Recommend me a budget Digital SLR?

[krhall]

Doing a basic photography course, but my compact isn't really up to the job, so I want a digital SLR. Don't really know where to start though.

Like the look of this one:
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_1000D/

...but the suggestions I got on the compact cameras on here were great, so any comments would be really appreciated.

[454697819]

budget?

[Littlepeahead]

Canon 350d or 400d second hand. Loads about. You'll easily get one in good nick for a decent price. And then just keep an eye out for top quality lenses.

Here's an example from London Camera Exchange who have loads of them on their website:

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=24802

[the_lone_wolf]

Go to your local camera shop and hold some of them

Ain't worth saving £100 if the camera is chronically small, as I found with the EOS 500 Canon

But if you have girl hands then from a compatibility POV Any Nikon or Canon will serve you well and you'll always be able to find lenses that fit from hire places etc

[Viney]

The 1000d is a fine camera for the money, and similarly the Nikno equivilent. As for purchase place, try Camerabox.co.uk. Possible the cheapest place i could find selling UK kit. I have bough my last 2 cameras on there.

However, Jessops are selling the 500d with 18-55mm kit lens for £500 at the moment.

[Amanda M]

...and from the Nikon corner... Jessops are doing the nikon D5000 with 18-55mm lens kit for £479 ;)

[dyzio]

Canon 350d or 400d second hand.

Under £200 for body, and another that for a sigma lens.

[barwel1992]

d3000(10mp) or d3100 (14mp) d5000 has pointless live view that doesn't focus properly and a pointless flip down screen thats pointless because the live view doesn't work properly

[keith_d]

Being a Nikon user, my first choice would be a used d80, with a secondhand 18-70mm AFS. Both sound pieces of kit that should see you through the course and several years beyond.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1870.htm

I don't know what the Canon equivalents are but I'm sure they are just as good.

Keith.

[Beenz]

Being a Nikon user, my first choice would be a used d80, with a secondhand 18-70mm AFS. Both sound pieces of kit that should see you through the course and several years beyond.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1870.htm

I don't know what the Canon equivalents are but I'm sure they are just as good.

Keith.

Another nod from here for the D80, I've been using one for a few years now, decent build quality as well. No live view or video on this camera, although I've never felt the need for either in use.

[Filipe M.]

Another vote from the Nikon camp, this time for the D3100. :lol:

d3000(10mp) or d3100 (14mp) d5000 has pointless live view that doesn't focus properly and a pointless flip down screen thats pointless because the live view doesn't work properly

Maybe you should try and understand why the D5000 isn't focusing properly in live view, especially since contrast-detection auto-focus has everything to be more precise than phase-detection, and doesn't even depend on mechanical parts for calibration. Sorry, but for everything that's wrong with the D5000's flip down screen, and some things are, that's not one of them... ;)


Being a Nikon user, my first choice would be a used d80, with a secondhand 18-70mm AFS. Both sound pieces of kit that should see you through the course and several years beyond.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1870.htm

I don't know what the Canon equivalents are but I'm sure they are just as good.

Keith.

Another nod from here for the D80, I've been using one for a few years now, decent build quality as well. No live view or video on this camera, although I've never felt the need for either in use.

Build quality wise, the D80 really is a very good piece of kit, and you can probably find a cheap one these days. Still I wouldn't get one, only because its matrix metering system is not the most dependent Nikon has ever come up with (it's extremely dependent on the selected focus point, which will throw even the most experienced photogs off-guard every now and again)... spot and centre-weighted metering work as advertised though.

... and speaking of which, maybe you should try and find out if spot metering will be taught as a subject matter, because a lot of basic Canon models don't have it ;)