My girlfriend wants a camera for Christmas and I'm looking for help/suggestions on what to get her as I'm clueless on the subject.
Right now she uses her Galaxy S5 to take photos on. She's not got a lot of experience at using proper cameras so preferably doesn't want anything too complicated to use.
However, I don't want to get her something that's going to be obsolete a year after buying it. So preferably looking for something that's got potential should she want to pursue photography more seriously.
The budget I have for this is around £150-200 so not sure what quality of camera I can get.
All help appreciated
>>2699375
Nikon D3000
get her a cheap film camera (something full manual. a Pentax K1000 is a great beginner camera and quite cheap) and a variety of different film she can experiment with. then with the leftover money pay for her to attend some brief local course on beginner photography (& darkroom work maybe).
she'd probably really appreciate that and it's a lot more thoughtful and romantic than buying a cheap dslr that will absolutely be obsolete very quickly. you could even attend the course together and make it a date thing.
>>2699391
What a fucking retarded suggestion.
>>2699391
i guess if she specifically told you she wants a digital camera this is bad advice, but who tells their so exactly what they want as a gift? kind of defeats the purpose of exchanging gifts imo
>>2699392
its good advice, i f*ck tons of bitches dude
>>2699393
A full manual film camera is a terrible gift suggestion for a beginner, who doesn't even know the first thing about photography - Not even whether she's really interested or not.
[spoiler]Also, she's a woman.
>>2699375
>£150-200
Uh, used low-end stuff, bottom-end plastic crap or old and complicated hipster film camera.
Those are your options.
Since she doesn't sound too serious, just give her fancy-looking plastic trash with a bunch of automatic settings and exchangeable lenses.
>>2699398
Any suggestions? I'm looking through deals on amazon and there are just so many to pick from!
>>2699396
that's why you spend the difference on some class she can attend on the weekends. it shows that he's considerate and wants to encourage her interests, and then she can take crappy pictures with agfa 400 for her tumblr and have the "lol real film aesthetic."
if he just buys her a $200 digital camera that's "not very hard to use" she's going to get bored of it in 2 weeks because it's barely even a step up from her cell phone.
>>2699403
>it's barely even a step up from her cell phone
That's the entire point, nimbwit.
>>2699407
>I don't want to get her something that's going to be obsolete a year after buying it
>looking for something that's got potential should she want to pursue photography more seriously
are she and the OP 17 years old? sure, get her a coolpix because the photography thing is a passing interest she'll forget all about in a year.
are they adults? in that case she'll appreciate that he's actually interested in helping her get involved in a hobby that she wants to explore further.
Get her this and be done with it.
>>2699396
Lol what? I started with a Pentax K1000...this past June as my first camera. Moved onto a Nikon F2 and there I plan on staying for a long time. I'll maybe get a mirrorless to use my Nikkor lenses on. Fuck anything else desu. Film is the best way to learn photography and you learn to appreciate everything a hell of a lot more.
>>2699375
Maybe older Rebel with kit lens, like 550D.
DSLRs aren't getting obsolete. You can still take great photos with, let's say, Canon 30D. And (against more and more popular opinion) Rebel is great beginner camera, lack of low-power top lcd can be annoying but i doubt it'll be big issue for your beginner girlfriend.
>>2699375
>200bongs
you have to look for used.
look for a compact camera with big sensor like nikon coolpix a, but you can't get it under 200bongs, so you have to settle with a used mirrorless.
don't get huge dslr, those will end up as paperweight for casuals.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00HH8A60C/ref=sr_1_1_olp?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1446946614&sr=1-1&condition=used
>>2699375
Look for a used body and kit lens... Nikon or Canon, whatever your preference is. Then if she wants to take it more seriously, she can buy more lenses and eventually get a new body. But lenses are where she can / should invest in the meantime.
I see plenty of D90, D300, etc second hand for next to nothing.
Get her an older polaroid, its a pretty cool/fun novelty and if she was going to take photography any more seriously she'd probably dump your 200 euro camera within the next year.
Thinking of getting her this, thoughts?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-DSCHX60-Digital-Compact-Optical/dp/B00IGL9PSS/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
Or this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-DSCH400-Digital-Compact-Electronic/dp/B00IGL9PQA/ref=sr_1_8?m=A2OAJ7377F756P&s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1447179044&sr=1-8
Can't anyone just give a simple recommendation?
Or at least some feedback on the suggestions I've come across?
I appreciate photography is a creative and artistic hobby. But she basically wants a camera for holiday snaps with the potential to be used for more should she want to pursue it further.
Surely someone out there can recommend a decent camera for the budget.
We aren't looking to buy tripods, a half dozen lenses, umpteen camera bags or other fancy stuff.
Just a nice camera for christmas that is within budget which she can use for day to day photo taking or holiday snaps.
Can someone please help?
>>2701902
Just get a Ricoh GR and fuck off.
>>2701902
No. Your budget is nothing. You have no options for anything "decent" with that budget.
A "decent" entry-level SLR will cost you $500 or so.
I gave an ex gf a t-50 canon with a 50mm and a couple rolls of film one year for christmas.
She was ecstatic.
>>2701902
> Surely someone out there can recommend a decent camera for the budget.
No. Your budget is generally about at the crappy P&S or used camera - tier, the latter of which wouldn't usually be okay as a gift around here, and the earlier is the kind of shit pretty much nobody around /p/ likes to use, because neither lens nor body are good.
A decent camera and lens costs more, even today where photography got quite cheap.
Suggestion just get her a Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 or Mi4C, they have a snapshot capable camera (PDAF included, pretty decent for smartphone) *and* it has the useful bonus of also being a decent smartphone. Or even cheaper, a Redmi 2 2GB (no PDAF, but okay camera).
Get her a fuji instax wide. They are cheap and better fun than a cheap ass digital that she will use once a year.
Just get this - it's APS-C and has an auto mode. It'll do the job for the moment.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-EOS-Compact-System-Camera/dp/B008QWVI14/ref=sr_1_112?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1447195683&sr=1-112&keywords=dslr
Just get her these, if she won't do anything more than holiday shots.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00OYSURRA/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_vWQqwbHNRG2YT
here you go. nikon d3100 on ebay, in budget. pretty solid starter camera. if she takes a liking to it you can get her the 35mm 1.8 for her birthday you cheap fuck
