Sub £300 DSLR

[dhdev (Oli)]

I've fancied getting a DSLR for a while now and I've been doing a bit of research and I seem to be leaning towards getting a Nikon. I've found some deals on the internet and the D40 can be had for £225 and the D60 is £290. Is the D60 worth the extra? It seems the only extras with it are 10.2mp instead of 6mp for the D40 and it has a VR lens (vibration reduction). Do Jessops do price match?
Any help appreciated!

[Benn]

Jessops will pricematch an english website, well they uesd too. + theres two hot girls in the in hedge end..

[Jack]

D40? Or D40x?

I was considering a D60 or D40x over a Canon, but I'm sure they were missing a few features I wanted which the 450d had - can't remember what now though. Think it was AEB

[dhdev (Oli)]

Jessops will pricematch an english website, well they uesd too. + theres two hot girls in the in hedge end..

Damn it, I'm still up in the midlands. I bet my local one here has some ugly, smelly, sweaty nerd man :cry: The site is english and they have stores is england too, its Calumet (http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/355-560C/)

[dhdev (Oli)]

AEB? The prices i quoted are for the D40 not the D40X. I believe the D40X is almost identical to the D60 except it doesn't have the double dust reduction system, it only has the sensor shaker thing lol

The 450d is too expensive for me, I may be able to stretch to a 1000D?

[Jack]

Ahh, that was another of the features, I believe canons came out better on dust reduction lol

AEB - auto exposure bracketing. You take a normal exposure picture then the camera takes two more shots, one over exposed and one under exposed, then you can use a HDR program to overlay them. Gives results such as this:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/Scenic/St%20Kitts/2008_09_18_1034_2_3_tonemapped.jpg

[Stuart]

Oli, see if digital depot have anything at a sensible price. Depending on your route back darn sarf you can stop off at the stevenage shop

[dhdev (Oli)]

Ah I see! The Nikon has its Active D-lighting which enables the same kind of thing I believe, it automatically adjusts so that areas of the same photo have different exposure, to make sure light backgrounds and dark subjects are both exposed correctly. Someone just threw Jacobs website into the mix and they have the sony A200 with twin lens for £360 which seems good!

Just checked digital depot and I have found cheaper sources tbh, cheers for the heads up tho!

[matt_vaughan]

I got one in Misc for sale if you want a cheap fix mate?

[Welsh Dan]

Remember that Jessops are closing a lot of branches ;).

[Ste L]

i've got a D40, and im more than happy with it...

i'd prob have the d40 over the d60, as there not much more you get for the extra cash thats worth it

[Jay]

i've got a D40, and im more than happy with it...

i'd prob have the d40 over the d60, as there not much more you get for the extra cash thats worth it

Take some piccys with it and post them up, im thinking of getting a D40 too. :thumb:

[Ste L]

to be honest, i've hardly used it lol


did a few trackday photo's and thats about it so far, this was basically the first time i've properly used it


http://s495.photobucket.com/albums/rr317/Ste_L/oulton_park_oct_08/

[Martin]

Hmmm im stil to buy one lol my 5mp camera is gettin boring now lol

i want something thats good a catch a movng object.. do you kno how hard it is to get a dog to say stil for a photo lol

[Welsh Dan]

If you're considering canon and can't afford a 450D then consider this (http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=102548)


You'd need to buy a cheap lens off ebay, or something like this (http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Accessories/Camera%20Accessories/Lenses/products/Sigma/18-50mm%20f3.5-5.6%20DC%20(Canon%20AF)-28621/Show.html). I wouldn't have expected a used kit lens to cost you much more than £30.

[Rexy]

I bought this yesterday, as i wanted a good video function with mine not played with mine as yet properly going to get it back today and get used to it.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/Panasonic/Lumix%20DMC-FZ28%20Digital%20Camera%20in%20Black-75240/Show.html

[dhdev (Oli)]

I'm off to jessops now :D

[Rexy]

lmfbo, you big girl :D

[Ste L]

so....


what cam did you buy then?

[dhdev (Oli)]

Canon EOS 1000d :D

It suited my grip so much more than the Nikon, I was almost entirely set on the D60, but as soon as I held it i knew it felt wrong. Can't wait to get snapping at Mallory Park tomorrow :D

[Ste L]

gonna need something longer than the kit len's if your gonna do some track photo's?

did you buy a longer lens to go with it?

[dhdev (Oli)]

gonna need something longer than the kit len's if your gonna do some track photo's?

did you buy a longer lens to go with it?

I figure that for now I'll do the best I can with the kit lens and crop the images down. I will definately look at getting something longer for track use though. My pockets aren't deep enough for a twin lens kit! :(

[Ste L]

ahh cool....

i still need to buy one for mine, but it's £300+ for the 70-300vr i want :(

rather spend that on the car first lol, rented a 18-200 for the pic's in the link i posted a bit further up though..


http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/ - use this, then you can basically try before you buy the lens you want :)

[dhdev (Oli)]

I think there are a few people going tomorrow with canons, so I may be cheeky and ask to try one out :) Although I'll probably be completely baffled by what I have and end up trying to shoot with the lens cap on most of the day lol

[Ste L]

good job it's a digi and not a film camera, otherwise you'd be wasting a lot of film :p lol

[Welsh Dan]

Have you had a good play with it yet?

[dhdev (Oli)]

Had a family meal (Indian takeaway lol) so didn't have much of a chance earlier. Had a go at playing with aperture size and changing the DoF, bit of long exposure stuff (difficult without a tripod :tard:) and generally just pointed it around. It's gonna be ages before I get used to it though! Tomorrow should prove a nice steep learning curve though :D

Any tips? i.e. what sort of aperture/ISO/shutter speed will I need to be using for a cloudy trackday? Obviously it'll need adjusting to suit, but what sort of ballpark figures? I'll be using the 18-55 kit lens

[Welsh Dan]

As a starting point, put it in apeture priority mode (Av) and set the apeture as far open as you can (lower number), set the focus to AI servo, set the timer bit to continuous shooting, ISO to 400, and the quality to jpeg only. That way if you track an object with the shutter held down partway it will try to keep the object in focus, and because its in Av it will sort out the shutter speed itself. Shooting in just jpeg on most cards will mean that you should be able to keep shooting (finger held down) for a long time or until the card is full. If you find the shots are all showing signs of camera shake or motion blur then up the sensitivity (ISO) or if there is plenty of daylight then try a lower ISO as this will reduce the amount of noise in the image.

[dhdev (Oli)]

Awesome thanks a lot! I'll jot those down on a note book, so I have a base point to work from!
I take it having the aperture wide open allows the most light in and the camera will then use as fast a shutter speed as it sees appropriate, thus reducing blur?

[Welsh Dan]

Correct :thumb:.

I've just been having a play with continuous shooting myself. On the 'M Coarse' quality setting I got bored after shooting 142 shots in a row without stopping lol, and the pictures still look fine quality wise. That was using a 133x CF card.

[dhdev (Oli)]

I think mine will shoot continuously until the memory card is full, and with the 4gb SDHC I have it's currently saying I still have 865pics left :eek:

[Welsh Dan]

You can get through that many suprisingly easily lol.

[dhdev (Oli)]

I'll find out for sure tomorrow! Bedtime for me, I'm gonna need a steady hand and clear head for Mallory Park :D I actually feel like a kid at christmas lol

[ade]

Canon 100D is a great entry level camera - and if you get the cashback too youve got a real bargin!

Ebay is the best place to get a decent lens - ook at Sigma 70-300 APO - I pucked one up for about £80 and its superb potics. Also - if the kit lens youve got (prob 18-55mm) doesnt have "IS" (image stabalisation) consider getting that too - so much better and about £50 off ebay. Its bigger brother (canon 55-250mm IS) is a brilliant non pro lens as well and has image stabalisation as well. Both lenses will cover most of the shots you'll be taking.

Also - once you've mastered the basics and start messing about with the "RAW" setting (more powerful than JPEG) go to canons website and download the latest version of DPP (digital photo professional) - it's what you use to work with RAW images proir to converting them. Theyve just released a newer more powerful version and its a great starter (unless youve got Photoshop with RAW converter built in).

Ade

[dhdev (Oli)]

Ebay is the best place to get a decent lens - ook at Sigma 70-300 APO - I pucked one up for about £80 and its superb potics. Also - if the kit lens youve got (prob 18-55mm) doesnt have "IS" (image stabalisation) consider getting that too - so much better and about £50 off ebay. Its bigger brother (canon 55-250mm IS) is a brilliant non pro lens as well and has image stabalisation as well. Both lenses will cover most of the shots you'll be taking.

Also - once you've mastered the basics and start messing about with the "RAW" setting (more powerful than JPEG) go to canons website and download the latest version of DPP (digital photo professional) - it's what you use to work with RAW images proir to converting them. Theyve just released a newer more powerful version and its a great starter (unless youve got Photoshop with RAW converter built in).

Ade

The lens I have is the 18-55 and it has IS :thumb: I've realised after todays outing that I could definately do with a 55-200mm or similar! i was struggling on most of the circuit. Still got a few good pics from the 600+ i took :eek: The battery still had plenty of life left too! :D

[Martin]

Pics Or GTFO lol

[Ste L]

The lens I have is the 18-55 and it has IS :thumb: I've realised after todays outing that I could definately do with a 55-200mm or similar! i was struggling on most of the circuit. Still got a few good pics from the 600+ i took :eek: The battery still had plenty of life left too! :D



i'd looking for a lens with a focal lengh of 70-300 really...

[Benn]

Its very easy to take 600+ at a track day..
At a show 1k is easy to take, an extra battrey is must as well.

[dhdev (Oli)]

Pics Or GTFO lol

Do you realise how long it takes to sift through 600+ pics, cropping as you go! :( Plus I'm drinking red wine and eating kettle chips as I go, so I'll be wasted soon lol

Here's a couple of tasters ;) I'll start a thread when I'm done!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e296/dhdev/IMG_0290.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e296/dhdev/IMG_0531.jpg

[Adam]

OOooooooo, liking that Audi :cool:

Chip have a little off did he??

[dhdev (Oli)]

OOooooooo, liking that Audi :cool:

Chip have a little off did he??

The marshal's at Mallory do not like Chip, after his driving today, I think Chav is more suitable than Chip lol

[Martin]

explian

[Benn]

Christ chip was out inthe nova? Now i'm impressed!
Pic of the audi is very good.

[Benn]

explian

Driving like a cock at a guess.

[dhdev (Oli)]

He was just showing off all day and ballsing it up a lot of the time. He'd drive into the hairpin at 15mph and then give it max-boost-foot-to-the-floor-safe-geeza-innit, which as you can see resulted in spinning and stalling more than once. Also when it stalls it can't be started from in the car, meaning he got out and wandered round the back whilst people were still driving around, more than once! After one of the spins in the pic thread he got out and shouted to the marshal that he was showing off to his mate in the saph cossie, would've been fine but the Circuit manager was standing next to the marshal and the chequered flag had already been shown :tard::tard::tard:

Benn - The head on Audi pic did come out nice :D