Nikon D3000 for £339
Well this peach of an entry level digital SLR keeps on getting cheaper. It's now just £339 from Amazon with the 18-55mm VR lens which seems to be the cheapest price on the internet for the camera and lens kit.
Don't forget to buy a UV filter such as this Hoya 52mm Haze UV to protect the lens from dust and finger prints along with one of two helpful books to help you get started such as Nikon D3000 Digital Field Guide or Nikon D3000 for Dummies.
Refurbished Canon cameras
You can get some great refurbished bargains over at the Canon Outlet on Ebay. They have a wide range of cameras such as the Canon EOS 450D and Canon EOS 40D for prices way below the proper retail price.
They also have good prices on a range of compact cameras and printers. Well worth a browse.
The Apple iPad and photography
The just announced Apple iPad certainly looks like a great gadget, but what does it offer the average photographer? Well plenty is the short answer. From helping you take better pictures to enabling you to view and share them with friends, the iPad could be a real boon.
A useful accessory for photographers will be the iPad Camera Connection Kit shown below.
This allows you to connect a camera directly to the iPad or read your photos from an SD card. So what uses could this be put to?
Out and about
This facility could be useful when you're out and about and want to preview a photograph on something bigger than the camera's screen. It's also a good way of immediately backing up your photos when you're away from your laptop or desktop computer, say when you're on holiday. Of course you could just take your laptop with you but the iPad will offer the advantage of low weight and long battery life with a great screen, something very few laptops can compete with.
The 3G version will also allow you to upload your photos immediately to the internet which again us useful for backing up but also for sharing your photos with family and friends.
Back home
Once you are back home the iPad could still be a very useful device. For starters it can act as a high quality photo viewer which can be passed around or put on the optional stand to behave as a digital photo frame. I currently use my iPod Touch for showing photographs to family and friends and the iPad's bigger and better screen would certainly make this more practical.
So this ground breaking device could be really useful for both casual and more serious photographers. As more software is written specifically for the iPad we could also start to see even more uses appearing in the near future.
Nextbase Gallery 13-S 7" Digital Photo Frame
This is quite a neat idea. It's a digital photo viewer which can fit into a normal photo frame - so you can get a frame to match your decor. Very good price from Play.com too - just £24.99 delivered.
Canon EOS 450D for just £478.99 plus £30 cashback!
Get the Canon EOS 450D Digital SLR Camera Kit (incl EF-S 18-55mm IS f/3.5-5.6 non USM Lens Kit) and claim £30 cashback bring the price down to just £448.99 for this amazing camera.
Features include 12.2 megapixels, integrated CCD cleaning system and a 3 inch LCD with live view mode.
Sony Alpha A230L for just £347
Another fantastic entry level DSLR the Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens
Many great features including 10.2 megapixels, built in image stabilisation, 2.7 inch display and HDMI output so that you can view your images on your HDTV.
Nikon D3000 for £369
If you're in the market for an entry level digital SLR then you can't go far wrong with the Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera (18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)
If you don't know much about VR or 'Vibration Reduction' then there is more info from Nikon here but it basically means that the lens counters camera shake - always a useful feature to have.
Sweex Photo Frame Key Ring for just £7.57 from Play.com
Neat little gadget this, a key ring which you can use to view your digital snaps. You upload pictures and charge its inbuilt rechargeable battery via a USB cable and it can store up to 59 images once they are resized to fit the size of the display (1.5” - 128 x 128 pixels). Would certainly make a great gift for someone too.
Buy it from Play.com for only £7.57.
Nikon D40 – £227.21 from Amazon
Get the great entry level digital SLR Nikon D40 Digital SLR Camera - Black (18-55mm Lens Kit)
Better still until 30th September you can get £40 cashback from Nikon bringing the price down to just £227.21!
Nikon D60 – £349.99 with free Centon bag
Jessops are currently offering the Nikon D60 with AF-S DX Nikkor VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G Lens (VR stands for vibration reduction - a very useful feature) with a free Centon bag worth over £30 (until 16th July) for just £409.99.
Even better you can get £60 Nikon cashback with this offer until 31st August bringing the final price you pay down to an amazing £349.99!
