Starter Camera

[Rayzn]

I'm looking for a beginner camera with good manual options but not as advanced where I don't know what half the things do a year after I buy it.
I was reading through this forum and I found some help but it seems like it also depends where you live and what type of weather you get. I'm living right in boston, across from the Commons (seems like a good place to take winter pictures).

I have roughly 400-600 to spend on a camera. I work at a place (www.cex.com) that has a small selection of nice cameras that are used. I will get the model numbers within my price range tonight when I go in. But are there any cameras that you might want to suggest that are good for my area and price? Boston weather varies a lot so I figured this would come into affect. I'm aiming towards digital since I've been using photoshop for half of a decade.

 

[Rayzn]

Also, when looking at these used cameras what should I look at for signs of abuse or wear? Be descriptive, please.

 

[Robp412]

well.
Like everybody is going to do on here I guess I'll start it. Nikon d40. hahahaha Just because I like Nikon better. hah God I love this place.

 

[Rayzn]

Here are some of the cameras that are at work. I'm pressed for time so ill just do a simple list.

Sony DSLR-A100K SLR w/ lens - $700

Canon Powershot Pro1 - $520

Olympus E-400 w/ lens - $620

Fuji Finepix S5700 - $250

Canon S3 IS

I also get 15% off on these.

 

[Rayzn]

Does anyone have person experience with these camera that they can give me input?

 

[subimatt]

Looks like you have a wide variety of camera choices there. Depends on what you want/ need/ whats comfortable. Go play with both and see whats comfortable. Do you want a Point and Shoot or an SLR? If your looking into an SLR, find something thats comfortable whether its Canon, Nikon, Sony, ect... Once you choose a route, generally you stay with that brand as all accessories(lenses, add-ons) work with the newer bodies. I shoot with Canon, some like Nikon, or others. Its all about what your comfortable with really. The Canon XT or XTi are great starter SLRs within your budget, as well as the Nikon D40/D40x. Go to the store and play with them, only you can decide what camera is right for you.

 

[Conan]

Like subimatt said go mess with them. I shoot both film SLR's from Nikon and Pentax and a Canon S2IS. The S2 is one model lder than the S3 available to you, but comparable with features. It takes nice pictures and has been faithful for a year, but I realized her limitations once I picked up the SLR habit. How in depth do you want to be with your pictures? The S3 will allow you to do whatever you want to with your shots but it's a pain to manual focus and the digital zoom makes for some noise. Kyle