hey all
i quite fancy getting into this photography lark.
how much is a budget slr camera with body and lense and what would you recomend?

cheers boothy

I'd recomend going to a decent shop (I highly recomend Jacobs) and seeing what feels right. For starters you'll need a body, kit lens/nifty-fifty prime, memory card and probably some sort of bag/case. What sort of things do you think you want to photomagraph? Or is that an unknown at the moment - I know it was for me.

I use a Panasonic Lumix TZ7, for a compact the results are stunning.

The olympus e-600 is pretty good for a beginner (I am one too), Dixons have it for £498 with an additional lense (40 -150mm).

Hobgob.

cheers guys.
this was all started when i was using schools nikon d60 i think xD

What you need is a second hand camera - something like a Sony Alpha A100 with kit lens. I reckon you could pick one of these up for around £100 from a sunny place in the north of Scotland. I don't know of anybody sane enough to sell one........

Al

PS - I lied. Choose what bit to believe.......

If you want a brand new camera then look at the Sony and Olympus offerings (maybe Pentax too) as they offer a bit more value than the more popular Canon and Nikons.

The downside is that Canon and Nikon tend to have more lens support and 3rd party support. If you dont heavily invest in one particular brand or format then its not so much of an issue but if you start to upgrade to expensive lenses down the line its going to be much harder to swap.

(some kit is on backorder at this store but its a good example of what is out there)
Olympus
E-520 with 14-42mm £349 - built in image stabilisation to the camera body so you dont need VR lenses
E-520 with 14-42mm and 40-150mm £441 plenty or range on the twin kit lenses to get you going
E-620 with 14-42mm + battery grip + extra battery £581 - bit of a bargain with the extra kit
Sony - cashback offers make some of this a bit of a bargain!
A230 with 18-55mm + cashback offer £342
A230 with 18-55mm and 75-300mm + £100 cashback £499
A380 with 18-55mm + £70 cashback £492
A380 with 18-55mm and 75-300mm + £120 cashback £619

I'm not so keen on the Canon 1000D and Nikon D3000. They're very much 'beginner' and you'd probably outgrow them quite quickly. The marketing blurb for the D3000 even says "The Nikon D3000 plus 18-105mm VR is designed for anyone who wants to take pictures without worrying about settings". Not quite the DSLR experience then. Because of that I havent included the cheapest models from Canon and Nikon.

Canon
450D with 18-55mm £494 - Image Stabilisation Lens as its not built into camera body
500D with 18-55mm £569 - IS lens
450D with 18-55mm and 55-250mm £683 - IS lenses
Nikon
D5000 with 18-55mm £518 - VR lens

Erm, why will he need a prime lens?
To start off any mid-range lens will do, learn what the camera can do, what your style of photography is going to be then expand your gear from that knowledge.

Mark

Sorry - I was suggesting one or t'other, not both!

This is currently the front runner for my next camera...

This would be in addition to your proper film cameras, I presume?

Yup. It'll allow me to do more for work - the 720p capability is playing a big part in it. And to collect many more images for, say, stock photo libraries...
It's offering a lot of bang for the buck, as far as I can tell. I need to get down to a camera store and have a play.
I will, however, be holding onto the film bodies.

Yeah, you say that now...
:D