Any Suggestions ?

D 8 RCS

VIP Member
VIP Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
3,035
Reaction score
4,052
Location
Still Lost and Looking for a Better Place.
My daughter is doing Photography at college and they use the Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera with an 18-55mm Lens Kit, which my daughter finds a nice camera to use.
As she has decided to continue with a 2nd year on the course we would have liked to have got her one of these but even 2nd hand we are finding them too expensive, could anyone suggest anything similar that we may find at a reasonable 2nd hand price ?
Thank you inadvance to everyone.
 
Going to need your max budget.

For example:
There's a Nikon D3000 body+battery only (no charger, no lens) on ebay at the moment for £120 BIN.
18-55 lenses on ebay run from £40 to £120 (£120 is the new price)
Charger is less than £10 from Amazon Marketplace.
Camera strap is <£5 (although I'd recommend a neoprene strap for ~£15)
Camera bag ~£5
Total: £180 - £270

Worth having a look here, but take note of what is included accessories with each camera and any warranty offered:
Used Nikon DSLR Cameras - Used Cameras - Wex Photographic

If you have a local car boot sale, go have a nose round.
 
Thanks @little_pob I think we will have to watch out for a Body+Battery first at about the £120 to £150 mark and the hopefully Lenses later.
Are there other makes of DSLRs with a similar spec to the Nikon D3100 that are worth considering ?
And of course are there any makes/brands that should be avoided ?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Due to the nature of SLR you are buying into the marque, i.e. Nikon lenses aren't going to fit a Canon body and so on.

Traditionally, Nikon lenses tend to cost more than Canon. Canon's bodies tend to cost more than Nikon's. Both Canon and Nikon have more models than Sony and Pentax. 3rd party lenses are available for all 4 marques.

I'm not sure on the specs of the D3100, but at the entry level end of the market they all tend to have similar specs anyway. One may have a larger ISO range, another a larger megapixel rating.

There are no marques to avoid, but there can be a bit of snobbery when it comes to Nikon and Canon over the likes of Sony and Pentax. However, this tends to be from people that would sell their grandmother to buy a Leica ;) The thing to remember is, ultimately it's not the camera, but the photographer.
 
You don't really need to break the bank for a dslr, i got a canon 400d 10.2 mp for £85 and an 18-55mm IS lens for £50, Check out Ebay there's 100's to choose from, only buy from a 100% seller, Sony a100/200's can go for as little as £120 with a lens, they have built in image stabilization as well plus the lens's go back 20 years so older (and better) lenses can be used (particularly prime lenses)

Don't be fooled over the megapixel size either, 10 pm is plenty and will print A3 size without loss of definition.

Another alternative is Pentax K's they can use older lenses as well without adapters due to the focus drive being built into the body (unlike Canon and Nikon)
 
keep you eye on the local gumtree mate
this way you can take you daugher to view and test . makes sense over ebay
and also can get a bit of a better deal . just remember with gumtree its cash on collection
 
something to keep in mind is that the entry level Nikons D40,3000,3100,3200,5000,5100 etc etc don't have servos in the body for AF. in that case you need to buy lenses with the servo built into the lens, which means they cost a bit more than a lens without servos. as for prices of cameras ,sometimes used prices in the uk are more than buying new from hong kong . I know its gray market but there are some good companies out there who give you the same warrenty as you would get in the uk.
 
Back
Top