Camera Labs

Hi,
I am a new member who is a research freak. For my sanity I decided to ask for help early.
I have been using a Canon 500n/Rebel since 1998. Did the OE with it and very happy with the photos to accompany the memories. I have a bog standard 28-80mm lens and spent a bit more at the time of purchase on a 75-300mm EF 4-5.6 II.
With a young family we have been using a compact Sony DSC-P92 that I spent hours researching before buying and am quite frankly disappointed with the final prints.
Put a roll of film through the Canon at family event in weekend and have the bug back. I really enjoyed the experience of creating an image that I have not been drawn into doing with the Sony. So now I am thinking to move with the times and going digital.
A few ideas after several hours research this pm.
Feedback on the following would be much appreciated.
1. Assuming I can use both my exisiting lenses successfully on either the 350/400D I intend to buy a digital body only and hang on to the 500n body? Yes/No/other...?
2. Is the benefit of 10MP over 8MP worth the $ for my likely use. That is photo album prints, the odd 8x10 and possible future viewing through whatever media we all end up with in our lounge? Possibly a loaded Q? I have read both reviews on site here and am leaning towards 350 for $ reasons that I could use elsewhere
3. Do I need to be wary of parallel imported products or are they equally sound?
4. What other costs outside the body could I expect in order to make full use of digital. I have a newish laptop that I would be keen to make use of in terms of manipulating images. Would I need accessories to transfer images other than that provided with camera? What about money on memory?
5. Is this an awesome website or what? Impartial and very thorough research.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi there. Welcome to Camera Labs.

I can't specifically help with issues concerning the Canon brand (I use Nikon) but you will have to factor in a couple of memory cards, cleaning materials (at least a good blower) and possibly a back-up battery. Either the Canon 350 or 400 will give you excellent pictures, although I'd be more inclined to go with the 400 for the increased resolution. It's also wise to spend as much as you can on the camera, bearing in mind the old adage, Garbage In, Garbage Out. I would imagine your old lenses will work just fine with either the 350 or 400 but I'm sure someone here with more specific Canon knowledge will be able to clear that up.

If you enjoyed the additional creativity offered by your film SLR over a P&S then you'll be blown away by the control you'll have in the digital domain. Which brings you to editing software - I think Canon SLR's come with pretty good software (unlike Nikon) that will at least allow you to get the basics done like cropping, colour balance etc. But you might want to invest in good 3rd party software. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard but it's a minefield and so I'd suggest Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. It does most of what the full product will do without clouding the issue with features you're unlikely to ever need. Another good one is Paint Shop Pro Photo. I've used it and it's good. It seems to be more aimed specifically at the photographer, which is reassuring. The really great thing about Adobe products is that being the industry standard means there are tons of free tutorials out there on the web.

I hope that's of some help to you.

And yes, you're right. This is an awesome site.

Zorro.

_________________
http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

One addition from my side: Never worry about 8MP vs. 10MP.
Other factors are more important!
Oh, and don't forget: Your former lenses will work like they have 1.5x the focal length on a new body. So don't be surprised you think you need a wide-angle zoom afterwards
Transfering your pics to the laptop is normally done through USB cable that should be supplied with your new body - but check it out!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Canon 350D or 400D I would go for the 400D, but I would say that as I have one, as Zorro has pointed out other factors have to be budgeted for ie. memory card(s) compact flash for the 400D as well as the 350D and if you buy the 400D as a kit it will probably have the bog standard 18-55mm lens which will be ok for about a week then like me you will tire of it and will probably want a replacement, I can personally recommend the EF-S 17-85mm f4.5-5.6 IS USM.
You don't mention what the 28-80 lens is but your EF 75-300mm lens will work fine on the 400D, Software for image manipulation the 400D comes with quite a bit ie. EOS Utility, Zoombrowser EX, Photostitch, Digital Photo Professional etc, but I like Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 mainly because it is a darn site cheaper than CS2/CS3.
Hope this helps.

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Canon does come with a USB cable, but I find it easier to use a card reader

_________________
Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Ah, and what you need apart from the body:
- must have: memory - 2GByte=300photos=20EUR
- nice to have: one replacement battery=50EUR
That's it, mostly.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi Poults, welcome to the forums!

I'd agree with everything so far:

1: You'll need a wide angle lens designed for digital - as Thomas says, most DSLRs effectively multiply the focal length of all lenses, although on the Canon's, it's actually by 1.6 times! So while you can use your existing lenses, they will be more magnified than before. You'll really notice this on your 28-80mm, which will effectively work like a 45-128mm.

Luckily the 18-55mm kit lens will provide the general purpose range you're after and it's very cheap when bought wityh the body as a kit. So I'd go for the kit even if only for better resale value. But as Roy says, if you can afford it, consider upgrading to a better quality general purpose lens like the 17-85mm.

2: Hardly any difference between 8 and 10mp.

3: Grey imports are fine, but check what local support is available if things go wrong - and also check for the language of any supplied manuals and software.

4: Yep, memory cards, spare battery and blower brush!

5: Thanks!

Gordon

PS - hope you're enjoying our sample images from the South Island!

I'm not so sure a blower-brush is a good idea. Most forums seem to suggest staying away from the brush. I did and bought one of those Giotto Rocket Blowers (I'd buy one for the name alone, lol). Seems to work great.

The theory behind the brush part being a no-no is that the brush eventually becomes so contaminated that it will actually add to the problem. Having said that, a blower-brush might be good for cleaning the exterior of the camera.

_________________
http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

When I say a blower brush for cleaning, I just mean the blower bit!

See: http://www.cameralabs.com/workshops/dsl ... age3.shtml

Gordon

Thanks to all feedback so far. Really helpful. Will no doubt have more questions once I get around to buying the new toy
I very much enjoyed the photos of Queenstown Gordon.
Thanks again.

After much debate I bought the 400D kit (18-55 EF-S), with a SanDisk Extreme III 2GB card.
Have played around a bit this weekend, photos of kids primarily. Found interface very easy to use. Far more so than Sony compact.
Just downloaded first batch and very happy. Was also impressed with some of the software provided.
Thanks to all above for help in decision making.
Couple of questions already!!!...
1) Bit of a rattle in camera, is this normal? Will take into shop on Mon to check their view?
2) Firmware version is 1.0.5, do I need to update?
3) Any good links or info to help me make use of histogram info?

Thanks, Blair

Congrats, Blair, and enjoy!
As to the histograms you should check after every pic. It's important that none of the colors (R,G,B) are clipped on the right end (=bright end). Then you loose important highlights and also get a miscoloring, as one or more colors are limited to their max value. If so you have to reduce the EV (exposure), try -1EV. If none of the color histogramms is in the right-most quintant (=fifth) of the display, the shot was underexposed. Try cmpensating +0.5EV or more.
You will quickly learn how much compensation is needed for each fifth.
As to the rattling: the body alone should stay absolutely quite. The zoom-lens might make some noise, though.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Congrats on the new camera.

As to the rattle - Nikon D80's rattle a bit. It's caused by the camera orientation sensor and nothing to worry about. I'm not sure if Canon use the same method.

Just checked (Google is your friend), the rattle is indeed caused by the orientation sensor and is nothing to worry about.

Happy snapping,

Zorro

_________________
http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

My 400D don't rattle

_________________
Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Maybe it's broken

Zorro

_________________
http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head