total beginner

[sorrelle]

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping to get into photography and am in a bit of a pickle with regard to what sort of equipment to get.

Basically I have no experience apart from the usual disposable cameras. I really enjoy taking photos and have decided to spend my birthday money on some kit.

What I want from the camera is a sort of professional quality that you see come from photo studios or photos in magazines for example. I will be using it to take landscape shots and also portrait pictures of friends etc. In an ideal world I will be able to take pictures suitable for blowing up and putting on walls (after practice!).

It seems that the sort of professional camera I need is an SLR but the digital versions of these start at around ’…’‚‚£499 - about ’…’‚‚£250 over my budget. I have seen some 6mp cameras second hand with the manual focus option without an interchangable lens.

This is more in my budget. Will this be ok for my first foray into photography? What are my limitations likely to be? They seem to be slightly more compact and easier to carry around which is a real plus.

The camera here www.digital-cameras.com/digital-cameras/fuji-finepix-s7000.html is a bit like the second hand one I have seen but it looks a bit better than this.

Thanks in advance

[Nanook18]

i don't think you need a nice new fancy expensive camera yet. i'm in school studyin photography to hopefully make it my career...but i have a low rate camera that i got as a christmas gift a couple years ago and it is great! i'm not expecting to get anything new for at least another year and half (after i graduate). so i think that if you're just starting out and you think you enjoy photography get a cheap camera before you splurge, because you never know if you end up liking it or not! good luck!

[sorrelle]

Cheers for the advice. Good luck with your photography too!