What camera is best for me? - 1

I'm a bit of a camera novice! But i'm really looking for a professional camera, it sounds stupid but i really want one of those big black ones! I'm looking to take photos of animals (horses) and friends and family, i really want to get Professional looking shots though. My ideal makes would probbly be cannon nikon or fuji (not sure how its spelt) because i've heard good things avout them. As i will probaly breaki it in a couple of years no more than £400, any ideas?

Nikon 3100.It is a camera which will suit to you.

Don't know wheather fuji makes slr camera or not. But nikon is the best.

Buy canon36r series.

Camera novice and you don't know what is it called? Lol i think you are looking for Digital SLR. If you are, i would say that Nikon D3100 is best if youre still just learning. It is the easiest and most user friendly among my other cameras.

Well, professional cameras cost more than $4, 000, not including lenses and other accessories. Cameras do not make or guarantee professional looking pictures.

I believe you're looking for a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera. Owning a DSLR does not guarantee you professional looking pictures, you can get professional looking pictures with any camera. The professional look you're thinking of is a combination of understanding your camera's limits, aperture, shutter speed, ISO and composition. If you want to create professional looking photographs then you will have to do your research and learn about those things.

An entry level DSLR which would be great for you would be a Canon 1100D (Rebel T3) or Nikon D3100. They are both brilliant cameras that will perform just as good as each other in every single technical aspect. Go into a camera shop and hold each camera - that will be the best way to decide which you choose to buy. Whichever feels better in your hands will be the better camera for you.

I've never raced a single lap in my whole life, but I want to buy a formula one car and take on Vettel, it's more likely that I end up pointing the wrong way in a wall and have wasted my £1, 000, 000. Exactly the same with cameras, you can spend over £1000 on a high performance camera, but if you don't know how to drive it you're not going to do anything productive with it.

Then look at what happens when you put a formula one driver in an ordinary car (like Top Gear did), every single one will blitz it round, at over four seconds a lap faster than the mortals. A skilled photographer can produce professional looking photographs with ordinary equipment.

Anyway, lecture over. If you want to learn photography then it's worth investing money into good lenses and a body that won't break. Say you spend £400 on a second hand Canon 5D, it's a camera that you won't need to upgrade for years because when new it was ahead of it's time. Then buy the EF 28mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 II and 85mm f1.8, these lenses don't zoom and it gets you into good habits. Also buy yourself a 35mm film Canon EOS, this will teach to restraint and force you to really think about shot selection. That is pretty much what you want for photography boot camp.

No point repeating the same stuff, but basically posting to say that what Snorlax and CiaoChao is bang on the money. Professional photos don't come from the camera, they come from the photographer. If you get a DSLR with no idea how to use it, it's little more than an expensive paperweight.