First camera

[red_oak91]

So I'm a newbie looking to get into photography. I'm ready to stop using my phone and start using a real camera. I like to take landscape photos as well as wildlife. All my shooting will be done outdoors. I would like to keep the cost to around 500-700. What do you recommend?

 

[jaomul]

Welcome to tpf.

Its hard to go wrong with any modern dslr. I am of course assuming you are happy to use a camera with lenses that are interchangeable. Any new camera that has a good imaging sensor can take nice landscape shots, for he most part these type of shots dont need fast autofucus or frames per second, but wildlife is the opposite, so you'll want a kind of jack of all trades model

Pentax do good value deals, below is a link to one, there are other options but this camera is well specced and has include 2 weather resistant lenses. Other options might be a nikon d3300, or indeed d3200 with an 18-140mm lens, not quite as solid built but a good option.

Pentax K-S2 DSLR Camera with 18-50mm & 50-200mm Lenses 11610

below is a review of this model

Pentax K-S2 DSLR Review

 

[red_oak91]

Welcome to tpf.

Its hard to go wrong with any modern dslr. I am of course assuming you are happy to use a camera with lenses that are interchangeable. Any new camera that has a good imaging sensor can take nice landscape shots, for he most part these type of shots dont need fast autofucus or frames per second, but wildlife is the opposite, so you'll want a kind of jack of all trades model

Pentax do good value deals, below is a link to one, there are other options but this camera is well specced and has include 2 weather resistant lenses. Other options might be a nikon d3300, or indeed d3200 with an 18-140mm lens, not quite as solid built but a good option.

Pentax K-S2 DSLR Camera with 18-50mm & 50-200mm Lenses 11610

below is a review of this model

Pentax K-S2 DSLR Review

Yes I am looking for a camera with interchangeable lenses. I was actually strongly considering the d3300. I have herd a lot of good things about it

 

[jaomul]

The d3300 is great. I have the older d3100 and really like it, the d3300 is better. I'd still study the pentax before you commit, both would serve you well

 

[jcdeboever]

I have the D3300 and it is capable of taking very good images, I just don't take too many. A pro friend, used mine for a day and produced some stunners with it. He complained about the viewfinder compared to his professional Nikon DSLR but explained it was a way to keep the cost down. He said it was an excellent entry level DSLR and came away very impressed.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[goodguy]

Another vote for the D3300, I own it and LOVE it, get it with the Nikon 18-55mm which is good for general use and landscape and add to that the Nikon 55-300mm or Nikon 70-300mm VR for wildlife photography

 

[dannylightning]

a d3300 is a great camera to start out with and the 18-55mm lens it often comes with is a great lens for general shooting.. some kits come with the 18-140mm lens which is a great every day walk around lens that will do well for most thing you are going to want to shoot.. like goodguy says the 55-300 or 70-300 which is even better would be a descent lens for wild life on a budget.. with one of those and the 18-55mm lens you would be set for most types of shooting. lots of land scape photographers use something like the 70-300 quite often.. the 18-55 will also come in quite handy for when you need one of those nice wide angle landscape shots..

for wild life you really need a lens with allot of zoom. i usually find my self shooting between 300 and 600mm. 300mm for small animals that i am able to get nice and close to or for larger animals that i can get decently close too, things i cant get that close to i am usually at 600mm and often still wishing i had more zoom.. wild life lenses can be expensive but you can get by with a 300mm lens if you have to, you just need to be able to get pretty close or some what to what your shooting depending on what it is. my lens that only goes to 200mm will work for wild life but its often not quite enough zoom, 300mm does the trick some of the time after i found some places where the animals are used to humans being around are not scared off easily so they often let you get pretty close to them.... 600mm does the trick allot of the time..

you could look into something like a canon XS60 or nikon P900 if you want a non DSLR that has lots of zoom and will take nice photos.. i wold much rather have a DSLR but if your on a budget and really need something with a lot of zoom and nice image quality one of those would be something to look at..

 

[Stradawhovious]

My recommendation is to get a used Nikon D90 and a 50mm f/1.8.

The combo will cost you about $300 in total, and by the time you have completely mastered it you will be ready to decide what you REALLY want based on your perceived shortcomings of the D90.

Yes, the D90 is obselete, but that doesn't mean it isn't a VERY capable camera. The other plus is it can mount and use virtually every Nikon lens made in the last 30 years, so if you choose the Nikon platform you can start a lens collection without having to upgrade your body immediately.

It's a fine introduction to the world of DSLRs for less than the cost of one piece of modern glass.

ETA, the 50mm may be too short for your wildlife photography, but it's an excellent starter lens.

 

[chuasam]

Don't stop using your phone either. With your budget I would recommend a Lumix FZ300