Canon 350D opinions?

I was thinking of getting a new camera soon for general pictureness (so no real need for it to be able to do REALY close ups or like really long distances etc) and the 350 looks like it would fit my price range aprx £500. Does anyone here have one? do you like it? any issues etc.

Many thanks.

 

I know a lot of people think it's a bit on the small size - I'd definitely suggest having a dabble with one before you buy.

Other than that, it's a pretty good budget dSLR and the kit lens should be OK for your "general pictureness"

 

I found the 350D too small, the 300D was nicer I thought.

Check the Nikon D50 aswell.

 

Well my mum has to use it as well so it has to fit her hand (which id does). I was playing around with one in Jessops earlier today, and foudn my little finger was underneath it, but i kind of liked that for support. Also the battery back you can get for it, stops that happening as it fits under the camera.

The D50 was kinda nice as well... humm

Which gives a better picture / ease of use though? (lookin at the stats etc the 350D seems to come out on top)

 

avid fan of it here, i spent some of my student loan on it... silly mistake I know but it's a cracking camera

 

mkay cool anyone got any pics taken by one (fev?) so i can show 'rents how good it is?

 

hmm.. i'd be interested in this too as i've just decided to buy myself a dSLR as well.

And the two choices that come my way are the Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) or the Nikon D50.

I'm erring towards the 350D and a 28mm f1.4 lens.. but the D50 is cheaper but of similar quality to the 350D despite the difference in pixels.

 

I personally found the 350D way too small to be used comfortably, and opted for a D50 instead. You won't be disappointed by the quality of photos from either to be honest, and really I wouldn't be able to tell a difference (bar image size, 6.1MP versus 8MP and *possibly* less noise in dark photos with the Canon) in picture quality between the two cameras. Just try them both out and go with whichever one you feel most comfortable using.

 

k sounds like the 350 is indeed loved if a bit small - good for my mum to use! which is great. I really liked the weight of it to be fair, compared to my dads cannon (film one) it is SO much lighter

 

I have the Nikon D70s (slightly larger brother to the D50), and love it to bits. The image quality is excellent, good enough to print A4 prints and not know that their digital.
I use RAW mode to save photos though, not JPEG as I prefer the increased image quality - and the slight inconvenience of fewer photos on a CF card doesn't really matter to me (still get 100+ images on a 1Gb card).

 

I also find the 350d too small, but I bought one anyway. It's a great camera. Using it fully manually is a little awkward however.

You've got to consider what can rival it for the price. If price is at all an issue, get the 350d cos there's not much to beat it in it's price range... in fact, there's nothing. If you can afford more, then definitely get something like the 20d, which have come down in price since the 50 was released.

There is an optional grip (BG-E3) for the 350d which makes it feel a lot more grown up... I recommend you get one if you go for the 350d.

Quality from the 350d is very good. Side by side tests I did with the D70 show it to be visibly superior in both resolution and colour fidelity. There's almost no artifacting with the 350d, zero colour fringing, and almost no noise upto ISO400, and far less noise after that speed than the D70. Start up times are faster, and repeat shooting frame rates into the buffer are superior. Once the buffer is full, it depends on the speed of the CF card of course, but even using the same CF, the Canon's full buffer frame rate was higher.

Get the 350d, fit the BG-E3 grip, and just live with the other shortcomings. At the end of the day, all cameras in this price range will be a compromise when compared to their pro equivalents.... I'd be tempted to go with whichever one gives the best image.

The one thing about the 350d I DON'T like, is the quality of the kit lens that comes with it. It's fine at the short end, but the long end of the zoom range is not the sharpest I've seen. Buy the body only, and then get a used EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM off ebay or somewhere. Works out slightly more expensive, but the gain in quality is worth it. As thyis lens is heavier than the kit lens, you really WILL need the extra battery grip fitted to the body.

 

Thanks pookey, thats a lot of stuff to go on, much appreiciated

 

Does anyone here know of any (reputable) places where one could pick up a second user Canon 350D body?

Is any one selling one?

 

Jessops has a few 2nd hand ones (if you have one around your area) or ebay?

 

I bought myself a 350D 2 days ago after looking at the D50 as well. I found the 350D a nice fit and much less bulky than the D50. Image quality is roughly the same from what I can tell and I'm well impressed with the 350D. Its my first SLR and the difference (both in quality of pictures as well as startup times, adjustablility and the rest) is huge.

I bought mine from Jessops, they offer a price match (+10% of the difference back), and that includes internet sites. I managed to find one for <£480 on the net so the Jessops price came in at around £470.

PS: I couldn't find any 2nd hand jessops ones, you could try the London Camera Exchange (lcegroup.co.uk I think) as they tend to have more used equiptment. Although I would say that dSLR, especially newer models, tend to hold their value quite well so you won't get much of a discount buying second hand from somewhere like ebay and you will sacrafice all the aftersales service and possible warranties by not buying new from a shop.

 

Yeah, that was what I was thinking, but I didn't know that Jessops do a price match with internet sites... thanks for letting us know. :thumbs:

But i'm seriously tempted to get one sent over from Hong Kong, from the limited information I do have about prices over there, I could get a 350D for roughly £300 new, but i'm not sure if Canon have an international warranty and if my friends have time to go searching for the deals out there.

 

All canon bodies come with country / continent specific warranties only. ie; buy it from Hong Kong and you won't have a warranty, you'll need a UK model.

Lenses, on the other hand, all have international warranties so buy your glass cheaper from where ever without any worries.

 

Ah ic, thanks for the info.

I've got my eye set on a particular lens: can anyone shed any light on how good it'll be?

The lenses specifically are the Canon 28mm f2.8 or the 35mm f2.0

Has anyone had any experiences with these lenses and what would be your recommendations?

 

oo really ??? for the price check thing?? sweet! i think amazon have them cheepest, but anyone want to correct me if im wrong?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007R6CHQ/203-2032261-6477502

anyone got it cheeper? ebuyer is about the same, and argos is like 100 more.

 

Also consider the Sigma 30mm f1.4. Though not experienced with this particular lens (I have the 50mm f1.4 (and love it), but have been considering a wider prime) I read countless posts from users on various forums that have owned, or still own, the Canon and Sigma counter-parts and near everyone says the Sigma is superior.

It is a little pricier than the two you've listed, though, at ~£275.


Though it doesn't apply to the primes discussed thus far, don't forget the voucher book you get with the 350D which can bring some more expensive lenses within budget.