Should i buy a canon eos 400D

[mitchster26]

Hi i am new to SLR photography and i was wondering if the Canon EOS 400D would be a good first camera to go for, your help would be much appreciated, Paul.

 

[CMan]

I can assure you that it is a very good camera. However, I would encourage you to go try it and other competitors before you buy; how the camera feels to you is really the most important thing. Some say the 400D is too small, so go pick it and a D80 up, see which one you like better.

 

[mitchster26]

Coming from a digital compact camera, lightness would be good.

 

[table1349]

mitchster26

I will advise you as I have others with kind of question. If you are asking us, then you are not ready to buy a DSLR. First thing you need to do is evaluate your skill & knowledge level. Then look at the cameras that you feel fit your need and you can grow into. Compare the features of the ones you are interested in to narrow down your choices. This is a good site to do so.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp

After you have narrowed down your choice go to a real photography store, not a big box place. Handle each of the cameras you are interested in. Look at the lenses, accessories etc that you are interested in. See which one feels the best in your hands with the controls easily useable. Most good camera stores will let you take a few pictures or even take it out for a little bit to try out. Then you are ready to make a decision. When you buy a DSLR you are not buying a camera. You are buying a system. Bodies come and go but good lenses when taken care of will last forever. Good Luck

 

[mitchster26]

Thanks for your advice hopefully i will be able to post some quality picture's on the forum in the future, Paul.

 

[sothoth]

Hi i am new to SLR photography and i was wondering if the Canon EOS 400D would be a good first camera to go for, your help would be much appreciated, Paul.

Just bought a 350D and love it!! The 400D is a better camera, and it's cheaper than my 350D was. So I can't say enough about how good this camera is and I'm guessing you'd like the 400D even more than I like my 350D (and that's a lot!)

However I'd like to echo the other folks' statements about how you should go try it out and know what you want before dropping ~$1000 USD on a camera body and lens unless you know what's important to you, etc. What I can say in this regard is that the Nikon 80D is a comparable camera in terms of features, quality, and price, but it has a different feel to it that you might like better. The Olympus Evolt is worth a look and Fuji also makes comparable ~10MP DSLRs to check out.

I would like to add one last (and more important) remark. Over the years you'll expect to upgrade your camera body a few times, but you'd be better off not buying new lenses every time. So... if you invest in a DSLR make a choice that's a bit beyond the camera itself... what camera has a lens selection and an overall SYSTEM you like? In the end you might find that if you're a serious amateur/enthusiast, the price of the camera and its features are quite insignificant over the long haul relative to the cost of good lenses and how much impact the lenses have on the quality of your photos.

That's what made me go with Canon's DSLRs. However other folks tend to feel that Nikon is a better camera and a better system to buy into. That's fine, in the end they're making a personal decision that suits them and there's nothing wrong with it, but do make sure you think about that when you decide.

When you buy a DSLR, also think about what sensor size you want. If you don't mind the EF-S size, there is no reason to NOT get an entry level Canon or Nikon DSLR. However pros and more serious photographers like the EF (full size) sensors and thus they're willing to drop a LOT more money on those systems. Lenses aren't from interchangable (in one direction... you can put an EF lens on and EF-S camera but not the other way aroud) so some folks decide they will buy an EF-S camera but they NEVER buy EF-S-ONLY lenses in case they upgrade to an EF body at some point. This is problematic at times since the EF lenses don't make good wide angle lenses when used on EF-S cameras due to the different crop factors (1x for EF, 1.6x for EF-S (canon style) or 1.5x (nikon style)).

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Alex_B]

Coming from a digital compact camera, lightness would be good.

With a (D)SLR you never travel light ... in the long run the lenses make the weight. When I started, the camera body was the heavy thing, but now this is only true if I walk around with certain lenses. Once I got 2 lenses with me, or a tele, then things really get heavy.

just yesterday my handluggage on the plane was 5.5 kg camera gear only. The rest was checked in I was quite shocked myself when i realised

 

[boclcown]

Don't get too caught up in talk about the 400D (XTi) being too small or cheap or light. It is quite a bit of camera, though certainly more conservative than the D80. One of the things I liked about the 400D over the D80 (I was looking at both cameras) was how much easier it was to change settings. Many D80 reviews tout this as one of its main strengths, but the 400D just "worked" the way I wanted it to.

Plus, it's almost 200 dollars cheaper with equal (possibly slightly better?) image quality to the D80.

 

[mitchster26]

Thanks for all your good advice, nice forum, i liked the look and feel of the canon, the picture's i took in the store looked excellent, i will be purchasing a Canon 400D tomorrow, Paul.