Buying second hand DSLR

[D]

Been looking around have some spare cash thought we would treat ourselves and buy a second hand DSLR, this would be our first one and most probably be looking to use it for wildlife and landscape photography
we have around £300 to spend.
Models we have looked at so far are
Cannon 400D
Nikon D50
Olympus E510

all of these models are available to us in our price range,and we would be looking to buy a telephoto lens also probally 200 - 300mm but we just cant decide, major things holding us up are
Do we need image stabilisation (Olympus)
Do we want an af motor (Nikon)
Do we want a cannon ?

Can anyone help with some advice or ideas please ?

[Boxer6]

Well, firstly, all the cameras you've mentioned are excellent in their own rights, in my limited experience, so the choice really boils down to personal preference.

The autofocus in my Nikons (one of which is a D50) is pretty good, but you won't use it for landscape much (I don't anyway) and for quick-moving wildlife it can be too slow!

Price-wise, I'd say you might struggle a wee bit to get a good s/h DSLR and a decent lens - a good look on the 'bay or gumtree might throw up some bargains, though ca' canny as always on either.

As a guide, though, I sold my Nikon 70-300 zoom for £95 about 6 months ago; mint condition, but the replacement Tamron has macro capability as well, which was important at the time (can't remember why, now!!) but not as good quality lens as the Nikon at extremes of focal length.

Hope that helps a wee bit!! Good luck in your search.