Buying a second hand DSLR - what to look for?
Discussion
Long story short - I'm going to be looking at a second hand Canon 1000D (+ lens IIRC) tomorrow night. Since I have no experience of DSLR cameras what should I be looking for in the body + lens? What quick checks can I do?
Longer story (if you're interested) - currently got a Panasonic FZ28 - I like bridge cameras since they only have a single lens with a wide zoom range, plus all the manual settings you'd probably get on an SLR, and are cheap compared to DSLRs plus the lens I'd need to get the equivalent zoom ranges (plus faffing changing lenses, cleaning the sensor etc.
While it can produce great images in good light, things get a bit iffy when it gets darker. I've been doing a lot of dark shots recently in a photography class and the FZ28 isn't up to scratch. I'll often have to crank the ISO up to 800+ but of course the image quality looks a bit crap. On a DSLR/1000D will higher ISO setting have less of an effect on the image quality and/or can I expect the larger sensor size to allow a lower ISO to be used?
Another annoyance on the Panasonic is aparature only seems to control the light coming into the lens and minimal effect on the depth of field. However there are times when I want a narrow depth of field to blur the fore/background. To get this on the FZ28 I have to take a tele-macro type shot (stand back and zoom onto the subject) - now I suspect this entirely depends on the lens, but would a DSLR/1000D allow a wider aperture than 2.8 and/or would the same aperture setting have a narrower depth of field?
This 1000D is on sale for what seems to be a decent price, so if I don't get along with it I reckon I can flog it on fleabay and get my money back.
From what I've heard is generally a good starter SLR but had a slow burst/continous shot speed. Although a slow burst speed is one of the reasons I upgraded from a Fujiflim S5800 to the Panasonic, I found that I ended up taking a squillion shots over a day, which after spending another day sorting them all I'd have the same amount of good pictures
Also there's apparently 'only' 7 AF points, is this a major issue or is having 60+ AF points the equivalent of a 9 speed gearbox in a Mercedes?
Can I expect the stock lens with the 1000D to be a bit s
t? As this thread suggests http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Longer story (if you're interested) - currently got a Panasonic FZ28 - I like bridge cameras since they only have a single lens with a wide zoom range, plus all the manual settings you'd probably get on an SLR, and are cheap compared to DSLRs plus the lens I'd need to get the equivalent zoom ranges (plus faffing changing lenses, cleaning the sensor etc.
While it can produce great images in good light, things get a bit iffy when it gets darker. I've been doing a lot of dark shots recently in a photography class and the FZ28 isn't up to scratch. I'll often have to crank the ISO up to 800+ but of course the image quality looks a bit crap. On a DSLR/1000D will higher ISO setting have less of an effect on the image quality and/or can I expect the larger sensor size to allow a lower ISO to be used?
Another annoyance on the Panasonic is aparature only seems to control the light coming into the lens and minimal effect on the depth of field. However there are times when I want a narrow depth of field to blur the fore/background. To get this on the FZ28 I have to take a tele-macro type shot (stand back and zoom onto the subject) - now I suspect this entirely depends on the lens, but would a DSLR/1000D allow a wider aperture than 2.8 and/or would the same aperture setting have a narrower depth of field?
This 1000D is on sale for what seems to be a decent price, so if I don't get along with it I reckon I can flog it on fleabay and get my money back.
From what I've heard is generally a good starter SLR but had a slow burst/continous shot speed. Although a slow burst speed is one of the reasons I upgraded from a Fujiflim S5800 to the Panasonic, I found that I ended up taking a squillion shots over a day, which after spending another day sorting them all I'd have the same amount of good pictures
Also there's apparently 'only' 7 AF points, is this a major issue or is having 60+ AF points the equivalent of a 9 speed gearbox in a Mercedes?
Can I expect the stock lens with the 1000D to be a bit s
t? As this thread suggests http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...Check all the buttons/dials work OK and dotn stick or arnt too loose.
Check the battery door/battery - and CF card pins.
Check the body over for scratches/drop damage.
Look in the lens mount, mirror OK, etc, lens mounts nicely (not tight, no play).
Take some test shots, check image is OK, check fast shutter speeds, check flash fires.
Check AF works and hits the spot.
Check the battery door/battery - and CF card pins.
Check the body over for scratches/drop damage.
Look in the lens mount, mirror OK, etc, lens mounts nicely (not tight, no play).
Take some test shots, check image is OK, check fast shutter speeds, check flash fires.
Check AF works and hits the spot.
james_tigerwoods said:
Take a photo with the lens cap on (to get an all black photo) and look closely at the image (take a laptop if needs be) - zoom in on all parts of it and make sure you don't have a damaged sensor (ie, dead pixel)
Good advice. However if the price is right don't be too hung up on one or two dead pixels unless they are in the middle of the frame.If you shoot in jpg the jpg process will 'disappear' them.
If you shoot RAW you can easily remove them using editing software if they appear on certain shots. They won't always appear and you would normally only only notice them when viewing at full size (ie zoomed in and large) assuming you have not in any case cropped the image and eliminated them that way (which is why edges are often not a problem.)
However if paying a premium price or unable to negotiate a discount or if no reasonable warranty cover is available, then walk away since it might indicate the first stages of a developing (no pun intended) problem.
RobDickinson said:
Look in the lens mount, mirror OK, etc,
This is where things get vague for myself since I don't have experience with any SLR cameras.I mean can I just look at it to check for defects in the mirror? Take a shot without a lens and watch what happens? It is possible to move the mirror out the way and inspect the image sensor surface? I assume I shouldn't need to poke anything anywhere...?
MarkRSi said:
This is where things get vague for myself since I don't have experience with any SLR cameras.
I mean can I just look at it to check for defects in the mirror? Take a shot without a lens and watch what happens? It is possible to move the mirror out the way and inspect the image sensor surface? I assume I shouldn't need to poke anything anywhere...?
You can move the mirror but you will see the shutter, you can lock the shutter up (via menu system) but nto sure you will see any defects with naked eye.I mean can I just look at it to check for defects in the mirror? Take a shot without a lens and watch what happens? It is possible to move the mirror out the way and inspect the image sensor surface? I assume I shouldn't need to poke anything anywhere...?
Take a shot of a pure white background , focus doesnt matter, +2 ev or manual mode, at f22 or smaller, this should show scratches and dust.
Gah dammit. Should have probably asked if there was lens with it 
Never used a Canon so had no idea how to use the bloody thing either 
Wasn't a card in it so couldn't test it out for picture quality etc. However the camera felt ok (dials etc, no scratches and marks) and the seller showed me some pictures he took which seemed good enough.
Probably still a good price to be fair with just the body, I've got a photography class tomorrow so will probably ask about it then.
Hopefully this thread will still be useful for someone (couldn't find any similar topic before I posted).
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Never used a Canon so had no idea how to use the bloody thing either Wasn't a card in it so couldn't test it out for picture quality etc. However the camera felt ok (dials etc, no scratches and marks) and the seller showed me some pictures he took which seemed good enough.Probably still a good price to be fair with just the body, I've got a photography class tomorrow so will probably ask about it then.
Hopefully this thread will still be useful for someone (couldn't find any similar topic before I posted).
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Not sure if other get the same impression but my feeling is that there are a lot of cameras and lenses out there that are hardly ever used before being sold on.
My 400D is shoing obvious signs of use but is still all in one piece with nothing broken or missing. In terms of shutter activations I guess it's about half way through its expected life although cosmetic appearance and shutter count so not necessarily go hand in hand.
A hard worked Pro end camera will likely be quite obviously used even though they are built to take a lot of work. Find one that looks new and it has probably done very little work or been professionally refurbished. Cameras with popular video capabilities (Canon 7D and 5DII for example) may have done more work in a shorter time with video than their appearance would suggest ... but I have no idea how you might assess that.
My 400D is shoing obvious signs of use but is still all in one piece with nothing broken or missing. In terms of shutter activations I guess it's about half way through its expected life although cosmetic appearance and shutter count so not necessarily go hand in hand.
A hard worked Pro end camera will likely be quite obviously used even though they are built to take a lot of work. Find one that looks new and it has probably done very little work or been professionally refurbished. Cameras with popular video capabilities (Canon 7D and 5DII for example) may have done more work in a shorter time with video than their appearance would suggest ... but I have no idea how you might assess that.
LongQ said:
Not sure if other get the same impression but my feeling is that there are a lot of cameras and lenses out there that are hardly ever used before being sold on.
I agree, my 350d after 4 years hard work looked used but still OK, most low end SLR's i think hardly get used.My in laws have a 400d and didnt even know how to change the lens...
RobDickinson said:
LongQ said:
Not sure if other get the same impression but my feeling is that there are a lot of cameras and lenses out there that are hardly ever used before being sold on.
I agree, my 350d after 4 years hard work looked used but still OK, most low end SLR's i think hardly get used.My in laws have a 400d and didnt even know how to change the lens...
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