Camera Advise

I love the little 'point-and-shoot' cameras I've had over the years and have snapped thousands of pictures. I've never had a nicer camera -- but I've always wanted one.

I have a brand new Microsoft Surface RT that I don't want and I'm currently trying to barter the item on Craigslist for a decent, but likely used, digital SLR.

I have no idea how to use these types of cameras, I know very little of the settings or how to use them, and I understand little of the terminology, but again, I want one so that I can learn.

I've had several offers for my tablet, but I don't know anything about the cameras, so I'm looking for some help.

The value of the tablet is about $400 with the bag that I'm going to include, so I want to get a camera of comparable value for my trade.

Can anyone here look over the items that have been offered and let me know if any of them would be good and would be a good fit for me to learn?

Here is what I've been offered:

• Canon EOS 750 with some lenses and what looks to be a 35mm (no details in the email, just pics)

• Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses.

• Canon EOS Rebel XT and lenses I would trade along with a Lowepro lumbar pack

• Olympus e-510 Digital SLR with two lenses, four memory cards, three batteries and a charger. One of the lenses is a 14-54, Zuiko, Olympus Digital lense, it is an outstanding lense and is worth $200-$300 used alone. I use it most of the time with the camera. The other lense is a 40-150mm Olympus Digital telephoto, both lenses have UV filters on them for protection. It is an outstanding camera, I just don't use it. I also have two Olympus cases for the camera, one is a bag which holds everything, and one is a case which just fits the camera and a lense. The shutter count on the camera body is 2,352, and these are typically good for 70,000-90,000 shutter releases.

Are any of these cameras worth my $400 trade? The last one seems like a good deal and the person who responded provided lots of information that the others did not provide. I did look the Zuiko lense up on ebay and it is going for around $200.

What do you think? Good deal on any of those or should I hold out for something better? I'm not really in a rush.

Did a quick eBay search on your Surface RT and I'd jump at that Olympus - an offer that's very generous compared to real-world valuations of a second hand RT.

The other offers didn't seem so good, but for the ones where you didn't provide information on the lenses included, impossible to tell.

I'd get an EOS-M for that 400$ or maybe an used t3i, but that's just me. Or sell the RT and buy whatever you want. The E-510 is not worth 400$ - it's not video capable and has low ISO capability. It's a dead system too, unless you are going to get OM-D EM1 in the future. I had an E-300 which I gave to my father - it's a great camera, but still no match to contemporary DSLR's.

axlastro said:

I'd get an EOS-M for that 400$ or maybe an used t3i, but that's just me. Or sell the RT and buy whatever you want. The E-510 is not worth 400$ - it's not video capable and has low ISO capability. It's a dead system too, unless you are going to get OM-D EM1 in the future. I had an E-300 which I gave to my father - it's a great camera, but still no match to contemporary DSLR's.

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Yes 43 is a dead system with low I so capabilities. But why recommend the eos M then.

Canon has showed absolutely no dedication to that system. 3 lenses in 2 years come on. No tele lens no portrait lens and no macro.

The op is better of with an m43 fujfilm x series or an nikon DSLR. Not the canon DSLR since their crop models have not improved in 5 years.

None of those options excited me at all; some are quite old.

My advice would be to look out for more recent Nikon DSLRs, such as D3000, D3100 or D3200. maybe even D5000 or D5100. Anything older than 5 years is not worth considering IMO.

axlastro said:

The E-510 is not worth 400$

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You forget that it comes with the Zuiko 14-54 and the 55-200, which together are worth much more than the camera.

hesbehindyou said:

axlastro said:

The E-510 is not worth 400$

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You forget that it comes with the Zuiko 14-54 and the 55-200, which together are worth much more than the camera.

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There is no ZD 55-200 - it's the 40-150 ant it is a great lens. It's worth no more than 100$ now.

The 14-54 is older design, supposedly better built than the 14-42 which I had. It's a good lens, but the 40-150 is much better. It's also worth about 80$

The 510 is a good camera, it has sensor IS but it's old and heavy. He'd be better off a E-PM2 now.

BarnET said:

axlastro said:

I'd get an EOS-M for that 400$ or maybe an used t3i, but that's just me. Or sell the RT and buy whatever you want. The E-510 is not worth 400$ - it's not video capable and has low ISO capability. It's a dead system too, unless you are going to get OM-D EM1 in the future. I had an E-300 which I gave to my father - it's a great camera, but still no match to contemporary DSLR's.

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Yes 43 is a dead system with low I so capabilities. But why recommend the eos M then.

Canon has showed absolutely no dedication to that system. 3 lenses in 2 years come on. No tele lens no portrait lens and no macro.

The op is better of with an m43 fujfilm x series or an nikon DSLR. Not the canon DSLR since their crop models have not improved in 5 years.

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True, the M system has unclear future, but I think canon are likely to release an M3 anyways. True - not too many lenses, but all are of great quality and nice price - I got the 11-22 for half the price of an EF 10-22. The AF is slow as hell though, but IQ is stellar.

He is better off a M4/3 camera but really needs to go out and try one.

As for fuji - it's quite expensive and nikon's have dull yellow-ish colors, not really good for portraiture, but that's for him to decide. I really hate canon rebels now, as I got one. The SL1 is a good one though. And one more thing - Canon colors, if you shoot people, is something to take in account. Everything else about canons sucks though.

Thanks for the response everyone. Due in part to these comments, and this article ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415692,00.asp ) I just made other arrangements and went out and bought a brand new Nikon D3100.

It looks like I have lots to learn before I'm shooting professional photos. There are lots of settings and terminology that I have no idea about.

RPF2016 said:

Thanks for the response everyone. Due in part to these comments, I just made other arrangements and went out and bought a brand new Nikon D3100.

It looks like I have lots to learn before I'm shooting professional photos. There are lots of settings and terminology that I have no idea about.

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I think that's a good idea. Start by using Auto mode, then maybe P (Programj mode). Use Picasa 3 (free program from Google) to organise and edit your photos.

When you take a photo, the camera settings are saved with the image file (EXIF metadata). Picasa will display this data for you and assist in making any corrections to your technique. See example below for short version of EXIF (Nikon D3200 with kit lens):


Honolulu Zoo

RPF2016 said:

I love the little 'point-and-shoot' cameras I've had over the years and have snapped thousands of pictures. I've never had a nicer camera -- but I've always wanted one.

I have a brand new Microsoft Surface RT that I don't want and I'm currently trying to barter the item on Craigslist for a decent, but likely used, digital SLR.

I have no idea how to use these types of cameras, I know very little of the settings or how to use them, and I understand little of the terminology, but again, I want one so that I can learn.

I've had several offers for my tablet, but I don't know anything about the cameras, so I'm looking for some help.

The value of the tablet is about $400 with the bag that I'm going to include, so I want to get a camera of comparable value for my trade.

Can anyone here look over the items that have been offered and let me know if any of them would be good and would be a good fit for me to learn?

Here is what I've been offered:

• Canon EOS 750 with some lenses and what looks to be a 35mm (no details in the email, just pics)

Click to expand...

This is an old film camera and is only worth about $25, plus what limited value the older lenses it might come with would have.

RPF2016 said:

• Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses.

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Old very low megapixel camera worth only about $200 with the included lenses.

RPF2016 said:

• Canon EOS Rebel XT and lenses I would trade along with a Lowepro lumbar pack

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This is an very old Canon camera worth about $100

RPF2016 said:

• Olympus e-510 Digital SLR with two lenses, four memory cards, three batteries and a charger. One of the lenses is a 14-54, Zuiko, Olympus Digital lense, it is an outstanding lense and is worth $200-$300 used alone. I use it most of the time with the camera. The other lense is a 40-150mm Olympus Digital telephoto, both lenses have UV filters on them for protection. It is an outstanding camera, I just don't use it. I also have two Olympus cases for the camera, one is a bag which holds everything, and one is a case which just fits the camera and a lense. The shutter count on the camera body is 2,352, and these are typically good for 70,000-90,000 shutter releases.

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The problem with this is that Olympus has pretty much abandoned the 4/3rds platform and is concentrating on micro 4/3rds so it is a dead end system

RPF2016 said:

Are any of these cameras worth my $400 trade? The last one seems like a good deal and the person who responded provided lots of information that the others did not provide. I did look the Zuiko lense up on ebay and it is going for around $200.

What do you think? Good deal on any of those or should I hold out for something better? I'm not really in a rush.

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I would avoid all of those cameras!

Check KEH.com for used prices. Check their condition rating system. Remember that the cameras and lenses there come with a warranty too (your bartered one will not). If you can't find it at KEH check Adorama.com and www.bhphotovideo.com for more used prices.

Honestly you are probably best off selling your tablet outright, and then buying a camera.

axlastro said:

hesbehindyou said:

axlastro said:

The E-510 is not worth 400$

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You forget that it comes with the Zuiko 14-54 and the 55-200, which together are worth much more than the camera.

Click to expand...

There is no ZD 55-200 - it's the 40-150 ant it is a great lens. It's worth no more than 100$ now.

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That's the one! (the 55-200 is of course the lens that was offered with the D40).

axlastro said:

The 14-54 is older design, supposedly better built than the 14-42 which I had. It's a good lens, but the 40-150 is much better. It's also worth about 80$

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Are we looking at different lenses? Seems to go on ebay for $180-ish.

E-510 body only - $100
14-54 - $180
40-150 - $100
Total - $380

Surface RT 64GB are going for between $220 and $280.

axlastro said:

The 510 is a good camera, it has sensor IS but it's old and heavy. He'd be better off a E-PM2 now.

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Lets hope someone offers him one!

To the OP: If you know what camera you want, sell the surface and buy it. If you don't know what you want, go for the E-510 - if you don't like it you'll be able to sell it for more than the Surface and use the proceeds to buy whatever camera is in budget.

which brand do you prefer?

Have you considered the canon T3i, it's a good option

Anker11 said:

which brand do you prefer?

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Have you read the thread? Seems it's a new Nikon 3100.