I'm a beginner in photography

[Alan78]

Hello,
I'm just beginning in photography and I would like to know with what camera could i begin ?
What the different types of camera ? I would like to spend 300$ max.
Thank you for your help.

[Geneo]

This is probably one of the toughest questions a beginner could ask. And every person answering this will have a different answer... and none will be wrong.

Of course you should start out with a SLR, a 18-55 kit lens and a 70-300 tele lens, that bodies come and go but glass lasts forever, get a beginners body and you can always upgrade it later, but you must have at least aperture and shutter priority modes. Yu do not want a used camera. You want one that you can keep for a while and grow into. Starting with a older, used camera puts you behind the 8-ball in the first place.

Now, can you get all that for $300? No.

However, what you can do is get some thing that you will do almost the same thing as an SLR, and give you the modes you need and the mega pixels to produce nice pictures. These aren't SLR's, but they're not point-and-shoots either!
You can check out the following:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35
Fujifilm FinePix S4000
Nikon Coolpix S8100
Kodak EASYSHARE Z981
Canon PowerShot SX210 IS

All of these are current and less than $300. Some are better than others, please do your research!

That $300 limitation is a big one. Even a couple of hundred more will make a big difference on which camera you can get and will give you quite a few more options.

[Patey]

Like Gene says, there will be many answers to this question and I've got a different one. I think you should look at the used market. You can buy a cheap DSLR body and kit lens and begin to learn the basics.
I bought a mint Canon 20D, as a spare, from Ebay for 150GBP (US$225) and used it quite alot whilst my other camera body was in for repair. The only difference is less MPs (not needed anyway) and a few bells & whistles, which you don't want to be bothered with when learning anyway.

Here's some of the shots.

http://www.proudphotography.com/foru...ead.php?t=7755
http://www.proudphotography.com/foru...ead.php?t=7738

Not taken with a kit lens but you get the drift.

This is for sale in the UK but you'll find a similar thing where you are. This is the same as my first DSLR and I can recommend it.
http://tinyurl.com/6z4dxo7

[larwhi]

Yep, the 20D is hard to beat for a nice dslr to learn on and heck it is capable of fine photographs, I kept mine til recently and probably will miss it! Might be able to get one for less now, on eBay I noticed they have come down again recently. (check seller's feedback carefully, just a thought).

[gacop]

If you descide to put an extra $150.00 into it you can get a beginners DSLR ( Nikon D3000 Kit ). If you get a used one you can probably hit the $300.00 mark. I have this kit and it is not that hard to learn with. I love it. This is my opinion.

[elliottimages]

If you want to be a photographer then you should try to capture more and more photographs. So that you can be a perfect in photography because practice makes man perfect.

[coffee]

You could probably pick up a used canon rebel DSLR and lens for around 300.00. This is the way I would go.

[ericer12]

If you can add more $200 than for around $500 can consider Canon XS or Nikon D3100. But for $300 I think you might have a look at some bridge cameras such as Nikon P500, Canon SX30IS or Panasonic FZ35.

[pipedesign]

Alan78,
All the replies are valid and the bottom line is that you can only afford what you can afford. I have made the mistake of buying too fast without shooting tons and tons of pictures to learn what I really needed.
All of my photo's more than about 12 months old were with high-end point-and-shoot camera's and many of them I am proud of.
The DSLR will allow you to experiment and try more new things. The artistrey of photography - technique and understanding of composition - is totally down to you, the photographer.

I only just got into a 'fancy' DSLR as a retirement gift to myself and love it, but have so very much to learn. I had and can recommend the Lumix too
If you have any doubts go look at the pics posted by member 'Kaye. She went to a DSLR this year but her pics before that are truly amazing, honestly.

Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can - Kaye didn't and I am sure there are many others too.

[johnd34]

I got a used Nikon D40 for 200 uk which is about $300. There were plenty on ebay to choose from and mine looked almost new when I got it.

On reflection the D40X would have given me a little more, but cost a little more.

all the best

John