Stephanie Belton Photography

I am often asked for advice on a good beginner DSLR camera so I thought the easiest would be to post some advice on the blog so I can refer people to it.

If you are on a low budget, your best option is to find a refurbished Canon 450D/500D, you can find those on eBay, of course always check the seller’s rating and feedback before you buy. I usually prefer to buy from independent camera shops than individuals.

If you are nervous about buying a second hand camera, DigitalREV are selling new Canon 550D (body only) for a really good price.

The lens that comes as part of a camera + lens bundle (i.e. the kit lens) are usually not very good quality. My advice therefore is to buy the “body only” version of the camera and then buy a good lens separately based on your needs. It is the lens, more than the body, which affects the quality of the final image.

If you are into people and/or street photography (rather than wildlife/landscape) then the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II is a great little starter lens for you. It is light, great value for money, and it is a “fast” lens which means the aperture can open quite wide, letting more light into the camera. This gives you more scope to shoot indoors in low light situations. You just need to be aware that with this lens you cannot zoom in or out, you need to move closer or further away from your subject instead (don’t worry you quickly get used to it).

If your budget allows it, you can opt for a higher spec camera of course, for example the Canon 600D, Canon 7D or Nikon D7000. I tend to ignore the Megapixels figure, nowadays most DSLRs allow you to create pictures which you can blow poster size, and in fact the more pixels you get the more space each file is going to clog up on your hard drive so in my view anything above 12 Megapixels is perfectly adequate, no need to go overboard.

Another thing you may want to take into account is the Video function (not all DSLR have it). Because the image is captured through a nice quality lens, you can use a shallow depth of field (subject in focus and background blurred), the video has a wonderful quality. Here is a little snippet I captured last year with the humble Canon 500D and the 50mm 1.8 lens. I did need a tripod to stabilise the camera.

Now, you may be wondering why I am recommending a Canon camera when I myself use Nikon. This is simply because the Canon lenses tend to be cheaper. I was a Canon user until last year when I decide to upgrade to a higher spec camera, I had the choice between the Nikon D700 and the Canon 5D Mark II. Having researched both options, I was concerned about potential focussing issues reported on the Canon, I therefore decided to switch to Nikon. This wasn’t a huge decision for me because I didn’t own plenty of Canon lenses (if you do, making the switch is obviously a lot more difficult).

I hope you found this useful, please feel free to post a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any recommendations and advice or if you have any other questions regarding camera gear. And of course, once you have purchased your first DSLR make sure you learn how to make the most of  it :-)