Looking for first camera, on a budget.

[JessycaF]

Hello Everyone!

I've been wanting to get into photography for a while, but I've never been able to afford a camera. Broke college student and all that. Well, my mother and grandmother have agreed to go in for my first camera for Christmas. I'm very excited, but I really have no idea where to even begin. I have a $200 budget, which I know isn't a lot, but this is a starter camera. I went to Best Buy today to look at some of the cameras they had to offer, which just made me realize how much I have to learn. I was looking at the Sony Cyber-Shot WX9, but it's a bit out of my price range, and has a lot of features I doubt I'll ever use, like HD video and 3D stills. The thing I liked about it was that it seemed to have a lot of manual features, like manually adjusting the ISO and exposure. I have no idea how to do that yet, but I know they're things I want to learn, lol. Basically, what I want is a camera that I can learn with, that will be able to take good macro shots, and will auto focus fast enough to get pictures of my hyper dog (my camera phone takes about 6 seconds to focus, and by that time, the dog is on the other side of the room, lol). So, I'm really hoping that someone can point me in the right direction, or tell me what kind of features I should look for, or something. Sorry I'm so clueless...

[Tito87]

Welcome to DPS. I don't know if this will help you, but I'm going to say it anyway. If I were you, i would try to save some more money, and get one of Nikon's entry level cameras.

[NathanFranke]

If you want to learn, you can probably find film cameras with manual controls for a good price. Not sure about Nikon, but if you get a Canon EOS film camera, than any lenses that come with can be used on the digital models as well.

Personally, I started with a canon rebel--it's out of your stated budget, but it's got all the features an amateur needs and then some. I don't know what Nikon's equivalent is, but I'm sure it's got the same features.

If you save up now and get a more expensive one, you'll end up not having to buy a new camera in a year. Once you learn how to operate the manual controls, you'll start wanting other options--interchangeable lenses, flash, etc--you'll want an SLR for that. It's a choice of spending $200 on a camera now, and $800 on a camera next year; or spending %800 on a camera now.

[3bayjunkie]

Get a used Nikon SLR. I sold my Nikon N80 for only $140 and it came with two lenses. You could also get a Canon SLR. its up to you, but Nikons lenses are more universal than Canon so it is easy to upgrade your body after you are ready to upgrade and still use your old lenses.

here are some examples of cameras you could get.

Nikon N80 35mm SLR Film Camera Body Only | eBay

This was my first camera. They only want $48 for this like new SLR! very good camera. You can find some lenses on here also like this one.

Nikon 50mm camera lens, Nikkor, 5124002, 1:14, used | eBay

you could get this one pretty cheap. I paid 56.60 for the same lens on ebay. most of the time they sell for more. over $100 a lot of times. However, the one I got did not say Ai on it so it was not easily searchable. and this one has a mislabled f/stop so you might get it cheap.

in addition you can get an inexpensive zoom lens. So there are lots of possibilities. I learned to shoot on film which I would highly suggest because it teaches you good composition and you don't fire 50 shots of the same boring subject. Good luck.

[Drum&Bassist]

I'm in the same boat, Jessica.

I'm in the market for a digital SLR, but am on a budget. After much reading and research, i've decided that I'm going to buy used. these camera's are typically build to last many years if taken care of, and many older models are able to produce results that rival some of the newer entry-level models.

you can definitely find some good stuff on ebay, but might i recommend checking the used gear store at B&H Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders or Buy & Sell New & Used Cameras ? Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Leica & More - KEH.com. you not only get the price advantage of used gear, but with a warranty that ebay can't do (KEH now offers a 6 month warranty, for example.)

I almost pulled the trigger on a Canon Rebel 350D kit for $269, but have decided to save a little bit more and get a Nikon 5000d kit.

-M