Canon EOS 400D or Nikon D80?

rlculver · 15 Oct 2006 at 09:45

Hi,

I have a Canon PowerShot A80 and are thinking of getting a Digital SLR.

Which of the two cameras are best for some 'Point & Shoot' and which have the better cost effective features?

Well worth upgrading from a PowerShot A80?

Thanks

Joe T · 15 Oct 2006 at 09:47

Well worth upgrading, and look here for a very similar discussion.

Phate · 15 Oct 2006 at 14:49

Well I had/still have an A80 used it for a good year and a half and loved it and upgraded to DSLR the other week, i got a 350D and absolutely love it! because I was used to my old canon I found navigating and working with it very easy! Would highly reccomend either the 350D or 400D

rlculver · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:01

Hi,

Is the auto features still as good or better than the A80?

Robert

Phate · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:11

rlculver said:
Hi,

Is the auto features still as good or better than the A80?

Robert

Better, as the 350D has 7 focus points, so when you push it down to focus it tells you where it has focused, if you switch it to M you can tell it and which point to focus on. But on fully auto its very good.

For some examples of pictures see my gallery

EDIT: all except motorway scratch were taken on the 350D - Scratch was taken on the A80

divine` · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:56

Is it really worth bothering with a DSLR if you never intend on taking it out of Auto mode?

That isn't what these camera's are made for, and can actually be fairly limiting usage wise when used only with the supplied standard range zoom they usually come with...

Would something like a Powershot S3IS not suit you better? It will take great pictures still and has bonus features such as Image stabilisation and a longer zoom that would cost you several hundred pounds to add to your DSLR.

cyKey · 15 Oct 2006 at 17:28

divine_madness said:
Is it really worth bothering with a DSLR if you never intend on taking it out of Auto mode?

Indeed it isn't. Buy a Powershot S3 IS, hell buy an Ixus

Joe T · 15 Oct 2006 at 18:48

You can still get much better results with a DSLR on auto than a bridge-camera on auto.

divine` · 15 Oct 2006 at 18:53

Joe T said:
You can still get much better results with a DSLR on auto than a bridge-camera on auto.

Of course you can but...

a) Is it worth the extra cash?
b) Is it worth loss of 'traditional' point and shoot niceties like live preview?
c) IS it worth the hassle of extra lenses etc. ?

I just don't see the point in buying a DSLR and using it in a mode that will utilise about 5% of its capabilities especially when something like the S3IS will produce results virtually as good and with far more ease...

cyKey · 15 Oct 2006 at 18:57

Joe T said:
You can still get much better results with a DSLR on auto than a bridge-camera on auto.

Image quality yes, but an S3 will have a greater zoom than a 400D + kit lens and lots of people say that DSLR's images are quite flat compared to a P&S because they're not about instant results.

SDK^ · 15 Oct 2006 at 19:29

One of the main advantages of a D-SLR is the interchangeable lens mount, so if you only intend on sticking with one lens then you might as well get a good quality point and shoot camera like a Canon G7 (or similar).

Also, a point and shoot camera produces images straight from the camera that are sharper and more vibrant than a D-SLR.