What camera ?

I've been using an Olympus digital SLR for five years now. Never seen a camera bring such colour to photos Personally that's the make I'd always go for.
DSLRs can be as technical as you want them, or as simple. I don't do all the technical stuff, other than a bit of night photography, so I can't advise what camera is best - it depends mostly on what you want it to be good at. There's no camera that is good at everything
My best tip is to get a good working copy of Photoshop. That'll mean you need no special lenses etc.

Thanks , any info is good and Olympus always rate well but wonder if the mags are always fair in their reviews as it always seems to end up with the big guns, nikon and olympus and wonder if that's fair or true.

I can't say what cameras are like today, but I spent about three months on and off researching SLRs when I was getting mine. Olympus fitted my requirements and even though it's five years old now, I love that camera. I was a complete novice when I started using it, but always found it fairly easy to use, even the technical settings.
I think the best you can do is to go into a camera shop, bring your own SD card, ask to take a few pictures with the cameras you're interested in and take your SD card home to compare. Practical testing of cameras is always what will give you the best results - you will have had a chance to have a play with the cameras before spending a lot of money
Good luck!

I looked at lots of reviews before I bought mine.
I love it, it's impossible to take a bad picture with it. I got a zoom lens too, for close ups, and some macro lenses for close-ups of bugs.
I'm saving up for a bigger zoom so I can take bird photos too.

Oh, and I saved a few quid by buying off eBay (new, boxed, 100% seller).

We've got Cannon 10D's, bought 2nd hand on ebay for about £100 3 years ago, not the latest or most up to date, but perfectly good cameras! I got mine as my birthday prezzie, then on the first proper trip out on it MrD decided he wanted a go, so after he had been playing with it for most of the day he decided he liked it so much he fancied one, so I ended up getting him one too! Sold my expensive and un-used racing bike in order to fund the purchases, and managed to but the body, 2 tripods and 6 lenses plus filters, bag etc with the proceeds from my bike

Ive been into photography since my early teens, having always had Canon, starting with an AE1Program, moving on to an A1, then onto an EOS600, then an EOS100 before moving into digital with the EOS10D.

I would definitely recommend Canon, never had a problem with them ever, but dont forget that your camera is only as good as the lenses you have, so with a budget of £500 I would definitely look at ebay for 2nd hand, you should be able to get at least an EOS 40D with at least 1 zoom lens, if you want to do macro work, then a dedicated MACRO lens is a must, we have a friend who lends me his 100mm Macro lens when I need it, which gives great piccies (although best to focus manually and then move your position to focus).

Good luck in findgin your dream DSLR!

I was always a Nikon gal - had A D80 which was fantastic, with a macro, normal 50mm and a telephoto lens - but sold them all in favour of a Mirco 4/3 camera 18 months ago. I found that the weight was just too much so I was ending up taking a compact camera out rather than the DSLR. Which defeated the object.

With the Micro 4/3 - I can get other lenses, I can use really old lenses bought for a snip on ebay as you can get adapters. Also, all M4/3 lenses are interchangeable with each others so I use a Panasonic lens on my Olympus camera. I also invested in a pinhole for the M4/3 company, so have a pinhole lens for it. It's just much more portable, versatile and user friendly than the DSLR market. I also bought a DSLR Magic lens which gives absolutely stunning macro shots, as the M4/3 is 99% of a DSLR without the SLR. As SLR means Single Lens Reflex, which means that you look through the viewfinder and position your shot, and when you press the button, the mirror moves up out of the way and the shot is taken. A Micro 4/3 doesn't have the mirror but a screen.

It also has the manual or auto approach, and photos taken with i-auto are stunning. It has all sorts of effects, from pinhole to low and hi key, it can dull the colour or enhance it - from pale shots to pop art. All in camera. So very little post processing.

I also have lots of other, film, cameras and with the onset of so many people able to take pictures all night all day with their phones - find that the low fi aspect is much more interesting than the Hi-fi gazillion pizels all bells and whistles approach. Hence my next camera will be this



Yummy.

*However I do it for fun, if I thought I was in it to try and make money I'd lose the fun aspect. Thea I think makes cash out of it and she will be the first to tell you how hard it is to make any money - esp if you haven't yet mastered the DSLR

I like to think of photography as a journey rather than a destination. If the destination is £ then I'm oot.

I have a Nikon D3100 bought last year with Nikon 55mm lens, Tamron 100-300 (Macro) zoom lens and a Sigma 150-500mm zoom. I have had really good pics - but the set up wasn't cheap. Yesterday something went wrong at my local bird reserve and the autofocus wouldn't work properly - took me an hour with the manuals and various fiddling to get it all working properly once I got home again.

That said Digital photography has brought me back into the photo world sometime after my old nikon SLRs were mothballed

As everyone else has said, try them if you can and pick what is right for you

I recommend you go into a shop and try a few out as SarrissUK has pointed out. My wife bought a Canon 30D and found it too heavy to do insect/butterfly photography where the camera has to be held still for long periods. She bought a 450D which is nearly half the weight after considering the miocro4/3rds cameras but that would have meant investing in another set of expensive lenses. So the feel of the camera in your hand is critical IMO. The upside is I got her 30D and we can share lenses.

Like Zaz, I am a Nikon gal - (actually I like Leicas - hence the pic- but we all can dream!!)
I have a D80 - its very old, in digital years - had it since it came out in (I think) 2006 - and its always been a fantastic camera.
I have heard great reviews of the newer models too.

I would recommend having a look at the second hand market - alot of people which more money than sense buy one and as soon as the next model comes out, trade up - so you could end up with a relitiely cheap camera in near perfect condition......

The Semi Pro EOS (10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D) arent light, as they have a metal chasis, whereas the entry level EOS DSLR range (300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, etc) are a lot lighter, but they have a grp chasis and iirc a less complex metering system, but I could be wrong here!

My 10D has the progrip/battery pack attached, so if fairly hefty, but it doesnt stop me taking pics, even macro is possible quite easily, if you get your stance right, for example, the 2 attached piccies were taken with my 10D and batt pack and a borrowed 100mm Macro lens, on manual focus, HTH!

Yes, my wife can get decent pictures but she will spend hours chasing butterflies and crouching down near a spider web or an insect on a plant and she found that eventually the weight was tiring which then becomes difficult to hold focus. Of course, a tripod would help but for moving subjects that's not so practical.

I have two friends who are photographers by trade. One has a Canon Eos, goes top of the range each time there's a new model. But then he's a pro snapper.
The other uses Leicas.
Me, I have a Sony Alpha with interchangeable lenses and I rather fancy an Olympus Pen.

Actually, she could have just got a Canon or Nikon adapter and used old lenses. But they probably didn't mention that at the time.

That's what I've got. EP-1. Fantastic camera.