cameras from littlewoods

Well,
I for one assumed you were stuck with Littlewoods because you had some sort of deal, 25% off or similar.
So, if paying weekly monthly is your wish, then go for an entry level Dslr, preferably 2nd hand (If you can get finance for it). You need to “Cut your teeth” on something cheap, then move up as your finances and skills allow.

BTW, I’ve been taking pictures for 35 years, have won Photographer of the year at two seperate camera clubs, had a couple of pics published…….but some of the shots on here, done by the profs, are far superior than any of mine and are better than can be found in some magazines. Aspire to that level, but to get there needs a lot of experience and a darn good camera and even better lenses. The prices of some of the kit used on here would get you a decent NEW car.

No not bold at all, if you know the facts.I have owned nikon gear and olympus so i am in a position to comment, and yes unless you are willing to fork out big on nikkor glass the olympus zuiko glass is far superior and thats only their prosumer glass.Alot of canikons people use the zuiko(olympus glass) on their cameras with the help of filters.The crop factor, no its not limiting at all, you only really notice the x2 crop factor on the tele lenses otherwise, its nots really going to make a difference as its only another x.4 more crop than canon and nikon.I know they are not the only good cameras out there, but are the most wide spread, then comes sony, olympus, sigma , panasonic, leica, samsung.

I have often thought that a 2x crop factor is to much, like you say very helpful for aircraft in flight but for any other type of photography, including static aircraft, pretty limiting IMO.

The lens quality is superior to anything that canon or nikon will offer without having to spend 1000’s on their pro lenses

Thats a very bold statement to make and also Canon and Nikon arnt the only ‘good’ cameras out there

Its complicated and changes from brand to brand , but you need to get the sensor dimensions such as diagonal, width , height and area all measurements of the sensor in mm’s.The end results for prosumer cameras from nikon is x 1.52, canon x 1.62 and olympus/panasonic x 2.0(as oly and pany use the same sensors).It means carrying lighter lenses with longer range than the competition and you get closer pics with the same quality than the “big two”.

just out of interest Pilatus how do you work out the crop factor?

If you can get your finances sorted and are going to buy, then my advice would be, look at the lens first and find an approriate camera body.Alot of people will dismiss this but dont listen to them, as most Dslr’s that have around 10MP dont have glass that can make proper use of the full resolution, so its not that important, also you’ll out grow your camera, but you’ll always have your lens to clip on a new camera.I for instance use olympus cameras, with olympus lenses and Sigma.The lens quality is superior to anything that canon or nikon will offer without having to spend 1000’s on their pro lenses, and as a bonus the crop factor is x2, i.e if you use a 70-300mm it turns into 140-600mm on an olympus, quite usefull for airshows!

Superzoom vs D-SLR, my experience….

Hi Scott,

I started with one of the “super zoom” digicams, and yes they are small, light, fairly easy to use in “auto” mode etc, and yes – like all diigcams they eat batteries – I would recommend your first investment (apart from a memory card of course) would be a decent set of high capacity rechargable batteries and a recharger – they will quickly save you money as opposed to single use non-rechargeable batteries. By the thrid or fourth re-charge you’ll be saving money.

I started off with a Fuji S5500 (6Mp, 10x Zoom IIRC) some five years ago, and it took good photos once I knew how to get the best from it. Given time and practice I think any of the current 15x (?) superzoom models from Kodak, Canon or Fuji etc will all give you photos that are okay, but they will never compete with the images you would get from a D-SLR. One important tip re super-zoom models, don’t be fooled by the degree of “digital zoom” a camera offers – the important thing is the degree of optical zoom, as any level of digital zoom will immediately start to erode image quality, whereas optical zoom will not.

When I moved up (or back) to D-SLR after the Fuji (I went for a Canon EOS 350D, based on thirty years happy use of Canon film SLRs before going digi), my intial results were poor – partly because I was using an old budget priced zoom lens on the body, and partly because the D-SLR is much more dependent on the user knowing how to get the best from it – yes it will still have a full “AUTO” mode, but that makes lots of assumptions about the scene you are photographing, and I find it far better to use one of the manual settings so that I can choose some/all of the camera settings beforehand. At a later date I purchased a better Canon IS lens, and now my photos are half decent, but I’d still hesitate to post them here as they just aren’t as good as many I see from other forum users.

Good photography is not just about having a good camera, it is about knowing your subject (and how it behaves), knowing your camera (and how to get the best from it under many differnt conditions), both take loads and loads of practice. Yes decent gear and lenses help, and without them you’d struggle to get photos of the quality we see here, but equally, even with decent gear it is very easy to take a load of cr@p photos, whilst a good photo can be taken on a low tech camera if it is used well.

The good thing about digital is that you can practice over and over again, save the best and, perhaps, the worst results (both are useful for learning what did/ did not work), then you can empty/wipe the memory card and start all over again.

So, go for the best camera you can afford – if you can afford a D-SLR go for it, but unless and until you can get a zoom or telephoto lens of over 250mm focal length you may find results will be disappointing as you will have to digitally zoom in on the image. If you cannot afford a D-SLR, go for a well known make of “”pro sumer” super-zoom. In the latter case it will always act as a “back up” or spare camera once you move up to a D-SLR later. When I travel on business I haven’t usually got room for my EOS 350D and spare lenses in my cabin baggage, so I often take the Fuji S5500 and make the best of it while I am away.

And as others have said, don’t go for one large memory card, go for more smaller cards or you risk major disappointment if it fails or gets lost (also downloading anything over a 2Gb card to your PC can take a while!). Shop around online for rechargeable batterirs (even for D-SLRs – you can find unbranded battery packs far cheaper then original branded items and in my experience they work just as well).

Most of all, whichever camera you end up with, get out there and get using it – and for goodness sake take it out of the “AUTO” mode and start playing around with things like aperture and shutterspeed settings yourself! Try taking a photo in auto, then take the same photo again but in one of the manual modes, see how results compare, work out which is best for that situation and that subject etc etc.

Oh, and consdier second hand camera gear in decent photgraphers, EOS 350Ds etc are quite cheap second hand.

Also, I know it’s a very “old fashioned” approach, but why not save up for the gear first rather than buy and then pay it off afterwards – you’ll appreciate the camera much more when you get it if you don’t have to worry about paying for it for the next year.

Paul F

I think youll find most Camera/Electrical stores will offer a monthly pay option.The advantage of the high street is you can talk to the guys in the shop and actually handle the gear,you cant do this with a catalogue.Another advantage is you can haggle a bit on the high street it may not be much but I always try you never know if you dont ive it a go.Like I said buy some magazines and spend a day on the phone going through the ads.Also as Grey area pointed out,you will see an improvement but to get to the standards you see on here takes practice.I’ve been using film SLR for 17years but only switched to digital last summer and only now am I seeing the results i want.

i would love that, but i cant pay it off weekly, thats the problem

For the money i still think your much better off going for a look on ebay. some good deals to be got if you keep looking.
example below is what you want to look for ,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Digital-EOS-300D-Digital-Camera-with-E_W0QQitemZ180341541129QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN?hash=item180341541129&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A5|65%3A12|39%3A2|240%3A1318

hi guys, thanks for the tips, the reason im stuck with littlewoods is because i really cant just pull out money that high street shops are asking for, with littlewoods, i can pay off in weekly installments, ive just got to remember to pay this time 😀

the link i posted earlier is looking like the one i will be going for

i only have a 8MP digi cam at the moment….from a brand id never heard of till i purchased the camera, it was a quick buy for my sister as she was going on a battlefield tour with her school

it does the job, but doesnt have the quality i want, it also uses batteries like there is no tomorrow

i wont be going for the camera just yet as im still paying a computer off, i think i have around £120 left to pay

once thats done, ill be looking again 🙂

Sadly the weak £ as seen lens prices rocket up . allmost double in price in some cases from prices this time last year.

Look on EBAY and look at some of the 2nd hand stuff.
some good canon 350D 400ds with the kit 18-55 lens etc going for a few hundred pounds.
you will need a lens then of at leats 75-300mm basic models will set you back around £200+ at the present hight street prices , thou once again look on Ebay for a good 2nd hand model.

Many of the pictures that you see posted on sites like this have been taken by people who have spent years, and sometimes decades, building up their skill and experience.

Non-SLR cameras (like the Kodak and Panasonic range) – even those that look like DSLRs – cannot and do not produce the same image quality as a DSLR.

Grey Area

Very good points there and 2 things I didnt really think about until after my post. Regards the skill involved etc I have been guilty for many years now of not learning the trade properly seems like I never have the time in between doing other things and that is why my success rate is something like 15 to 20 % of the photos are useable and that I like them although I never delete any photos unless they are of feet etc ie gone off prematurely. 🙂

A point about look alike SLR yes they do not have the same quality but I use a Fuji Finepix and if I learnt how to use it properly then no doubt there would be some stunning photos from it. This is what my budget could afford. I plan to go onto a Canon or alike but for the minute I will stick with the Fuji. At my level it does everything I want it to and its easy to operate and light. Decent Zoom on it as well.

Anyhow I am going off the subject so will stop there.

Good luck with your purchase and do let us know how you get on and the results and your photos when you have them.

Oh one other good point is Dont go for a big capacity memory card go for several smaller ones ie 1 or 2 Gig because if you lose a big memory card with thousands of photos in it you will curse yourself. Not so bad if you have a card with a hundred or so photos in it.

By losing the card I mean it failing on you and not physically lost but I guess it amounts to the same thing.

And always back up to disc or something as soon as you can then you hav 2 copies stored.

Scott, there’s very important point that you should keep in mind.

Many of the pictures that you see posted on sites like this have been taken by people who have spent years, and sometimes decades, building up their skill and experience.

If you are under the impression that buying a DSLR will instantly enable you to produce images like those you see on Airliners.net and Jetphotos, then you are in for a disappointment. There are no quick fixes.

If you’re willing to take the time to learn to use your equipment properly then you will see a very dramatic increase in the quality of your pictures, but it will take place over time. Be patient, get out there and take lots of pictures and, most important of all, learn from your mistakes.

You also need some photo-editing software and to be prepared to take some time to learn the basics of photo-editing. Most DSLRs come with a basic photo-editing package on CD these days – the Canon range certainly does. As I said, no quick fixes.

Merlin 3945 and UPSMD11f have given you some useful advice, by the way. Non-SLR cameras (like the Kodak and Panasonic range) – even those that look like DSLRs – cannot and do not produce the same image quality as a DSLR with a mid-price lens and it really is worth paying out for an ‘entry-level’ DSLR and a reasonably priced (even 2nd-hand) zoom lens.

There are those who will tell you otherwise, and they are wrong. It’s that simple.

Let us know how you get on. 🙂

Well I would tend to go more for something like a Canon Eos 400D for starting out with and see where you want to go from there.

The reason being that the 400D is quite a reliable product now having gone through its teething stages and is quite a common camera to get lenses and other add ons for. Lenses and other parts should be cheaper due to how common a camera its is as people need to make their prices more appealing to get the business as there is more competition.

Littlewoods online came up with this.

Canon 400D

Although this does give you quite a small lens only 18-55 lenses are quite cheap for this camera and a decent second hand one wont cost an arm and leg.

Sigma Canon fit lens

This is the way I think I would do it. Others may disagree but listen to everyone the choose what you think will best suit your needs.

lenses should’nt be too dificult to find,buy a good camera magazine and check out the classifieds.Even 2nd hand there should be a decent selection and as most photographers take care of their equipment i doubt you will have any problems.of course Ebay is an option.If this is what you have bought then you could simply use a 2x converter to increase your 150mm to 300mm lens however i find quality drops a little and you need plenty of light.It’s a shame you were restricted to Littlewoods as for this kind of money i think you could have got something better,from Canon,Nikon or Sony.I’m not saying it’s a bad camera but 530 pound is a lot of money,and there is a big choice in that price range.

if i went for that one, any ideas how easy it would be to get lens’s, i want to be able to shoot pics like you guys do, but i wudnt know where to start :(:confused:

http://www.littlewoods.com/rf/p.do/electricals/digital-cameras/e420-10m-pixel-twin-lens-digital-slr-camera?groupId=526805882&Nu=this_product&SNtk=&Np=1&SN=154+4294484566&Ntt=526805882&D=526805882&Ntk=group_search&Dx=mode%2bmatchall&thisprod=491025137&N=154+4294484566&Nty=1&Mis_item_id=15&Mis_item_loc_id=1&product=491025137

Pity that you are stuck with Littlewoods.
The only camera they have for your needs is the (According to on-line Spring 09 cat.) is the Kodak 10mp, 15x Optical Zoom.
I used to have a similar camera (A lookalike DSLR) and I was very pleased with it. Mine was a Panasonic.