Choosing, and buying, an SLR is about as stressful as buying a car, or a high end hi-fi system. Everybody has an opinion and everyone’s owns system is the very best. Much of what people will tell you is complete bollocks.
Part of the problem here goes back to the days of film. Before zoom lenses really improved in quality a typical system would consist of camera and three or four lenses. This was not an insignificant investment. As the (by in large) the different systems were not compatible you were kind of stuck with the system that you first bought. And as we got to the higher range there was – and still is – a massive debate between the followers of Nikon and Canon.
These days anyone looking to experiment with an SLR for the first time is in real luck. There is an amazing range of excellent cameras on the market today, especially within the £300 to £500 range. You can take your pick from Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Olympus, and so on. Whatever your choice you won’t go far wrong. But I know that doesn’t help. So here are some tips (and no doubt others will add more).
Firstly, two key principles for buying your first SLR:
1. Prudence
2. Buy your first camera from a store rather than over the net.
Prudence
You do not need to spend a lot of money on your first camera. As with a lot of things in the consumer market you do tend to get what you pay for but the higher end cameras have features that it will take some time to learn how to use properly. I could say you’d be best buying the best camera that you can afford — fine if you can and want to, but this isn’t really necessary.
The Store
It is so hard to choose between the various makes and brands that it is very hard to make a final decision! However, the feel of the camera makes a big difference. How heavy is the camera? Will this be too much if I’m out on the hill? Does it feel comfortable in the hand? Believe me, comfort is a big issue? Do the controls feel intuitive or baffling?
When I bought my DSLR I narrowed the choice down to a Nikon and a Canon. I made my choice on camera handling. For me, the Nikon just felt absolutely right in my hands, and that was enough for me.
Locking into a Brand
Before I move on I thought it right to make this point. These days there is no real need to lock yourself into a brand like we did in the days of film. Cameras today come with a kit lens, a zoom, and most of these are pretty good. Typically a zoom range will go from 18- 55 mil which is a pretty good spread from wide angle to medium tele (I’ll explain all this later). What this really means is that this one lens replaces three of the old, set, focal point lenses.
As most kits now come with good lenses you could make your next camera something from another range. For example, I currently have a Nikon. I could stick with Nikon, in which case the next time round I would just buy a body – but I wouldn’t save that much money. If I wanted to swap to Canon there wouldn’t be much in it.
Of course, if you’ve bought extra lenses then this point becomes less valid. But most people don’t need to. I shoot all of my photos with one lens. I would like an ultra wide zoom but have been put off buying it buy the idea of having to lug it about!
Back to those megapixels
I really want you to consider these last! Of course, 12 is better than 6 but you might not notice for the photos you take. Most experts will say that there’s not much gain in trading up from 10 to 12. Look at price. If your budget feels happier at 6 to begin with start there.
Megapixels really only make a big difference when we are enlarging. I’ve got some poster-sized landscape prints that are superb taken from my 6 megapixel camera. The lens I use if very sharp and that sharpness carries on to the print. You have to really get up close to see the ‘grain’ of the pixels on the print.
Using the Web
There are a couple of very good websites to help you narrow down your range. But I would seriously advise going to a shop where you can fondle the goods, to make your final choice. But these are places to look at:
Digital Photography Review (they speak English here!)
Ken Rockwell.com – a great site with simple advice.
Some Initial Ideas
You need a camera with a manual mode. I don’t think it matters what kind of data storage you use, compact flash or the smaller SD chip cards. Most low to medium ranges now use the SD format, but this is not something to get hung up about.
Neither should you get too worried about the LCD screen on the back of the camera. These are useful but not that useful. If your shooting landscapes you’ll probably find the sun mucks the image up anyway. Blurb and salesmen will try and tell you that this screen is better because it is bigger, sharper or brighter. I don’t think this matters – it certainly isn’t something sufficient to chose one camera over another.
So, some first ideas
Starting from cheap and getting more expensive.
As I write the Nikon D40 would set you back about £370. This is a 6 megapixel camera but don’t let that put you off. There are plenty of professionals (on the web) who use this as their leisure camera. This camera comes with a great lens and has received rave reviews
Moving up the price range a little the Canon 450D and the Nikon D60 are well received.
The 450D is a 12 megapixel camera which is available for just a little under £500. This is nicknamed the Digital Rebel, which was supposed to be the digital camera for everyman. For many people — at the moment—this will be a great entry camera.
The Nikon D60 with lens can be bought for less than £400. This is a 10 megapixel camera but reviews suggest that it’s performance is up there with the Canon; again be wary of the megapixel debate.
There are also good cameras to consider from Olympus, Pentax, Sony and others. Do some homework on the websites above and draw up your shortlist. But you should be more than happy with anything from any of these brands.
Getting Pricier
Personally, I wouldn’t consider paying more for a first DSLR. You pay more for the quality of build, water-proofing and so on. However, my camera has been all over the place and is of a similar build quality to those listed above — it copes with most things that are thrown at it. Chris Townsend — no mean photographer himself — takes kinds of cameras out in the wilds.
Looking for a Deal
New cameras are being introduced in these ranges at a hell of a speed. This means the prices of existing cameras are falling. The D60s big brother is the D80 and a D90 is due out in the autumn. But the D60 will be around for a while and it is a great camera.
So, look at these websites and others. See what’s available locally or within a reasonable journey. I really do think it’s a good thing to buy your first camera where you can have a good look at it first.
By all means seek out the advice of others but be a bit wary of the line that says this is by far the best. Seek the cameras out, have a good play with them and then make your own decision.
Next up: Let’s get started – Exposure.
How it handle/felt
Is what lead me to buy my NIkon D50, I had a play with the Canon 350D at the time, but the Nikon just felt right, even though I was upgrading from a Canon G6.
I got the D40X – compact and I’M just getting my head around using it. Andy’s teaching is going to help big time.
Nice write-up Andy. I agree that for me best feeling cameras in the hand are the Nikons; I’ve owned several over the years and can highly recommend them. For the last few months though I’ve been using a Canon G9 (a compact), I find it gives me everything I want for about 95% of the shots I take; low distortion lens with almost no CA right across the range, plenty of MP for those poster shots you mentioned, fully manual controls (albeit they’re a little more fiddly than an SLR esp. when wearing gloves) all in a far more compact and lightweight package than an SLR. For walking I find it ideal. Of course I’d like it to be a few hundred grams lighter (no suprises there!) but I carry it on the shoulder strap of the rucksack for easy access, something I missed with a SLR despite trying all kinds of carry system, and I carry a mini tripod in a front jacket pocket – an ultrapod II – for taking shots and video without removing the rucksack. Low light performance is, as you’d expect with a compact, not brilliant; I keep it below ISO 400 for reasonable quality. For home / indoor shots though a bounced 580EXII stops that being a problem.
I just wanted to let people know that if you want creative photography there are more options available now than just DSLRs. DSLRs might be faster, bigger and better in low light, but like with megapixels if you don’t need them than what’s the point. Cheers Andy, keep up the great blogging!
Ian
Another DSLR newbie here. It was something I had been considering for a while, and occasionally chatted to a pro acquintance about. In early ’07 he started raving about a lens he’d just got, and which he thought would suit me – the Nikon VR18-200. The RRP of the lens alone was more than I wanted to pay for the whole camera. His advice was to get the lens and the cheapest body – the D40. “The lens should last tens years if you look after it, but you might want to upgrade bodies several times in ten years”. In the end I managed to get lens and body for less than the RRP of the lens.
The point of this rambling tale is that his advice was to get the lens you want and then find a suitable body to match. That advice worked very well for me – I can’t imagine that there is as big a difference between bodies as there are between lenses. But on the other hand you do have to know what you want from a lens to go this route, something I’d decided on whilst using point & shoot cameras.
Back in October I treated myself to a Nikon D5000. I’ve learned so much by just getting free lessons off the web. Reading the manual helps as well. Once you understand what you are trying to achieve and how to change the settings in the camera then it is just a case of practice.
Try shooting in RAW. You can get good JPEGs out of the camera but I much prefer playing with each image for 2-3 minutes really making my images pop with loads of colour and contrast. I personally use Adobe Lightroom 3.
The 18-55 lenses is good to get started, although I think a super-wide angle like the Sigma 10-20 is a good lens to have with landscapes. If you take pictures of wildlife it is also good to have the telephoto. You could get 70-300mm although personally I would get the 28-300mm. It is a lot of lenses and a lot of money however it can take the place of 2 or 3 lenses. Not only that it is a full-frame lens so if you do decide to get a D3 or D700 in the future then this lens will be still good. The only down size is that it is not a F2.8 lenses meaning it you want to shoot concerts or sports at night then this lens wouldn’t cut it.
I agree. Don’t go out and buy over expensive bodies. The D300 for example is a nice camera but uses exactly the same sensor as the D5000 which is 2-3x cheaper. The D300 is just made out of metal which is good for a pro who uses their camera all day every day, but for most people the plastic body is more than strong enough. Then work your way up to full-frame like the D700 or D3S which are about £1,700 and £3,500 respectively. Full-frame is a big leap, the larger sensors give much more quality and much wider dynamic range and allow you to shoot handheld in low light without losing quality. The key though first and foremost is invest money in lenses.
For me a good place to start is the Nikon D3100 which will set you back about £450 with the 18-55mm which is more than enough for most people. Around £900 you can get the D7000 which is another amazing camera. Once you get up to that kind of money though of £1000 then you should start asking yourself whether you should just stump up another £500-£600 and go full-frame and get the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II. However once you start getting full-frame bodies then you have to start buying full-frame lenses. I mean the Nikon 70-200mm VR II is £1,500, the 24-70 is £1,200 and the 14-24 is £1,200, so £5,500 later, add in tripods, filters, software then you are talking well in excess of £6,000. But if you are a pro or you have that kind of money to throw around then go for it and you will not be disappointed. I can only dream…!