DSLR Camera

[axs]

Tried to find an old thread but they were all about compacts. My little compact is on the blink and I'd like a digital SLR. No clue about them though which is pretty stupid as my old man was a photographer. Any tips on a good one for under 500 notes?

[LucienSanchez]

Canon EOS 550D is meant to be pretty decent... Around £450. You can get older EOS models on eBay that are just as good for an amateur photographer.

Edit: Scrub that, they're about £550. A close relative in the Canon EOS Rebel T2i might be a good compromise?

[axs]

The T2i is £900!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-EOS-Rebel-T2i-supported/dp/B0037KM2J2

[hobodan]

I bought the Canon 1000D with 18-55 is lense for £369 in jessops after selling my Panasonic FZ38 (bridge camera)
Absolutely love my Canon, easy to use & capable of producing stunning pics. Any entry level DSLR that is a Canon or Nikon is a good buy

[LucienSanchez]

Apologies... i got overexcited/misled by this

The wife was reseaching them for ages before buying one... she settled for an EOS something-or-other off eBay that was 2 models old.

[Sippo]

i have the EOS 450D and its superb. Got it from Jessops, for around £500 with an extra lens thrown in worth £300 for free. This was last year mind, but jessops do have some ace deals. Canon seem to be the way forward.

[Don Rogers Shop]

Apologies... i got overexcited/misled by this

The wife was reseaching them for ages before buying one... she settled for an EOS something-or-other off eBay that was 2 models old.

No worries. Easily done.

[axs]

There's no Jessops in Swindon is there?

[axs]

scratch that, there's one at the bottom of town.

[Ginginho]

I bought a Canon EOS 450D with two lenses (18-55mm IS and 55-250mm IS) from the Argos Outlet store on Ebay for just under £500.
To buy the camera body and two lenses separately it would've cost around £1000, so I was pretty happy with that.

There are some other DSLR cameras on their site

[axs]

Cheers Ginge, will keep an eye on that.

[stfc11]

I've got a Canon EOS 450D too. Very happy with it, got the standard lense and Tamron AF18-270mm lense. I would go into Jessops have a look at some and get a feeling for them, I had a look of some Nikon's but personally preferred the feeling of the Canon.

[Samdy Gray]

I've been looking into getting a digital SLR too.

From what I've read it less so about the body and more so about the lense(s).

[@MacPhlea]

From what I've read it less so about the body and more so about the lense(s).

I did make a post here earlier saying exactly that and then got a little self indulgent posting a few pic's that I had taken but deleted it because I didn't think it was right to hijack someone else thread...

Definitely about the lens, especially with camera's getting more pixels by the day - what you'll notice is that secondhand cameras fetch very little, even top of the range ones, but a good quality lens will hold it's value.

I can't justify the cost of Canon's L series lenses so opt for Sigma EX lenses instead and send them away to Sigma UK for calibration - it's little like putting your car in to get it race tuned; for most people taking an of the shelf model works but if you want seriously sharp pictures calibration is the only way to guarantee it.  Some people moan that you shouldn't have to do that for a quality lens but the point is there will always be tolerances that work against each other and for the sake of postage and a short wait the difference is blinding

I have a 7D coupled with five lenses (12-24mm, 24-70mm 70-200mm, 17-35mm and a fantastic 50mm F1.4 prime lens) and despite having to lug nearly 15kg of kit round with me would not be without it.

[Batch]

How much did they charge for calibration?