Talk me into or out of buying a 400D...

Hiya ppl,

I'm looking to get a 400D and was wondering what the best every day lens would be? I see the nifty fifty mentioned a lot but i'm guessing thats not its real name if I was to look on google? I am just getting into photography and have a Fuji F31 at the mo which I have found is very limited with shutter speeds, DOF and just..most things I guess compared to a DSLR.

I have heard about lens adaptors that let you reverse a lens I think for Macro work, are these woth it for somebody who hasn't yet found what type of photo's the like taking most? Also any other lens suggestions would be nice, im probably not yet going to need a telephoto though.

One last thing that is slightly off-putting is a friend keeps trying to push me towards Nikon as they have all metal bodies, is the plastic body that bad? No chance it might snap when fitting a lens or somthing like that? I'm guessing no but its nice to have some feedback from owners.

Thanx (and sorry for the hijack!)

NS
 
NightShadow said:
One last thing that is slightly off-putting is a friend keeps trying to push me towards Nikon as they have all metal bodies, is the plastic body that bad? No chance it might snap when fitting a lens or somthing like that? I'm guessing no but its nice to have some feedback from owners.
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Tell him he's stupid, only the D200 upwards have metal bodies on a Nikon, the D40/D50/D70 and D80 are all plastic bodies too. They're still better built, but they aren't metal.

A 400D will feel a bit cheaper than a D40 for example, but it's not going to break from putting lenses on or anything.
 
divine` said:
Tell him he's stupid, only the D200 upwards have metal bodies on a Nikon, the D40/D50/D70 and D80 are all plastic bodies too. They're still better built, but they aren't metal.

A 400D will feel a bit cheaper than a D40 for example, but it's not going to break from putting lenses on or anything.
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lol, fair enough! He only used to sell them when he was in America, not a user of DSLRs. Any opinions/advice on lenses? I will be asking him to buy it all for me whilst he is in America so hopefully i'll save some money and put it towards all the accessories.

NS
 
Not a Canon user so not sure on specific lenses etc. but be wary of warranty situations buying from the US, I forget how they work and I think Canon and Nikon are slightly different too.
 
Don't buy a EOS400D
They are slow
rubbish AF
small
not as many mp as a 1Dsmark III
single processor
small viewfinder
crop factor
feels tacky
compacts are smaller
you need a lens for each job
lenses are very very expensive
Nikons are better
It will eventually get replaced.

Some lies?!?

Who cares. I answered your question... :P
 
NightShadow said:
Stuff
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Try both Nikon and Canon bodies within your price range. There are other manufacturers (Olympus, Sony, Pentax etc), but the Canon/Nikon offer better support. A good 'everyday' lens for me (if I was just starting out) would be either the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS or maybe the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5.

If going Nikon, the 18-135 or 18-70 are both good bets.

By no means dismiss Nikon though, they are (IMO) better handling than Canon, at the pricepoint you're looking at at least.
 
I've just upgraded from a FujiFinepix S6500 FD Bridge Camera to a Canon 400D.

From my perspective the upgrade has been very worth while, however it really depends what you are taking photos of. My main photographic interest is taking photos of steam and heritage diesel locomotives hauling main line charter trains, often well in excess of 70 MPH.

I found that the Fuji Finepix was reasonably good, however it had an electronic view finder which was slightly laggy (only by a few ms). Added to this there was also a degree of shutter lag - time taken between pressing the shutter button and the camera actually taking the pic.

For people photographing static or slow moving subjects the Finepix would be fine, however for me - a few milliseconds of shutter lag or latency in the view finder can make the difference between a good photo, or missing the shot all together. The camera was also limited to being only able to take three rapid fire shots before having to write to the memory card which was quite slow.

I have since upgraded to the EOS 400D, and purchased 18-50 and 70-200 lenses for it. £570 at a local camera shop got me the camera, lenses, a bag and a 2 GB ultra II memory card. Good shots are far easier to get.

The optical view finder is very helpful - I can see my subject in real time, and there is no shutter lag either.The camera is also capable of taking 3 shots a second in rapid fire mode - and seems to be able to do this continuously, or at least until the memory card fills up.

Whether you want to use the camera in full manual, or auto mode, it is a synch to use. You can also take control of one setting eg - aparture size or shutter speed, and the camera will adjust the other settings to match the conditions.

All in all, I think it has been the best thing I've bought in a long time. I was toying with the idea of a D40X which was a little cheaper, however the 400D just felt better to hold.
 
I joined the 400D "owners club" about a week ago and love the thing.
£400 with kit lens (£350 once I get my £50 cashback).
I then spent £55 on the "Nifty Fifty" and then another £50 on a second hand Sigma 55-200mm f 4-5.6 DC from EBay.

So I've spent £450 in total and both me and the wife are loving the camera.
It takes some really cracking pictures and it is going to get a lot of use over Christmas as we visit various relatives from both our families.

You could save yourself a lot of money - budget yourself £200 on a compact or bridge and you'll get a perfectly adequate piece of kit which will take some good pictures which you will enjoy.
If however you can stretch things you won't be disapointed with the 400D and nor will you be actually upset with the kit lens - it really doesn't take a bad picture at all.
 
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