AS-Level Photography

[cav]

Hi,

I am lucky enought o be setting up an AS-Level Photography course and I have a budget (as yet undisclosed).
I need 5 DSLR kits.
I am Nikon man but these cameras are for students to use so I am totally open to other brands.
The Finance Director will grill me on value for money.
So basically..
Which is the best VFM kit on the market and why?
Thanks in advence for your opinions

Mike Cav

[Mossy]

Nikon man? Well, I'd see if you can get a set of D40 kits, especially used, they are great value for money.
According to http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/ it seems it's also the cheapest...

[Dave Humphries]

Depends whether you (as lecturer?) want to learn the ins and outs of an alternate (Canon/Sony/Pentax) menu system, or stick with something that may be more familiar.
After all, any brands entry-level DSLR is likely to be good enough, which one you go with is not going to have much impact for future expandability like buying for personal use does.

Only thing to be wary of is whether there is anything in the syllabus that would be trickier to do with such a low spec model*, but balance against that if you need to stretch the budget to pay for say; tripods and/or flashes.

* That said, starting, for example with having to manually bracket, will teach students to appreciate the automated features when they buy their own (probably mid-range) camera eventually.

[Geoff F]

Generally, Canon seem to be a fraction cheaper than Nikon on the secondhand market but probably the deciding factor would be whether anybody is willing to give a decent discount on equipment which is to be used solely for teaching purposes.

[cav]

Thanks for your insight.
They will need the flexibility of manual focus and full exposure control.
I have been given a budget of £1120ex VAT which is £257.60 per unit inc VAT@15%.
I'm thinking maybe just get 4 x Nikon D40 kits OR go for secondhand D70's?
What do you think?