UKC

Starting to get into amateur landscape/climbing photography.
I'm looking to purchase a low end DSLR with a budget of about £180-220.
Ideally I'd like it to be fairly lightweight as I'll be carrying it around whilst rock/winter/alpine climbing.

Currently I'm only using my smartphone to take photos, which turn out okay with a bit of photoshop, but I'd like something with a lot more detail for an upcoming trip to the dolomites.

Most likely looking at Nikon/Canon.

Thanks.

In reply to blue_sundown:

Maybe a decent compact is the way to go instead

In reply to blue_sundown:

You can get a 2nd hand canon 1100d for that price, easy to pick up on amazon etc. Well reviewed when it came out and will certainly be a step up from your phone. Quite light and small for a DSLR too.

In reply to blue_sundown:

have you been into a shop yet and looked either yet? i found when i was choosing was mainly the difference in weight and layout as well as how both the entry level offerings felt when i held them. also have a look at whats further up the line as your most likely to upgrade the body and buy new lenses for that system instead of changing brands in the future

In reply to blue_sundown:
I don't think that you need to worry about getting a particular dSLR, even with your budget because I don't think any of the major brands made one.

The main brands are much of a muchness and it boils down to fanboy loyalty. So just go to fleabay and buy the most modern generation that your budget will allow. Make sure it comes with a kit lens as well. A kit lens is a good place to start. And if you do upgrade then a new lens is the way to go, as it will fell like you bought a new camera as well. But that could be years down the road, if indeed you want to replace the kit lens at all because they generally are very good for their price.

I'm a Nikon fanboy but that does not mean they are better, it's just that they were the first brand I bought into.

In reply to blue_sundown:

Unless you intend to buy different lenses and filters, I think you'd be better off with a decent compact. There won't be much (any?) noticeable difference in quality between a good compact and a dslr - in fact the raw images from my slr look terrible until I've put them through Lightroom/Photoshop, whereas both types should be capable of producing a decent JPEG for most situations.

Only get a dslr if you're serious about buy more lenses (they will cost a lot more than the camera itself), or if you want filters and more controls to take much longer shutter speeds eg to get smooth water in a waterfall shot. For carrying around climbing I'd prefer the compact anyway.

In reply to blue_sundown:
Panasonic GX1 or older model GF1. Not a DSLR or compact but occupies the middle ground as a micro 4/3s (CSC) camera. I carry it on my harness on multipitch trad and winter climbing in a small lowepro case. Helps if you get a pancake lens or power zoom walk around lens as it takes up less space.

See my gallery for an example of the photo quality though I'm sure a more experienced photographer could get a lot more out of it.

Think I paid somewhere between £200-300 for it and couldn't be happier.

In reply to blue_sundown:

My 14 year old niece recently got a Nikon D3300 (in bright red!) It's very compact for a Dslr and delivers stunning high quality images, for that price.
Your lucky to get a small quality Sony for that kind of price now?

In reply to blue_sundown:

I can do you a good deal on a used Nikon D40, one of the lighter and smaller body DSLR you will find, its served me well.

Has the kit lens and the 55-200VR too, spare batteries, drop me a PM if interested.

Can even show you some Dolomite shots if you want to see what you can achieve !!

Cheers

In reply to blue_sundown:

Like others, I'd recommend a good quality 2nd hand compact that shoots RAW and can be used in full manual mode: they're light, usually easy to use one-handed, and if the buttons are the right size, can be used with gloves.

In reply to Solaris:


I'd go for a second hand dSLR and the offer of a Nikon D40 further up this discussion would make an excellent choice.

A couple of years ago I bought a Nikon D40, body only with no lens, off fleabay for £100. I gave it to a mate with a spare kit lens that I had kicking around.

The camera may be 9 years old with old tech inside it compared to cutting-edge dSLRs, with features like only three focus points and limited ISO settings but it still takes cracking images today. Its the end result that is more important than the tool used to create it.

I'd give some thought to the D40 offered and if a good deal can be struck, you will be pleased with the results taken with this camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD40

I also own a good quality compact that takes RAW images, which I bought from these forums. The compact is gathering dust somewhere in the house. I either use my dSLR or phone these days.

In reply to blue_sundown:


I would have to go with the suggestions about a compact or possible mirrorless. DSLR have many advantages but lightweight and easy to carry around aint in the list.

Aside from that key thing is to try them out, ergonomics is important and its not unknown to rule one out just because it feels a bit odd.

In reply to blue_sundown:

I'm very happy with my cannon 1200D which replaced my 350D, however, as others have said, it's not exactly easy to carry when climbing, so I've also got an Olympus tough to carry on routes or if I don't want much extra weight. It has the advantage of being waterproof and fairly bouncy as well as small and light weight.

In reply to Nexonen: I don't agree. A dslr gives so much more control and speed than most compacts in that price range. Despite always having my Olympus csc with me I take my canon 7d with me for anything important. Get familiar with a canon or Nikon dslr and the results will be a just reward.

In reply to blue_sundown:

Why not pick up a cheap 2nd hand mirrorless (compact system camera) - give it a go and sell on if not for you:

Examples here

http://www.wexphotographic.com/used-compact-system-cameras/b3240?showall=1&...
http://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/Used/Used-Cameras.htm#&&pi=1&n...

Plenty more on eBay

In reply to blue_sundown:

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I've been looking at some high end compact cameras like the Canon Powershot S120/G16 and the Nikon Coolpix P340.
Has anyone used any of the above?

I'm going to have a bit more of a read about the D40 offered as that looks like it could do the job.

Thanks again.

In reply to blue_sundown:

Haven't used the G16, but I like my G10 and am pleased with the results, especially from RAW. Viewfinder is v useful, battery life is OK; I've never found it much of a hassle but the camera gets too noisy at ISO 400 and over. Check Nick Livesey's gallery; I think he took a lot of his (excellent) pics with a G10.

I'd also echo ChrisJD: CSCs (X-E1s, anyway) really are the business!

If you haven't discovered DPReview, it's worth checking out.

In reply to blue_sundown:


Nikon.

In reply to blue_sundown:

I've got a D40 and have taken some great shots on the hills, but given your budget I would go for something more up-to-date like a second hand D3200 which will have a VR kit lens and will be able to take HD video. I eventually found it too bulky/heavy so changed to a Nikon P330, but if you're more serious about photography you'll probably appreciate the easier access to controls on a DSLR - I just leave the compact on the same setting and take loads of pics hoping for a good one.

P330 photos of Cuillin a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gmcg/sets/72157653954251100

In reply to blue_sundown:

I think the main advantage of a dslr is getting full control of aperture / exposure / metering as well as a host of other settings and being usually being able to change them with a button while you're still looking down the viewfinder. Even getting a high end dslr isn't going to give you dramatically better results until you've spent some time learning to make pictures with it.

If you are wanting to get into photography in some depth then it would be well worth getting a low end body from either Canon or Nikon that's a few years old with a kit lens and seeing how you get on - depending on what you want to do you'll probably want to get another lens or two and maybe upgrade the body later on.

On the other hand, if want something you can get started with quickly and that is light enough take with you all the time you might be better off going down the compact route.

I have taken a dslr when climbing or skiing but would only normally do so when getting some pictures is a major aim of the day - so it probably makes sense to have some sort of compact as well anyway.

In reply to blue_sundown:

My (simplistic) two cents would be to go with a DSLR - I carried a compact for years until I found that I really wanted to be able to shoot completely manually and have the option to use different lenses, so made the upgrade. Went with a Canon 700d.

Yes, it's bulky. Yes, it's heavy. Yes, I'm still a bit delicate with it as I'm scared of knackering it in the mountains, but I've found that the difference in quality in my photos has been vast. I've just got a cheap wide-angle lens and for big mountain shots it's been amazing.

I'm not particularly clued up about the current camera market so maybe you could get a compact that has all the manual-shooting capability of a DSLR, or maybe one of those compact-system setups where you can use different lenses, but I don't think DSLRs are prohibitively heavy/bulky. The main thing you'd need to work out is a system whereby its accessible enough that you get it out and use it, as it's much less easy to just stuff it in a pocket like you can with a compact!