Camera advice....

Any one recomend a DSLR camera for around £500 ???

Surely Jon Candy is the man to answer this question!

Surely Jon Candy is the man to answer this question!

Interested as my step son wants to buy one,,,, he's looking at a Cannon EOS 500D ???

I'd advise that you PM Jon Candy, he's always getting his photography out. Nice guy as well. Should be able to offer some help.

Outside of my legal work I do a lot of Sports Photography. I am one of the clubs photographers and over the weekend was an accredited photographer at the Millennium Stadium for the Wales-v-New Zealand International.

I presently use a Canon 40D.

I would therefore, without any shadow of a doubt, recommend the Canon 50D. The only reason I have not got one is because I am saving up for a Canon 1D (£2000+)!!!

Here is a link to the 50D

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product ... R/EOS_50D/

Some really good points. 6.3fps (Frames per Second). This means that you can take a lot of consecutive pictures in a very short space of time. In the old days (with film) there might have been a lot of waste - but nowadays you can take 6 pictures in one second - Get rid of pictures 1,2,5,6 and keep the two really sharp ones in the middle

ISO up to 12800 is very good. On the 40D it only goes up to 1600 (3200 with expansion). In low light you need to be using an ISO of around 1000-1600 but the problem is that the picture can come out grainy. I use Photoshop CS4 or Noise Ninja to correct this but with 12800 at your disposal you will have a lot more.

18 months ago, had the 50D been around, I would have got the 50D as opposed the 40D.

Any help - with either cameras or camera software - give me a shout.

The Canon 50D is around £700 body only, you would want a lens with that so you are looking at £800 at least.
The 500D with a 18-55mm lens is around the £500 mark so that what he'll probably end up with.

Personally though if I was going in to the shop with £500 to spend, I'd come out with the Nikon D5000 with a 18-55mm VR lens - £469. That's just me though, I prefer Nikon's. In the 25 years of using them I've always found them far superior to other like for like brands. I've own ed and used several other brands but I always end up going back to Nikon. I can't think of one head to head bench test where a Canon has been rated higher than a Nikon. I do though remember the Minolta 7000 spanking the Nikon F401, but that was a long time ago.

If you want the daddy of all DSLR's though then take a look at the Nikon D3X currently priced at around £5000 body only, it's the muts nuts like.

i just bought an olympus from argos, £69. cracking fair play 14mp

Thanks fellas for the advice, very interesting & informative.

This is interesting, I am very much looking to purchase my first ever DSLR and have the same budget of £500 and have been favouring the Canon 500D

Oh good, we've got a photography thread going.

For those who don't know, when I'm not on here I'm on a photography forum discussing things like JCB's (not the digger kind but the JCB kind that apparently adds foreground interest), moan the loss of the split prism and generally argue the apparent over use (or under use) of photoshop. We also debate things like how come I can't get away with an uneven horizon yet Bob Carlos Clarke can? Or could before he topped himself.

Are we still awake?

My first camera was a Ziess Icon with a Tessar lens. A fantastic bit of German built kit. Medium format with a really great lens. Best used for landscapes there was no vignetting whatsoever or distortion. Much superior to even a lot of today's lenses.
Back then you needed to worry only about two things - The quality of the film and the quality of the lens. Everything else was just detail to please those more interested in the gadget than the photographs it could produce.

These days it is much the same only the film has been replaced by a sensor. So you need to worry only about the quality of the lens and the quality of the sensor. Please don't fall in to the first pitfall of believing that megapixel size is the be all. For instance a full frame cmos 12mp is far better than a cropped 14mp. In this example it appears to the layman that the 14mp is better when in fact it's far inferior to the 12mp due to it's smaller sensor area.

Anyone yawning yet?

Hey don't knock it, that other forum gets it's moments I can tell you. This one time someone dared to use the two words "Nikon" and "Canon" in the same thread. Trust me world war 3 broke out.

Berwyn

I must try an Nikon some time. Would love the Nikon D3 but am thinking once a Canon user always a Canon User

The Sports Togs I normally sit next to (Up here in Rugby League Land) are generally split between Canon and Nikon and just landed on the Canon side.

Paul.

I bought this camera recently and as I'm not an expert on them and just needed a good quality camera with a HD video recording facility, this has turned out to be the bees knees for me:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Digit ... 817&sr=8-1

If you're definitely looking for a more manual type camera and feel the Canon cameras mentioned by other posters on this thread is what you're really after though, then here's a price list from Amazon:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keyw ... igital+slr

Here's some reviews of the Canon EOS 50D, which will also allow you to review any other camera, you may prefer as well:-

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-c ... EOS-50D/p1
http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipm ... eview.html
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/digital-slrs/ ... -49299572/

Here's a couple of price comparisons of the Canon EOS 50D and the sites will also allow you to search for a different camera, if you have a different preference:-

http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/p-digital-camer ... d-19607174
http://www.priceinspector.co.uk/p/Canon ... desc,True/

Once you've decided which camera you specifically want, it's worth considering one of these money back sites, which can in many instances, provide you with a large discount on your purchase(s):-

http://www.quidco.com/
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/

Persoanlly, I use Quidco.com, but I've heard very good reviews of the other option as well!
Hope this helps you get a better deal, for whichever camera you choose!

Thanks overthemoon, & the rest of you guys, fantastic info. I will let you know what camers he chooses in due course.

Berwyn

I must try an Nikon some time. Would love the Nikon D3 but am thinking once a Canon user always a Canon User

The Sports Togs I normally sit next to (Up here in Rugby League Land) are generally split between Canon and Nikon and just landed on the Canon side.

Paul.

Yes the majority of the sports photographers I've worked long side don't really care what they use be it Nikon or Canon. A lot of them come from agencies where they book out their kit and in most cases they say it's "first out, best dressed". In other words, the first to book out get the new cameras and the late comers get the beaten up old one's. I will say though that the general consensus is the Nikon D3 is miles ahead of anything else and the Nikon D300s makes a good second camera.

There is a lot of snobbery in photography though where people think a good camera makes them a good photographer. That's like saying a good hammer makes for a better carpenter. Personally I go for Nikon because they simply feel better for me and I take better photos with them than with a Canon. I didn't choose Nikon because they are better than Canon or in the head to head tests they always seem to get the gold whilst Canon get the silver, I chose Nikon because it's better for me.

My advice though to anyone buying their first DSLR would be to go along to Jessops and be a complete pain in the arse. You are committing to spending a lot of money, not just now but in the future. You will go back and buy another lens and a flash gun and before you know it you would have handed them several thousand quid. It is a very expensive game.
Go to the shop but do not buy anything that day. Get a Canon and a Nikon in your hands and see how they feel. Top tip though is find out how to hold the camera correctly before you go in to the shop because you'll look like a tyre kicker and they'll see you coming a mile off.
After you've held the several different cameras in your hands walk away and give it a few days to think about it. Chances are the brand you choose will be the one you will stick with.

At the end of the day though if a compact camera feels best or you then get one those, the camera is just a tool and nothing more than that. I've taken some great shots with a 30 quid 3mp shit compact, here's one I took:

If you can't see the photo above then it's the first "sunset" one in this page http://www.kira23.co.uk/travel.html

I'd go for a Nikon for that kind of price.
D80 is pretty good, think it's a little moe than £500, not much though.
D40x is also pretty good, and should be able to get that for less than £400, probably nearer £300 by now.