New to photography, advice on camera selection

I

ima_be_thatguy

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Hi guys
Decided to start photography as a hobby of sorts.
Which camera should i get as a first buy, do i spend as much as i can on a dslr camera? or should I tone it back to a bridge camera or maybe just a point and shoot?

Any advice ?
 
ima_be_thatguy said:
Hi guys
Decided to start photography as a hobby of sorts.
Which camera should i get as a first buy, do i spend as much as i can on a dslr camera? or should I tone it back to a bridge camera or maybe just a point and shoot?

Any advice ?
Click to expand...

Budget?
 
At R4000 I'd try to get a DSLR. A bridge camera with a 1" sensor is going to be too expensive.

You can get a decent bridge and point-n-shoots with a 1/2.3" sensor, but if you take a liking to photography you'll outgrow it very quickly. The only things these cameras have over cellphones are better manual settings (for the most part) and better optical lenses.

The benefit of the DSLR is that the body (the actual camera) doesn't matter that much and when you've saved up some more and want to "upgrade" you can go buy yourself a better lense. On the flipside, if you do not like photography you'll get a better price for your DSLR than you would for the basic point-n-shoot/bridge.
 
ima_be_thatguy said:
Thanks for all the feedback guys, so canon or Nikon?
Click to expand...

tenor.gif



Personally, I'd take that D3400 over the 1300D. Nikon Tax ain't nothing but a thang :whistle:
 
DSLR or mirrorless. You want to be able to get a shallow depth of field, and bridge cameras just typically can't go shallow enough.
Nikon tax makes typically prices them half way between the "correct" competitor, and the next level higher Canon. At least it did the last time I looked.
Nikon lenses are also typically more expensive, especially the 50mm f1.8, which is not only the cheapest lens, but in my opinion also the best to learn with. You can find a mk II for < R1000 when they pop up.
Next, go for a camera with wifi if you can. Part of learning will involve self portraits, and remote shooting with wifi just makes the process so much easier.
 
Lenses will be a far bigger consideration than the body IMHO.
 
All depends how far you want to push your hobby.

I stand to be corrected but based on my experience Canon has wider lens selection, lower price and bigger second hand market compared to Nikon.

So I would chose 50mm 1.8 lens, 430 external flash and body that fits in that budget, check outdoorphoto, kameraz and orms second hand sections and classifieds.

If you go second hand and later to not like your new hobby you can easily offload stuff with minimal loss.
 
ima_be_thatguy said:
Thanks for all the feedback guys, so canon or Nikon?
Click to expand...
No difference, comes down to your preference, how it feels in your hand and how easy you find it to get to the settings to control your aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

Nikon lenses can be a bit more expensive though...
 
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