Buying a second hand DSLR on Ebay, which one? : eBay Guides

Why buy DSLR on ebay?

Because you, like me, probably can't afford the latest, greatest, gear at high prices. But other people can and they upgrade regularly and then sell the old stuff on ebay to recoup part of their expenditure. And you want to buy something better than that Grotmania compact you've been using for holiday snaps. That's where ebay comes in as you can get some great bargains.

Any problems with buying this way?

For a decent DSLR you will usually be getting the body only. No lenses. So you will have to buy at least one lens in addition to the camera body. This is because lenses are a major expenditure and once you have bought into a brand you are normally committed to that brand. I bought into Canon 20d DSLR because I already had two good Canon EOS USM lenses from my Canon film EOS days. If you don't have any lenses already the world is your little ebay oyster. Just read on-line reviews of cameras, although I have to say all the big brands are very good nowadays. Check out which make most professionals use. If you just want one camera and one lens you may be able to get a real bargain from a brand other than the big two, Canon and nikon. If you go for a lower priced bridge DSLR you will get body and lens but can't change the lens.

Will any DSLR from ebay be any good?

Yep, the vast majority are excellent and in fine condition with only small marks. Check feedback, of course, but you can always ask for additional images of the body to check condition. If you, and not the present owner, have spent the best part of a thousand pounds on a new camera body would you bang it with hammers and drag it along the sand? NO. Pride of original ownership says the vast majority of those you see offered for sale will be in excellent condition and any sensible ebayer will always list any faults or imperfections. And don't forget, if you are really dissatisfied you can always open a dispute with the seller as a last resort. This is rare, though, in my experience with ebay.

Sorry, but why a DSLR?

Versatility. As you get into digital photography you will begin to appreciate the fantastic range of potential images that DSLR cameras and lenses make available to you. Just go to Flickr and sign on. Most of the images will also have details of the camera used. This should help you to make a choice. And show you what is possible for a good DSLR.

Which DSLR manufacturer?

Ha, I'm not going into that anorak arena. Read the reviews. I chose Canon 20d camera bodies because I already had two good Canon lenses. All of the well known brands of  DSLR camera are good.

But why DSLR and not film? I'm not sure I want to spend loads of money! Not until I'm sure about the investment in something new.

Simply put, digital photography is superior to 35mm film, not in terms of image quality, but in terms of cost per shot and post editing. On a recent holiday I took 770 photos and edited down to 550. Could you even afford to buy the 35mm film for that many? I couldn't! Let alone the printing cost. Digital photos can also be viewed as slide shows on the computer screen, they don't even have to be printed out. Digital printing of shots over the internet is cheap anyway. All my daughters wedding photo's cost only £35. In any case with film once it's taken it's done. With digital, once taken, view it on the image screen and delete if not required and shoot, shoot, shoot! Cheapy cheapy cheap cheap! Not only that, but sharing digital images on the net is easy, fun and virtually free! As I said, check flickr for examples

Sorry, you've ignored my question about cost. I don't know if I want to spend loads on a leap into the dark on DSLR.

In that case look for a "bridge" DSLR with fixed lens and good optical zoom. A bridge DSLR is intermediate between compact and real DSLR. They don't have interchangeable lenses. Cheaper too and they will give you a good idea of what can be done with digital. I'm glad to say that quite a few years ago I chose a Konica Minolta Dimage Z1 to try out digital. It proved to be a superb camera, light and easy to use, fitting nicely in a shoulder bag for overseas trips. I will not be selling this camera as it goes everywhere with me. Only 3MP but super colour and resolution in the images.

Hey, hang on. My mates got a new 10 mega pixel camera phone! That's got to be better as it has more pixels! Ha Ha you're the sucker now!

Well, actually they're good for quicckie pickies, but I don't see many pro photographers using them. Perhaps there's a reason. My wife loves her camera phone, but all she wants is memories, not first class photo's. And the camera phone is great for recording memories of the moment NOW. They're not great photos mind, she just likes the memories. She doesn't take photos as a hobby, just for memories and a camera phone is ideal for that. The images are a bit poor, sometimes blurry, but all she needs. I've had to get a new disc drive to make room for the pictures we both take, and sometimes she'll just sit with the laptop and go through them.

As for pixels, I have to say that if you wish to start DSLR well and cheaply don't turn your nose up at 3mp. As I said I get trusty service out of my 3mp Dimage z1. It was certainly good enough to convince me digital was worth converting to. This is just my opinion, but a 4mp DSLR is going to be superior to a 12mp compact. I've just done an ebay search and a 4mp Canon EOS 1d mk1 with 2 lenses is bid up to £325 +postage as I write with 2 days to go. 6MP like a Canon D60 will last you ages, or at least until you feel you really need better. And any lenses you get with a Canon DSLR will certainly be useable with a higher spec Canon DSLR. My present gear is 2 x Canon 20d's at 8+ MP, both from ebay, with Canon white ring USM lenses. I will be upgrading the lenses to Canon professional L series before I upgrade the cameras.

So that's it, I just buy a camera and go shoot?

Well, you do have to think about software and digital drivers. If the camera you are looking at comes with driver discs and software no problem. If it's just a bare bones camera body be prepared to go to the main manufacturers sites for driver downloads and to buy software off of the net. Digital software is quite reasonable on ebay. Try Paint Shop Pro or Photo Shop Elements for a start. There are a lot of ways you can change digital images once taken and post photo processing can be a hobby in itself. If you get really serious I would advise you to increase the amount of RAM your computer has, to speed up image processing, and maybe think about getting more hard disc storage to hold all those lovely photos. I've just increased my RAM size to 2.5gig and added an external 120gig hard drive for photo storage only. This isn't essential, though. A cd writer drive probably is essential as then you can burn photo discs for friends and family to view on computer or dvd through their telly, as well as taking them to a shop and printing the images direct from cd.

I hope this guide was helpful, davewisay.