Hi Guys and Gals,

I was down at the Rally of South Wales a few weeks ago and thought my
compact digital camera would suffice (Silly me!!!!!!), however when looking at my pics compared with my mate's who was using a canon 350D with 70-300mm lens, his were awsome and mine showed a lot of scenery with the car being a very small part in the middle and most were very blurry.

been doing some research, talking to a few friends and looking on here and the 350D seems to be highly rated so am looking to purchase the 400D which I am told is the new version of the 350D.

Jessops are doing a deal where for 700 quid they are giving the following deal: -

400D Camera
EFS 18-55mm lens
Tamron 70-300mm lens
2Gb flash card
Camera Bag

Would you guys rate the Tamron lens and if for example I upgraded the
camera at a later date, would the lens be compatible.

Or is it worth pricing the individual components myself and getting a canon 70-300mm lens.

Sorry to be a pain with the novice questions, but any advice would be gratefully received as I am just starting what looks to be a very interesting
learning curve and 700quid is quite an outlay to get wrong.

Cheers in advance
Tash, :confused: :confused: :confused:

Do you mean Tamron?

Daryl,

OOps, Cheers, original post edited with correction, not sure what I was
thinking when I typed that.......

Tash,

Looking around the web, the 400D + 18-55 can be had for £479, the Tamron for £99, a 2gb Sandisk Extreme III CF card for £42, giving you a total of £80 left to buy a decent bag (Lowepro or Crumpler, for example).

Do you have a link to the Jessop's offer, so we can see what the CF and bag are? On the face of it this is quite a good deal, but have a look at camerapricebuster (http://www.camerapricebuster.com) to see what other options are available to you.

The Tamron is likely to be a decent lens, equivalent to similar designs available from Canon and Sigma. It would be compatible with future Canon cameras with the 1.6 crop factor (350D, 400D, 30D etc), but not with the 1.3 crop and full frame sensors (1 series and 5D at present). :)

Erm, saw the deal on a poster in the local Jessops, am back in work tomorrow so will nip in and look at what the flash card and bag are and post what they are tomorrow evening.

Thanks for your help.
Tash,

Tash, that's a good outfit, if the price is right. I think you will learn a great deal from using it. You will then begin to lust after fancy lenses. It's inevitable ;) But by then, you will be in good position to choose.

Have a look at the Lowepro Slingshot bags - great for hiking around.

Richard.

Lowepro Orion Trekker is a good starter backpack, enough room underneath for all the starter kit and a bit more, room on top for sandwiches and drinks bottle. Otherwise the Mini Trekker AW has lots of room to expand into.

I also think that the Lowepro Mini Trekker AW is a great backpack for small to midsized camera equipment. But I am more into shoulderbags lately for easier access. :)

Often the camera magazines will give a free bag as part of a subscription deal. I got an Orion Trekker with a 1 yr subsription to Practical Photography, then when that sub ran out, I took up their new offer of 2 yr sub but free Lowepro Mini Trekker AW.

Hi All,

Just to say thanks for the advice, Its much appreciated
I now have to think whether I go for the Jessops deal

Out of interest, the bag supplied is a canon gadget bag and the
card is a sandisk extreme 3 , 2Gb card

or source the components individually at a cheaper price, as I quite like the look of the Lowepro Mini Trekker AW bag, especially as it has
waterproofing (Ideal for wandering around those Welsh Valleys during
rally time in the rain.........................)

Cheers All
Tash, :thumb: