only and get a better lens if you buy the Canon. The D40/D40x are better IMO (but I'm a Nikon fan) but the Canon has a few better AF functions than the Nikon.

D40 with 18-55mm or 18-70mm Kit lens is the best of the entry DSLRs IMO.

Canon has better storage in some poeple opinion cos CF goes up to 8GBs and beyond where-as Nikon uses SD cards which have lesser capacities. But for me having all your eggs in one basket, ie 8GBs and its fooks up then you screwed, where as 2 or 3 smaller (2GB) cards is a better option.

Either, really, you can't go wrong with either but remeber when you start down the Canon or Nikon road you keep going. Once you've invested in a few lenses, flash, cards and accessories its very costly to switch brands.

Both C and N have a wide raneg of lenses inc Tamron, Sigma and Tokina.

isn't the d40 a 6mp, and the d40x is a 10mp? the depth of accessories available is just staggering, almost endless!
my brother has the Canon 350d and loves it to bits, takes some brilliant pic and he has a sigma 70-300mm lense for it!
Bryony on here has a Nikon D80 i do believe and some of the pictures that she has taken are just sublime. see here:

http://www.purpledotmedia.co.uk/

me personally, well i have the Sony Alpha 100 which i think is a great camera,m again with a lot of depth in the accessories available! Sigma and Tamron make lenses as do Carl Zeiss bit these are VERY expensive
old Konica Minolta lenses will fit on the Alpha aswell which is always a good thing!

i now know who to quiz in the coming weeks cheers for the advice guys
my mam is asking me what i wanted for xmas, so im trying to find somthing good and at a decent price. i'm swaying towards the canon as its been recomended plus my mate has it so we can help each other with the features etc

the canon 400d would be a very good choice sir!

pm me if ya need any advice and i'll see if i can help!

Can you find a D50? These are better than the D40s and are usually about the same price! The D40 has some key features missing, and the D50 is better.

Personally I prefer Nikon, it's a much easier camera to hold. I would not buy the Canon without considering the Nikon if you haven't yet held both of the cameras.

Definitely get a few 1GB / 2GB cards as mentioned above. I've learnt first hand!

http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?key=2685

cheers for advice also david. i'm going to have a look in a specialist shop and get a feel for them and also get their advice too

I _think_ the D40 doesn't have info on the top edge of the camera like the D50 does. and I also think the older canon one didn't have this either - you had to look at the screen for info.

I know the new canon and D40 have bigger LCDs though. You'll be amazed how differently you treat the camera once you're used to it - you'll be on "P" mode (fairly manual) and adjusting ISO, shutter speed and exposure all the time, and having this info readily available is a key factor.

the nikon kit lens is a great starter too. you can take "cover" shots with kit lenses, despite what some camera enthusiasts say.

a great site to visit is www.kenrockwell.com

he doesn't get influenced by the masses, and has some great pointers, one of these is saying that any more than 5mp is pretty much a waste unless you're shooting for A1 posters! he also raves about budget lenses as well as main brand ones - so you know you get the right info.

if you get the nikon, I'm thinking of selling up my 70-210 D lens for it in a few months or so. I'm saving up for a 18-200 that ken raves about. he also likes the 70-210 I have, but it's not as versatile.

<blab over>

david burton wrote:<blab over>

ah, but a very informative blab it was! i think i shall be having a look at that website later!

www.dpreview.com

All you need to know / want to ever read is on here. Very indepth and professionaly conducted reviews.

I run a D80, a few lenses, SB flash, etc.

Don't be put off by 6mps, 8mps or 10mps. Its not the MPs that make a good pic its the photographer and the lens.

Lenses are 80% the reason for 'quality' in am image. 6mps from the 40 will produce as a good pics as a 10mp camera.

Think about it this way, if you take a crap pic the 10mps will highlight the down-side of you bad pic, so it swings both ways.

On top of that 2 things.....

Shot in RAW mode
Shoot in Manual mode as much as poss (or A or S), never in Auto, P or pre-sets. If you want to point and shoot the buy a point-n-shoot.