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An slr on a budget, second hand for beginner???
Justmadeit
24-08-2010
Im looking to get an slr, a guy i know is selling a sony alpha 100 for £150 with the standard lens kit

The only thing that puts me off is the images arent live on the lcd so you have to put your eye up to the small window

Any recomendations??
CS Aye
24-08-2010
You're actually best putting your eye up to the viewfinder on a DSLR, it gives you light straight through the lens into your eye. It's better than using the screen, unless of course you're trying to take a picture with the camera held over your head or something.
TeeGee
24-08-2010
It sounds a good deal. Hey! Its nice to see you can still buy cameras with the old fashioned viewfinders....
dodgygeeza
25-08-2010
Have a hold of the camera before you buy it, the alpha's are a bit of an odd shape especially if you've got larger hands. Same goes for any camera though

£150 is a good price as long as it's all in decent condition, which I assume it is seeing as you're buying from a mate.
Oldhippy
25-08-2010
Originally Posted by Justmadeit:
“Im looking to get an slr, a guy i know is selling a sony alpha 100 for £150 with the standard lens kit

The only thing that puts me off is the images arent live on the lcd so you have to put your eye up to the small window

Any recomendations??”

This is probably the cheapest DSLR going.. Not a brilliant camera, but atleast it will give you an upgrade path with better lenses as and when you have more money.

DSLRs generally start at around £500.

As for not having a live image on a screen, if you moving to a DSLR, then it is more grown up and a viewfinder is what you should be using as a camera is not stable at arms length, no stability means blurred images.

The main reason for not having a live image on a scree is because SLRs (digital and film) have a mirror that flips up each time a photo is taken.

Though Nikon and Canon have found a way of doing live images it really should only be used when thae camera is on a tripod when taking macro images (close up detail shots of very small things)

Learn to use the camera as it is different to using a compact. Check the camera over properly and take a couple of shots, again use a tripod so you can focus on something obvious, as you need to see if it focussing properly.

Get the pics onto a computer to see at a larger size to check the focus points.. It may have been dropped and you will not know untill you can check this.
Justmadeit
26-08-2010
ta for the advice, another i was considering second hand is the nikon d40 as i believe they are ok too ??
TheBigM
26-08-2010
Remember the real cost of photography kit is the lenses. Best to pick a body from the make you think you would want to continue with afterwards.

You've got Nikon D40 and Canon EOS 350D second hand as good choices. Check out london camera exchange - they do second hand kit.
mincepie
31-08-2010
speak to / look at

www.lcegroup.co.uk/
www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/
www.ffordes.com
www.mifsuds.com/

All deal with second hand kit. All the cameras are much the same, some have newer "gadgets" eg liveview, but really it's the lenses that make more of a difference - spend your money there.
brillopad
01-09-2010
I really don't know why people get so excited about DSLRs - big, heavy, massively expensive for add-on lenses, lens changing is an absolute pain and slow.
I've got a Nikon so I know what I'm talking about - I've got 170-500mm, 170-300mm. 28-200mm. 10-20mm, 28-70mm, 50mm prime, huge SpeedLight Flash, flash bouncers & a ton of other gear.

As I don't specialise in macro photography or anything that pays I find that DSLRs are a righteous pain and a money pit - all I ever use is the 10-20mm and the flash and that's mostly for Church interiors where I can take meter readings, set the camera manually and use the flash to balance out the daylight coming through the windows to get beautiful photos of a flash lit Church and a naturally lit exterior.

Everything else I photograph is done with a Canon SX1IS Hyperzoom or a Samsung WB650 which starts a 25mm and has a 15x zoom.
Canon is small - Samsung fits in a shirt pocket - both do HD video and have image stabilization - I shoot wildlife and either of these cameras is great as they cover everything - the Canon has a hot shoe for a flash - the Samsung has GPS.

The built in flash isn't that powerful but it's useful for bright sunny days to help flatten the high contrast of overhead sun - flash isn't just for night time.
brangdon
01-09-2010
Originally Posted by brillopad:
“I really don't know why people get so excited about DSLRs”

Benefits include image quality, performance (eg shot-to-shot times), low light performance, choice of lenses, optical viewfinder, shallow depth of field when desired. The large size can be a pain, but it can also make them easier to use.

Quote:
“Everything else I photograph is done with a Canon SX1IS Hyperzoom or a Samsung WB650 which starts a 25mm and has a 15x zoom.”

You can get megazoom lenses for SLRs. I've got an 18-250mm for my Pentax. I use it when I need the convenience of a single lens.
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