Advise on a cheap camera?

ringwoodlights

I'm looking to buy a DSLR to stick in the camelback but don't want to pay a fortune, I figure that something 2-3 year old would be more than good enough to start and hopefully not eat into my bike fund too much! Any ones to look for or ones to avoid?

kafkathedog

How cheap is cheap?

Also are you mostly after stills or video too? If you want some really good video then a Panasonic GH1 or GH2 are the dogs (although strictly speaking not technically a DSLR )

YeehaaMcgee

Nothing to avoid really. All DSLRs from a similar year as about as good as each other. Depending on how old you're going though, if you want live-view capabilities, you'll be far better off with a Sony.

For what it's worth, I regularly carry my DSLR in my camelbak on the bike, and snowboard, and it, along with several lenses have survived some spectacular craches so far.

Giraffoto

Look at the Nikon D5100 + 18-55mm lens kit at about £430 - it's all the dSLR that 9/10 people will need, and does video too. Also consider the 55-200mm lens to go with it if your budget stretches that far

ringwoodlights

Thanks guys, it's mainly stills I'm after as I have a works GoPro I can borrow if I need one. I'll have a look at those you've mentioned, cheers for the help.

YeehaaMcgee

The video on a dslr will pi** all over a gopro!

ADL

Have a look at mirrorless cameras. They are generally smaller and lighter than DSLRs, with image quality on par with entry/mid level DSLRs.

Panasonic are notable for very good video, their GH2 beats the vast majority of DSLRs in terms of video quality... G3 and G5 are cheaper and pretty qood as well. Olympus E-M5 shoots pretty nice stills, but it's quite expensive and its video is not that great. Sony NEX 5-N and 5-R are also pretty good.

YeehaaMcgee

The trouble with mirrorless cameras is that they cost as much, or often more, than a decent DSLR. Often significantly more, in the case of Olympus particularly.

ADL

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

The trouble with mirrorless cameras is that they cost as much, or often more, than a decent DSLR. Often significantly more, in the case of Olympus particularly.

Agreed. Especially when new, the price is often over the top. But then the previous generation gets considerably cheaper. Lumix G3, GH2, Sony Nex 5-N don't cost that much these days.

YeehaaMcgee

But then the previous generation of DSLRs also drops in price.
I've fiddled with various mirrorless system cameras at several tradeshows, and I still can't see the point.
There's definite advantages to something like Sony's SLT system (as well as drawbacks), but I honestly can't fathom any reaaon for buying into any other mirrorless system.

Woodmonkey

how do the fujifilm bridge camera's do in all this, we've got a couple at work and they seem ok to the untrained eye. and they are cheap enough to rattle round in a rucksac?

YeehaaMcgee

Fuji bridge cameras are ace.

Woodmonkey

that might be the mrs christmas present sorted then