The f365 Photography Thread n00b guide to buying your first dSLR
by
Nom Nom De Plume (Will) wrote on Fri, 12 November 2010 12:33

Welcome :)

dSLR’s cost a lot of money. You want to make sure you spend it wisely.

Firstly, you need to decide which brand you want to go with. It's a very important choice to make because not only do the brands differ in quality, but each brand has its own specific range of additional lenses & accessories, & so you’d have to trade in all your gear at once if you wanted to switch brands later on down the line. Consequently, very few photographers do switch brands – it’s costly, and it’s annoying. Just ask our leader, Rodney Trotter.

We recommend Canon & Nikon above all other brands for a couple of reasons;
a) they're the best quality, &
b) they have by far the widest range of additional lenses & accessories, which means that
c) you can easily get hold of second hand gear for them, which is obviously much cheaper than buying brand new.

The extra range of available equipment also means you have a much greater degree of flexibility when you reach the point where you want to advance your skills in a specific area of photography (such as macro, portrait, sports, landscape etc.)

Right, now you need to get yourself down to Jessops and check out the Canon and Nikon cameras in your price range. Get your hands on them and feel which buttons\menus feel intuitive to you. (Caution should be had with the very low entry level Nikons as they don't have autofocus in the camera so the lenses are more expensive. Ask the dude (or dudette) in the shop if it's not clear.

Then, having made your decision, thank the dude very much for their time & advice, & walk straight out of the shop. Go home & order your camera on the internet. While Jessops is a great place to ‘test drive’ stuff, it’s also frickin’ expensive, & could cost you hundreds of extra pounds which would be better spent on drugs, guns, and midgets.
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk is a useful price comparison site, although it’s worth comparing prices in google shopping as well just in case price buster isn’t 100% up to date.

Also have a look at www.dpreview.com - it provides really comprehensive reviews of most photography equipment.

Most of us went for brand new rather than second hand; if you do decide to go down the second hand route then make sure you buy from a reputable seller & make sure you get a worthwhile guarantee, although this applies to buying new as well - there are some cowboys out there.

Next, get yourself a subscription to Practical Photography magazine and work your way through the projects. That'll teach you all you need to know in order to use your initiative and do your own thing.

Bryan Peterson's 'Understanding Exposure' is the book that is usually recommended to new guys – it explains technique & science which is essential knowledge for taking good pictures.

Then there's probably the most useful tool you have at your disposal – this thread
Everyone here is really helpful, intelligent, & beautiful, so if you have questions, however stupid, then ask. Between us, we’re pretty knowledgeable about nearly all aspects & niches of photography. And don't forget this thread bible - which contains a whole range of articles on photography (theory, equipment, resources etc.) written by our resident experts who are:

macro - Will
portait/strobist (flash) - L'Cham/Rodders/The Reverend JT/Longshanks
landscape - Rodders
wedding - Rodders/The Reverend JT
spending other people's money - Rodders, Rodders & Rodders, but we're all happy to advise on this ;)