Canon 400d & B&H New York

WICKL0W

Going to NYC soon and I'm in the market for a digital SLR.

Couple of questions;

As I already own a 35-80mm and a 75-300mm lenses from my EOS3000 I presume that these are compatible with new EOS400D ?

If so would I be better to buy the body only from B&H in New York (€495) ? Or is there any other must have lense that I should contemplate.

Can you recommend other must buys that I should get while in the shop ?

I would be a beginner

Fionn

you can use those lenses with the EOS 400D
as far as what to get - it all depends on how much your budget is!

but at the very least consider the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (nifty fifty), feels like a toy, all plastic, it's the cheapest lens that Cannon make but it produces superb quality photographs, good low light lens too.

WICKL0W

Thanks Fionn, I'll buy that. 3 lenses would be fine until I get the hang of the camera. I did a bit of photography when i was a kid and i want to get back into it.

As regards memory cards and spare battery would I be better buying from say 7 day shop. Is there a difference in brands of cards that would be noticeable to an amateur.

Anyone recommend anything else from B&H ?

Valentia

I agree with Fionn. You can pick up the nifty 50 for around 50 (Euro) in B&H.

somano

Be very careful that you do not blow the opening hours. They close at 2pm on Friday and are not open on Saturdays but open at 10am on a Sunday. I know this because I visited one weekend.........

Stephen

Yeah, they close for all Jewish holidays and sabbath period every week. They have a calendar on their website that shows exactly when they're closed.

Fionn

WICKL0W wrote:

Anyone recommend anything else from B&H ?

what size of a plane are you flying back in

seriously..
remember to factor in 8.375% local sales tax on your purchases.

if i was visiting there and, providing i didn't have these items already, i'd look at;

Canon Tripod with a three way panhead and a free case - 40 bucks
Lowepro 200 camera bag for $90
Battery grip (some people find the EOS 400 a little small a battery grip solves this nicely)
Maybe look at a polorising filter or other filters
External Flash
get a spare battery from 7Day shop very cheap
i have Transcend and Sandisk CF cards and haven't had any trouble with them - so they seem ok brands.
Sandisk 2 gb Extreme III is cheaper in 7 day shop
Beside those smaller items - it's still great value compared to here!!!

WICKL0W

Fionn wrote:

what size of a plane are you flying back in

seriously..
remember to factor in 8.375% local sales tax on your purchases.

if i was visiting there and, providing i didn't have these items already, i'd look at;

Canon Tripod with a three way panhead and a free case - 40 bucks
Lowepro 200 camera bag for $90
Battery grip (some people find the EOS 400 a little small a battery grip solves this nicely)
Maybe look at a polorising filter or other filters
External Flash
get a spare battery from 7Day shop very cheap
i have Transcend and Sandisk CF cards and haven't had any trouble with them - so they seem ok brands.
Sandisk 2 gb Extreme III is cheaper in 7 day shop
Beside those smaller items - it's still great value compared to here!!!

Thanks Fionn,

I reckon tripod is too much hassle to bring home, $90 for a bag - call me tight

Battery grip essential for beginner ?

Yeah battery from 7 day shop looks the part- ta.

In what instances would one need an external flash as opposed to the built in one ?

Yeah I'll order Cf card from 7 day shop too.

Thanks for your help Fionn I appreciate it.

Fionn

those are some of the things i got when i started off;
obviously had just a camera first, then got fed up carrying it around in a dunnes stores bag with some packing stuff!!
a dedicated bag can prove to be very useful tho not essential

I found that i was photographing groups of people from time to time so i got an external flash unit which improved my hit rate a lot!
you can get by without the external flash but if your going to be photographing groups, you'd probably need a little more reach than the internal one would offer, theres a pile of other stuff like fill flash and macro work that a flash can become very handy for which brings me on to the tripod
if you want to do non flash work for instance with the 50mm 1.8 a tripod will yield sharp sharp! photographs at very low light levels

after a long time without a tripod i eventually got one and it made a world of difference to the sharpness of my photographs. It might be a bit big but at least you can check it out and judge it when you see it folded and in it's case!
The battery grip isn't essential, but for lots of peeps they find that the camera is a tad small for their hands, i'd suggest you should try and see if you can handle a camera with and without the grip to see which feels more comfortable.

have fun

Rob_T

Just an FYI you should also check out J&R as an alternative to B&H they are down town near Ground Zero and they are open Saturday and Sunday. Pricing is pretty much the same.

WICKL0W

Rob_T wrote:

Just an FYI you should also check out J&R as an alternative to B&H they are down town near Ground Zero and they are open Saturday and Sunday. Pricing is pretty much the same.

That would be handy. The summer catalogue for B&H is 420 pages - the place must be massive. I would say I would be picking things up and asking what is that for, I'd imagine great choice but way above my head. Maybe I can get a filter that always gives the perfect colour :rolleyes:

WICKL0W

Bought a bundle of stuff. Was on my way to B&H when I passed Adorama www.adorama.com. Everything that I had on my list was cheaper in this place also run by Jewish guys - therefore shut on a Saturday. I have no doubt that B&H is larger but they had full stock and were cheaper for every item, albeit by a couple of dollars. The sales assistant really knew his stuff and had 3 sales in a line on the go - very impressive, all 3 of us bought the guts of a grands worth of equipment each in minutes. The camera's warranty only covered the US & Canada so I bought the Mack worldwide guarantee.

rymus

well done.. enjoy the new gadget

Fionn

congrats on the new stuff!!
post up a few samples when you get the chance!!