entry level canon

[Abby Rose]

Yup, another one of these.

I'm doing research on what type of DSLR body I should purchase, when I have the money. I'm thinking either this spring or right after this Thanksgiving.

I've more or less chose Canon, because I was given a canon lens. I really have no preference toward any of the brands. Of course, I could sell this lens and put the money toward a different brand, but why bother? However, I dont have a good feel for business type things, so if that would be a better idea then let me know.

I've been looking up the threads on this subject here, but I've not had much luck. Everybody asking here apparently has more money than me. My budget will be low - hopefully I'll be able to find something for around $300. :er: This may be an impossible goal. I'm a little leery of ebay; it seems too easy to get scammed or get damaged stuff, and I hate the idea of online bidding. I have no problem with used stuff. One thing I'm not sure about with used cameras though are the shutter actuations or whatever they're called. This is pretty dang important, yes? More or less determines the working life of the camera? Other sites that I know of are KEH.com, adorama, and B&H. Others?

This hand-me-down lens I've received is a 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5. From what I've found on the internet it's apparently the second best of a series of three of this lens, the oldest in said series. Not a super amazing lens, but it seems like it'll be fine to start out with. Correct me if this is wrong. I was planning to start out with a 50mm f/1.8, but I now have this lens so might as well start here.

So, assuming that this is an acceptable lens to start with, I'd then need a body and battery/card/charger/etc. Unless the batteries/card I use with my P&S (which I am keeping) will work, but I doubt it. The all-knowing internet tells me that the kind of battery I have wont work in Canons. It's less willing to give up the information on memory cards, or I'm not asking right.

If anyone knows battery and memory card stuff off the top of their head, the battery type I have is NP-FG1/BG1 and the card type is SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Most of the Canons (or maybe all) that I've heard of are "Rebels". I'm aware that there are other names for these Rebels that all seem to have the letter D in them. There seems to be a lot of them, in a wide range of prices. Are there other kinds of Canons?

I've now succeeded in confusing myself throughly enough that I dont think I can write anymore, which is good because this post is too long in the first place.

 

[Josh66]

Thanksgiving is a long ways away... KEH is the first place I would look for used gear. I think it should be doable for your budget. You'll be looking at a Rebel a generation or two old, but it should still work fine.

If anyone knows battery and memory card stuff off the top of their head, [...] card type is SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo.

That is a Sony proprietary card, and is ONLY used on Sony products.

Any camera other than Sony is going to take either a CF card or a SD card.

Memory is cheap these days - I wouldn't worry about buying a camera to match the cards you have already. Especially since it's a proprietary card that will only work on one brand of camera.

Whatever camera you buy (assuming that you get it somewhere reputable like KEH) will come with at least one battery and a charger. Don't worry about that.

 

[Abby Rose]

Thanksgiving is a long ways away

Gives me time to save $, and time to learn.

That is a Sony proprietary card, and is ONLY used on Sony products.

Any camera other than Sony is going to take either a CF card or a SD card.

Memory is cheap these days - I wouldn't worry about buying a camera to match the cards you have already.

Figured it would be that way. I like my Sony, but the company doesnt play nice. Thanks for clarifying!

 

[bdpaco]

I would look at getting a 30D body, the xxD bodies are a little larger than the Rebels and the control layout is a lot better...ISO handling is better and faster FPS than the Rebels within you budget.

 

[Josh66]

That's my only real complaint with Sony - they insist on using proprietary everything...

They would rather force you to buy their stuff than let you buy a 3rd party cord or card that works just as well.


...I do love my PlayStation though.


Something else you may want to look into (maybe not) is film. Check out KEH again. You can get a 35mm body that will work with that lens for literally less than $10. You'll probably pay more in shipping than what the camera costs.

Now, a $10 body obviously isn't going to be top of the line, but if you want to spend a little more (like $50) you can get a pretty good body that will last you for a while. At least until you upgrade to the new digital body. Who knows, you might even find that you like film.

...Just something to consider. If you just want an SLR *now*, it may be a viable option.

 

[Abby Rose]

Well, I techinically already have a film SLR, but it's broken and probably wont be worth the money to fix it. Its at the shop now, I should have an estimate in a couple of weeks.

If it is indeed fixable, then I'll be waiting longer to get a DSLR. But either way, I don't need either one *now*. I'm patient.

I'll be researching this 30D as well, but from what I see from looking at a few sites its quite a bit more money.

 

[John Mc]

Go for a second hand body with your budget, a 30D is a good camera to start with,But look for a 40D,might cost you abit more,but well worth it

 

[Dao]

I used to own an Canon Rebel XTi and I sold it with the kit lens for around $360 to a local craigslist buyer months ago.

So I believe the fair price for a used Rebel XT or XTi with a kit lens from $250 to $350 now. As for 30D (body only), I think it is at least $4xx while 40D(body only) is around $5xx.


For the older generation of the Rebel series, they are rate around 50,000 shutter actuations. So in general, the lower the better. But it does not mean a camera with a hight shutter actuations will die sooner than the one with lower counts.

I bought a used Nikon D50 kits for a friend at least a year ago for $250 and that camera has less than 4000 clicks. Last time I saw that camera was new year eve and it was still clicking strong.

 

[o hey tyler]

Even a 20D or a 10D would be fine, especially if you picked up the 50mm 1.8 when you had an extra 90 bucks.