Some Real World Advice on Camera Choice

humbert

I've pretty much made up my mind to buy the Canon 500d but before I do I'd like to get a little feed back from people with day to day experience.

It would be my first SLR having used the IXUS 950 for years and loved it. I've read the reviews and the specs, positive and negative but without any experience it is easy to have my view skewed one way or the other.

The alternatives would be the 450d, the 40d and the 50d. I'd imagine the argument for the 450d would be that it does more than I need and costs a lot less.

For the 40/50d I don't want to find out after 6 months that I can't advance very far without an upgrade and the problem here is that I can understand the advantages of an SLR over a point and shoot but I don't have a good grasp of the important differences between the 500d and the 50d.

I guess I can't expect much useful advice unless I mention what I'd hope to use it for. Well it would get used for taking holiday snaps but frankly the IXUS 950 is pretty much adequate for those in most instances.

What I'd want this for is those situations where I have more time somewhere worth photographing. For example when it snowed recently I went out and took some photos late at night. I was quite pleased with them but it was very frustrating having so little control over the results. The same goes for cycling up into Wicklow, very often I'd see a scene which would make a great photo but can't get the little IXUS to pick it out.


And on a side note, are there any other essentials after the camera and 18-55 mm stock lens. I've seen UV filters mentioned and a lot of people speaking highly of the "nifty 50" lens...but that can be got a little further down the road.

DotOrg

the title of your post is 'Real World Advice' so the honest answer that most tech loving internet camera forum dwellers won't like to hear is:
it doesn't really make any real difference whether you use a 450D, 500d, 30/40/50D

any of those cameras can produce stunning results. the real difference to a photo is the person behind the camera.

far more important than the camera body is the camera lens. And even then, the basic lens that comes with the camera can produce amazing results.

don't forget in your budget to include space for more hard drive space, memory cards, spare battery, bag, tripod, faster computer and software to process your image such as adobe lightroom

humbert

Well that is kinda what I'm looking for but maybe with a bit more detail

Sure, I appreciate that the lens is important but I can accumulate them over time and as required.

And sure there will be some more accoutrements required as time goes by, I'm just considering the essentials now. I've friends with fancy SLRs and as a result of not really knowing how to use them my photos with a camera I know how to use often look better. For that reason I just want the basics which I can build on as I improve.

stiophan

Honestly the big difference between the 500D and 450D is HD recording. If you don't have a camcorder then this might swing it. After all every camera in this level will have HD recording by the end of 2010. Some would say that what you save getting a 450D you can compensate by getting an extra lens. Think 5-speed gears versus 6-speed. You'll notice some of the kits offer two lenses rather than the included one. Also perhaps use the cash saved for a better flash considering the included one has most of the same limitations as your compact. If you have anyone with an old Film Canon camera, you might be able to recycle the lenses. Then there are the optional accessories- a good bag, a couple of high speed memory cards, a tripod. Bar the cards, none of these are needed but you can see why they can be less than optional. Like learning to drive a car or bike, some training would be useful (Canon are offering some training for free with some models) even if you were good with the compact. You should be able to strike a strong bargain for the 450D as its resale price has now plummeted since the 500 and 1000 arrived.

Rb

Funnily enough I was just having a conversation with a friend about this exact topic only minutes ago. Unless you really, really want HD recording I'd pass on the 500D, as I did when I bought my 450D (500D was just out/coming out when I bought it).

However, if I were doing it again I'd spend the budget on used equipment that has been kept in good condition, the money goes an awful lot further and there's a lot of great deals out there on well kept cameras with less than 10k actuations.

If I had a grand or so to spend now I'd buy a used xxD body, battery grip, some CF cards, a bag, decent tripod and some good glass. The 450D/500D are great bodies, don't get me wrong, but the build quality of the xxD line is so much better and the cameras feel so much nicer to hold that I'd gladly pass up a new xxxD body in place of a used 30/40D.

aceofspades.ie

http://www.dpreview.com/

Found this site really good when i needed to make my mind up which DSLR to buy, got this from some of the guys on this forum... Really good. Best of luck with the camera.

FoxT

the results you will obtain from a 400D, 450D,30D,40D,500D, will be indistinguishable. So, don't worry too much about the body. Have a look at them, if possible try them out, & go for the one you like. If there is a particular feature that you want, (like HD) that's fine. I found dpreview useful but they make a big issue about features like DOF preview & spot metering that are nice to have, maybe, but of limited use.

I would also recommend buying used. I bought a used 40D on eBay for eu650 at a time when they were selling new in shops for about eu1200, and I am very happy with it. For general purpose usage the 18-55 lens is fine to start with. If you take a lot of indoor photos then get a good quality flash. These are expensive new but available on the internet at reasonable money, and they make a massive difference.

Good luck!

-FoxT

humbert

Thanks guys. That was the kind of argument I was looking for. I'd a feeling that an older model would be a wiser choice but it's hard to refuse the shiny new one.

That said, I took the plunge yesterday and bought the 500d and to be honest whatever doubts I had have vanished and I'm just looking forward to getting my hands on it and doing some experimenting

Thanks for you time and advice...I'm sure I'll have many more questions before long!

PS. I like the HD video but at 20fps crap autofocus and no audio input I'm not going to get too excited about it.