My camera broke... help me find a new one please

[PistachioLemon]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I couldn't find anywhere else that looked suitable - please help or point me in the right direction!

My old faithful digital camera broke It is really broken and anyway it's about five years old now so probably not worth repairing. I would like to replace it with a digital SLR - it has to be one with pretty good macro capabilities, and I would like it to be good with low light pictures without having to put the flash on.

I'm not sure where to start really as there are so many on offer and I don't want to make an expensive mistake. Can anyone recommend a good, relatively affordable one? Or tell me about ones to avoid? Or even just tell me what sorts of things I should be looking for?

might be better in products?

I was looking for a new pocket camera and found this website really helpful

Oooh, thank you! That looks like a really good website. I will re-post in products.

am very of a digital SLR...one day

what's your budget?

Not sure. I think maybe £300 to £400... is that enough to get a half decent one? I do want one with separate lenses but I'm happy to start off with a basic one with v small or no zoom.

Dh has one of the fuji not quite an SLRs ie it has a non interchangeable lens, but it is very good for what it is. The shutter lag is minimal and it takes really good shots. His model is a couple of years old now as well; I assume the newer ones are even better.

Hey Lackadaisycal, actually it was a fuji (sounds v similar to your DHs one) that broke and we were quite happy with it except that it was a few years old and only 4 megapixels. Maybe I should look into the updated versions - i'd definitely consider another one if I don't have enough for a proper SLR.

well i'd recommend a nikon like a D60, and you can get good deals where they throw in a reasonable lens (probably 18 - 55mm). the thing is to invest money in the lens, and buy a decent body but not the most expensive you can afford. then when you have more money / inclination, you can upgrade the body and the lens will fit the new body.

the D60 has about 12.5 megapixels i think.

i would only go for a canon or a nikon personally.

I have a Sony Alpha on my dad's recommendation (keen amateur photographer). It's fantastic. I think they retail for a couple of hundred quid and another hundred for a zoom lens. Fujis are a great budget option, too.

Thanks Warthog and Horton, I will look into those.

Warthog, if you don't mind my asking, is there a reason you're keen on Canon and Nikon? And is it something I should look out for when looking at other brands? Oh, and thanks for the tip about the lense/body, I hadn't thought about it that way.

Oh, I meant to say and didn't that I have taken loads of fairly low-light pics on the Sony Alpha without flash and they're clear as a bell. The flash is pretty good, though.

A couple of examples, both taken at night or in the evening with no extra lighting or flash apart from fairly low-key interior house lighting:

here and here

Hey Horton, thanks so much for those. I hate using a flash unless really necessary as they always seem to wash out all the colours (but sometimes if you don't use one you get so much camera shake it's not worth taking the picture) so it's good to know that the Sony does a pretty good job without.

Is that your daughter by the way? She is very very cute!

Yes, that's my daughter and thanks! Wasn't looking for compliments, honestly (although always nice to hear!), just giving an example of what a novice photographer can manage with the Alpha. I took those pics a few days after getting the camera on my dad's recommendation so not even much experience with that camera. I think they're okay for such low light conditions.

In even lower light conditions, I've used the flash, which just flips up (you can do it one-handed), and it's a good fast flash. No time at all between shots unlike point and click cameras which seem to make you wait ages until you can take another shot. At least, all mine have!

With respect to the washing out of colours, I often use Paint Shop Pro or Picasa to play with the colour temperature a little. It's very easy to do (esp Picasa) and produces really good results.

pistachio, it's really my own opinion, but i think the build quality, features and general picture quality on canons and nikons are very good for the money. you can get better cameras of course, but you'll be paying a LOT more and i think in your price range, those are the best available.

also, something to bear in mind is that most cameras' inbuilt flash are pretty rubbish and if you're really keen you should think about getting a flash gun. pain in the proverbial as it's yet another thing to carry around and makes the camera much heavier.

so, i'd go for something like the d60 and buy the more specialized lenses later on.

or buy just the body (bet you could get a better price) and then buy a macro lens.

the d60 has 10.2mp, not 12.5 - sorry!

Thanks for all your help Warthog and and Horton (oops, nearly got your names mixed up and typed Warton and Hortog!). I think what I'm going to do is have a really good read up on those cameras and then see if I can try them out at a camera shop and try not to get too bamboozled by their sales techniques (although knowing my luck I'll get the spotty YTS kid who hasn't got a clue). I shall let you know how I get on.

Horton a flash gun might be one piece of kit too far for me I'm afraid. I think I might feel like a wedding photographer or something. But I will have a look just in case...

I'm lucky in one respect in that I pass all my retouching onto my DH who does it all in Photoshop for me, but less fortunate in that it usually takes an age to get done. So perhaps I should invest in my own copy or have a go at PSP or Picassa... hmmm another thing to think about.

this site is really good for reviews. it helped me a lot. there's just soooo much out there!

Photoshop is a lot more sophisticated than PSP or Picasa but those two are very easy to use and a lot cheaper! You can sometimes find older versions of PSP on Amazon etc for not much. I got an old version for about a tenner. Picasa is free and well worth a look for basic retouching.

Having recommended the Sony Alpha, I have found that the model I have doesn't seem to be widely available any more so maybe it's been discontinued (I have the Alpha 100). I got mine secondhand so maybe that's worth a try?

Thanks for the site Warthog - lots of very useful info - I like the reviews too, they are really clear.

Hi Horton, I might try Picassa. The Photoshop we have is for DHs mac and so won't work on my PC (he uses it for his job and so is a genius at it, but I can barely find my way around). Picassa sounds like much more my thing!

Warthog I'm trying to choose between The Nikon D60,D90,D300 and the Canon 450. Do you rate any of those?

I'm getting reviewed out now,don't understand the jargon eg raw-what's that????

Was left some money and have wanted one for ages but I'm a little daunted by the choices.

Not a pro just love taking pictures.

Many thanks

Thanks butterfly!

Does your D60 have the dust removal thing,do I need it?

What's a VR lens?

The Sony Alpha also has a cleaning thing. Some bit of it vibrates to shake off dust etc when starting up or shutting down. I think quite a few cameras do this now.It's meant to be good.