HELP? WHAT CAMERA?

gustardhannah · Mar 14, 2015

Hi im, just starting out with photography and am looking for a camera.. I have no idea where to start, and what to get?
I want something decent but not mega mega expensive.. any help would be much appreciated!

The_Traveler · Mar 14, 2015

Have you read the other posts on choosing a camera?

gustardhannah · Mar 14, 2015

No ahah im still learning to use this app!

gustardhannah · Mar 14, 2015

I will look now though, thank you!

Mattis · Mar 14, 2015

Well, if you could tell us what exactly you want to shoot and what kind of budget we are talking about I'm sure we can give you some advice. If you don't tell us about that all we can do is guess

But as far as the camera body goes, and without knowing if you actually want a DSLR or not, I think at the moment the Nikon D7000 is the best camera to start with.
You can get it used at a very good price, and it has far more features than the other entry level cameras. Like a 100% viewfinder for accurate framing and the ability to use older and less expensive Nikon lenses that don't have the integrated autofocus motor. Alternatively the D7100 will get cheaper soon because Nikon is about to release the D7200.
If you really want to get serious about photography and you buy a small entrylevel body like a D3300 or Canon 1200D you are gonna grow out of it pretty quickly. That is why I recommend that you start with a bigger body.

Also, go to a camera store and actually play with some cameras. Don't just buy something that is recommended to you online, YOU need to be able to use it comfortably. It is very important that you buy a camera that you actually like, because otherwise progessing as a photography is gonna be difficult and annoying.

gustardhannah · Mar 14, 2015

thanks so much! I am into portrait photography

and budget middle of the range, i have no idea how much cameras cost these days! but thank you for all the advice

Designer · Mar 14, 2015

gustardhannah said:
thanks so much! I am into portrait photography and budget middle of the range, i have no idea how much cameras cost these days! but thank you for all the advice

Start looking online to get some idea of how much you might have to spend for a "middle of the range" outfit.

Look at Adorama, Amazon, B&H, Best Buy, and KEH.

If the prices don't completely turn you off, come back to this conversation to tell us your budget.

In addition to the body you will, of course, need at least one lens, and most kits have one included, but whether it will be the one you want or not is another question.

Also, you should budget (in the future) for additional stuff like lights which can be purchased anytime you get money for them.

Mattis · Mar 14, 2015

Portrait photography is a pretty broad thing^^ Do you mean in a studio, outdoors in bright light, outdoors in low light? Or a mix of everything?
With enough light like in a studio or in bright conditions I'll carefully say that the camera body doesn't matter too much. The D7000 that I recommended would do a great job there, but a full frame body would be even better, but those are vastly more expensive but give you better results on low light. The D7000 costs around $400 to $500 right now if you want one in great condition.
As for lenses, that really depends. "Regular" portraits are usually shot between ~50mm and ~200mm. But you can take portraits with pretty much any lens, it just depends on what you want to do!
If you want to take portraits with great bokeh (blurry backgrounds) you might want to invest in lenses with a big aperture. For example, a decent place to start would be the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G. 50mm are a neat focal length for portraits on a DX camera and the aperture of f/1.8 let's you blur out the backgrounds quite nicely. You can get it for under 200 bucks.
Once you have more experience you can look into different lenses and lighting equipment.

This is just my recommendation for a starting point. I am not a exactly a portrait photographer, so I'm sure others can give you even better advice^^
I also agree with Designer, just look around for camera prices a little. Get an overview of what things cost right now and then tell us what you want to spend.

Designer · Mar 14, 2015

Mattis said:
Portrait photography is a pretty broad thing^^ Do you mean in a studio, outdoors in bright light, outdoors in low light? Or a mix of everything?

She posted one shot in her welcome thread.

goodguy · Mar 14, 2015

I will make it short and sweet as you really give too little detail to work with so I will assume I know what you want.

Get the Nikon D5300 with its basic kit lens, to that add the Nikon 50mm 1.8G which is good for portraits and general use.
This is an excellent camera for beginers and enthusiast photographers and the 50mm lens will bring amazing shrpness to you pictures.

Mind you though the true magic is with the photgrapher and not the gear.
Good camera, sharp lenses and other top of the line accessories will not help if you dont know what you are doing, you need to invest time, more time and more time!!!
In my experience you are looking at minimum of 2 years of learning if you want to do this on your own to really be in a good spot but of course everybody has a different learning curve.
I am saying this to prevent disapointment, you will buy the gear and not get the results you want, be ready to invest lots of time and some money before you will be good.
Start with the basics trio-ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture and then continue from there.

Good luck.

IronMaskDuval · Mar 14, 2015

Goodguy makes a good suggestion, but I'd recommend a used D7000 from one of the big used stores. The 5300 is great for beginners, but I am not so sure about an enthusiast. The D7000 will give you a focus motor, allowing you to use more lenses, and the body is semi-weather sealed, so you'll be able to use it in more conditions than the D5300. Sure, the D5300 may come with more bells and whistles, but none which hardly applies to just getting the picture. The other argument why one should buy the 5300 over the 7000 would be high ISO performance, but those are just numbers and specs. In real life situations, both cameras do poorly after 6400 ISO.

A used D7000 and used 50mm 1.8 from KEH will run you about $500. You can't beat it.

Mattis · Mar 14, 2015

I couldn't agree more! The D5300 has features that are interesting for people who just want to take and share photos, the D7000 has features that are interesting for photographers. Like the 100% viewfinder, as far as I know it is the cheapest camera that supports CLS, it supports highspeed sync with certain flashes (I bought a cheap one for 60 bucks and it works perfectly), the shoulder display is awesome to have, you can use older AF lenses, it takes 1 more frame per second than the D5300, it has a partial magnesium allow body... The list goes on and on.
In short, at the top of my head I don't know of any camera that has so many useful features for that price. And that in my opinion is what makes it perfect for beginning enthusiasts. You can literally use it until it breaks without actually missing any features because the advanced features are almost all there.
And as for high ISO performance... You probably don't need that for portraits anyway.

ruifo · Mar 14, 2015

gustardhannah said:
thanks so much! I am into portrait photography and budget middle of the range, i have no idea how much cameras cost these days! but thank you for all the advice

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

The best is to give us your budget in a concrete amount ($). Just saying that your "budget middle of the range" will put your budget at $22,683.48 (that's today's mid of the range), once:

The cheapest DSLR (without kit lens, body only): [$366.95] Pentax K-50 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Red)
The most expensive DSLR (without kit lens, body only): [$45,000.00] Hasselblad H5D-200c Multi-Shot Medium Format DSLR Camera Body

So you see, there is a wide variety of price tags. Help us to help you better.

*******

Also, have a look on these threads (there are many many more, beyond these too):

KmH · Mar 14, 2015

Buying a camera. Everything you need to know - The Verge

Dave442 · Mar 15, 2015

I'll also recommend the Nikon D5x00 line, as I always do. Using that for a year or two and will have a good idea of where to go from there with a minimal initial cost.

My brother still uses his D5100 from when that came out and it still suits him fine.

Now if the D610 is in your budget then that with either the Nikon 85 f/1.8 or Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 are sort of middle range options.

Plus I suggest looking at what type of lighting, backdrops, etc so may need to include that in the budget along with the camera.