Girlfriend went to currys today and got me a 350d :D

She managed to get the camera & lens kit for £520 in store.

Bought with her EGG card so 10% to come of that and £100 cashback of canon, All adds up to a very cheap DSLR.

Also got me a 1GB Compactflash card ( Bless her ) :luxhello:

She said Im not allowed to have it until Christmas day though :cry:
( we shall see about that ;) )

This shall be my first SLR so I have plenty to learn. Any help from you guys about what lenses etc to get would be most appretiated. :thumb:

I currently own a Fuji S7000 which is a reasonably piece of kit for a point and shoot but the 350d should be in a diffrent league.
Thinking of selling the Fuji but dont imagine it would be worth much now so shall probably keep it for parties etc when I dont fancy taking the canon.

Again, any help on how to use the thing and lenses etc would be great..

Thanks

Got mine a couple of weeks ago. My first DSLR too. Still taking it everywhere with me and snapping like a maniac........enjoy matey.

My crimbo pressie is a portable storage device for the camera and i'm being made to wait for that too :D

Gary

Welcome to the world of DSLR
I've not long had mine and I still don't really know what I'm doing with it!!!!

Have fun
:)

69WRX,

Tell her to at least let you have the manual to read. That way you'll know what the hell you are doing come Xmas morning when you get the camera and she dresses up in the lingerie you bought her. :) ;)

Seriously, it is a good camera, but ditch the kit lens ASAP and get some nice glass. As it is your first SLR, go buy the Canon 50mm f1.4 or 50mm f1.8 lens to start with and then shoot like crazy trying out all the functions the camera has.

If you don't use all the functions you will never learn what it can do. Manuals always tell you how to do something with the camera, never why. So until you try it all out you won't appreciate it.*

Cheers

Ian


* I've had photographers use my studio with cameras costing more than mine who don't have the first clue how to use the camera on anything other than fully auto.

Looks like a good price, but I'd be surprised if she got 10% egg cashback instore as the T&C's say online only for currys (but you never know I guess!).

I'd agree re getting a 50mm... Its a great lens on an APS-C sensor equipped camera and I use a 50mm lens 80% of the time (and its about the cheapest lens you can get too ~ £80)

The most sensible advice I could give as a new dSLR convert is simply to experiment. As there isn't any film to waste, and no delay between taking the button and seeing the results you can afford to mess about. By all means use the automatic function as it will have a good go of taking a picture but get used to using the manual modes early on.

Learn to look at the exif information from other peoples pictures as this can give useful clues on what iso, aperture and shutter speed was used. It doesn't tell you about post-processing or filters that were used...

As for lenses, the kit lens isn't bad, but I'd hold of buying decent glass until you decide what photos you like to take pictures of. There isn't any point buying a £ 500 wide angle lens, if you decide that you like Motorsport or birdwatching.

I went for the kit lens, a cheap 70-300 and the 50mm 1.8 (this is an excellent lens for the £ 80 it costs). When I can afford to upgrade them I will.

Thanks for the help so far guys. :thumb:
I shall get meself a 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 as it sounds like a good all rounder for the majority of situations.

Pumpkin When you say a 'cheap' 70-300, How much we talking for this,what make and is the quality any good?

Thanks

I bought a Sigma 70-300. It was £ 100 from Jessops although you can buy a slightly better version for about £ 150

Along with the kit lens, I had most ranges covered from 18-300 apart from 20mm in the middle, and this could be done by moving myself!

The quality is acceptable. I think we tend to study digital pictures to a greater extent than sending prints off to the lab. It goes soft towards 300mm but it served its purpose and I feel it was good value for money.

Tamron do a similar model for similar money.

More expensive lenses will be optically better, will focus faster and more quietly and will be better in lower light conditions, but they're more expensive.

I will buy one one day, either a 70-200 L or a 100-400 L, and the purchase of my Sigma will have delayed the purchase of the L glass very slightly, but meanwhile I can take photographs I wouldn't have been able to get. When I upgrade I'll probably be able to sell it, maybe not for a lot, but someone would be glad of it.

www.warehouseexpress.com

70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super II DG (58mm)
Canon Fit £159.99

70-300mm F4-5.6 DL Macro Super DG (58mm)
Canon Fit £98.99

If you've got a recent 350d though there will be a cashback voucher in the box valid until the end of the year... If it were my money I'd use coupon for the 70-200 f4 as £70 cashback should get you an excellent zoon L lens for under £400 :)