Buying a camera

[Mark RJ]

Hi, just starting out in photography and am looking for a suitable secondhand DSLR camera to purchase.  
 

Looking for some advice on models that would be accepted on Alamy.  Budget is only about $200 so am limited.

[M.Chapman]

An idea of what you plan on photographing might help (landscape? wildlife? macro?) as this will have an impact on camera and particularly lens requirements.

 

Mark

[John Mitchell]

You might want to check out some of the older Sony DSLR's. You should be able to find one in that price range. They're good cameras and fine for Alamy. I used the original 10 MP Sony a100 for a long time, and I'm still regularly licensing images taken with it. Best of luck.

[Mr Standfast]

Look for 16 to 24mp, aps-c or micro four thirds. Look to upgrade the kit lens when affordable.

 

Alamy is a commercial marketplace for images produced to a professional standard, not a school.

Experienced photographers find they need a few thousand images to make a modest income.

This the competition

https://www.alamy.com/category/

[Gervais Montacute]

Get a second hand Nikon D300 and reasonably good DX lens to go with it. Might come in at a bit more than $200 but not by that much.

[Rebecca Ore]

8 hours ago, Mark RJ said:

Hi, just starting out in photography and am looking for a suitable secondhand DSLR camera to purchase.  
 

Looking for some advice on models that would be accepted on Alamy.  Budget is only about $200 so am limited.

 

Don't know what Sony a6000 mirrorless with a lens are going for in your area, but that's one choice.   Others would be used older DSLRs that produce files large enough, generally 10MP or better.   Other option would be older micro-four third like the Panasonic GF1 (which I've owned and recently licensed a photograph taken with), but these won't allow for much if any cropping.   Nikon D300 is another good older camera (another one I've owned), and there are Canon equivalents, but I've had  no experience with those, so others may be able to advise you.   Quick Google search showed you might want to raise your budget by another $100.

 

Also, consider taking some classes in either photography or art classes (for learning about colors and composition).

 

As someone else pointed out, if you're new to photography or new to trying to take photos that are better than snapshots, you really need to study what's been done, what people are licensing now.   I don't know if some of the more general forums might not be useful.   One advantage of learning from a contemporary phone or point and shoot camera is that you can only improve things like color choices and composition.  Resolution will be what it is and most devices do a relatively decent job of exposure.  The things you can control are more important than being tack sharp.   If you come from an art background, you'll probably be better than other people who just picked up a camera.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Rebecca Ore
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