Recommend me a DSLR for circa £300

paul_c2

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all the following lens formats are incompatible:

Nikon
Canon
Sony
whatever Nikon's MILC format is
whatever Canon's MILC format is
others I haven't even heard of....

Thus.....choosing the camera now, then upgrading it or buying accessories (ie...lenses) for it "locks" you into a particular lens format. If you have ambitions of getting bigger/better/faster/more expensive lenses later, then you can either hope that your chosen lens format will be widely available in the future, or stick with the "safe" options of Nikon/Canon. And maybe Sony too. Of course, you could always get to a certain point, then sell ALL your equipment, then buy the equivalent equipment in a different lens format later. Or have 2 incompatible cameras and duplicate loads of the lenses on these 2 formats, or try conversion rings, etc etc

I've made it sound catastrophic but its not that bad, most people don't buy much more than 1 or 2 extra lenses etc.

Its why I looked briefly, but then decided against Sony; and then considered only Nikon and Canon SLRs.

Drew_TNBD

Nah, you can get adapters.

paul_c2

Drew_TNBD said:

Nah, you can get adapters.

I always thought adapters never quite "passed through" all the functionality of the lens, or buggered up the focal length (like, multiplied it a bit and chopped the aperture a bit), maybe they got better though?

LoFi

That's why I went with Nikon - both it and the Canon models were very well reviewed, the same price and features, but I had several friends with Nikons, so we could (and do) share lenses.

strumjoughlamps

paul_c2 said:

Drew_TNBD said:

Nah, you can get adapters.

I always thought adapters never quite "passed through" all the functionality of the lens, or buggered up the focal length (like, multiplied it a bit and chopped the aperture a bit), maybe they got better though?

I use 4/3rds lenses with adapter on a m4/3rds system and they function just as if it was on a 4/3rds body.. may nephew does the same with his Canon ef to M adapter..

in general though systems on not interchangeable even with adapters.. old lenses via adapters though are superb if you are a manual focus buff as I am.. some bargain russian beauties available.

BigLicks67

stickyfiddle said:

VR is worth having if you aren't going to have it on a tripod most of the time (i.e. most people's normal use). 

Kits lenses these days are fine - certainly not worthless whatever you read on photography forums. They're not as good as the full-fat lenses you'd pay hundreds for, obviously, but they're certainly better than they used to be and absolutely fine to get the grips with photography as a skill. 

I got a Canon 650D when the D3300 was brand new on the market - both were reviewed very well at the time and in reality they're very close in quality. I took all of the below on that 650D with the kit 18-55 lens. Hopefully they'll give you some comfort that you don't need to spend more unless you *know* you need a specific feature that you don't get at that end of the market. I preferred the Canon ergonomically so worth trying both brands just to get a feel for them in your hands, but be assured both are great. 

I'm now a Fuji guy through and through, but you won't quite get into the models worth having at 300. I'd happily talk your ear of about them if you wanted to spend 500+!

Also worth bearing in mind you will need some software to get the most out of a DSLR though. If you shoot in RAW rather than JPG (which gives you all the data the camera sensor sees), you can tweak that in Lightroom or Photoshop to really maximise the potential of each shot. All of the below were processed in Lightroom. None would've taken more than 2 mins.











  

Lovely stuff, what was the retail price on the Canon 650D when you bought it?
My missus has a Sony A200 and she gets nowhere near this sort of definition.