What to buy? (budget and details inside)

[Sygate666]

Hi guys,

The missus is looking at buying a DSLR Camera to fulfil her photography fascination and interest.

She's had her fun playing around with some of the lesser variants of digital cameras and is now looking at getting something a little more professional.

What brands/cameras/lenses would be a good place to start? She's only looking to spend around $1000, preferably somewhere around $800-1000.

Keep in mind that she's not a pro and doesn't need anything over the top but something pretty decent within that price range that would be significantly better than the Fujifilm Finepix S1500 of mine that she's been playing with.

I've been told by a mate who lives off his photography income to avoid anything that isn't Nikon or Canon, is this an accurate statement?

I also realise it's not always about the camera but a lot about the lens you use as well.

All suggestions welcome!

[Cougr]

Nikon and Canon would probably be the most used brands. I have a Nikon D3000 which I payed around $1200 including 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses, UV and Polarising filters, Carry bag, Good quality Tri-pod and two 4GB memory cards.

You can pick up the D3000 with both those lenses for $850 from http://www.teds.com.au I went through them to get all my gear, I got a discount as well. You can see some of my Photography here from this camera.

[Thommo290578No1]

Nikkon D90 is an oldie but still one of the more popular.

and D5000 got great reviews for someone starting out in the dslr range.

[Chucky]

Nice pics Cougr, I wish my pics turned out that good!

[Sygate666]

Nikon and Canon would probably be the most used brands. I have a Nikon D3000 which I payed around $1200 including 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses, UV and Polarising filters, Carry bag, Good quality Tri-pod and two 4GB memory cards.

You can pick up the D3000 with both those lenses for $850 from http://www.teds.com.au I went through them to get all my gear, I got a discount as well. You can see some of my Photography here from this camera.

Wow those pictures are great and for those two lenses plus the camera at $850 it seems pretty damn reasonable. I'll definitely look into that for her.

Can anyone recommend anything else along similar lines? Camera and a decent lens within that 800-1000 dollar bracket? What Cougr suggested fits the bill excellently.

What are some camera specific stores in Perth I can go check out? I think in this case I would prefer if we could go look at the hardware personally so she can get a feel for the camera etc.

Thanks so far guys

[Cougr]

Glad I could help out.

I had a quick look on Google. I found a store in WA that's doing the D3000 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses for $777.
The store is located at 12 Cecil Avenue, Cannington.

[Sygate666]

Glad I could help out.

I had a quick look on Google. I found a store in WA that's doing the D3000 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses for $777.
The store is located at 12 Cecil Avenue, Cannington.

Thanks a lot champ That camera is definitely worth checking out and $777 with two lenses is pretty good amirite?

[Nemesis_22]

We were selling them for about that at my local. Had the single lens VR kit down to $588, so $777 is pretty good too.

The D3000 is a perfect camera to start on for two particular features - guide mode, and the help button. It takes all the confusion out of things, makes getting good photos a lot easier for the novice or budding amateur.

[Cougr]

We were selling them for about that at my local. Had the single lens VR kit down to $588, so $777 is pretty good too.

The D3000 is a perfect camera to start on for two particular features - guide mode, and the help button. It takes all the confusion out of things, makes getting good photos a lot easier for the novice or budding amateur.

You should be thanking this guy Sygate, Nemesis helped me out a lot when I was looking into getting my first DSLR which ended up being the D3000.

I really recommend having a look at The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby. I brought all three volumes off of an Australian online book store for a good price and have found the information in them to come in handy a lot of the time while I was using my D3000. Without reading those books I don't think I would have taken those photos you see on the deviantArt page.

I wouldn't go setting your mind on the D3000 just yet though. I found I hardly ever use the guide mode because I understand using Aperture priority, shutter speed etc. So if your wife has experience with DSLR's before or has done some reading I'm guessing she wouldn't really use it either?

I had a look on the Teds website where I brought my camera and there's 2 others that would probably fit into your price range that you should consider.

First of all there's the D3000.

Main features
10 Mega Pixels
1/4000 sec Max Shutter Speed
3 FPS Continuous Shooting
ISO 100 to 3200
Guide Mode
3" LCD Screen

Going from the Ted's prices you can pick up the D3000 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses for $849.95

Next is the D3100 which I think is new? I didn't see this on offer when I brought my D3000.

Main features
14.2 Mega Pixels
1/4000 sec Max shutter speed
3 FPS Continuous Shooting
ISO 100 to 12800
3" LCD Screen
Guide Mode
Record HD Video
New Software

D3100 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses for $1299.95
The D3100 is 14MP compared to the D5000's 12MP, you can increase the ISO twice as high as the D5000 can, the LCD screen is 3", it records HD Video, New software and Guide mode.

Last is the D5000.

Main features
12.3 Mega Pixels
1/4000 sec Max shutter speed
4 FPS Continuous Shooting
ISO 100 to 6400
2.7" LCD 450° variable angle
Ability to see what the view finder sees on the LCD
Record HD Video

With the same two lenses as the others, $1289.00
The variable angle LCD screen will come in handy, and seeing what the viewfinder sees on the LCD.

Looking at those three cameras, I think the best one to go with would be the D3100 and I did a search for the cheapest price on a D3100 with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses, I came up with $840 from Citiwideonline. It looks like a good deal.

I'd go to a camera store in your area and try out these 3 cameras but in my own opinion would be to go with the newer D3100 for sure. That Citiwideonline deal seems to put it right in the middle of your budget as well.

[BorisBC]

I would probably go the 3100 - I've got a D5000 and while it's freaking awesome, the HD video had serious banding issues when trying to record under fluro lights.. which are what I have in my house. Grrr. Hope they fixed that with the 3100.

Otherwise really any of those would be awesome. You might, if you are lucky, pick up a D5000 for a bit cheaper as it's not the latest and greatest, but it's still a great camera.

[Sygate666]

We were selling them for about that at my local. Had the single lens VR kit down to $588, so $777 is pretty good too.

The D3000 is a perfect camera to start on for two particular features - guide mode, and the help button. It takes all the confusion out of things, makes getting good photos a lot easier for the novice or budding amateur.

You should be thanking this guy Sygate, Nemesis helped me out a lot when I was looking into getting my first DSLR which ended up being the D3000

So if your wife has experience with DSLR's before or has done some reading I'm guessing she wouldn't really use it either?

Thanks a lot guys. Really helpful post Cougr! Well my "wife" (girlfriend) hasn't had a lot of DSLR experience so the guide probably would be quite handy.

Won't settle on anything just yet, the D3000 sounds and looks great but I think it'd be a good idea for her to get her hands around some different cameras because there's no point getting her something she's not comfortable holding.

All else considered the D3000 will one of the first cameras we check out.

Appreciate the help everyone.

[BorisBC]

Won't settle on anything just yet, the D3000 sounds and looks great but I think it'd be a good idea for her to get her hands around some different cameras because there's no point getting her something she's not comfortable holding.

Weight is a sign of reliability. I always go for reliability. If it does not work, you can always hit him with it.

[Sygate666]

Thanks everyone for your help.

She ended up getting the D3000. We saw the D3100 and while it's extra features were great, we couldn't justify the substantial jump in price between the two, especially as she's just having a bit of fun for the time being.

We ended up getting the D3000 with the 18-55mm VR lens, a carry bag, 8GB memory card and UV/Polarised lens filters for $700 from JB-Hifi.

I've had a bit of a play with it myself and it is a great camera. Sometimes I think the live view feature would be good for those awkward positions where you can't quite put your eye to the view finder but aside from that small downside which really doesn't bother me or her it's fantastic for the price etc.

On the flipside of that, I'm considering getting a bit of cash together and getting the 3100 for myself.