Advice on a 2nd hand camera (Canon EOS 350) / Bought a Canon 450D

[Tieno]

My dad got offered to buy a Canon EOS 350 + a 18-200 lens for 450euro. Is this a good deal? The EOS 350 is already 3 years old and to me it seems rather expensive.
Do you need to buy an 18-200 lens separately? Is that expensive?

[MrAngryFace]

better deal than 450 bottlecaps

[TVC15]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=canon+350d&x=0&y=0

I dunno what the exchange rate is between pounds and euros.  

It's a good camera.  I'm not sure how good an 18-200mm lens would be without image stabilization (or a tripod, of course), though.

[cloudwalking]

great deal considering just the lens (if it's the canon lens with IS) is worth 525 euros separately. if it's the tamron or sigma lens it's worth less, but still a steal considering you're getting the body too!

i wouldn't hesitate to buy the camera from him as long as it's in good condition. if you can, find out how many times the shutter has actuated (opened and closed) because the higher that number is, the shorter the lifespan of the camera generally is. for budget range dslrs, advertised life expectancy is usually 100,000 shutter actuations but depending on use it can also be as low as 50,000.

if he can't tell you the shutter count (it can usually only be read by a camera technician) find out what the image count is. then at least you'll know how many photos the camera has taken.

350d is an amazing camera. you won't be disappointed.

edit: apparently there are programs that can read the number of shutter actuations by reading EXIF data from an image. try a google search.

[Tieno]

Thanks cloud, exactly the advice I needed. My dad would buy it from a professional photographer who's dad just passed away and used this camera. He has known her for a while. My dad's into photography but so far he used analogue(?) cameras and hasn't been familiar with the digital age until recently, he's learning it step by step. I don't know anything about camera's myself, so thanks cause I didn't know how to value this deal. I'll ask him to ask these questions.

[cloudwalking]

the 350d is a great camera for people who are just getting into DSLRs. if your dad already knows a bit about photography he shouldn't have much trouble getting used to it. everything looks and works pretty much the same as a film camera, except with a big screen on the back if it comes without the manual, all manuals are available on canon's website in PDF form in a ton of languages.

[Tieno]

The more research I do on photography and camera's for my dad the more I'm thinking about buying a DSLR for myself with the holiday money I'll be getting from mom, dad and godfather etc, as I have no digital camera of my own (discounting the shitty cellphone camera)

I currently have the canon 450d on my view. Are there better models for the same price? In a few days there'll be a sale at a big store.

[cloudwalking]

the 450D is a great DSLR for a beginner. it's in the same vein as the 350D but with a few more features and a higher megapixel count (12.2 as opposed to 8.0).

there is also the new 1000D which is a step down from the 450D and is of course also cheaper.
my main problem with the 1000D however is that it lacks spot metering (for an explanation click here) which i personally think is very important for even a hobbyist photographer, especially when learning techniques and developing a photography style. for that reason alone i would go with the 450D over the 1000D if you're thinking of making this into a serious hobby.

i have the 450D and i can vouch that it's a wonderful camera. all the features are real easy to get a hang of even if you don't know everything about photography. even an idiot can take beautiful pictures on this camera, in automatic mode.

speaking of which, if you don't have a willingness to learn and experiment (although i assume you do!), don't bother with a DSLR. i know a couple of people who have DSLRs and shoot all the time on automatic mode. i think, however, it's a complete waste of a beautiful camera not to learn how to use it properly. educate yourself on the basics of exposure, how light works, and how your camera itself operates and you'll really discover the joy of photography through a DSLR.

if you want to see some examples of photos taken with the 450D (with the kit lens, because that's all i have, hehe) then you can check out my flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/laurench/ (pages 1-3 and the first row of 4 are all taken with the 450D)

of course, if you want to save money, you can get a 400D. a lot of people tell beginners that the improvements on the 450D are not worth the current higher price tag, and that the 400D is good enough for novices. take a look at the changes the 450D made over the 400D and then decide for yourself: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012415canoneos450dchanges.asp

a nikon expert should come in here and talk a little bit about nikon... i honestly don't know much about their cameras or what they offer. i would advise you though to stick with canon if you want to have the possibility of sharing and swapping lenses with your dad.

hope this helps and if you have any questions about the 450d specifically you can ask.

[Tieno]

Thanks a lot! The store I'm going to buy it at there's not much of a price difference between 400d and 450d. My dad getting a canon is pushing me towards getting a canon too. Plus my step dad also has a DSLR canon though he only uses it as an ordinary camera. I definitely want to get 'good' at it and learn the ins and outs considering I'm going to put that much money into it.

Does it come with an SD card? How big is it? Did you get a bag with it?

Any good websites with tips/guides etc?

[cloudwalking]

if there's not much price difference between the 400D and 450D, get the 450D for sure.

it doesn't come with an SD card, you'll have to buy that seperately. i currently have a 4 GB card and can shoot something like 800 HQ JPGs and 300 RAWs.

it's a bit smaller than the 400D and weighs about 500 grams for just the body. what adds most of the size and weight to the camera is the lens. and depending on what lens you have, it can be a lot of extra weight. however, it's not too much of a burden. i usually carry my camera in my purse without much problems and i can walk around for several hours with it on my neck (with kit lens).

it doesn't come with a bag, just a camera strap so you can wear the camera around your neck or over your shoulder.

as far as tips go, photojojo is one of my favourite websites: http://photojojo.com/content/
i also got this book as a gift to learn the basics, read it cover to cover, it was invaluable to me: http://www.amazon.com/Exposure-Lighting-Digital-Photographers-Only/dp/0470038691/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227474149&sr=8-1

[BlueTsunami]

FYI, Tieno, I own that exact camera. If your dad owns older EOS lenses, he may able to fit them on that camera via an adapter. Manual Focusing is a bitch on these non Film based cameras though, so he should be forewarned I guess (you'll be totally reliant on Auto Focusing).

[Tieno]

That seems like a really good website.

My dad's previous camera's have all been nikon, don't think he kept his old lenses either.

[Tieno]

So I just bought the thing. Was in promotion and came with a 4gb card, can still price-match it for 30 days.

Now I have to charge the battery for 16hours before I can play with (that's what the dude told me) 

[cloudwalking]

So I just bought the thing. Was in promotion and came with a 4gb card, can still price-match it for 30 days.

Now I have to charge the battery for 16h before I can play with 

pff. i didn't do that. i just charged it until the light went off and it had full battery. then i went to town with it

that's another thing i forgot to mention. the battery life you get out of this camera is unbelievable. i think it's somehting like 600 pics without flash.

post your results!

[Tieno]

Good to hear, definitely will post results!

Camera certainly looks sexy with the gigantic screen.

[Tieno]

Manual didn't mention anything about the 16h, just 2h charge and it should be fine...which was the case.

I do feel stupid cause at first I didn't click on the lens fully so I couldn't auto focus, making my first picture a disappointment...then I found out was wrong and instantly noticed the difference.
I feel overwhelmed with all the different settings I can tinker with in manual mode, I need to get a better grasp on what effect these have on the picture. I'm casually familiar with Exposure (shorter for day, longer for nights to capture more light etc) and ISO (higher for night but more grain etc). Have no idea on focal length or white balance, but I'll look that up.

Now it seems my pc is having problems with the SD card and doesn't respond when I try to open the card so I have to view them on my PS3.

[cloudwalking]

Now it seems my pc is having problems with the SD card and doesn't respond when I try to open the card so I have to view them on my PS3.

is it an SDHC card? some older card readers can't read those, you might have to get a new card reader. i had to get a new one, even the computer's built in card reader couldn't handle it.

yeah, manual mode is daunting at first but you'll quickly get the hang of it manual isn't always practical to use in every situation anyway. depending on the lighting situation, what you're shooting, and what you're trying to achieve, it can be smarter to shoot on aperture priority mode or shutter priority mode. i probably actually overuse aperture priority.

[Tieno]

My PC isn't 'that' old (2005-6ish and it reads SD cards fine). Didn't know there was that much of a difference between SD and SDHC.