SLR camera for my criterea

[mike360]

hi there guys what camera would you reccommended for a novice with slr wanting to start taking piccys with an slr,going to be used for takeing mostly still shots of cars and the occasional f1 grand prix shot

budget £500-600


thanks guys

[Felters]

The F1 bit will be tricky if you really want some decent images for £600. Something by Nikon or Canon - secondhand? You'll need to check the number of frames per second for motorsport. S/hand Nikon D70 plus a 200mm lens?

[RobDickinson]

Can you get a used 350d and 75-300IS in that?

Remember theres other stuff to buy too that adds up.

[Gemm]

350D or 400D will be a great starter. Yes, F1 will be a bit tricky but something like 70-300mm zoom can do the job fine.

[mike360]

Gemm said:

350D or 400D will be a great starter. Yes, F1 will be a bit tricky but something like 70-300mm zoom can do the job fine.

right so a 350d or 400d is a model of camera? ,, which make is it,, and the 70-30mm zoom is an add on ?

[RobDickinson]

Canon dSLR's (roughly oldest) to newest, you'll be intrested in:
10D
300D
20D
350D
30D
400D

Canons usualy AF quicker, shoot faster and meeter better, have better higher ISO performance than any of their equivalant (period) competitors.

xxxD is the cheaper base models. xxD is the next step up, xD is the expensive ones.

ALL lenses are add ons with dSLR's, you usualy get a 'kit' lens with them thats average at best and worth replacing quickly. Regardless it'll be useless for F1 photography.

Nikons are
D70
D70s
D80
D50
D40
D40x

[Gemm]

mike360 said:

Gemm said:

350D or 400D will be a great starter. Yes, F1 will be a bit tricky but something like 70-300mm zoom can do the job fine.

right so a 350d or 400d is a model of camera? ,, which make is it,, and the 70-30mm zoom is an add on ?

As Rob explained well, they are Canon models. You really can't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon (it's like choosing between Ferrari and Lambo, I guess ) You can buy these cameras with a kit lens which is fine for everyday shooting. You'll just need a longer zoom for F1 (well, depending on where you are watching), and 70-300mm is pretty handy focal length for it. Yes, you'd probably have to buy this separately but they are not so expensive, though some camera shops may bundle it together.

[mike360]

just had a quick read up on the 350d a few people say it under exposes quite a lot of the time this true ?

[beano500]

If your quoted budget is "just" for the camera body, you could just about stretch to a s/hand D200 Nikon which would give a good standard for autofocus and would be fast handling generally for the type of shots you want.


Course, then you could spend a fortune on the optics!

[RobDickinson]

mike360 said:

just had a quick read up on the 350d a few people say it under exposes quite a lot of the time this true ?

No.

If anything mine over exposes and I usualy have it set to -0.3EV - but it depends on the scene and mode selected.

But it all depends on the meetering system, and more how you understand how its meetering, and knowing when its going to get it wrong.

No meetering system is perfect, and no meetering mode is right, you just have to learn which modes do what and how they work.

[Gemm]

mike360 said:

just had a quick read up on the 350d a few people say it under exposes quite a lot of the time this true ?

When people say that I normally put it down to user errors.

[mike360]

thanks for all your help so far guys

found this lens on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-K-MOUNT-70mm-300mm-DL...


would it be suitable for a 400d? and do all lenses fit all Dslr's or would i have to get a cannon one or nikon as the case may be thanks guys

[RobDickinson]

mike360 said:

thanks for all your help so far guys

found this lens on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-K-MOUNT-70mm-300mm-DL...


would it be suitable for a 400d? and do all lenses fit all Dslr's or would i have to get a cannon one or nikon as the case may be thanks guys

That says its a pentax 'K' mount.

For Canon your looking for EF or EF-S mount EOS lenses.

All canon lenses for the last 10-12 years.

Lots of Sigma, Tamron and Tokina lenses too. But these can be in one of many mounts (sigma, Nikon, Canon).

Not all lenses are good tho, some are better than others, no one make is a garontee , each lens on its own merits.

There are convertors for canon to use otehr lenses but usualy you loose functionality.

[Gemm]

mike360 said:

thanks for all your help so far guys

found this lens on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-K-MOUNT-70mm-300mm-DL...


would it be suitable for a 400d? and do all lenses fit all Dslr's or would i have to get a cannon one or nikon as the case may be thanks guys

You can use a Sigma lens but it has to be a Canon (EF or EOS) mount Sigma lens. The one in the ad is for Pentax.

Edited by Gemm on Monday 12th November 23:09

[JD]

RobDickinson said:

Can you get a used 350d and 75-300IS in that?

Yep!

I did

350D is under £300 on the bay now (Badged Rebel XT (American name))

Got a nearly new 70-300IS for £260

[mike360]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EOS-400D-AF-18-55mm-SI...


would this package be all in all a good all round package for some everyday car still shots and some ok f1 shots


thanks guys

[RobDickinson]

JD said:

RobDickinson said:

Can you get a used 350d and 75-300IS in that?

Yep!

I did

350D is under £300 on the bay now (Badged Rebel XT (American name))

Got a nearly new 70-300IS for £260

Cool, IMO that has to be the best option for the budget.

Wont get a better zoom than that for the money either. Only 'problem' it has is its f5.6 at the long end.

[JD]

mike360 said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EOS-400D-AF-18-55mm-SI...


would this package be all in all a good all round package for some everyday car still shots and some ok f1 shots


thanks guys

I would buy them seperate and go for the canon lens as stated, image quality is pretty good, Is being fantasticly useful

Search for Rebel XT (350D) and Rebel XTi (400D)

as these are identical cameras but for american market and therefore sell for less money

[mike360]

JD said:

mike360 said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EOS-400D-AF-18-55mm-SI...


would this package be all in all a good all round package for some everyday car still shots and some ok f1 shots


thanks guys

I would buy them seperate and go for the canon lens as stated, image quality is pretty good, Is being fantasticly useful

Search for Rebel XT (350D) and Rebel XTi (400D)

as these are identical cameras but for american market and therefore sell for less money

right,, will have a look and then go for which canon lens?


also guys,,once photo is on pc must i then photoshop it to get it to perfection i understand this is quite a daunting operation to learn for a begginer

[RobDickinson]

mike360 said:

right,, will have a look and then go for which canon lens?


also guys,,once photo is on pc must i then photoshop it to get it to perfection i understand this is quite a daunting operation to learn for a begginer

Make sure you get the 'right' lens. Theres quite a few revisions and slight focal length differences that can mean the difference between crap and good.

This : http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_inf... is the canon lens you want.

The 'Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens' , the 75-300 (even the IS one) is crap, the 70-300IS is good.

As for photoshop dont worry about that yet. You can always use a simpler tool (Picasa) or shoot jpg with added sharpness/colour/contrast to get god out of the camera looks.