[Sian Barnell]

Hey! I'm new to this and wondered, I am looking at buying a digital SLR for my final degree year and was wondering if anyone recomended any and if so what are they? I have a budget of about £300-£500 but would preffer something cheaper as I dont need a professional one. Thanks! Sian

[Dabhand16]

Welcome to Pixalo Sian

There is not an easy way for anyone to recommend one camera to you. What we can do is to tell you things to consider, and give advice on the long-term implications.

If you want a camera for general purpose use, the first question has to be do you want a dSLR, or would a bridge camera do? Bridge cameras look like dSLR's but are normally a little more compact, do not have interchangeable lenses as the built-in lens will often have a 10 or 12x zoom. Downside might be that they don't have great wide-angle capability, some may not support RAW file formats, and might be relatively slow in writing to the memory card. Many of our members use or have used bridge cameras and Fuji and Panasonic are ones to consider.

If you really want to go dSLR, most of the makes will give perfectly good results and it will come down to how comfortable you find it to hold and use. The way the controls are accessed and adjusted will be easier (for you) on some than others. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus and many other makes are available.

This is in our Suppliers, Shopping and Bargains forum, and Jessop's were doing the Pentax K10D (I think) for £299. Popular cameras with our members in your price bracket are: are the Canon 350D and 400D, the Nikon D50/D40/D40x. I'm sure some members will be pitching in soon.

I suggest you get into a shop and hold the cameras, and check out how easy it is to change the modes and settings. Remember that when you choose, you are buying into a system and should your interests change direction you will want to have a camera that has a wide range of accessories that will make it more adaptable. Reviews can also help. most magazines will have web-site that might review cameras. You can get good used stuff when people trade in when they upgrade, some will come with a warranty too.

When I returned to using a dSLR I ended up with a choice of Canon and Nikon. The Nikon fitted my hand better, and I preferred the way the controls worked. The reverse might apply to you.

[Gary Bagshawe]

Hi Sian