Which camera to buy?

Hello, I was wondering if people could offer me advise on what camera they

think I should buy. My last camera, a Canon Eos 1000f, was stolen and I

figured that while I'm replacing it, I may as well upgrade as well. It's a

film camera I'll be getting (contraversial I know, but I'm old-fashioned!).

I'm a purely amatuer photographer so would not be using the camera for

anything too fancy, and do not want something overly complicated that I'm not

going to be able to use. Although saying that, the only way I'll learn is to

be challenged. It doesn't neccessarily have to be a Canon EOS, I just quite

like this type of camera. I've actually found what looks to me like a pretty

good deal on a Nikon camera: Nikon F 55 Silver + AF 28-100mm f/3.5-5.6 G + AF

70-300mm f/4- 5.6 G Set, but I've heard some dodgy things about Nikons

breaking pretty easily. What do people think about this? I'm looking to spend

around ?400, which I know isn't much but I'm a poor student, and there's only

so much overtime I can fit in now that I'm in my final year! It would be good

if I good get a couple of lenses with this as well as the body. Also, if

anybody knows of good places in Britain to buy from that would be handy. Thank

you, Sara

I'm using an Elan7E and I love it. Rebel Ti is also pretty good and cheaper, but I haven't used it myself. I did not pay attention to the recommendations on the 50mm f1.8 lens at the beginning. When I started to use it, I fell in love with it! It's cheap, small, light, and bright. Life without a zoom isn't bad at all. Therefore I recommend you get one of those.

 

Ever since I started using 50mm, I bought an 24mm f2.8 and a 135mm f2.8SF. All of them work very well and much cheaper than zooms with similar quality and speed. 28mm f2.8 is cheaper than 24mm, if budget is very limited.

 

I used to be a poor student myself, I understand that the fixed focal length doesn't sound efficient economical wise, but it would cost me much more If I get zooms with similar optical quality. And I learned a lot from forcing myself using one focal length at a time.

 

Happy shooting!

Qiang

The camera I will suggest doesn't meet any of your criterias. It's not a filmcamera. It's neither Canon nor Nikon. And it is not a SLR. But I think that it will fit your needs.

 

My suggestion is the Fujifilm FinePix F30 Zoom. You will find an in-depth review of the camera here (where it gets excellent rating):

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixf30.asp

 

The camera fits your needs because it's:

 

- cheap (less than ?200 + xD Picture Card).

- free to use - no charge for development of pictures.

- easy to use.

- takes very good pictures in low light.

- small and lightweight.

 

Alternatives to the F30 is the F20 and the just announced F40fd.

Canon EOS Rebel T2

Hi Sara,

<br><br>

I am not a Nikon user so can't help you with your query directly. But, I do have a number of friends still using the Nikon film bodies for over 7-8 yrs ... haven't heard anything about breaking down from them.

<br><br>I myself a student here so I know how it feels not to be able to spend money on good glasses :) If you don't mind using the Canon EOS system my suggestions would be get a used Elan 7/7E (EOS 33/30 in Europe) from a reputed e-bay seller or store. Its a pretty good camera for advanced amatuers with useful functions/features which are not hard to learn :)

<br> As for the lens - get a EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 (caution : don't buy the cheaper 28-105 4-5.6 - its a crap) and 50/1.8 II. <br>These should come within your budget and serve most of your purposes.

<br><br>

Regards,<br>

Amlan

I don't think Nikons in general break any easier to Canon's (especially that Nikon F you are looking at... those were really well built... it isn't autofocus though... you realize that?). Depends on which body... obviously a Canon 1V will be able to take more of a beating than the plastic N60.

 

If you are staying with film (nothing really controversial), I'd invest more in my lens than the body. Is $400 your budget for the lens too? Or just the body? $400 for a film body now and days would buy you the best... Remember the body matters much much less when it comes to film than digital. The lens and the film is where you should plunk your money. What kind of pictures do you like to take? That will help dictate your lenses.

 

Since you are looking for suggestions: if you want Canon EOS, I would suggest a Canon Elan II or the Canon EOS 5. 28-105 USM and 50 f/1.8. That will run you about $400 used.

 

If you don't care about autofocus, that Nikon kit seems like a pretty good deal.

 

Good luck!

 

 

aaron

 

Have you thought about rangefinders?

Sara -

 

I'm a bit biased towards Canon - largely because I prefer the control layouts. I can put

in a good word for the Rebel series - I took a G to the Phillippines, and it handled the

moist humid conditions very well. And speaking of moisture; I worked in a small camera

shop a number of years ago back in New Jersey. One of our regular customers came in

with a Rebel S model that had been out in a rain storm all night long. Figure it's dead,

right? The back was opened up, and for a couple of hours we hit with a hair dryer a few

minutes at a time. And it was working agin, with no problems. Judging from your post,

you're in England, and some of us Yanks do know about the sunny days there......

for 400 Pounds or less, you should have no trouble tracking down an older Rebel plus

lenses ( don't know it's name in the European market ).

Thank you very much for everybody's responses! I've been pondering this for ages and since none of my friends are into photography I've not had much advice so far.

It's 400 pounds I was thinking of spending, not dollars, which I guess is just shy of 800 dollars, so I guess I should be able to get a very good body and lenses for that if 400 dollars for a good body is about standard.

I hadn't actually thought about the fact that lenses will be more important than the body if using film, so thanks for that.

I'll investigate all the suggestions people offered now, then the next step will be actually finding time to go buy a camera!

Thank you again, Sara

Lots of good advice here. I second Qiang, Amlan and Aaron (and Henrik if you're ready to go digital). An EOS 30/33 with a 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM is an excellent combo. However, if you're serious about being old-fashioned -- someone did mention rangefinders -- you can of course get a used Nikon FE2 with a sparkling 50/1.8 for around USD 250. If it's in good condition it won't break in the next decade or so.

My last camera, the one that was stolen, was actually a Rebel. It was brilliant, simple to use and took really good pictures, much better than my old Pentax. And it did definitely handle the rain well - I'm from the Highlands and now living in Aberdeen (Scottish, not English :->) so the camera got pretty used to it! And it served me well on my travels round Mongolia, that thing can take a fair beating. But despite it being a really good camera, I felt like I should maybe go for something a bit more advanced this time. Though next time I find a 2nd hand Rebel somewhere I don't think I'd pass it up.

I would consider getting a used EOS 3 as it is amazingly cheap these days..

I'd look at getting a better camera than the F55 or the Canon equivalent (The Rebel K2). I'd look at getting a use Elan II with a 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM II lens (Avoid the f4-5.6 version, it's not that good). That will get you a better camera and better lens for similar money. You can add a second lens later.

If you really want to stick with film, that's great. No reason not to do so. Film is better than it's ever been and film camera prices have dropped in recent years.

 

For 400 Sterling I'd think you could easily find an Elan 7N (30/33 might be the label on your side of the pond) and a good lens. It's a very nice camera. Has a good feel too it, lot's of features but you can choose to use it in simple, manual modes if you wish. The Elan 7s are about the quietest of modern cameras too. Here you can purchase the body alone for about $335 US brand new (That's for the 7N"E", actually. The "E" means "Eye Control" which might be a feature you can live without for lower cost, if Canon still makes the model without it, I don't know if they do or not.) I find used, earlier Elan 7 (no Eye Control) for under $200 US.

 

Or, perhaps you could find a used one in decent shape and free up a bit more of your budget for the lens, which really is the most important place to put your money. There are lots of film cameras being traded in on digitals today, some with very "low mileage". So the used camera market is literally flooded with possibilities.

 

For example, I just bought a new-looking Nikon FM2n with a pair of zoom lenses (28-70 and 70-210, unfortunately neither is a Nikkor) and a flash, all for $23 at a local thrift shop. That was a bit of truly exceptional luck, I must admit. The camera will need new foam seals due to its age, but that's about a $35-30 service and I'm happy to invest a little in it to have such an excellent, durable, fully manual film camera for occasional use. The problem with buying older film cameras and lenses to use ono them is that their values may keep dropping, as digital continues to take over. If you instead get into a more modern system, like current or relatively recent Canon and Nikon, the lenses that can be used on future digital SLRs will hold their value quite well!

 

I'd suggest you may want to consider getting a single, better quality lens now. Add another good lens later, when you can. The "kit" lenses included with cameras are often not all that good. I've never used any of the ones Canon offers, always purchase cameras and lenses separately. Among the Canon line-up, the 28-135 IS is a very good choice to start with, IMHO. It sells for $410 in the US, but for another $27 be sure to get the lens hood.

 

One very nice accessory for the Elan 7 (30/33) is the vertical battery grip. I think it is the BG-300, if memory serves. It's convenient because it allows using 4 standard AA alkaline batteries, although the specialized battery the camera normally uses is not particularly that hard to find. In addition, the camera is more comfortable held vertically. I don't find it listed new anywhere, but found Elan 7 with BG-300 for just over $200 used. A used Elan 7N sells for a little more. Again, look for EOS 30/33 designation in England.

 

If you were open to the idea of a digital camera instead, within your budget you could certainly get started with the new Nikon D40 with a kit lens ($600 US, a 6MP camera). I would expect an announcement of a comparable package soon from Canon, although the 10MP digital Rebel XTi with kit lens and 2GB compactflash card can now be purchased for very close to your budget: $815 US. Add shipping costs and other considerations such as any additional computer software, RAM or hard disk upgrades you might need to accomodate a digital camera, though. All these digital SLR options rely on kit lenses, though, which may or may not be the best value.

 

Sorry, I don't know stores in Britain to recommend. Here in the U.S. I'd point you toward B&H, Adorama and KEH (www.bhphotovideo.com, www.adorama.com and www.keh.com).

 

Have fun shopping!

Film bodies are now very cheap second hand. However, you should aim to spend most of your budget on lenses and maybe a flash - so I would recommend you don't go for an EOS 3 which would eat too much of your budget - although it's very robust, it's also quite chunky and you'd really only get much benefit from it if you were shooting a lot of action/sport. There's a handy comparison of bodies here:

 

http://www.photozone.de/2Equipment/canoncamera.htm

 

I would suggest your minimum ought to be an EOS 300, which you should be able to pick up for less than 30 pounds on ebay - at those prices, a risk worth taking rather than paying a premium to a camera shop (I wouldn't choose to buy lenses that way though). If you can get an EOS 50E or EOS 30/33 then all well and good. You may find this page useful when looking at compatible flashes:

 

http://photonotes.org/lookup/

 

There are other flash choices that will work and may be cheaper - but too many to list.

 

Treat yourself to a nice new lens that you will keep long after you upgrade your body again - a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 can be bought for 240-250 pounds new (look at camerapricebuster.co.uk for sources). This lens stands comparison with the expensive Canon L lenses optically, and has the advantage of a reasonably fast aperture. Here's a review on Photonet:

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/tamron/28_75_Di/

 

It's up to you to decide if you prefer to do without a flash and go for a longer lens - in which case the choice to keep to around your overall budget would be the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro (150-160 pounds). You might consider saving up for Canon's 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, which is much better optically and benefits from image stabilisation, although it lacks the half life size macro feature of the Sigma.

Hi Sara,

 

My suggestion would be to try NIKON N80 (F80) with Tamron 28-300 lens. I have been using these two for years and very satisfied with result. As a starter these could a good choice. Alternate to 28-300 would be Tamron 28-200 lens (about $100 less in price). But if you buy Tamron lens, make sure you buy it for the camera brand (Nikon/Canon) you are buying it for.

 

Good luck,

Amitabha