• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

[WTB][EU] sub-£900 DSLR

Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
556 (0.10/day)
Location
Hampshire, UK
System Name If you name your systems, get a boy/girlfriend...
Processor i7 4770k
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Formula
Cooling Custom waterloop around Black Ice GTX 360
Memory 16GB DDR3
Video Card(s) GTX 1080 FE
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
Case HAF 932
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Windows 10 x64
Hi,

I'm sure there are many TPUers owning DSLRs.
Any advice what's best value for money these days ?

I'm looking for a versatile DSLR (mainly for outdoor / open space photography).

I've read the specs, reviews and what-not, but nothing is as valuable as user's experience and recommendation.

Cheers,
 

Completely Bonkers

New Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
2,576 (0.41/day)
Processor Mysterious Engineering Prototype
Motherboard Intel 865
Cooling Custom block made in workshop
Memory Corsair XMS 2GB
Video Card(s) FireGL X3-256
Display(s) 1600x1200 SyncMaster x 2 = 3200x1200
Software Windows 2003
When it comes to DSLR, the cost of the *camera* is NOT important. The main question is WHAT do you want to photograph and THEREFORE what selection of *lens* are you going to need to buy.

I'm very serious about that comment. I bought a D90 a couple of years ago. I'm very happy with it. But the cost of the D90 is irrelevant: the selection of lens and what you are willing to pay for them is what counts. I have spent far more on lens that I have on the D90 body.

"Outdoor/Openspace". Are you talking landscape, architecture, wildlife, sports? Tripod, no tripod? What other "secondary" use might you have for it? Or actually, are you looking for a one-box-fits-all solution, but you just mentioned what you *like* to shoot outdoor photos.

You might find that the lens choices determines which DSLR you want to get.

Do your lens research first. I bought a "special" D90 kit that excluded the standard kit lens but had a 16-85mm in its place. More expensive but a better investment, and a better all-rounder.

Set yourself a budget for camera *plus lenses*. Then decide.
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
556 (0.10/day)
Location
Hampshire, UK
System Name If you name your systems, get a boy/girlfriend...
Processor i7 4770k
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Formula
Cooling Custom waterloop around Black Ice GTX 360
Memory 16GB DDR3
Video Card(s) GTX 1080 FE
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
Case HAF 932
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Windows 10 x64
Thanks Bonkers,
I've done a lot reading since I posted the original question and I see how accurate your advice is.

Still, I think I'm going for D-7000 with standard £200 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.
It's my first DSLR, so I don't want to risk too much money on more specialized lens.

Once I get a feel with these "noob's" lens, I think I'll upgrade with specific prime lens.

Cheers
 

boogah

New Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2008
Messages
887 (0.15/day)
Location
Houston
Heatware
26 0 0
System Name Core i7 WS
Processor i7 920 D0 @ 4.2 GHz
Motherboard ASUS P6T WS Professional
Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme RT1366
Memory 6gb 3x2gb Crucial DDR3
Video Card(s) Firepro V8700
Storage Velociraptor 300gb in raid0
Display(s) 2x Dell Ultrasharp 24"
Case Antec Twelve Hundred
Audio Device(s) onboard sound
Power Supply Corsair HX1000
Software Windows 7 64-bit

Completely Bonkers

New Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
2,576 (0.41/day)
Processor Mysterious Engineering Prototype
Motherboard Intel 865
Cooling Custom block made in workshop
Memory Corsair XMS 2GB
Video Card(s) FireGL X3-256
Display(s) 1600x1200 SyncMaster x 2 = 3200x1200
Software Windows 2003
Thanks for the link boogah. Quite fun to watch.

@robal, I'm sure you know dpreview.com, but also check the lens reviews at kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm which, although he is annoying, he has created a good database of lens reviews and deserves credit for that
 

Bo$$

Lab Extraordinaire
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
5,656 (1.04/day)
Location
London, UK
Heatware
14 0 0
System Name Desktop | Server
Processor Intel i7 2700k @ 4.6GHZ | AMD 5350 @ 2500MHZ
Motherboard Asus P7Z77-V Pro | Asus AM1I-A
Cooling Corsair H60v2 | Stock Air
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB CL8 1600MHZ | Corsair Vengence 2x4GB CL9 1600MHZ
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 6GB | PNY GTX 750Ti
Storage Samsung 840 EVO 250GB + 4TB WD Red | 2x Seagate Barracuda 2TB
Display(s) Samsung S27D390H + Asus VE276Q | Headless
Case Fractal Design R5 | CM Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar D1 w/Otone Stilo 5.1 and Creative Fatal1ty headset
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 850 G2| Corsair CX430M
Mouse Razer Imperator 2012
Keyboard Corsair K90
Software Windows 7 SP1 X64 | Ubuntu 16.04LTS
well the canon 1000D is very very light as far as DSLR's go, im using it with a 18-55 IS kit and can get some pretty amazing snaps
eyeing up a 28-135 IS kit

it is one of the cheaper bodies, but that leaves you with plenty of cash for a load of lenses, and when you feel you have mastered the body move on to the more expensive one
 

r31ncarnat3d

New Member
Joined
May 1, 2008
Messages
128 (0.02/day)
Heatware
18 0 0
Thanks Bonkers,
I've done a lot reading since I posted the original question and I see how accurate your advice is.

Still, I think I'm going for D-7000 with standard £200 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.
It's my first DSLR, so I don't want to risk too much money on more specialized lens.

Once I get a feel with these "noob's" lens, I think I'll upgrade with specific prime lens.

Cheers

+1 to what you said here. In photography, the lenses matter much more than the body. It's counter-intuitive, but it's much better to stick a nice piece of glass in front of a body than to put an expensive body with a cheap lens.

Something to also note is that bodies devalue, whereas lenses increase in value. Over the past year, my camera body has gone down $150 in price on the used market whereas each of my lenses have gone up by $30 or more.

That said, you won't really know what sort of lenses to get until you get experience with photography. It's only after you get experience shooting will you better understand what you're looking for in your equipment. Until then, the 18-105mm will definitely serve you well.

The D7000 itself is a very strong body, and arguably one of the best value cropped bodies Nikon has to offer (being a Canon shooter myself, I'm still taken aback by the D7000). It'd definitely last a long time and will take a while to "outgrow".

Once you get started, good performing yet inexpensive lenses that many beginners also get are the 35mm f/1.8 for those who want to do indoors/low light shots or photos with very narrow DoF, and the 55-200mm VR for those who want a bit more on the telephoto end. I'd actually prefer the 35mm f/1.8 over the more-popular 50mm f/1.8 because the 35mm focal point is much easier to work with on the D7000 indoors. Nevertheless, all these lenses are cheap, but they perform well.

As with primes themselves, if you're thinking about a prime you really should invest in a cheap one first before buying more expensive lenses. Foot-zooming is something that not many people are used to or fond of, and it's really a personal taste thing. I myself use an all prime setup, but obviously I've met many people who'd much rather prefer zooms (conversely, I find the concept of zooming in and out almost unnatural now...).

And if it helps at all, my equipment consists of the Canon 50D, Canon EF 28mm f/1.8, EF 50mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.8.

Hope that helps :)
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
2,483 (0.39/day)
Location
Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.{East Anglian Coast
System Name Hells Core.
Processor Ryzen 9 5950x
Motherboard Asus Crosshair hero viii (wifi) x570
Cooling AlphaCool Aurora 420mm
Memory Patriot Viper Gaming RGB Series DDR4 DRAM 4133MHz 32GB Kit
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming X Trio 3070
Storage Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2
Display(s) Acer Predator XB271HU
Case Thermaltake Core X71
Power Supply Corsair RM850 80 plus gold
Software Windows 10
When it comes to DSLR, the cost of the *camera* is NOT important. The main question is WHAT do you want to photograph and THEREFORE what selection of *lens* are you going to need to buy.

That sir is very true,

I have a few cameras with anything upto 12+ megapixels But my favorate camera has to be an old Kodak Easyshare DX6340 its only 3.1 megapixel and wasnt that expensive compared to some. But this camera has amazing colour vibrance on outdoor pictures especially on sunny days seems to capture really great pictures,

But what makes this inexpensive camera stand out from the rest has to be the Schneider lens 36mm-144mm somthing you dont see much on more modern EasyShare cameras now through cost cutting i guess?.

Shutter speed also important when capturing images too, Although ive found that finding this information out when looking for a new camera isnt that streaght forward most dont seem to mention the shutter speed and testing is required if you get the chance.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
2,483 (0.39/day)
Location
Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.{East Anglian Coast
System Name Hells Core.
Processor Ryzen 9 5950x
Motherboard Asus Crosshair hero viii (wifi) x570
Cooling AlphaCool Aurora 420mm
Memory Patriot Viper Gaming RGB Series DDR4 DRAM 4133MHz 32GB Kit
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming X Trio 3070
Storage Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2
Display(s) Acer Predator XB271HU
Case Thermaltake Core X71
Power Supply Corsair RM850 80 plus gold
Software Windows 10
Sorry for the image size photobucket cuts down images and quality, and im by no means a professional photographer, but these are taken on my old EasyShare camera.





 
Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
556 (0.10/day)
Location
Hampshire, UK
System Name If you name your systems, get a boy/girlfriend...
Processor i7 4770k
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Formula
Cooling Custom waterloop around Black Ice GTX 360
Memory 16GB DDR3
Video Card(s) GTX 1080 FE
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
Case HAF 932
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Windows 10 x64
Thanks for all replies and suggestions.

I'm being more and more reinforced in my intention.
Lens choice is simply too important to waste initial load of money on something that may turn out being a wrong choice.
Whereas with body... you can't really go wrong... much...

I think I'll go Nikon D7000 with even cheaper (smaller zoom) lens first (18-55 f/3.5-5.6GII AF-S DX) for everyday idiot-camera-style shooting.
All I know now is that next lens are going to be freaking expensive.
What I don't know is what it will be exactly. Maybe a very bright prime (35mm f/1.8G).

I've dabbled with low-light photography already, and I'm simply afraid of burning money on more expensive zoom lens (like 18-105 f/3.5) that are not good for low-light anyway.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Cheers,
 
Top