Help me buy my first DSLR

[Asesh Basu]

It has been my long time wish to be able to take nice photos. I see a huge lot of pictures each day and my wish to take comparable pictures of decent quality increases day by day. So don't dissuade me from getting a DSLR. I've Been bored with the p&s all these years.

My budget is $600 and I was considering the Nikon D5100 with the 70-300 lens from tamron OR the D5200 without any extra lens (apart from the kit lens).
I don't know whether I "need" the 2016 rgb metering matrix and 39af points in D5200. Will these 2 make much of a difference?

I'll be primarily taking photos when I take a tour and mostly macro shots. Also, I'll take photos of stageshows (so I think maybe a zoom lens will come handy).
I won't buy any refurbished / used camera as I can't take the risk of being duped.

Also if there are any other cameras or lenses that I didn't consider, plz let me know. Any and all suggestion is welcomed.

 

[Designer]

.. Nikon D5100 with the 70-300 lens from tamron OR the D5200 without any extra lens (apart from the kit lens).

Most retailers package a lens with the D5100, and there is nothing wrong with using the one lens it comes with for a while. With a budget of $600, I think you should just accept that the D5100 and whichever lens that comes with it is a good place to stop. Eventually you will purchase a second lens, but let that first one grow on you a while.

 

[Edsport]

I know you said no used camera but a used Canon 5D classic is about $500.00 to $600.00 on ebay and if you purchase using paypal you're purchase is guaranteed. If not satisfied with the camera, paypal will refund your money but you will have to pay shipping charges to ship it back. If you purchase from a reputable seller you shouldn't have any problems. That camera takes sweet pictures...

 

[weepete]

Yup a D5100 or 5200 with the kit lens would be a good place to start.

What kind of stageshows were you going to take pictures of? (A lot of the time an f4.5-5.6 lens wont be fast enough for low lighting conditions)

 

[seananguswatson]

At the end of the day most entry-level DSLR's are going to be very similar in performance. With a budget of $600, there are two routes I would suggest: buy a newer model bundled with a kit lens or buy a slightly older model bundled with a kit lens and put whats leftover to more glass. You may find that the perks of a newer model fall short of the benefit of having versatility when it comes to lenses. Just something to think about.

I've shot with Nikon D3200's, D5100's, Canon T3I's and T5I's and I would recommend any of them. They're all great cameras. The D3200 and T3I with 18-55's run around the $500 mark on Amazon. The D5100 and T5I with 18-55's' run around $600.

As far as metering and autofocus points, I would encourage any and all photographers to try and shoot both manual exposure and manual focus as often as possible; those features are good selling points but won't increase the quality of your photos in ways that you can't do yourself with practice and skill.

 

[Clay Olmstead]

If you have a good camera store nearby, I would recommend you pick out a couple of top contenders, try them out in the store and pick the one that seems more natural to you. If you have doubts, buy a used model and live with it for 6 months or a year, then take what you've learned and move to the next step. You should be able to sell the used model for a relatively small loss, or keep it as a spare. A camera store that's been in business for a while won't dupe you: they want you as a return customer. Good luck and have fun!

 

[raventepes]

+1 for the Canon SL1

In all reality, I'm a Nikon guy, but a friend of mine uses two SL1's and the quality is just plain there.

For macro, it might be a tad tricky, if you want true 1:1 macro. With any lens other than a dedicated macro lens, you're just not going to get it. I think if you can stretch it, I'd look at a something like this, which is designed for APS-C (crop sensor) bodies:
CANON 60MM F 2.8 MACRO USM EF-S MOUNT LENS FOR APS-C SENSOR DSLRS 52 - KEH Camera