What gear are you using?

In 2 Fridays I'll be ordering the Sony NEX-6. Compact system camera with interchangeable lenses, 16MP APS-C sensor and 16-50mm pancake lens. It's a great step-up from my old Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 point and shoot - I wanted a camera with interchangeable lenses and the ability to change aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Decent movie quality too.

Now to build up a wish list of lenses!

 

Canon 600D with 18-55 kit lens

Canon 50mm USM f1.4 prime (£275 new) - I originally got a brand new 50mm f1.8 'nifty-fifty' but the plastic mount jammed on my one week old camera and had to take it to Canon to get it removed! I sent the 1.8 back and replaced it with the metal mount 1.4 instead, even if it addded £190. I won't get anything other than metal mount lenses now.

Canon 55-250mm f5.6 IS (budget zoom @ £125 new)

Canon 70-200mm USM f4 L (£350 2nd hand and in as-new condition. These are upwards of £600 new)



This was taken with the 50mm f1.4 (and cropped)



These were taken with the 55-250;





This with the 70-200 f4;

 

I like going around and taking pictures of wildlife, I'm borrowing my mums bfs fujifilm HS20 exr which has been okay but I eventually want to get something of my own

Are there any entry level cameras about for £150-250? Not really up on the lenses and terminology used - just want something I can snap some decent pictures with

 

If you're talking about dSLR's for under £200 brand new, very doubtful. Even decent compact camera's can be as much as £250+. For anything around £150-£200 you'll only get something that's good for holiday snaps so you're definatley looking at the very upper end of the price range you've stipulated.

Personally, if anyone is interested in taking pictures you've got to get the best you can afford. I've wasted money by going down the bottom level of cameras and the pictures they take are not worth it. A blurred butterfly with no detail at all? No thanks.


The Canon 1100D is their entry level dSLR and is around £280. I'd be surprised if there are any prices much lower than that.

You could probably get a 2nd hand one on eBay for around £150-£200 as people sell them once they decide to move up to a higher spec.

If you do get a 2nd hand one, make sure it has the lens (obviously!) and the box and all the bits it came with. Chances are if the owner still has all that it will have been well looked after.


edit: If you like taking wildlife pictures, you probably will need to invest in a zoom lens at some point. Most kit lenses are around 18-55mm or 18-70mm zoom which really isn't long enough. Canon do a budget 55-250mm lens which is around £100-£125 and is a good lens for what it does, well worth the outlay IMO.

 

Thanks for the advice Juzzie, for the moment I suppose it's just for hobby purposes so I wouldn't mind an okay bridge camera - with that in mind I'll stick with borrowing the HS20EXR until I can afford something better (not that I find it bad)

With wildlife, for less jumpy creatures I'm fine with the quality of the pictures



Will have to start saving up before getting seriously into this photography shizzle - shame

 

A 50-250 is fine for garden/nearby animals. For anything further you're looking at a cumbersome 300-400 with an extender. I have an 18-200 lens for my NEX-6 and the zoom isn't that impressive, considering I was previously used to a superzoom compact Lumix!

 

Nikon D810 + 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8 and 24mm prime.

 

Rocking a Samsung wb1100f bridge camera which is okay for me even if compared to you guys it's nothing!

Really enjoy just going for walks and taking a few pics to edit in photoshop

 

Crespo, don't judge your kit as nothing. If it does the job for you and you're happy, then that's all that matters. It's an expensive hobby and it took me years to get to the level of expertise feel I'm currently at and to get to the equipment level i'm currently using.

Just enjoy it.

 

Does anyone on here have a proper camera... a 35mm or 120?

I recently picked up a Mamiya 645 1000S, got a couple of rolls to develop this weekend