[Me__2001]

This is an area that i'm not all that familiar with. Have spent a few days reading various reviews and about the different cameras available etc but still need some advice

Basically my girlfriend has a pretty crap cannon compact camera and recently we went away with some friends, one of them has a Nikon D40 with the 18-55 Lens and basically she now wants a DSLR after seeing how much better they are

This is just an idea at the moment but i wanted to get one for her, being a student and my car needing a new cambelt soon i don't have a great deal to play with. Budget, i guess £250 is the max so looking at a secondhand one but that can change if i really have to

Does anyone have any advice on what to get? or what to look for? i've seen some Nikon D40's with extras at reasonable prices on ebay, also the Fuji S9600 which although not a proper SLR has some pretty good reviews?

She's by no means a pro but quite keen on getting good pictures

I wish i'd bought flopps when he had it for sale, i knew i'd regret it

[captain zed]

Hi Me_2001,
I bought said D40 and have to say it's the best camera i have ever owned. Since buying it though i have learned that it's a little on the heavy side when it comes to carting it around the place. It's also for me, the start of a voyage perhaps into a more professional approach into photography, not just for "point and shoot" or off the cuff shots.
I'm not trying to scare you away from buying that type of camera, just trying to give my point of view when it comes to buying your new camera.
There are newer smaller camera's which give really great shots and are lightweight and easy to carry around with ya and also can be stuffed into your pocket when you're on the move.
Having said all that, the Nikon D40 is truly a fine camera as are all the Nikon range.
My girlfriend say's she would rather a smaller one(No laughing the rest of you).
Lastly, they can become quite expensive too.

It will interesting to see what the other members of the forum will say on ths matter cos there are some with camera's and great photography skills.

[floppybootstomp]

With a budget of £250.00 it's very likely going to be a second hand camera if she wants DSLR.

If I were going to buy a new budget DSLR I'd go for the Sony A230 which can be had for around £350.00, good reports written about that one.

Zed has pointed out that carrying around a DSLR is not the same as carrying a compact - you know you're carrying a DSLR as it's fairly big and although not what I'd call heavy, the weight is noticeable.

This is mostly the reason I sold my D40X (not D40, btw, there is a difference, 4 more megapixels for a start) I purchased it with good intentions but tended only to take it out specfically with photography in mind, I rarely carried it casually as I do my Canon G9.

The Canon G9's sucessor, the G10 may be worth considering takes a mighty fine pic but it's not a DSLR. One of the few compact cameras to take pix in RAW mode.

Another suggestion are the hybrids such as the Panasonic Ian has, kind of a halfway between a compact and a DSLR. I'm afraid the model number eludes me for the moment but I'm sure Ian could give you a pointer.

[Me__2001]

Thanks for the info Zed

I can't remember what the camera she has, i think its a Canon A540, it takes some reasonable photos but the difference between it and the D40 was quite amazing especially at dusk and on landscapes.

We've both used the D40 and a Pentax K100D, whilst they are quite large and heavy i didn't feel it was something to complain about and i never heard her moan about it either (i'd have soon known if she was annoyed with it) so that's not a real concern as if she doesn't like it i'll keep it lol

I know they are expensive, i've been looking at ebay for some secondhand ones and they are still failry expensive even though they are a couple of years old.

The only reason i'm looking at the D40 is the fact i've used one and they are given pretty good reviews. I'd like to know of any others that people have had first hand experience with and their opinions though as i don't want to waste my money buying the wrong thing

[Me__2001]

I really must learn to make my posts faster

I think i read about the A230, i will have another look though. The G10 sounds interesting as well

I must add that neither of us carry a camera around with us unless we know we're going to need one. I actually managed to get by with my Phone after we both forgot our cameras when visiting blenheim palace a couple of weeks ago.

I have seen some of the DSLR style camera's that fuji offer but they aren't a proper DSLR's so i don't know whether to take those into consideration or not?

[captain zed]

If ya dont mind the weight, then i'd say get a D40X. They're great.
See below...it's the best info sheet i have found so far.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/re...nd40x_EN3.html

[floppybootstomp]

Forget Fuji.

Ian has something like This and it takes fine pictures.

If I were buying a camera in that class, I'd go Panasonic, most of their cameras have excellent Leica lenses.

And one important thing to remember - in my opinion the most important aspect of most cameras is the lens. Megapixels are really not that important compared to lens quality.

Unfortunately you can't check out lens quality unless you see the results of any given camera.

If you can get your hands on a Nikon D40 or D40X, go for it, they're fine cameras.

One day I may be in the market for another DSLR, if I were buying now I'd probably favour Nikon or Canon and consider Sony and Panasonic.

[floppybootstomp]

A list of what this website consider to be the best cameras.

The 'hybrid' camera I have referred to is known as a 'Super Zoom' in that list.

[Me__2001]

I'll avoid the Fuji then, thanks for that flopps. Could have been a big mistake

I think it might have been quad or yourself that mentioned the lens being the key, could even have been mucks? I forget lol. I seem to recall leica and sigma as being the best manufacturers for lenses??

That Panasonic looks pretty amazing, can't believe you can get a fixed lens that is that big! Definately something to look into in more detail. Cheers flopps

I'm keeping my eye out for a D40 / D40x on ebay atm. Probably not wise but hopefully i can find one nearby so i can go look at it before handing over the cash

I shall have to visit some camera shops tomorrow and annoy the hell out of the sales people lol

[captain zed]

Whilst were talking about camera's...could anyone tell me what the plastic shroud like thing that sit out over the lens is for, or what its called even??

Edit : Scratch that....i found the answer i was looking for. Apparently, it's just a shade.