Support NeoGAF

[Wellscha]

Hello DSLR GAF,

The birthday of a very good friend of mine is coming up in a month's time, and I'd like to buy him a DSLR camera. The problem is, I have no idea what to buy him. He mostly uses his iPhone camera and accumulated over 200GB of photos in the last 4 years. Lately, he's been complaining about color reproduction, fuzzy-ness and ghosting when ever he points and shoots with his phone.

So I want to get him a camera that would blow his mind with picture quality, very easy to use, not bulky, and would last him for years to come (just buying lenses).

Oh, and no more than $600 please.

Thanks.

 

[entremet]

DSLRs are pretty bulky. Has he mentioned he wants one? Everyone I know with a DSLR just collects dust lol, except during vacations.

I say this b/c he's coming from a camera phone.

 

[captive]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144603
There's the official camera equipment magathread. Posting cause people still seem to be just now learning about it, so the more the merrier. Also a lot of us have it subscribed so we see it, this thread may drop off and not be seen.



Any entry level canikon should work? Nikon D3100, or whatever?
Pretty much any modern camera is good.

 

[Row]

That's a lot of money to spend on a friend for their birthday, but good choices are the Nikon D3100 as mentioned or the Canon T2i or T3i

 

[Wellscha]

DSLRs are pretty bulky. Has he mentioned he wants one? Everyone I know with a DSLR just collects dust lol, except during vacations.

I say this b/c he's coming from a camera phone.

It's supposed to be a surprise gift.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144603
There's the official camera equipment magathread. Posting cause people still seem to be just now learning about it, so the more the merrier. Also a lot of us have it subscribed so we see it, this thread may drop off and not be seen.



Any entry level canikon should work? Nikon D3100, or whatever?
Pretty much any modern camera is good.

Thanks. I'll ask over there.

That's a lot of money to spend on a friend for their birthday, but good choices are the Nikon D3100 as mentioned or the Canon T2i or T3i

We're tight, and thanks.

 

[triplestation]

canon t2i thread

 

[mrkgoo]

Anything is fine. You pretty much can't buy a bad camera.

As far as dslrs go, you're getting into a system, so I recommend getting whatever his friends have.

Question is whether a salt is really suited. What kinda if photos does he shoot? Does he need portability? A dslr can be large and bulky meaning people might not take them places, which equates it to being the most worthless camera.

 

[Aurongel]

If he's accustomed to an iPhone camera then perhaps you should look into mirrorless cameras like the Sony NEX series:

 

[The Last Wizard]

canon t2i thread

I love my t2i but like the guy above mentioned size is annoying, I don't plan on investing in another dslr any time soon since this was quite he investment.

 

[$h@d0w]

The main thing I'd like to point out about the DSLR is that it's something you consciously have to take out and drop into a bag, the car etc. With the body and a few lenses it might become something of a chore.

For someone getting serious about photography, I'd say a DSLR is definitely the way to go for a first "real" camera. You'll be able to work your way from being an absolute beginner to intermediate/expert level with the Canon or Nikon suggestions already made above. There's so much to learn with a DSLR body and a few lenses.



Given that he's taken so many pictures on the iPhone and might not want to start lugging around a big setup, might I suggest you look at premium compact cameras instead of a DSLR. The Sony RX100 or Fujifilm X20 are premium compacts I would recommend. They're reasonably small and offer excellent image quality and an all round featureset. They won't be quite as good as a DSLR in terms of responsiveness though (DSLRs are generally in their own class for this).



I have a bit of a wildcard recommendation as well, the Canon EOS-M:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2BVCO0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

At $350 with a zoom lens this is a great bargain because it contains the same image sensor as the Canon DSLRs (so you'll get pictures very close in quality to the entry level Canon DSLRs) and it also has a full touchscreen interface. It's been heavily discounted because at launch it had some speed issues that have now been fixed by a firmware update. I would get this if you foresee your friend not really changing his picture taking habits from the point and shoot attitude but wants high quality images. The "pro" controls are all touchscreen based on this camera (it has touch to focus and shoot) and that's what I quite like about this camera - you can go full auto in a "iPhone" like way or dig a bit deeper for the settings.



Hope this helps.

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

You can't buy a bad DSLR, so pick one. Keep the receipts since your hands aren't his hands.

Spoiler

$600 for a present that isn't for me?! I feel poor-ish.

With the body and a few lenses it might become something of a chore.

Hot tip: leave the lenses and the bag home and go out with the camera and the single lens that's on it.

 

[grap3fruitman]

5D Mark IIInotbeinghelpfulonpurpose