Cheapest camera I can get by with?

heathd.hd

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Okay so I'm sure many have asked this but I will again. What's the most basic camera that I can get by with for taking decent coral pics. I just spent a ton of money on my tank including a bunch of coral. My cell phone isn't cutting it. I wanna stay under 200 so what will work? I know I would love a nice camera with a thousand dollar macro lens but it's not in the budget so throw me some ideas here.
 
No one with a opinion on a starter bang for buck camera that will get me by for a while?
 
I think the issue is not the camera but the lenses, I'm no expert but I just got a Nikon D3100 ($319.95) on sale but a "good" micro lense is over $700 and up. This is the cheapest I have been able to find a micro lense (Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens $779.00), if anyone knows of a better lense at a cheaper price please let us all know???
 
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What type of phone do you have? Honestly, for under $200 you will be limited in options and quality... I would say go to eBay and get a used D3100 or T3 Rebel. The regular kit lens should suffice,no need for a macro lens unless you want to be super close with amazing detail. I'll see if I can post one of my shots with kits lens, I have a D3200. A D3100 with the standard equipment goes for about $200-250 on eBay.
 
Tamron 90mm macro seems to be the best go to for nikon body and a low used price.

Also, for 15 on Amazon you can get a clip on macro lens for your cell....
 
I think the issue is not the camera but the lenses, I'm no expert but I just got a Nikon D3100 ($319.95) on sale but a "good" micro lense is over $700 and up. This is the cheapest I have been able to find a micro lense (Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens $779.00), if anyone knows of a better lense at a cheaper price please let us all know???
The cheapest for macro lens would be a third party manufacturer. But those are still $150+ for a used one. Like I said, with good skill and technique, the kit lens should suffice.
 
Tamron 90mm macro seems to be the best go to for nikon body and a low used price.

Also, for 15 on Amazon you can get a clip on macro lens for your cell....
The clip on is what I thought as well lol wont get the quality like the DSLRs but will be ok for a while? lol .... just looked up the tamrons, $100+.
 
I took this with a waterproof point and shoot Sony with a macro setting last night. So I literally had it in the water about an inch away...lol. Just need to play with settings and see if I can reproduce this shot. Pretty accurate color. The Purple People Eater didn't come out so accurate though. But I may just need to play with settings. Trust me... this is no fancy camera. It's their Cybershot TXsomething from 2 years ago.
 

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Ok well thanks for your input peeps! Idk I really want something nice but I've got other things planned for my money so we shall see what I do.
 
Your best bet honestly to check pawn shops. You can find very nice d slrs for a fraction of the cost. Normally it's just a body so you would need to buy the battery and such but eBay is your friend with that.
 
Pawn shop heck yah. Haven't been pawn shopping in a bit.
take into consideration that the body might be cheap but lenses are the most expensive part of photography. So to stay below your budget you would have to buy the body at no more than $100
 
I started trolling ebay for the last 30 minutes and there's so many cameras is crazy. I'm seeing some rebel t3 combos for under 200. This won't be as bad as I was thinking. Lol. What do you guys think for mega pixels... just stay above 10?
 
The cheapest for macro lens would be a third party manufacturer. But those are still $150+ for a used one. Like I said, with good skill and technique, the kit lens should suffice.

Thank you for the pointer, just found one in my price range!
 
Thank you for the pointer, just found one in my price range!
No problem, just be patient. There will be bidders that will one up you in the last 10 mins and by the time you know it, the bid is $50+ what you should actually buy it for. I bid for over the course of a week until I got something I wanted for the price I wanted. Got my D3200 for $315. When most were ending the bid at $350+. Mine is in excellent condition and couldn't be happier.
 
I started trolling ebay for the last 30 minutes and there's so many cameras is crazy. I'm seeing some rebel t3 combos for under 200. This won't be as bad as I was thinking. Lol. What do you guys think for mega pixels... just stay above 10?
Yea there's a lot of cameras and a lot of bidders. Yea above 10mp is good. Once you go higher it makes more of a difference when you order larger prints. T3 rebel is a highly recommend dslr for beginners.
 
No problem, just be patient. There will be bidders that will one up you in the last 10 mins and by the time you know it, the bid is $50+ what you should actually buy it for. I bid for over the course of a week until I got something I wanted for the price I wanted. Got my D3200 for $315. When most were ending the bid at $350+. Mine is in excellent condition and couldn't be happier.

Oh I know that game... been in I.T. (comp geek) for over 20yrs... lol... thx again!
 

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