Cheapest DSLR for beginner?

[CuriousMike]

Before buying the EVF, I'd use the camera for a few weeks.... verify it's doing everything else you want but EVF.

 

[Imp]

Hm... Rumor is (lulz, rumor) that Canon will announce the next line of products in September. That may include an update to the T5i.

Too late now for OP, it seems, but still.

 

[lykaon78]

A little late but I love my Nex-5 (not the N version). It has been the perfect beginners camera. The intelligent auto is forgiving when I want quick shots but there is enough flexibility to learn the ropes of taking pictures with a nearly DSLR camera.

As I've gotten better at composition and shooting techniques I've thought to myself damn I wish I would have invested in the optical viewfinder because the digital viewfinder sucks.

I may just make that purchase to save myself the expense of purchasing a new DSLR rig.

 

[zCypher]

Any camera that has manual settings would be decent to start with in terms of learning about photography. There are tons of great resources online. This forum, in addition to other online sources can really tell you enough to get you started and for you to learn enough to take some amazing pictures. I started with the Nikon D5200 with 18-55mm VR kit lens. You by no means have to start with anything like that necessarily (not that it's super high end or anything). So long as you are able to control the exposure, aperture and ISO - you will be able to learn all you need.

Exposure time: duration of time it's open and letting in light, pretty straight forward. So, unsurprisingly, the longer exposure time will give you a brighter picture. A really short (fast) exposure time would give the appearance of freezing time. You want this for capturing things that are in motion that you don't want to be blurry. In some cases you might actually prefer the blur. If you're taking a long exposure at night, you'll notice that moving things get blurred/smoothed, like water - but still things like rocks are still sharp and clear.

Aperture: how wide it opens when you take a shot. lower number is wider open. So when someone says a lens is F3.5 to F5.6, this is stating that the lens' capability is limited to that range. So that means a lens that's F1.8 is opening significantly wider and thus lets in more light in less time compared to an F3.5. The aperture setting also affects the depth-of-field, one of the things many people love about photography. A nice fast F1.8 or F2.8 lens is cool because you can get such a great depth of field (focused foreground with nicely blurred background for example) much more easily and in lower-light conditions compared to a lens that is rated F3.5-F5.6. A kit lens is typically 3.5-5.6 -- not bad by any means, you can still take wonderful pictures with it. But less capable in certain respects than a faster fixed lens, or a lens with a greater focal range, etc.

ISO: sensitivity to light, so a higher number will give you a brighter picture. too much ISO and you get too grainy of a picture. you want to shoot as at low of an ISO as possible and just bump it up as needed. If you can't make the shot you're trying to get at a given exposure/aperture setting because it's too blurry/no tripod, then you can increase your shutter speed (lower your exposure time) which would darken your shot - but then increase your ISO which would lighten it. You play with those to get it how you want. After a while you'll figure out which typical settings tend to work best under certain conditions for whatever type of shots for your particular setup and style. Don't forget to shoot in RAW format to make the most of any editing that you might like to do afterwards. There's tons of really great edits you can do really quickly that can make or break the shot.

you might find that in certain conditions, you can't make the shot because you need to shoot the ISO way too high even if your aperture is set wide open and your shutter speed is set as fast as you can handle without it being blurry. this would probably be in pretty poorly lit places or during the evening/night. you can find places to set down your camera and thus allow a longer exposure without being blurry, or use a trpiod, or use a better camera/lens. A full-frame camera might offer faster low light performance over a crop sensor. A fixed lens would typically offer a lower f-stop aperture at a faster shutter speed for less money compared to your average telephoto/zoom lens.

It's all pretty straightforward once you get your head wrapped around the basics. Go out and take a shot and see how it looks. Start tweaking up or down your exposure, aperture and ISO and take another shot. Rinse and repeat to familiarize yourself with exactly how each setting impacts your results so that you get used to it, and can attain the type of shot that you're trying to get when you have the occasion.



People here will surely correct me wherever i'm mistaken, but this is the general idea, you can read tons online about the above and mostly it's just practicing and getting used these concepts to be second nature that will help you start really enjoying photography.

as for specific camera recommendations - if you like a point and shoot, RX100 or LX7 are very well reviewed. For mirrorless cameras there are tons of options there too but I don't have much experience there... for actual DSLRs, you can't go wrong with most but like others have said you buy into a platform, so there's that. I went with Nikon, I have a friend that was into Canon.. both excellent.

There are frequently deals on kits (camera body + kit lens +sometimes more) for $300. Keep your eyes open for those deals. At $300, a DSLR is a friggin steal.

 

[slackerinabox]

Any camera that has manual settings would be decent to start with in terms of learning about photography. There are tons of great resources online. This forum, in addition to other online sources can really tell you enough to get you started and for you to learn enough to take some amazing pictures. I started with the Nikon D5200 with 18-55mm VR kit lens. You by no means have to start with anything like that necessarily (not that it's super high end or anything). So long as you are able to control the exposure, aperture and ISO - you will be able to learn all you need.

Exposure time: duration of time it's open and letting in light, pretty straight forward. So, unsurprisingly, the longer exposure time will give you a brighter picture. A really short (fast) exposure time would give the appearance of freezing time. You want this for capturing things that are in motion that you don't want to be blurry. In some cases you might actually prefer the blur. If you're taking a long exposure at night, you'll notice that moving things get blurred/smoothed, like water - but still things like rocks are still sharp and clear.

Aperture: how wide it opens when you take a shot. lower number is wider open. So when someone says a lens is F3.5 to F5.6, this is stating that the lens' capability is limited to that range. So that means a lens that's F1.8 is opening significantly wider and thus lets in more light in less time compared to an F3.5. The aperture setting also affects the depth-of-field, one of the things many people love about photography. A nice fast F1.8 or F2.8 lens is cool because you can get such a great depth of field (focused foreground with nicely blurred background for example) much more easily and in lower-light conditions compared to a lens that is rated F3.5-F5.6. A kit lens is typically 3.5-5.6 -- not bad by any means, you can still take wonderful pictures with it. But less capable in certain respects than a faster fixed lens, or a lens with a greater focal range, etc.

ISO: sensitivity to light, so a higher number will give you a brighter picture. too much ISO and you get too grainy of a picture. you want to shoot as at low of an ISO as possible and just bump it up as needed. If you can't make the shot you're trying to get at a given exposure/aperture setting because it's too blurry/no tripod, then you can increase your shutter speed (lower your exposure time) which would darken your shot - but then increase your ISO which would lighten it. You play with those to get it how you want. After a while you'll figure out which typical settings tend to work best under certain conditions for whatever type of shots for your particular setup and style. Don't forget to shoot in RAW format to make the most of any editing that you might like to do afterwards. There's tons of really great edits you can do really quickly that can make or break the shot.

you might find that in certain conditions, you can't make the shot because you need to shoot the ISO way too high even if your aperture is set wide open and your shutter speed is set as fast as you can handle without it being blurry. this would probably be in pretty poorly lit places or during the evening/night. you can find places to set down your camera and thus allow a longer exposure without being blurry, or use a trpiod, or use a better camera/lens. A full-frame camera might offer faster low light performance over a crop sensor. A fixed lens would typically offer a lower f-stop aperture at a faster shutter speed for less money compared to your average telephoto/zoom lens.

It's all pretty straightforward once you get your head wrapped around the basics. Go out and take a shot and see how it looks. Start tweaking up or down your exposure, aperture and ISO and take another shot. Rinse and repeat to familiarize yourself with exactly how each setting impacts your results so that you get used to it, and can attain the type of shot that you're trying to get when you have the occasion.



People here will surely correct me wherever i'm mistaken, but this is the general idea, you can read tons online about the above and mostly it's just practicing and getting used these concepts to be second nature that will help you start really enjoying photography.

as for specific camera recommendations - if you like a point and shoot, RX100 or LX7 are very well reviewed. For mirrorless cameras there are tons of options there too but I don't have much experience there... for actual DSLRs, you can't go wrong with most but like others have said you buy into a platform, so there's that. I went with Nikon, I have a friend that was into Canon.. both excellent.

There are frequently deals on kits (camera body + kit lens +sometimes more) for $300. Keep your eyes open for those deals. At $300, a DSLR is a friggin steal.

What a fantastically useful post! I'm printing this out, will be a nice cheat sheet

My nex 5n was delivered yesterday (used, $268 with tax) with all accessories included (I was worrying about the flash) - what a great little camera! Since it didn't include a manual I"m hunting and pecking a bit, is the lcd screen kinda dim or do I just not know how to set the brightness? That sorta quibbles, but the camera's just lovely and the photos unusually sharp and vivid even on full auto.

Thanks for your primer on shutter/aperture/ etc. Here's my dumb question about f stops. Why wouldn't you just shoot at the lowest f-stop possible? My kit lens goes down to f3.5, why would I set it higher if that just seems to increase grain and reduce depth of field?

 

[CuriousMike]

Sony has all their manuals online.
Note the 5N has a firmware update - don't know what it includes, but you should review.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=NEX5N&LOC=3#/howtoTab

 

[AkumaX]

What a fantastically useful post! I'm printing this out, will be a nice cheat sheet

My nex 5n was delivered yesterday (used, $268 with tax) with all accessories included (I was worrying about the flash) - what a great little camera! Since it didn't include a manual I"m hunting and pecking a bit, is the lcd screen kinda dim or do I just not know how to set the brightness? That sorta quibbles, but the camera's just lovely and the photos unusually sharp and vivid even on full auto.

Thanks for your primer on shutter/aperture/ etc. Here's my dumb question about f stops. Why wouldn't you just shoot at the lowest f-stop possible? My kit lens goes down to f3.5, why would I set it higher if that just seems to increase grain and reduce depth of field?

Awesome! Have fun with it!

As far as f-stops, sometimes you want a larger depth of field. Group photos or landscape pics some into mind.

And raising the f-stop value doesn't 'increase' grain. Only raising ISO increases grain. If, according to current lighting, by raising f-stop, the camera will compensate with balancing the EV value by reducing shutter speed and raising the ISO. If the camera dictates a certain shutter speed, then it will raise ISO a lot higher...

 

[Throckmorton]

What a fantastically useful post! I'm printing this out, will be a nice cheat sheet

My nex 5n was delivered yesterday (used, $268 with tax) with all accessories included (I was worrying about the flash) - what a great little camera! Since it didn't include a manual I"m hunting and pecking a bit, is the lcd screen kinda dim or do I just not know how to set the brightness? That sorta quibbles, but the camera's just lovely and the photos unusually sharp and vivid even on full auto.

Thanks for your primer on shutter/aperture/ etc. Here's my dumb question about f stops. Why wouldn't you just shoot at the lowest f-stop possible? My kit lens goes down to f3.5, why would I set it higher if that just seems to increase grain and reduce depth of field?

You have the depth of field backwards. The wider aperture (lower f stop number) the shallower the DOF. You use a smaller aperture

The aperture I believe is objective lens size divided by f number. So think of f3.5 as 1/3.5th the diameter you see at the front of the lens. If you go up to f7, it's 1/7th the diameter. That lets in 1/4 the light but gives thicker depth of field.

Most lenses aren't sharp wide open, so you have to use a smaller aperture for more sharpness, up to a point. Usually you get most sharpness in the middle of the aperture range.