Oh, anywhere between £50 and £6,000. Could you be a little more specific? :D

Wow, I never realised they varied so much! To be honest, I don't really know much about DSLRs or photography, so I'll have to do a bit more research.

Say if I wanted a macro lens, how much would that set me back, please?

Peter.

If you have to ask that question, you don't need a DSLR. Go for a "bridge" or top end compact instead.

I dont like the D40 (too old now in relation to the competition) so the cheapest DSLRs I know are:

Sony Alpha A200 with 18-70mm lens £298 (approx 35mm equiv 28-110mm)

Olympus E-420 with 14-42mm lens £297 (approx 35mm equiv 28-85mm)

Samsung GX-10 (Pentax) with 18-55mm £299 or with 18-55mm and 50-200mm £319 (Limited stock at Park Camera)

A decnt one - £200 upwards.

You can be clever and combine uses to reduce the number of lenses/cost

A 70mm macro on a APS-C sized sensor would be equivalent to around 110mm on 35mm (1.6x crop) so could double as a portrait lens too.

e.g. Sigma 70mm F/2.8 Macro
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product ... ku=1013807

If you want a decent zoom I have one that would fit a Nikon camera that I could let you have cheap. (8+)

Mark

Hmmmm. A few points here. Firstly, have you considered 2nd hand? Can't remember what I sold my 400D for (Mark, can you remember???) but that sort of thing'd be a nice start. As well as offering a wider selection of shots to choose from, you can get much better quality. Invest in decent glass, and only upgrade the body as and when you need to (He says, having bought a rather nice body after not-quite two years , albeit at a very generous and reasonable price!). Other accessories to consider at a later date are a tripod, filters, a flash...

A basic camera and kit lens is a good place to start, and firstly you just need to master all of the controls on it. Then I'd buy a good quality, nifty-fifty lens, which for the Canon system is about £80. Worry about other things after that.

One thing that's vital to remember is that you're not buying a camera, if you want to take this further - you're buying into a system. I wanted a Canon, because I could understand the lens range , although I was open-minded and willing to learn about other systems when I bought. The fact that there was the option of moving to a full-frame sensor, and that it just felt better in my hands at the price point I was entering at meant that was the system I invested in. Go to a decent shop (Jacobs stores are very good, and won't try and oversell you), and ask questions, look at what's available, and get a feel for all the options in front of you.

Edd

I think it was £270, but that was with spare battery and a filter thrown in too. Not sure if you included anything else.

Mark

A memory card and possibly some other odds and ends, but ta. (Also, have you seen my reply to your FB message? Sorry so vague - really got a lot of stuff on top of me atm, but I promise I'll get things sorted soon - we're past MUMU levels of deadness here)

Edd

On a related note: Sony, Olympus and Samsung DSLRs; I'm assuming they will be able to take 3rd party lenses? All I'm seeing is canon/nikon fit... and sometimes sigma fit

Edit: Scratch that, I've just found ones with different mounts. Ignore me...

Mark: what lens would that be?

Thanks for all of your advice, guys and girls.

It's all a bit pricer than I originally anticipated. I'll certainly keep my eye out for one

Peter.

Sony is what Minolta/Konica was and Samsung uses it own and a massive range of Pentax. I know they're not as popular as the Nikon/Canon ranges but there's plenty of support is you fancy an alternative.

It's an as new AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm 3.5-4.5G DX lens.

Mark

Ah K. Already have the 18-55 kit lens so I'll pass on that.

But if you can find a cheap body, pg2114, it will be worth a look.