Canon EOS 400D

gofkid

Hi All,

I am new to the board and photography. I am thinking of buying a Canon EOS 400D SLR, but am seeking advice from the people in the know.

There is some much information on the board as to who the best retailer is, I know it is a lot cheaper to buy from abroad (as Canon Ireland are ripping us off), but not all retailers ship to Ireland and I am worried about the warranty being covered by Canon Ireland.

So any advice at all would be helpful, also if anyone has ideas on what lense kits to get, that would be great.

Thanks

B0rG

buy a kit.
After 3000 photos you'd understand what exactly you want to photograph. Kit gives you reasonable picture and good focal lengths wide to tele. And it doesn't cost a ton of money. You can also get ef 50 1.8F while you're at it - it'll give you the feeling what to expect from L class lenses

Some people like macro, some people like tele, some people like night shooting, some portraits. The lens depends only on your style of shooting. In this light looking for a lens advice is a bit pointless, as you'd get recommendation based on other people's style of shooting, which may not be yours...

Or you can buy used 350D kit (I'd be selling mine soon for around E500 and play with it for a while, cause if you're serious you'd want 30D or even 5D some day It will also leave you with around E300 towards the lens budget.

ac-foto.com - german shop, cheaper than here, but still expensive.

bhphotovideo.com - USA, but even after VAT (still cameras are not subject to import tax in europe) it'll still be cheaper. You can also get 3 years MAC International Warrany with it.

Covey

Buy abroad, it's no problem really.

The major problem I have with the 400D, the 350D also, is size. I have the 300D, would upgrade but the larger body of the 300D I find much better ( waiting on the touted 40D now).

Because of the size I also find it a bit unstable with longer focal length lenses.

If these aren't an issue, it looks to be a fine camera.

T.

JMcL

I'd recommend Technk Direkt, good prices, fast delivery. I've bought a fair bit of stuff from them no problem.

As the others have said, go for a kit. For the price, the 18-55mm lens is not at all bad, and will serve you well while you get yourself up to speed.

As Covey said, the 350D and 400D bodies are a bit on the small side for my liking, so it may be an idea to try one out just to make sure it's comfortable to hold first.

Gyck

Because of the size I also find it a bit unstable with longer focal length lenses.

Agreed. A college got one two weeks ago, it's very small. OK if you have small hands. I just don't understand why they make the bodies of these later model Canons so small, it would really put me off buying one.

JMcL

Gyck wrote:

I just don't understand why they make the bodies of these later model Canons so small, it would really put me off buying one.

Well, I can kind of understand why they do it. I'd guess a large part of the target market for 350/400Ds consist of people who are new to SLRs, probably coming from a compact or bridge camera, and to whom a full size SLR might seem a bit offputting. I now find using a compact really fiddly - I don't know how to arrange my fingers, plus I've never managed to have the dreaded finger in front of the lens since I got my 300D

Beano

if the 400D is too small just get the battery grip for it. It makes it a much more suitable size for those with large hands plus you double the battery life.

gofkid

Thanks a lot for all the advice. I am going to check out the feel of a few cameras in a couple of days and then going to make my decision from that.

From what little I know about these things the 400D seems like a good introduction to digital SLR's and after a year or two I will hopefully move up to something more professional.

Thanks again everyone.

Gyck

I am going to check out the feel of a few cameras in a couple of days and then going to make my decision from that

I couldn't give you any better advice than that. You can get all the reviews and specs from the net, but there's nothing like holding the thing in your hand.

leinsterman

Yeah warranty can be an issue ... but I just saved about €900 on a lens buying it in New York versus "CON"ns in Dublin ... total cost €1,200 ... ... If anything goes wrong I can pop over to New York myself and still have change ... even after a weekend burning the candle at both ends with my mates over there ... in any case I have lots of friends who travel to the States regularly ...

I you have to buy in Dublin then buy from someone like Gunns in Wexford St ... If you have a business of your own then buy it through the business ... saving yourself the VAT ...

Buying form Germany will save you about 25% on Canon currently ... after Christmas Canon are aligning their European prices so I'd expect prices to fall somewhere in the new year ... if you can wait ... personally I still think this is not enough effort from Canon... but it is a start ... In Germany I have bought from www.ac-foto.com. I can recommend them based on experience to date (4 lenses) ... I bought a Sigma lens which has focus problems (from ac-foto) ... shipped it to Sigma agents in Cork for €14 ... They have adjusted it and are to ship back on Monday ... total time without the lens is 7 days ... would have been less but their technician Liam (who is excellent) asked to use an EOS20d (my camera body) instead of 350d to adjust the lens and I agreed ... unfortunately the boss had borrowed their 20d at the time ... so what is your worry about warranty again ?? None ??? ... to be fair Canon Ireland are a bunch of cowboys ... see my posts in the pricing thread ... but they are cowboys regadless of where you buy your gear ... so what have you to lose buying over seas ???

For a UK option I hear Warehouse Express offer good deals ... never bought from them but I know people who have with no complaints, all EU purchases mean no duties but you will pay VAT ... forget Jessops ... total rip off ...

If you really want to save money and buy from a reputable dealer the go to www.bhphotovideo.com ... their shop is in Manhatten and well wort a visit (even if not buying) ... I really recommend these guys online or in shop ... but you risk paying duty ... what I tend to do is ship to US address outside NY and get someone to pick it up for me ... saving 8% NY state tax ... and keeping the shipping cost down ... but turning a 4 day delviery into 1 Month ... not a problem for the money I'm saving ...

last but by no means least there is ebay ... I think Rymus (our glorious Fuhrer) and 440Hz (otherwise known as his evil side kick - Frau Goering) have used kea photo in Hong Kong ... aks them what they think ... but I suspect they will not be complaining ...