If you’re planning to shelf your smartphone and its camera after finally deciding there’s only so much you can do with it and pick up photography and take your skills to the next level, then it’s probably the proper time to start considering purchasing your first DSLR.
If you take into account the fact that the transition between amateur means of taking photos and actual cameras that don’t just advertise themselves through the number of pixels is a pretty confusing and overwhelming process, you shouldn’t just jump in and straight out purchase a professional camera right away. Not only that the learning curve is rather steep, but most professional cameras will most likely shake you of a great portion of your savings too.
Entry level DSLRs may lack some of the advanced features that you only get with professional gear but they will serve you as a gateway device a fair amount of time. However, choosing one that is right for you isn’t very straightforward: no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to find that one camera that can serve you perfectly in every single aspect or type of photography one can do. Instead, there is a number of factors and types of builds you can use and should consider before making the big purchase.
We’ve taken the liberty of making a small summary of what you should be looking out for when looking to buy a DSLR – be it entry level or professional.
- Brand
A critically acknowledged factor that we tend to guide most if not all of our purchases on, it applies to DSLRs too. In the trade of photography, there are two major brands that basically lead the market; as you probably already know, the ones in question are Nikon and Canon. And there’s no doubt about it – they are the most popular for a reason, whether we’re talking about seniority in the market, the quality of their products or even things that go as far as innovation.
While the first natural intention would be to lean towards one of the Nikon or Canon DSLRs, it doesn’t mean that you should completely disregard cameras that come from lesser competitors. There is a number of manufacturers that manage to pull off fairly impressive devices which might get overlooked simply because they lack a popular tag to go along with. Some companies that make great cameras which you should take a fair look at are also names such as Pentax or Sony.
- Price
In terms of price, if you’re just starting up in the ways of photography, you have a few choices. Most new entry-level DSLRs won’t come cheap and take you as far as $1,000 in the worst case scenario, while staying in the $500 range in the best case scenario. If you find yourself on a budget and you want to stick to cheap DSLR cameras, however, you can either opt for a slightly older model – say, a year or a little older than that in order to not miss on the greatly important, newer features that the best entry level DSLR cameras come with – or choose whether you go for a kit lens or body-only purchase.
Buying only the body will be cheaper, at least to begin with. But you still require a lens purchase afterwards which won’t be particularly cheap but which – on the upside – you can choose according to what kind of photography you’re interested in. There won’t be a considerable difference in price unless you go for a less impressive set of lens and honestly, most of the time it’s better if you stick to the default kit lens that you get with the DSLR when you purchase it. It will most probably cover a fair amount of zoom range and is a more generic tool to start yourself off with while still being able to experiment. You should, however, take into consideration the fact that you shouldn’t expect the greatest of image qualities to come out of a basic kit lens, as they’re usually not that great when it comes to taking photos in more difficult conditions.
- Sensor
The sensor is more often than not responsible of how the photos you want to take are captured: starting with resolution and going as far as the way it handles the scene you want to take a photo of in terms of lighting. The larger the sensor, the better, at least in most cases. Because the sensor in your camera is responsible for capturing light and using it to create the image itself, one could argue that it is the most important part of the camera altogether.
Sensors come in many types but the most popular you’ll find in entry-level DSLRs are the APS-C sensors – with a crop factor of 1.5x to 1.7x and an usual size of 23.6 x 15.6 mm they remain relevant in terms of ultimate picture quality without sacrificing too much on the space they take. In the end, there are a lot of aspects of the sensor that you should be taking into consideration when browsing for what is to become the best entry level DSLR for you.
- Shutter speed
This particular factor should never end up overlooked. Much of your photos’ clarity is granted thanks to the shutter speed in close collaboration with the auto-focus feature. Faster shutters are proficient at letting the camera capture photos much faster, together with the burst speed value and the number of AF sensors. If you’re studying your potential DSLR market, you should consider looking for cameras that have burst speeds of 5 frames per second and 1/4000 or above maximum shutter speed.
- Autofocus sensors
Making use of the two types of autofocus sensors provides a much higher accuracy in focusing your subjects when you’re taking shots. The two types I’m referring to are vertical sensors and cross-type sensors. The difference between the two are the fact that the former only detect and focus on contrast along a vertical line while the latter are two dimensional contrast focus points. Basically, the more the merrier; they grant your camera to be able to detect and focus on each subject in the picture separately, bringing out the different interest points in it.
- Megapixel value
As you might have been able to tell by my comment related to it in the intro, megapixels are a touchy subject. While this particular aspect is just as important as any other, there is a bad trend that has been adopted by most smartphone manufacturers who advertise their products’ cameras based on the megapixel count alone. In reality, this number only accounts for the maximum resolution that your camera is capable of; and just because the camera can shoot photos in huge resolutions doesn’t also mean the pictures are great.
The list could sincerely go on, counting in every single feature that you may find on some of the best cameras for beginners out there and how they could become something important for you to guide your purchase and beyond. Depending on the type of photography you‘re planning to try out, some things may turn out to be better than others for you and you alone. Knowing every single little thing your future camera can do, however, is never a bad thing.
Now that we’ve taken a short trip down all the aspects that you should be looking at when picking a camera, we’ve compiled a list of the best entry level DSLR cameras that we could find on the market based on an average of stats and features. Do remember that it falls down to you to decide which is the best. But here are some good options nevertheless.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #1 – Nikon D3300
One of the first choices that came to mind – and for good reason – is the Nikon D3300, actually known as one of the superior entry level DSLR out there. The reason behind that is the very good image quality that it can render, thanks to the fast shutter speed, an antialiasing filter, 1080p at 60 frames per second shooting and even a Guide Mode for beginners. In all sense, the Nikon D3300 is a particularly solid choice when it comes to a DSLR camera for beginners and by extrapolating, probably the best entry level Nikon DSLR.
The Nikon D3300 comes at a price of $399.99, making it very cheap compared to what one would expect.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #2 – Canon EOS 750D Rebel T6i
The Canon EOS 750D Rebel T6i is one of the cameras that has adopted a 3 inch 1,040k dot vari-angle touchscreen to make your life easier when having to shoot from different angles without a tripod. While that by itself is a great thing to have, especially in a DSLR for beginners, that’s not what makes this particular model great. Instead, it adopts a 19-point all cross-type autofocus system, making it an amazingly accurate and fast photo capture device. It sticks to the average 5 frames per second shooting rate, but all things considered, this is probably one of the best entry level Canon DSLR.
You can purchase the Canon EOS 750D Rebel T6i for $950, making it one of the more expensive options.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #3 – Canon EOS 700D Rebel T5i
The immediate predecessor of the Rebel T6i, the Canon EOS 700D Rebel T5i is a slightly more affordable variant of the above, still featuring an articulated screen. In retrospect however, looking at the 700D, you’ll notice that it only has a 9 point autofocus system and also lacks the Wi-Fi capabilities of its successor. However, given that this particular beginner DSLR is not one of the newest cameras (it was released in 2012), it remains a more or less risky choice. It may lack some of the newer features that you get with the latest DSLRs but it’s still a reliable tool for anyone just starting off in photography.
This particular model is priced at $899.99.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #4 – Nikon D5500
Not an immense improvement over its predecessor, but the Nikon D5500 has a few things that may catch your attention – starting with an articulated touchscreen. It has no less than an autofocus system consisting of 39 points, out of which 9 are cross type. It can capture up to 5 frames per second and can shoot video in 1080p at 60 frames per second for a maximum duration of 20 minutes.
Sadly, it falls into the rather expensive category. Being a rather recent release, having been released in February this year, its price hasn’t gone down from $850.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #5 – Nikon D5300
Having come out more than a year prior to the Nikon D5500, the D5300 doesn’t have as much to show for itself, but can easily count itself as a great all-purpose DSLR for beginners. To count some things you’d be missing on by picking the D5300 over the D5500, that would probably be very little to mention to be frank. It has the same 9 out of 39 cross type sensor autofocus system, the same 5 frames per second burst shooting, same video shooting quality. However, the camera is slightly different from a visual perspective and the Nikon D5300 hasn’t been gifted with a touchscreen even though it can still swivel and flex for easy shooting.
As one would expect, the Nikon D5300 is slightly cheaper than the D5500, listed at $750.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #6 – Pentax K-50
The Pentax entry level series features one of the iconic aspects of all of their cameras and that is a weather-sealed build. While this may not account for much in terms of actual camera performance, it does however account for a highly reliable and sturdy camera for you to start off on. It doesn’t come very close in terms of performance when you bring its direct competitors in the picture (Canon and Nikon that is). It only features a 11 point autofocus system with 9 out of 11 cross-type sensors. Surprisingly, it goes up to 6 frames per second in continuous shooting, exceeding the performance of the previously listed DSLRs.
The listed price for the Pentax K-50 is $779.97.
Best Entry Level DSLR Choice #7 – Sony Alpha a58
Last but not least, I felt like the Sony Alpha a58 deserved a mention. If not for its performance, at least for the outstanding price to quality ratio, which is pretty good to say the least. It features an electronic viewfinder and outstanding autofocusing speed when you’re looking at the scene in live view. Surprisingly to say the least, while the Sony Alpha a58 isn’t closely as good as the previous mentions, it does manage to pull of 8 frames per second in continuous shooting speed.
The Sony Alpha a 58 is ne of the cheapest camera in the best entry level DSLR list – you can get it for $499 from the manufacturer and probably even less from other 3rd party retailers.
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