Canon 350D opinions?

First (one of) pic off my 350d:

http://www.richardswinburne.net/NA/M2N32SLI.jpg

2meg, 8MP.

Everything auto cause I havent read the manual yet. It makes picture taking FUN cause it feels like a proper camera rather than a point and shoot. Im not doing the pictures for the review though

edit: link fixed

 

404-tastic goodness.

 

Whilst you're shopping for new stuff, might as well mention my other two favourite shops.

The first most people probably know as they're the biggest and recognised best (by awards) in the country: Warehouse Express. Not always cheapest, but they sell just about everything so can save by bundling on a delivery and saving that way.

And my second is lesser known but have possibly the best service I've received from an online shop, ever. Walter's Photo Video. Pretty good prices, too. Probably in good situ for Bindi when he visits home being in Caerphilly.

 

Damn you all!... I've decided to buy one after reading all the positive feedback.

I want to start doing more photography and the camera I have at the moment is just a point and shoot digicam (Casio QV-R51 5.0mp) so everything has to be Photoshoped so it doesnt look like crap (which is annoying). I was just wondering what extras I should consider and where would be the best place to buy it?(I presume will tell me the places linked above ). I've got a quote from Savastore.com as I use them for most things at work, he said £450 inc vat (thats with the 18-55mm Lens), which seems pretty reasonable. Accessories wise im going to need a CF card (whats a decent speed?) and probably a bag and tripod, any make/model in particular?, any other stuff I should consider?

 

I only got my 350D a couple of weeks ago but already since then i've gone and spent a fortune on extras. Already I have gone and bought a wide angle lens and a fast portrait coming soon as well as various filters, hoods and CF cards to go with them.

I already had a small SLR camera bag from when I did film photography years ago, but with the extra lens and stuff i've got, I'll be needing a new one very soon but i'm always miffed at why camera bags are all so expensive and look like crap!

I've also gone and bought a cheapo tripod from jessops.

Personally I reckon the best part of your money should go on the lenses (if you decide to buy any more now) and then any extras such as tripods, I buy cheapo ones that'll suffice for now until I really need to spend the extra cash on a more pro model... as long as it does what I need i'm fine with it... but as I said before, I reckon money has to be spent on quality lenses... no point having a great body, fantastic filters, a kosher bag and a ruddy big stable tripod if the lens is poo. (i know, i know.. it's who's behind the camera that counts but having good equipment from the get go doesn't hurt).

And CF cards, I find that Sandisks middle of the range (Ultra II) series is a good compromise between speed and cost, it's faster than the normal CF series but it's not always noticeable unless you take photos is quick succession or burst it.
I am pondering getting a Sandisk Extreme III series card because even though it'll probably make 0 difference on camera shot taking times, it may speed up transfers to my Mac... 1GB of photos takes bloody ages in my book!

 

Cool

I'm sure a better lens will be on the cards at some point, but i'd probably be better off with a stock one until I know how the camera works.

I was thinking a quicker card would be useful as I will be using the camera when I go out riding with my mates, so when someones doing a run of dirt jumps I can snap away without having to wait for the camera to keep up and like you said you don't want to be waiting forever for a gig of photos to transfer when you get home. Tripod wise something compact and light will do, I don't really want to be spending too much on extras and then decide it's not ideal for the job.

LEXAR 2GB 133X Professional CF Card <- Looks alright for the money.

Edit:\ Sorry if I missed it in a previous post... how long does the stock battery last, general real world use?(with and without flash).

 

From memory it's quoted as 600 photos without the flash and 450 with. In reality* though I'm fairly certain I get between 800-1000 photos from a battery charge, maybe 10% of those with the flash...

*spring-summer warmer temperatures w/ 1 second review time (default = 4)

 

Pretty much the same as RTT. I'm using a 20D but the numbers are similar. Canon quote around 650 I believe and I easily get a lot more than that.

Personally though, most of the time I shoot with the grip and two batteries so I get well over a thousand shots. Add to that I have a flash head and never use the internal. But, I do use my 70-200 a lot which has IS which is more drain.

Ordinarily I use my cam pretty much every day and at weekends for hours at a time and I probably only charge the batteries every two weeks.

 

Thanks for the replys, sounds great!.

Might go into town and see if I can get a real look at one of these cameras, gotta try before you buy