Advice on D-SLR Purchase Please (& Printer ?)

[M@H]

Hi Chaps, Firstly sorry for the long post.

My wife is pretty keen on taking photographs however is a bit of an amateur. She has some books on the subject and enjoys snapping allsorts, from close-ups of flowers etc, to cars, to landscapes and seascapes. A few years ago I bought her a Canon EOS300 so she could actually get to grips with the "proper" side of it all so she could work out lighting, shutter speeds, focal stuff... well you know.

Anyway, this has effectively lead to frustration as she has to have a play about with the various settings on the camera, taking different shots, and then wait to finish the film off before getting the pictures developed and eventually seeing the results (often at this point we're not sure what setting was used for which pictures too)... also its a bit depressing chucking over £5 a go at getting films bought and developed, to have just a really small handful of anything worth looking at.

So, lead on the digital revolution..? I think the "best" option to help her develop her hobby and improve her skills is to get a Digital camera (?) ..that way she can see the fruits of her labour in "real-time" and can reel off hundereds of pictures without the hassle of developing them and can practice different effects etc without hassle.

But what to buy..? I was thinking about just getting an EOS300D as niavely I though it would be the same as the existing 300, but with a screen.. I now discover its quite a small thing.. (is that bad??). Ultimately I can't afford and don't really need a "professional" camera, so budget is ideally under £500.. It would be nice to be able to get something that will use the existing lense that we have on the 300 too.

Is this the right sort of approach ? any recomendations on what sort of thing to buy ? and also any pointers on whether its worth getting a Printer (such as the Canon Pixma) to print these things out ?

All advice very gratefully received,
Many thanks,
Matt.

[M@H]

beano500 said:

Much as I'd like to recommend you to "Clud Membershit" your obvious route is to carry on to Canon digitalisation.

Now I'm sure that means something..


Fixed lens v.s DSLR... what are the drawbacks of the SLR then..?

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 25th May 12:01

[M@H]

Thanks for the thoughts chaps.. ...if I was going to get the 300D body will I end up (depending on if she gets on well) needing to "upgrade" it to something like the 350D in future..? or is the difference just a technical one. I'd rather spend the extra £100 now than have to buy a whole new camera in a couple of years.. however no point going OTT.

Thanks again,
Matt.

poah, just read your response.. 10D..?

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 25th May 12:42

[M@H]

V6GTO said:

Matt, You are definately heading down the right path in your approach. The lens tou have( it's an EF) will fit a 300D. £409 brand new here, half way down... www.7dayshop.com/catalog/normal_search_result.php?keywords=300D&x=8&y=11 That leaves you money for a good CF card and other stuff you might want. Martin.

Now that looks like an idea.. I could even get a nice printer with that sort of money and still have spent less than on a 10D.

[M@H]

woody said:

If you're looking for a 'cheap way' to get a 300D then try the canon factory outlet Here. You can get the body for about £250 - £300'ish. Hope this helps Chris

Blimey !!! Brilliant.. Thanks



daved, thanks for the confirmation.. its got to be the way to go hassn't it

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 25th May 13:13

[M@H]

beano500 said:

As far as printers, the little tiny printers are cute, but you'll get A4 printers which will give you much more flexibility. For day-to-day stuff we got an Epson R300 (c £80 or less) which is easy to live with straight out of the box.

Do these home printers really work though.. do you actually get "Photo" quality or does it look like you've printed it out..? (I guess a lot depends on paper..??)

Cheers
Matt

[M@H]

Home printer reccomendations.. ? uses will be 50% letters to beaurocratic morons, and 50% photos I guess, no high volumes..

[M@H]

Hmmm.. another one to throw into the melting pot... Wifey's eixsting EOS300 has a 28 - 90 mm Lens, and the EOS300D comes with a 18 - 55 mm lens ...is it worth buying a complete 300D to have the extra different lens.?

Clearly I know sod all about this sort of thing so I apoligise if thats a stupid question

Matt

[M@H]

..just this minute bought a complete EOS 300D inclding lens from the Canon Outlet for £395 ..most pleased (just trusting it arrives ok)

Thanks for the help chaps.

Matt

[M@H]

V6GTO said:

M@H said: ..just this minute bought a complete EOS 300D inclding lens from the Canon Outlet for £395 ..most pleased (just trusting it arrives ok) Thanks for the help chaps. Matt What are you doing about a printer? Martin.

Don't know yet, in fact I'm just browsing the internet for one now.. any suggestions.. ?

[M@H]

woody said:

M@H said: ..just this minute bought a complete EOS 300D inclding lens from the Canon Outlet for £395 ..most pleased (just trusting it arrives ok) Thanks for the help chaps. Matt Well done M@H - glad to have been some help. Another member of 'the dark side.....' Get shooting! Chris

Thanks

Matt.

[M@H]

Ok Chaps thanks for all the help and advice, just to finish this one off we now have:

Canon EOS 300D - £395 Canon Outlet
Integral / Ipro 256Mb Ultra 40X CF Card x2 - £31 ValueFlash.co.uk
Canon Pixma i3000 Printer - £53 Canon Outlet
Photo Paper A4 x3 pack and A6 x 3 pack £26 Tetenal.co.uk

..so all done with everything we need for £505.

Considering the budget was £500 I'm very happy

Thanks again people.

Cheers
Matt

[M@H]

Ex-biker said:

Might have to check Canon Outlet for the printer. What's the quality like?

Hard to say at the moment as we're still waiting for the paper to arrive, however some dry runs on ordinary papaer give pretty impressive results. I'm sure I'm not going to be dissapointed, and for £53 its not a disaster if we want to upgrade at some point.