Can anyone recommend me a good DSLR camera to have a look at please?
At the moment I have a Panasonic DMC TZ2 (well it’s 2 or 3) and I love it – it’s not a SLR camera in the slightest.
My specifications are:
It has to be easy to use; I’d like a camera which I can point and shoot, but also have the option of fiddling with it a bit.
I’d like to be able to take all kinds of photos with it; I’d love one that is able to have a really good macro and then general, scenery, wildlife etc. I’d also like one with a fast shutter speed.
Can you nice knowledgeable camera people recommend me a few models which are good to look into?
At the minute I don’t have a budget; I’d like to see how much cameras cost and then set a budget based on that; (I don’t want to set a budget of £200 and then be disappointed that I can’t get anything decent; similarly I don’t want to set a budget of like £10,000 and find it’s way too much and that I’m paying way too much for something).
OK, a few things.
Firstly, there's no such thing as a bad DSLR these days, so I'd recommend going into your local shop and having a play with a few different models. Generally speaking, unless you know you specifically need certain features of the higher end models then I'd chose a body based on how intuitive it feels to use. The camera you take the most shots with will be the one you find easiest to use. Canon and Nikon are the 'Big 2' and have the best choice of lenses and accessories, but don't nescessarily discount Sony, Olympus et al.
Secondly, choice of lenses will be far more important than the camera body, and should make up the majority of your budgeting. You will need different lenses for different types of photography (macro v landscape v wildlife). You can get some 'jack of all trades' lenses, which might be OK to start with but you'll probably run into their limitations quite quickly and become frustrated.
So, assuming you end up with one of the entry-mid level DSLR bodies, you are also going to need:
For macro:
A dedicated macro lens (e.g Nikon 105mm/Canon 100mm macro, Sigma 105mm, Tamron 90mm). These will let you focus in very close to your subjects in order to really fill the frame with little critters. There are some zoom lenses (especially by third parties such as sigma/tamron/tokina which have a 'macro' option, which will generally give you around a third or a quater the magnification of a dedicated macro. This may be adequate for some things, but if you want to shoot insects and things that size then you really do want a proper macro lens).
A seperate flash unit, as on-camera flash is largely useless for macro and you will often need to shoot using flash in order to get a high enough shutter speed to avoid hand-shake.
For landscapes:
The 'kit' lens that will probably be offered with your DSLR body is generally adequate for starting out with landscapes, but you may want to consider a super wide angle lens (with a focal range somewhere around 10-20mm).
A tripod - the best light for landscapes is often at dawn or dusk, and a tripod will allow you to get shots that would otherwise be impossible due to requiring a long shutter speed.
For wildlife:
A zoom lens with at least 300mm at the long end is realistically the minimum to get decent wildlife shots. Most brands have something in the 70-300mm range and these tend to be quite good for starting out.
There is also a whole world of accessories, which I won't go into now - you'll figure out which you need/once as you go along.
Thirdly, software. In the digital age, post-processing software can be incredibly important in turning average shots into good ones. If you're shooting in RAW format (recommended) then your shots will look deliberately bland out of the camera in order to preserve as much 'information' as possible, in order for you to process yourself. There are a number of free software alternatives which I'm not very familiar with, but I'd defintely recommend Adobe Lightroom as a very solid product which will combine managing, processing and printing your photos. Depending on your morals/internet savvy you could always 'acquire' the software rather than pay for it.
Finally, depending on how much photography you anticipate doing, you may instead just want to consider a bridge camera, which has many of the features of a DSLR whilst combining many of the functions of different lenses into a single unit. There are some downsides, they tend to be a little sluggish and image quality is never quite as good, but depending on your level of use you may not even really notice.
Hope that helps!
PS. Don't be afraid of second hand gear, and I recommend signing up over at http
/www.talkphotography.co.uk/ which is an excellent forum for people starting out in photography.
. I haven't got a clue with all the "technical jargon". You've given me a few ideas so I'll go and have a look and see what I like the look of and come back with more ideas 
