Need to buy cheap DSLR

[astroNikon]

Bridge cameras - Nikon P900, Caon equivalent or something like that .... but those are above your budget anyways.

 

[KC1]

The D500 is less than 2,000.00 and a nice camera. What do you consider 'cheap'?

 

[fmw]

I suggest you bite bullet, increase your budget to $300 and look at something like this. Understand that you are dealing with photographic equipment enthusiasts whose preferences are far beyond your needs. Something like the camera I linked will make very competent photographs - good enough for some professional applications and will outperform the point and shoot.

 

[jsisidore]

I suggest you bite bullet, increase your budget to $300 and look at something like this. Understand that you are dealing with photographic equipment enthusiasts whose preferences are far beyond your needs. Something like the camera I linked will make very competent photographs - good enough for some professional applications and will outperform the point and shoot.

Yes I understand. Thanks for the link very interesting specimen but not a deal breaker, I don't think I will be able to find what I'm looking for at this moment.

 

[goodguy]

I suggest you bite bullet, increase your budget to $300 and look at something like this. Understand that you are dealing with photographic equipment enthusiasts whose preferences are far beyond your needs. Something like the camera I linked will make very competent photographs - good enough for some professional applications and will outperform the point and shoot.

Not a bad camera but it uses MFT sensor which is smaller then an APS-C camera like the D3300 thus gives better low light performance and more resolution and the D3300 is cheaper then this Panasonic.

 

[jsisidore]

Can I ask why the need for such superzoom, are you interested in birding or wildlife photography ?

Yes I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife, but also places that you can't get close to, so I need at least a 20x zoom and the more the better. Oh well.

 

[goodguy]

Can I ask why the need for such superzoom, are you interested in birding or wildlife photography ?

Yes I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife, but also places that you can't get close to, so I need at least a 20x zoom and the more the better. Oh well.

Well you are putting yourself in an impossible situation where you want a lot for a very small budget.
As I said the best I can think of is Nikon D3300 with the kit lens and to that you will need to add a Nikon 70-300mm VR which is a good yet not too expensive telezoom lens.
You can also go to kijiji and look for a used camera and used lens which will make this much cheaper and easier on your wallet.

 

[fmw]

I suggest you bite bullet, increase your budget to $300 and look at something like this. Understand that you are dealing with photographic equipment enthusiasts whose preferences are far beyond your needs. Something like the camera I linked will make very competent photographs - good enough for some professional applications and will outperform the point and shoot.

Yes I understand. Thanks for the link very interesting specimen but not a deal breaker, I don't think I will be able to find what I'm looking for at this moment.

Perhaps not. But I think you should understand that the wider the zoom range, the worse the image quality. If I were shopping for a camera of this type I would choose one with the smallest zoom range. As I recall, you were complaining about image quality with your OP. I provided an option that addressed that original issue. Life is full of compromises. You will just have to analyze them for yourself.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hello. First of all I have no idea what DSLR cameras are other than they are generally better than point and shoot cameras. I consider myself an amateur photographer but I have an eye for detail. My first camera Sony DSC-WX350 couldn't satisfy my needs, although I was more than pleased with the general quality of the photos, the full zoom quality was just too grainy, the photos looked like an up-close shot from a low pixel phone camera.

So I need a camera that would make at least better photos on full zoom, and it has to be cheap too, I'm thinking of buying a used DSLR because they are considered to be better than point and shoot cameras but like I said I have no idea which one to choose, I'm a layman in the field and can only think in pixels and "X"s, milometers tell me nothing.

I found a really cheap and used DSLR camera Fujifilm Finepix S4400, it has less pixels but maybe the full zoom will be at least better, less grainy?

Thanks.

Greetings Jsisidore,

Ok, so in a nutshell - and yes this is a simplified version so your going to get about 300 people "correcting" what I say or further clarifying some minute obscure point to prove how much smarter they are even though it probably won't be relevant to you at all, but here goes:

So two basic classes of camera are probably going to be the most pertinent to you, the bridge or super zoom, and the DSLR.

DSLR's will have larger sensors and they will also have better capabilities in other areas that will matter in wildlife shooting. They tend to shoot faster/longer than a bridge camera, have more options that can make things easier in various sitations, etc. The downside is you won't find one that is going to fit the bill anywhere near you budget. Thing about a DSLR is you need not just the camera body, but a lens or two as well. Taking pictures of people close up, well you can get a lens for that pretty cheap. Telephoto's that have enough reach for real wildlife shooting? Those get expensive, quick. If your good, patient, and don't mind missing more shots than you get you can get by with a 70-300mm of some sort for a while. Thing is a lenses like that usually your looking at $200-$300 or so just for the lens, even used. That doesn't include the camera body or anything else you might need.

So it sounds like what would suit you best is more of a superzoom or bridge camera that has a good sized telephoto lens built in. The advantage is lower cost, generally a smaller and easier to carry camera body, etc. The downside is the sensors are smaller than a DSLR, so they are best used in good lighting conditions. They also tend to have small buffers that fill up quickly, so you can usually only manage short bursts before the camera buffer fills and you have to wait for it to clear for your next shot.

You can get some older, used superzooms pretty cheap, like say a Canon SX-50, but if it were me I'd up your budget a bit and go for something a bit newer, they've made some pretty impressive technology improvements to the superzooms and I think you'll find it worth the extra money.

In short, no, you won't find anything that will do everything you want for kind of budget you list. No matter what you end up getting you will wind up compromising something.

 

[dannylightning]

if you want a DSLR which is going to give you the best image quality.. you can get a nikon d3300 kit that comes with a 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens for a descent price. more than you want to spend but that is about the best deal you will get on a DSLR with a descent amount of zoom but might be worth saving our money for if you really want a dslr and a nice amount of zoom.. since that is a crop sensor camera you will actually have 280mm of zoom with that 200mm lens.. that is a nice amount of zoom.. unless your shooting sports or wild life or something like that should be plenty of zoom for general shooting.. if you are shooting sports or wild life you will want a lens like a 150-600mm which will be expensive..

or you could get the d3300 with the 18-55mm lens which is a nice lens and than get a nikon 70-300mm lens which is even better than the 55-200 and has more zoom on a crop sensor camera that would give you 420mm of zoom which is almost as much as the camera you have now.. here are a few links to that lens and that other kit.. but you would probably need to save up more money.. unless you want to look for used or refurbished. than you may find some stuff in your budget...

Nikon - D3300 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR II Lenses - Black

Nikon - AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens - Black

mm is really want you want to go by when looking at how much zoom your camera lens has not the X of zoom.. your camera goes from 25mm to 500mm on the zoom according to the spec sheet... if you want that on a DSLR you will need a lens like the nikon 200-500mm, a sigma 150-600mm, sigma 150-500mm or tamron 150-600mm and just the lens is out of your budget.. with the crop sensor camera you will get 900mm of zoom with a 600mm lens so that would be a good deal more zoom than you have now..

if you want a whole lot of zoom, good image quality for the least money one of these bridge cameras will be your best bet IMO

the canon XS60 has something like 1100mm of zoom or so and nice image quality.. the nikon p900 which has loads of zoom 2000mm of zoom and also has nice image quality.. both are over your budget but you can find refurbished ones for around your budget sometimes.. these are not as good as a DSLR but they will be the least expensive way to get lots of zoom and they have very nice overall image quality IMO. if you can find one of those refurbished some times for about what you are wanting to spend..

so save up some more money and get some of the stuff i have listed here and you will probably be very happy..

on a full frame camera like the D750 or D800 or D600 you get the exact amount of zoom stated on the lens. but when you have a crop sensor something like the D3300 D5300, D7200 you get a additional 1.4X crop due to the crop sensor in the camera so you get a little more zoom than what the lens is rated for on a crop sensor DSLR so what ever lens you get say its a 200mm you take 200 multiplied by 1.4 to figure out how much zoom you will get with that lens.

 

[jsisidore]

Can I ask why the need for such superzoom, are you interested in birding or wildlife photography ?

Yes I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife, but also places that you can't get close to, so I need at least a 20x zoom and the more the better. Oh well.

Well you are putting yourself in an impossible situation where you want a lot for a very small budget.
As I said the best I can think of is Nikon D3300 with the kit lens and to that you will need to add a Nikon 70-300mm VR which is a good yet not too expensive telezoom lens.
You can also go to kijiji and look for a used camera and used lens which will make this much cheaper and easier on your wallet.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[jsisidore]

Great post danny. Thanks everyone for your input, now I know a thing or two about dslr cameras and what to aim at once I gather more of those accursed coins. As for now I'll stick with what I have.