thinking of buying.

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

Hi,

my names Brian Sullivan. I'm considering buying my first Digital SLR camera, and was looking for some advice. I've set a $850 limit for myself. A lot of the shots I take are action shots, as I'm a firefighter/paramedic that likes to take shots on scene. Do any cameras have some sort of an auto focus on them? Last year in highschool I took a photography class, so I have a basic understanding of the concepts of photography.

I was looking strongly at the Canon EOS 30D. I was wondering if any one could give me feedback about it?

I guess my next question is should I buy just the body, and buy a lense separate(and add on to my collection as time goes on), or buy a package.

I'm mainly looking at:
http://www.1wayphoto.com/products.asp?dept_id=10264&product_id=12336

and was wondering if anyone could give me advice as to which lense package would be best for me.

I also take a lot of photos at night, where I don't have a lot of light. Anything I should consider for that?

thanks for any information.

lasershot · Nov 12, 2007

Ahhh! RUN AWAY FROM 1WAYPHOTO! NOW!

That site is a MAJOR SCAM from what I remeber.

Check out bhphotovideo.com or ritzcamera.com or Wolf Camera (forgot the url)

The EOS 30D Is a nice Camera though

Sideburns · Nov 12, 2007

the 30D with a 50m 1.8 would be a great combo. Fast lens for low light, and it's really light so you can carry it easily when on the job.
Just...buy the camera from a site like bhphotovideo.com...

If you want to get serious about low-light photography...you'll need a tripod though.

Also, pretty much every lens made now is capable of auto-focus...
But something I suggest is learning to use your center AF point. The rest are there for no reason pretty much...and just get in the way...one of the first things I did was turn the rest off.

Good luck. Also, feel free to ask as many questions as you want.

ilyfel · Nov 12, 2007

ebay?

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

r

lasershot said:
Ahhh! RUN AWAY FROM 1WAYPHOTO! NOW!

That site is a MAJOR SCAM from what I remeber.

Check out bhphotovideo.com or ritzcamera.com or Wolf Camera (forgot the url)

The EOS 30D Is a nice Camera though

A scam? Really? I was just reading a feedback page on it:
http://www.shopcartusa.com/1wayphoto/

and it seems to have gotten pretty good feedback so far.

The man reason I chose it is because I can keep my $850 budget by buying form there...Most of the other places I've looked it's been 1000+ for the body+a lense.

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

Sideburns said:
the 30D with a 50m 1.8 would be a great combo. Fast lens for low light, and it's really light so you can carry it easily when on the job.
Just...buy the camera from a site like bhphotovideo.com...

If you want to get serious about low-light photography...you'll need a tripod though.

Also, pretty much every lens made now is capable of auto-focus...
But something I suggest is learning to use your center AF point. The rest are there for no reason pretty much...and just get in the way...one of the first things I did was turn the rest off.

Good luck. Also, feel free to ask as many questions as you want.

Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll check out that website.
As for the tripod, I'll consider it. But unfortunately a tripod will be a little too bulky for me to carry around on the fire ground.

Again, thanks for the feedback and quick reply.

ilyfel · Nov 12, 2007

Maybe you should shop around in the town/city you live on. I found a really good deal AFTER i bought a really expensive lens online..

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

ilyfel said:
Maybe you should shop around in the town/city you live on. I found a really good deal AFTER i bought a really expensive lens online..

Thanks. I hadn't really considered that. I was told to try and stay away from used cameras due to warranty/owner care issues. I'll look around and see what I can find though.

nossie · Nov 12, 2007

Hi Brian.
We're just talking about it on another thread. In that case it's the 400d but we could swap it for the 30d http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99936

All of these cams can go into fully automatic like a poocket point and shoot but you'll soon grow out of those shoes no doubt.

I 100% do not agree with sideburns about getting the fixed range 50mm, if you want to get that too as an extra lens then fine but for starters get a zoom. For a few dollars more you could buy the body only and get a 18-200mm lens for a huge range for starting out with which will be much more practical.

Welcome to the forum :thumbup:

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

nossie said:
Hi Brian.
We're just talking about it on another thread. In that case it's the 400d but we could swap it for the 30d http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99936

All of these cams can go into fully automatic like a poocket point and shoot but you'll soon grow out of those shoes no doubt.

I 100% do not agree with sideburns about getting the fixed range 50mm, if you want to get that too as an extra lens then fine but for starters get a zoom. For a few dollars more you could buy the body only and get a 18-200mm lens for a huge range for starting out with which will be much more practical.

Welcome to the forum :thumbup:

Thanks for your input. I've also been looking a lot on ebay at these packages.

As for the lense I guess my next question is the difference between Canon and Tamron.

I notice quite a price drop in them, and there are a lot of packages that include each ones.

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

Also, I was wondering if anybody could tell me how heat-sensitive these cameras are. Of course if I had my way, I'd take it into the fire with me, but something tells me that the camera would not fair too well considering the temperature, smoke, and amount of water it'd face.

Coldow91 · Nov 12, 2007

Here is what I found about onewayphoto
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/1_Way_Photo
don't buy from them

nossie · Nov 12, 2007

fire34fighter said:
Also, I was wondering if anybody could tell me how heat-sensitive these cameras are. Of course if I had my way, I'd take it into the fire with me, but something tells me that the camera would not fair too well considering the temperature, smoke, and amount of water it'd face.

Huh? :scratch: You're the boss on that one. At least you'll have best access to that information. The 30D is mostly metal. How much heat can it take before it melts is one thing but how much heat before the lens needs to be binned???? I have no idea. I'm thinking it won't melt no more that a cheap watch on your arm but will the different glass sections move out of alignment?
How much heat are we talking here. hmmm.

And then there's the sensor to consider. Can you compare to life in India or the desert???!! Read the specs and then consider the conditions you want to go into.

fire34fighter · Nov 12, 2007

Coldow91 said:
Here is what I found about onewayphoto
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/1_Way_Photo
don't buy from them

Thank you very much.

I guess I'll have to downgrade to the Rebel XTi than...It seems legitimate 30D's dont' go for less than $750, which wouldn't leave me much for a lense....

nossie · Nov 12, 2007

I don't think you were going to get a 30d for under a grand anyway, were you?

I see the 1way photo now, it's suspiciously cheap, and the name? 1 way? Yeah which way?