Which is the best camera for beginner who want to learn photography. Is Nikon F60 a suitable camera for beginner?

-- GK Peck (peckgk@pacific.net.sg), April 04, 1999

Answers

Get the most expensive Nikon F5 or Canon EOS 1N or Leica R8 / M6. These are the BEST any person can get.
The brand is important as it will ultimately dictate what sort of system will be availabe to you later on when you progress: choice of lenses, flash and accessories etc. Also consider the special features that might interest you like image stablelizer which is only available for Canon users.
You can't really go wrong with the major brands like Canon and Nikon. Any of their SLR camera that gives you control over apeture and speed is good. The more expensive the camera, the better the features.
So how much can you afford?

-- Wee Keng Hor (weekh@singnet.com.sg), April 04, 1999.

If budget is not a problem to you. Buy the most expensive body and good lenses you can afford. If you have a tight budget, buy a resonably good body ( no need to be the top of the end) and the best lens you can afford. Eventually it's the lens quality that differentiate btween a good and a not so good picture. As for me, one of the factors in choosing a body is that it must have mirror lock as well as a depth of preview button/lever, other features are secondary.

-- Loh Wai Khong (waikhong@ime.org.sg), April 05, 1999.

I believe the key word here is " beginner". choose a camera which suits your budgets. the canon EOS 500n or the new 300 is a good choice. it comes with almost everthing u need as a beginner. As a beginner u need to know alot about the camera,thus the EOS 500n serves the purpose, it has a fully automode which is for basic photographer,a creative mode where u can put your more advance skill to work with the aperture and shutter speed priority and last of all a manual mode for that unlimited creative skill. It's sort of a all round row into one camera. And after u have master the basic or u decide to go into the finer details of a photographer "than" u could go for the pro camera without regrets cos your first camera could be use as your backup. U will know what i'm talking about after u have reach a cetain stage in photography. A Nikon F60 is not a bad choice either. It's just my opinion, think about it.

-- will Tan (willtan@magix.com.sg), May 09, 1999.

for beginer fm2n is the best choice. f60 is a good enough if you are not into creative work. if you taking photography course, you find that the f60 do not have many feature needed to complete your assignment. like multiple exposure, dof and bulb.

try look for a use body.

klgan

-- klgan (klgan@yahoo.com), December 19, 1999.

I bought the FM2 when I took my beginner's course in photography. Though I found it to be heavy initially (I have been using AF cameras prior to this) it is now a pleasure to own. Not only does my pictures are crisp but it also render a lot of other features eg multiple exposures when you want to be creative. Photography is an art so be as artistic as you want...create your pictures as you want to see them. I had gone for the FM2 and so far no regrets.

-- Jamaliah Ford (mai@fordhome.com), April 25, 2000.

I think FM2 will be most suitable for beginners, afterall, that will be your first camera you will never regret buying. I said that because, learning from manual cameras are the basics for beginners. They are the first step that you have to take gain all the necessary experience. A photographer usually owns a few cameras and ultimately, the first one is a manual camera. And usually most durable camera, could maybe last for a lifetime, who knows, anyway, my advise is try to stick to the basics then go for more complex camera. By the way, F60 for Nikon is a bad choice, should at least get a F70....:)

-- ric (ae1c1976@yahoo.com), November 06, 2000.

this thread is posted like a year ago, just wondering what camera has GK Peck got as a beginner?

-- ashrobo (ashrobo@hotmail.com), December 03, 2001.

Like GK Peck, I am going through the same dilemma now.

I am considering between the Nikon FM3A and Canon EOS 30. I know they are both very different and to say which is better is like comparing apples and oranges.

I have a 2nd hand Canon EOS 88 which is a really easy to use camera and I had been using it with a standard 50mm lens and the image quality is pretty sharp. However, I still feel there is something lacking.

I am still on the lower end of the learning curve and I would like to build up a system eventually.

I would appreciate any advice given. Thanks :)

-- Lilian Leong (whitegem@hotmail.com), December 09, 2001.

Dear Lilian Leong,

I'm surprised that nobody have written anything yet.

I have a question. I have not heard of the EOS 88. Perhaps you owned the EOS 888?

Well, in that case, you gain some important features if you buy the EOS 30 or Nikon FM3A. The main feature to me being the depth of field preview. The Nikon certainly has less features, such as lack of spot/partial metering and a lack of shutter priority mode. I don't know if these features are important to you. If they are not, then the Nikon is my preferred choice because of its sturdy quality. It also depends on your budget.

I personally feel that the investment should be on the lens. You said you only have a 50mm lens. Maybe you should invest on a wider ranges of lens, like a 25mm, a telephoto, etc. My rule-of-thumb is that my lens collection should be worth more than the camera. Hope this helps. Good luck.

-- Holden C. (holden137@hotmail.com), March 22, 2002.

ooppss. The canon 88 does exist, sorry about that.

-- Holden C. (holden137@hotmail.com), March 23, 2002.

I Believe for a beginner... a Nikon FE10 Would be perfect!! Even when u progress it'll still be good! and it so happenss..... I have a Nikon FE10 To sell!! Contact me for details!

-- LioNeL (lionel@ihavepms.com), September 07, 2002.