Advice on D-SLR

badazzpanda · Jan 11, 2005

I've decided I really need a decent digital SLR!

Being a student money is, well, short...

I have been looking at a second hand EOS d60, has anyone had experience? I would fing it difficult to step up to a EOS 10d though!

The Nikon D70 also looks pretty sweet for similar money, the EOS 300d is plastic to I would break it and is only £100 cheaper than the Nikon so is not good value?

Any advice would be greatly apreciated!!!

Ant · Jan 11, 2005

The D70 is plastic too, but pretty robust. I've never handled an EOS 300d but I hear it's a lot better built than is usually given credit for. You may also want to check out the new Olympus E-300. That's a brand new entry level DSLR with 8 megapixels. I've also heard that with student discount being offered the Olympus E-1 comes in at less than a grand too.

As to which one, that greatly depends on what kind of photography you do.

Big Mike · Jan 11, 2005

Yes, the Canon Digital Rebel is unfairly getting a bad reputation because it's made of plastic. It's no different than any other Plastic SLR....the D70 included. Probably better constructed than most point & shoot cameras. If you compare it too a pro body...then yes, it looks a little flimsy, but some pros need the durability to earn a living. Most 300D users don't.

You are probably better off looking for a used 300D or 10D than a used D60.

Ant · Jan 11, 2005

I hear that the 300D is due to be replaced sometime this year, if and when that happens you'll find an awful lot of used 300Ds going cheap. Just depends on if you want to wait around or not.

Big Mike · Jan 11, 2005

It would be great if the successor to the Digital Rebel floods the market with used D Rebels and/or drives down the price of new ones.

There is not a lot of room in the price bracket of the D300 though. I don't think Canon will drop the price too much because of the point & shoot digital cameras they have that are just below the D300 in price. I'm sure they don't want to loose any of that market. I still find it hard to fathom why anyone would buy a p&s digicam for $800-$1000 when they could get the Rebel for just a little more.

If Canon were smart, they would sell the digital rebel very cheap. It would bring in a lot of new users to Canon SLR, who would probably spend money on lenses & accessories and maybe even upgrade to other Canon DSLR cameras.

badazzpanda · Jan 12, 2005

I would be looking to use it primerily for sports photography and ALOT of travelinig, I also already have an EOS 5 so a cannon would be kinda more suited...

What about performance? I work in a camera shop, and the D70' auto white ballence is poor as. But I have had no experience of the 10d or D60!

cmptrdewd · Jan 12, 2005

I got a Canon PowerShot Pro 1 and I love it!

I was told it's a digi SLR-type of camera, which I'm not really sure what that means, but I still love it! Great preformance. Provides lots of white ballence options, like custom BW which you take a pic of a white peice of paper and the camera changes the white ballence setting to the paper. It works great! The price is going down on it though since Canon is thinking about coming out with a PowerShot Pro 2!

It is made out of plastic, but it's hard as a rock. It's made out of ABS high-impact plastic, same thing as most airsoft guns are made out of.

I hope this was any help to you! Good luck finding a camera! :thumbsup:

P.S. can someone please tell me what "SLR-type" means?

Big Mike · Jan 12, 2005

cmptrdewd said:
P.S. can someone please tell me what "SLR-type" means?

I have tried to find a definitive definition but as far as I can tell. It's just a term used for cameras that are made to look like a typical SLR camera but is not. I think that some (or all) SLR-like cameras have a viewfinder like an SLR but you see an LCD screen rather than an actual reflection from a mirror.

cmptrdewd · Jan 12, 2005

Big Mike said:
cmptrdewd said:

P.S. can someone please tell me what "SLR-type" means?

Click to expand...

I have tried to find a definitive definition but as far as I can tell. It's just a term used for cameras that are made to look like a typical SLR camera but is not. I think that some (or all) SLR-like cameras have a viewfinder like an SLR but you see an LCD screen rather than an actual reflection from a mirror.

Ok that makes sense!

Thx,
Cmptrdewd

kfoster · Jan 12, 2005

What about performance? I work in a camera shop, and the D70' auto white ballence is poor as. But I have had no experience of the 10d or D60!

Let me get this straight. You work in a camera store and your asking about camera's? And there is nothing wrong with the D70's white balance. IF you leave it in auto you can sometimes wierd results but if you set it up for the lighting conditions I think it works great. No camera is right 100% of the time.

santino · Jan 12, 2005

the D60 is pretty good, IMO you can compare it to a 10D, the only dieffernces are:

10D: ISO 3200, 3 shots per second (up to 9), magnesium body.

D60: ISO 1000, 3 shots per second (up to 8), carbon body, worse autofocus in the dark BUT X-flash sync.!

railman44 · Jan 12, 2005

I may be talking out of school here but I've heard some Canon lenses won't work with some types of Canon DSLR cameras. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Since I'm a Nikon guy, my opinions are tilted in that direction. Both Canon and Nikon optics are superb. If it were my choice, I would opt for the D70 or, if I was worried about camera integrity, I would buy the Nikon D100 for a couple of hundred more...

santino · Jan 12, 2005

well... I would get the D60

a good cam, the carbon body is very hard and it isn't heavy.

Jeff Canes · Jan 12, 2005

D60 is a good camera for landscapes and still lifes. But it has suffers for shutter delay just like all older digital cameras do. As long as youre not shooting any thing moving it should be a good camera.