Looking to get my wife a DSLR Camera for her birthday. She's mentioned in the past that she'd like a nice 'professional' camera for taking nicer quality photos than you often get on your phone. Been looking at what some sites deem as a budget starter camera, and they're all still fairly pricey, though I've come across a Canon EOS 2000D for about £380. I wondered if that looks a good camera for beginner photography?
I like DSLR but am in the Nikon camp old D5100). Nothing against Canon though and EOS is a great mature range. If you want quality, still DSLR but more compact, look at Leica. Bloody superb
Cheers for your help! Good to know re Canon vs Nikon. I had seen a cool looking nikon coolpix p950 which is probably stretching my budget a bit. But I'll keep an eye on Amazon Prime day in a few weeks and see what happens.
I had issues with Sony Alpha, personally (which may have been my fault). Since then, and with film, I've always stuck to Nikon. I also believe Canon to be just as good. Beware with mirrorless, the sensor easily gets dirty when changing lenses.
I've got a Canon DS6041 6.3 megapixel (sounds ludicrously small now - 2003 manufacture) with a Sigma 18-200mm zoom lens. Brilliant camera/lens combination but in all honesty it's a bit of a lump to lug about. Very rarely gets a run out.
Probably slightly more likely to get dirty due to the mirror, but I wouldn't beware of them. In fact, I'd recommend a mirrorless over DSLR these days. Also, it's really easy to clean a mirrorless sensor with specialist cleaning kitts very cheap on Amazon (and lots of good tutorials on YouTubs)
@Archey There are some good deals to be had on older Canon DSLR on marketplace. If you want to check the prices, have a look at https://www.mpb.com/ It's a really good site for buying and selling second-hand cameras. I've used it for both. Personally, I'd buy a mirrorless camera rather than a DSLR. These days, all manufacturers, with the exception of Pentax, have mostly discontinued DSLRs in favour of mirrorless cameras. The advantages of a mirrorless cameras are they are more compact, lightweight, offer real-time previews, faster autofocus, silent shooting, superior video capabilities, adaptable lens options etc etc I'm a big fan of Fujifilm mirrorless cameras and have a couple of those as well as a Leica (which is my pride and joy but a bit pricy for a first camera lol). I've also had Sony's and Canons. Honestly you can't really go wrong with any of those brands I've mentioned. Some mirrorless options to think about Fujifilm XT-2, XT-20, XT-3,XT-30 Sony A6000,61000,A6300,A6500 Feel free to drop me a message if you have any other questions etc.
Thanks for this. Apologies if these questions sound daft, but I'm an absolute novice with this stuff. I've had a look on the link you posted, I'd probably go for something that's described at least as 'Excellent' or 'Like New' condition. Are there any major pitfalls in buying old and second hand cameras beyond the obvious. They're not going to become obsolete or wear out for want of a better word. For example, there's a Fujifilm X-T1 for about £400 in like new condition, which is about a 10 year old camera. I've read the reviews online, and many are saying it's a fantastic bit of kit. Is there anything I should be wary about if I buy such an old camera. I like the idea of buying something a bit older, but better performing, than spending the same money on something new but inferior.
The XT-1 is a fantastic bit of kit but obviously it’s ten years old now. Shutters do have an average lifetime of something like 100-200K actuations so shutter count can be an important thing to check if you can.
I have just been looking at the shop Gally posted for a new lens. Anything that comes described as "This lens is mint" has to be somewhere you shop! Edit. Tell a lie, I'm on Wex, mbp is the next tab. ignore me.
I'm still using an imported Rebel T2i (550D) that is approaching 14 years old. Works perfectly for me - although I keep wanting to get more serious and perhaps switch to a new mirrorless body if I start using it more regularly. Most of the old Canon/Nikon/Fuji/etc kit will work fine, but getting the right lenses is probably more important. And that depends on what type of photography it is going to be used for. I've now almost got the full range from 8mm fisheye up to 500mm ultrazoom - which makes the camera bag really heavy if I take them all! (I just took 3 on holiday, but made a mistake and took the fisheye instead of the 28-80mm mid-zoom. The lower end (8-30mm) is mainly used for landscapes or architecture, the middle (22-80mm) for landscapes or portraits, and the high end (80-500mm+) for wildlife or distance photography. I got most of my lenses from either Cex or eBay second hand. At least with Cex you get a warranty as others have mentioned.
