Canon 400D (Best price/alternatives)

[Gold]

http://hotukdeals.com/item/159703/canon-400d-body-...

Looking at getting my first SLR - going from reviews for £/performance the 400D looks pretty damn good, can anywhere beat that price/any other alternatives?

Have looked around and can't seem to beat it but £300 is a lot of beer money for a poor student

[flat-planedCrank]

Gold said:

http://hotukdeals.com/item/159703/canon-400d-body-...

Looking at getting my first SLR - going from reviews for £/performance the 400D looks pretty damn good, can anywhere beat that price/any other alternatives?

Have looked around and can't seem to beat it but £300 is a lot of beer money for a poor student

£300 ?! wow, from what i've seen that's a great price

Normal place to try is Camera Price Buster, at the mo their best price for the body-only is £339.99.


Cheers.

[Captain Volvo]

400D - Tesco £360 with £45 cashback, cheapest I could find so I bought one.....

[BlueMR2]

Might get cheaper when the 450d arrives?

Sounds like it will use sd cards though,.

[flat-planedCrank]

BlueMR2 said:

Sounds like it will use sd cards though,.

Certainly what dpreview are saying the spec will be.

It's a bit surprising when the recently released 40D is CF...


Cheers.

[Jenx]

So what's the problem with SD cards?

Martin.

[leightonjames]

The only trouble i have with sd cards is there fiddliness and flimsiness. In New York when i had to change one i couldnt physical do it for about 10 minutes because my hands were so cold!

Hmm should i get this?

ah

[slartibartfast]

leightonjames said:

The only trouble i have with sd cards is there fiddliness and flimsiness. In New York when i had to change one i couldnt physical do it for about 10 minutes because my hands were so cold!

Hmm should i get this?

ah

i always find wearing gloves prevents cold hands............lol
i think SD cards are brilliant, wish my 300D had SD instead of compact flash.

now the 400D has come down i'm very tempted to do a trade in

Paul

[flat-planedCrank]

Jenx said:

So what's the problem with SD cards?

Martin.

Nothing specific, was just surprised that the 450D was going to change format.
Means that 450D users that might want to upgrade to the 40D will have to change all their cards. Not a huge issue but could be a few pounds-worth..

[RobDickinson]

I suspect the 450 owners will be upgrading to a 50D if anything and that will use SD cards (mebe in combo with CF).

[flat-planedCrank]

RobDickinson said:

I suspect the 450 owners will be upgrading to a 50D if anything and that will use SD cards (mebe in combo with CF).

Suppose it depends on the speed of the product cycle as well, there was a gap of about 18 months from the announcement of the 30D to the 40D. So you could take a guess the 50D would be announced in February 2009.

Be interesting to see if that cycle speeds up due to the impressive recent released from Nikon (D300 and D3)


Cheers.

[RobDickinson]

450d hasnt hit the streets yet has it? So early 09 for a 50d upgrade is about all they need.

As for the D300/D3, cracking cameras but typicaly (and skilfully?) arranged so as not to directly compete with canons offerings.

[flat-planedCrank]

RobDickinson said:

450d hasnt hit the streets yet has it? So early 09 for a 50d upgrade is about all they need.

As for the D300/D3, cracking cameras but typicaly (and skilfully?) arranged so as not to directly compete with canons offerings.

I'd certainly agree with your second point I'd like to see a D300 rival from Canon, the gap from the 40D at £619 to the 1d mk3 at £2,499 is rather sizeable

(Ok so the 5D is £1,299 but its arguably not really a 'sports' camera.)


Cheers.

[Simpo Two]

RobDickinson said:

As for the D300/D3, cracking cameras but typicaly (and skilfully?) arranged so as not to directly compete with canons offerings.

Why would Nikon launch cameras that don't compete with their arch-rival? Or am I missing something?

[RobDickinson]

Simpo Two said:

RobDickinson said:

As for the D300/D3, cracking cameras but typicaly (and skilfully?) arranged so as not to directly compete with canons offerings.

Why would Nikon launch cameras that don't compete with their arch-rival? Or am I missing something?

When have they directly competed? They dont seem to go head to head at all. D300 is a cracking camera but its 50% more than a 40D, and a lot less than a 1DIII, D3 is a lot more than a 5D but a lot less than a 1dsIII.

Even the D40(x)/60 / Dxxx canons and D80 / 40D dont line up directly. I know its not either companies business to make direct competitors but they , somehow, for some reason, never seem to.

[flat-planedCrank]

Simpo Two said:

RobDickinson said:

As for the D300/D3, cracking cameras but typicaly (and skilfully?) arranged so as not to directly compete with canons offerings.

Why would Nikon launch cameras that don't compete with their arch-rival? Or am I missing something?

Well they do compete of course they are cameras in the same market.. but more that they are skilfully positioned to be substanially different to the Canon offerings.

The D300 sits in the gap in Canons range between the 40D and 1d mk3.
The D3 is a similar price to the 1d mk3 at £3k but offers a full-frame sensor and 9fps (!). If you wanted a full frame Canon then you would have the choice of the 5D at £1299 but only 3fps, or the pro-body 1ds mk3 at £4,799 and 5fps (but a whopping 21.1MP).

Either way its good to have 2 powerful players in the market


Cheers.

[Simpo Two]

I suppose that if Canon made a camera that had exactly the same spec as a Nikon (or vice versa) for the same price, they'd only get half the sales. So they have to offer either the same spec for less cost, or a better spec for the same cost. So maybe the interpolated effect is competition after all!