Recommend older but still good kit for a beginner sub £400

[Merlin1736]

Hi folks,

I’ve been going to various UK Airshows for a few years now, and have only used an Olympus point and shoot, so think it’s about time I upgraded a bit, but there’s no way I can justify £1000 + worth of kit.

As per the subject header, I wonder if you experienced guys could recommend a half decent, older and cheaper DSLR setup, that will still give me reasonable results. I’d like something that works well for UK skies (I.e. Cloudy), and if possible not to heavy or complicated.

Many thanks

Carl
(Derbyshire)

[elterwater]

This is currently my second shooter combo for airshows alongside my D610/200-500mm.

Nikon D7000 - £204:
https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipmen ... ku-796129/

Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR - £184:
https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipmen ... ku-776003/

Stretch a bit more to the D7100 and you'll go from 16MP to 24MP which will allow you to crop better and preserve the quality.
https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipmen ... ku-795781/

[Merlin1736]

Elterwater, thanks for your reply, that’s just the sort of info I’m after. I’ve been looking at a Fuji XT1 which secondhand is reasonable, but I imagine the lenses are expensive.

[flashman8]

Elterwater, thanks for your reply, that’s just the sort of info I’m after. I’ve been looking at a Fuji XT1 which secondhand is reasonable, but I imagine the lenses are expensive.

You may be able to assemble an outfit by buying second hand gear from these two places that I have used in the past, with no problems at all....

https://ffordes.com/

http://www.mifsuds.com/

hope this helps...........

[Merlin1736]

Thanks Flashman8, I’ll take a look at them, cheers

[wallace]

5D mk 1

[Jakesplanes]

I’d agree with the d7000 I still use mine as backup to my 7200. For a cheap lense, consider the tamron 70-300, good bang for the buck.

[Merlin1736]

Thanks for your comments guys

[rockfordstone]

as above, if you can get a D7100 and a tamron 70-300 you will be golden.

that said, i also got good results off a D5200 and tamron 70-300, so also worth a look.

the D7000 range a great camera for the price point, i've got 2 D7200s because i rate it so highly

[LN Strike Eagle]

If you wanted to go the Canon route, something like an EOS 50D or 60D with the EF 70-300 IS is a competent starter setup.

I can send you some example shots taken with that combination (50D) if you wish.

[speedbird2639]

People's advice seems to be focusing on which camera body to chose but I was always led to believe that the lens was the more important part of the package. Once a poor lens has deteriorated the light coming through no matter what body is on the end of it you will still have a poor photo.

So my advice would be decide what lens you would like to use/ can afford and then spend the balance on the camera body.

[flashman8]

No point spending loads a good camera body only to be able to afford to put a milk bottle on the front, its all about compromise.........camera bodies are replaced or upgraded by the makers more often than the lens............

I still use my Sony A700 that I bought 11 years ago, only recently have I invested in a Sony G lens............

[Merlin1736]

People's advice seems to be focusing on which camera body to chose but I was always led to believe that the lens was the more important part of the package. Once a poor lens has deteriorated the light coming through no matter what body is on the end of it you will still have a poor photo.

So my advice would be decide what lens you would like to use/ can afford and then spend the balance on the camera body.

Many thanks for your input, as a beginner I have no idea what lense I would like to use, other than getting the best zoom ( I presume autofocus ??) I can, and a camera that’s not to complicated to use, for the budget I’ve got. I’ve tried researching what I need, but it’s all gobbledegook to me !

[tom tiger]

Hi,

It all depends what you want to do. I could recommend loads of things, but I'm not you.... so any recommendation would be ... less then perfect

Personally I started out much like you, point and shoot, then my dads camera, then I choose my first good SLR (yes ... film days and my first slr from canon turned out to be a bad choice, bought a better one few years later) and then moved on to digital, the good old 300D (shot loads of shots with that). But I digress.

If I were you, you're not, I would go to a camera store and just have a look at the entry level kits. Canon 4000 with kit lens for instance (or the 1300) and a Tamron 70-300 VC di usd (has been mentioned before), it's a kit that won't break the bank and still has a pretty solid performance. It gets you into photography for airshows. The kit lens is a step up from your point and shoot (assuming it is a "normal point and shoot" and not a high level one). Any Canon lens there is, is either EF or EF-s (let's not go the earlier canon route) there are load to choose from. But with a good kitlens (the 18-55 or 18-135) you go a long way. With that you got the static covered. I've choosen the Tamron 70-300 VC di usd for a reason, it is a solid performer. It is one I bought second hand and I still grab back to it cause it is such a nice handy all round lens and it has an image stabilizer. And will cover take-offs and landings easily. Want more reach? 100-400 (Tamron and Sigma being the cheapest here but way over your budget)
And don't forget a camera bag or backpack... often on the bottom of the list... but still, you got to protect your gear a litte

Offcourse it doesn't have to be Canon, Nikon is great too So is Sony. I chose Canon a long time ago for 2 reasons, loads of lenses and I could use a convertor ring to use all my old M42 stuff (of which I still have Loads ) Just go out.... have a look, have a feel and see what you want. It's about you, you are going to shoot with it. And you still got time before the airshow seasons start. No rush, just look, compare and see what you need.

[Merlin1736]

TT Thanks very much for your reply, and sorry for the delay in responding ( I don’t seem to get notified of reply’s, although that option is set up !! ). All food for thought, and much appreciated

[tom tiger]

Hi, No prob, I'm not getting the reply notifications either (probably a setup error on my part or some spambox thing). But to be honest work has been getting the better of me lately.

[Merlin1736]

Hi again, just an update on my situation so far.

One of the lads at work has lent me a Canon EOS 7D, which was his departed Dads, and hasn't been used for a couple of years. It comes with an EFS 15-85mm lens, battery grip with 2 batteries, charger, camera bag and a 32Gb CF card. I know the lens is no were near what I need for Airshows, but it might just do me for BSB/WSB bike racing that I also go to.

It's a complicated beast, and I find it to heavy with the grip, so will probably use it without, although I would need to get a replacement battery cover, as that has been removed.

As I've no idea how to fully check if everything is working, I followed a guide on DP Review https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53923105 which explains in great detail what to do. Everything was going OK, (I even managed to get gPhoto to work on Linux to give me the shutter count, which is around 10,000), until it came to checking out the sensor,and I seem to have a small mark towards the bottom right of the screen. As I don't have another lens to check it with, I don't know for sure if the mark is on the sensor or the lens, if it's the sensor, the guide I've been following says they sometimes won't come clean or may even get damaged, but I just wonder if it's going to be noticeable ??

Anyway, the lad is asking £200, I know it's an old model by todays standards, but it looks enough of a challenge for me to master.

What do you guys think ?

Many thanks for your time

[danspuggti]

although I would need to get a replacement battery cover, as that has been removed.

The cover has to be removed to use the grip, but check the original camera battery cover isn't attatched to the part of the grip that goes into the camera.

I have a 7D Mkii and the original camera battery cover clips to the 'stem' of the battery grip so as it doesn't get lost.

[Merlin1736]

I have a 7D Mkii and the original camera battery cover clips to the 'stem' of the battery grip so as it doesn't get lost.[/quote]

There's a slot for it, but no cover unfortunately, thanks for the tip though.

[Paul_Reflex]

You should definitely buy this set up, the 7D is a fantastic older camera and the 15-85 is a great lens which fetches a really decent price still. I had many happy air shows with it for statics. For a longer lens there are loads of economical choices, perhaps a tamron or sigma 100-400, a Canon 100-400 mk 1 or a canon 400mm f5.6.

[Merlin1736]

You should definitely buy this set up, the 7D is a fantastic older camera and the 15-85 is a great lens which fetches a really decent price still. I had many happy air shows with it for statics. For a longer lens there are loads of economical choices, perhaps a Tamron or Sigma 100-400, a Canon 100-400 mk 1 or a Canon 400mm f5.6.

Thanks for the info, I suppose my only concern is the dust/smudge I think might be on the sensor. From what I've read, they can be a problem to clean, unfortunately I don't have another lens to try to see if the mark is on the sensor or on the lens. Not sure if it's much of a big deal or not.

[LN Strike Eagle]

Can you post a pic that shows the dust/smudge?

[D90Man]

Not sure if Canon's can do this (I'm a Nikon user) but I pretty sure you must be able to.

Remove the lens, set everything to manual on the camera and take a photo. If the smudge appears, then it's on the sensor - if not, then its on the lens.

Do it all the time to check for dust spots on my equipment.

HTH

Best

Leon

[Merlin1736]

Can you post a pic that shows the dust/smudge?

Hi,

I was following the guide just over a week ago, and have since deleted the pics, so have just taken another one, and now I can't see a mark !! There was definitely something there last time, as it moved as I panned across the camera screen, and I tried pointing the camera down whilst turning off and on to clean the sensor as the guide suggested........oh well perhaps it was just me

[Merlin1736]

Not sure if Canon's can do this (I'm a Nikon user) but I pretty sure you must be able to.

Remove the lens, set everything to manual on the camera and take a photo. If the smudge appears, then it's on the sensor - if not, then its on the lens.

Hi, thanks for the tip, I wasn't sure if it was ok to take a pic without the lens on, but just tried it with the camera on P setting (not sure if that was correct), and again checked it out zoomed in on the camera screen, and it seems to be ok, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing.