Camera Labs

hi good morning from Blackpool,
i am looking at buying a canon 600d, I see there are lots of the KISS versions about, who do you recommend i buy from, also what kit for beginner is needed with the stock out of the box canon 600d. I will be wanting to take pictures of the moon anything astro i also have celestron 127 slt. so do you recommend a lense to start with is there an all rounder??? memory card ??? battery ???
regards graham

The "Kiss" name is the Japanese designation for the EOS ****D and ***D range cameras. If you find them in the UK, they're likely to be grey imports. While they're genuine Canon models, they won't be covered by Canon as the warranty for the low-end models is only covered by the manufacturer in the region where they were distributed. In short, you can be taking quite a gamble by saving a bit of cash.

You'll need a lens mount to attach the camera to the telescope.

There are "all-rounder" lenses that have a wide focal range but they are just "good" or "adequate" in terms of IQ - to provide such a wide focal range at a competitive price invariably requires compromises. Canon's 18-200mm, for example, has a really good zoom but its image quality isn't anything to write home about and it suffers a noticeable amount of barrel distortion (it can be corrected with some PP). What you need to consider is whether image quality or a wide focal range is more important. If it's the latter then Canon's 18-200mm would suit you nicely otherwise two or even three lenses with a smaller range (individually but as large if not larger combined) would probably be a wiser choice.

Memory cards depend on how and what you're shooting. If you're doing non-continuous stills, a Class 6 card will be perfectly adequate but with continuous stills or video, I'd recommend Class 10. For continuous stills of JPEG + RAW or HD video, I'd recommend Class 10 with at least a 30MB/s write speed. Unless it's completely impractical to use carry additional cards with you, I wouldn't recommend buying a single card with a large capacity but rather a group of smaller capacity cards for damage limitations e.g. four 8GB or two 16GB cards instead of one 32GB card.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control