Which budget digital SLR?
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Discussion

Witchfinder

Original Poster:

6,388 posts

282 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
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As the thread title says, really. I don't mind buying second hand. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but I do now need a fairly decent 5MP+ camera. Something that'll fit all my old bayonet-fitting auto-focus lenses would be great. I've been looking at the Canon 300-D on eBay, but if I can get something that'll be cheaper that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

284 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
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Bayonet fittings? What mount?

All canon dSLR's are EF/ EOS mounts. 300d is OK (good pics) but an antique by todays standards , 350d is a lot better.

Witchfinder

Original Poster:

6,388 posts

282 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
quotequote all
RobDickinson said:
Bayonet fittings? What mount?

All canon dSLR's are EF/ EOS mounts. 300d is OK (good pics) but an antique by todays standards , 350d is a lot better.
My lenses are all the stuff I bought for my ancient 35mm Canon 100 EOS. I'm not bothered by antiquity or style - I want good quality photographs. I don't think I can run to a 350D. Is it really that much better?

Simpo Two

92,977 posts

295 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
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Don't let your current crop (no pun intended!) of lenses cramp your style - you may well find you ditch them and start again, due to reasons of crop factor and electronic compatibility.

Witchfinder

Original Poster:

6,388 posts

282 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
...you may well find you ditch them and start again, due to reasons of crop factor and electronic compatibility.
I understand what you're saying, but as I mentioned in the original post I'm on a tight budget. I can just about stretch to a new camera body. I'll replace lenses as and when I can afford it.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

284 months

Saturday 16th February 2008
quotequote all
Your old EOS lenses will work, remember the 1.6* focal length multiplier tho.

IMO you can get better pics than your old film camera, the crop bodies use the better central part of the glass and you can take a lot more shots freely.

Also IMO the 300d takes a great picture but is slow in operation (turn on, shooting speed, review etc) and without the hacked firmware artificialy restricted in many ways (no AI servi except in sport mode etc). If its all you can afford go for it but there has to be an affordable 350d out there I think.

Simpo Two

92,977 posts

295 months

Sunday 17th February 2008
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Witchfinder said:
Simpo Two said:
...you may well find you ditch them and start again, due to reasons of crop factor and electronic compatibility.
I understand what you're saying, but as I mentioned in the original post I'm on a tight budget. I can just about stretch to a new camera body. I'll replace lenses as and when I can afford it.
That's fine, I did too. 'Ongoing rolling replacement policy' or somesuch! However pound for pound I don't think you'll get such a good deal on body-only than if you buy body + (say) midrange zoom.

My thoughts go back to my old Nikon F70 and 24-50mm lens. Great on an F70, but at '36-75', fairly useless on a D70, so I'm very glad I got the 18-70 with the D70.

slartibartfast

4,031 posts

231 months

Sunday 17th February 2008
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RobDickinson said:
Also IMO the 300d takes a great picture but is slow in operation (turn on, shooting speed, review etc) and without the hacked firmware artificialy restricted in many ways (no AI servi except in sport mode etc). If its all you can afford go for it but there has to be an affordable 350d out there I think.
Rob, i've got the 300D, what difference does the hacked firmware make to it? and where can i get it?
i'm thinking of upgrading next year to either the 400D or 450D if i can afford it...le-mans to pay for first though

Paul

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

284 months

Sunday 17th February 2008
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slartibartfast said:
RobDickinson said:
Also IMO the 300d takes a great picture but is slow in operation (turn on, shooting speed, review etc) and without the hacked firmware artificialy restricted in many ways (no AI servi except in sport mode etc). If its all you can afford go for it but there has to be an affordable 350d out there I think.
Rob, i've got the 300D, what difference does the hacked firmware make to it? and where can i get it?
i'm thinking of upgrading next year to either the 400D or 450D if i can afford it...le-mans to pay for first though

Paul
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/digital_rebel_firmware_hack.html

looop

137 posts

232 months

Sunday 17th February 2008
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Get ether a 300d or a Nikon D50
I got a D50 for £99 second hand last month.

Zad

13,022 posts

266 months

Monday 18th February 2008
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Don't pay more than £180 for your 300D+kit lens. The Canon outlet on Ebay is still churning them out at £180-200. People have paid more, but they must be mad!


Tycho

12,287 posts

303 months

Monday 18th February 2008
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The missus suggested that she might like to get a Digi SLR so I'm not going to complain......

What is the Sony Alpha 100 like? The Olympus E410 gets a good write up but what is the Four Thirds system like? Will it take off?

sidaorb

5,595 posts

236 months

Monday 18th February 2008
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Rob,

Get yourself a 10D, great camera and fairly bomb-proof, still use mine as 2nd body.

Carl

MilnerR

8,273 posts

288 months

Monday 18th February 2008
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Tycho said:
The missus suggested that she might like to get a Digi SLR so I'm not going to complain......

What is the Sony Alpha 100 like? The Olympus E410 gets a good write up but what is the Four Thirds system like? Will it take off?
I bought a Sony A100 about 5 months ago and I've taken some pretty good pics with it. For the money I paid (£380 with a 28-70mm lens) it was cheap enough. I bought the 75-300mm lens a couple of months ago which gives reasonable results:









It depends what you want really, I'm not a serious photographer but I do like to have a play from time to time. The sony is good enough quality for what I want, it's reasonably well put together and has all the features that I'm likely to need. The more serious guys on here will say canon or nikon, go into jessops and have a close look at a few (then go online to warehouse express and buy the one you like).


Edited by MilnerR on Monday 18th February 16:29

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

284 months

Monday 18th February 2008
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IMo the 4/3rds system suffers from too small a sensor, not suer I'd bother, and the lenses which should be cheaper arnt.

10D is a good camera, biggest drawback is lacking an EF-S mount but still being 1. crop

Witchfinder

Original Poster:

6,388 posts

282 months

Tuesday 19th February 2008
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At the moment I'm still leaning towards the 300D. I'm familiar with its 35mm predecessors, and it seems to be reasonably good value second hand. Any other suggestions and discussions are appreciated though.

slartibartfast

4,031 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th February 2008
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Witchfinder said:
At the moment I'm still leaning towards the 300D. I'm familiar with its 35mm predecessors, and it seems to be reasonably good value second hand. Any other suggestions and discussions are appreciated though.
heres a few examples of what my 300D has done, sure i'm not a pro and not even semi pro although i keep trying an learning all the time

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/paulj1969/30...

plus these which i'm using to 'try' and get into stock photography
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/paulj1969/st...

if i we're to do it all again today i'd go for the canon 350D or 400D as they are quite a lot better, it's worth stretching your budget to go better.

Paul

Jenx

11,579 posts

272 months

Wednesday 20th February 2008
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Paul,
Your "alienbug" shots, are they ice? They're way cool! And I really like the ice ones too.

slartibartfast

4,031 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th February 2008
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Jenx said:
Paul,
Your "alienbug" shots, are they ice? They're way cool! And I really like the ice ones too.
no, these are Fractals, sorry didn't read your reply correctly first time

Thank you for the comments
they are fractals, i'm still trying to learn them LOL

Paul

Edited by slartibartfast on Wednesday 20th February 07:22

Jenx

11,579 posts

272 months

Wednesday 20th February 2008
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