Anybody Knows About Cameras?

March 7, 2004

I have an EOS 500 and I'm thinking of getting an EOS 300D digi to utilise the 500 lenses.

Ideas anybody?

March 7, 2004

I have an EOS 500 and I'm thinking of getting an EOS 300D digi to utilise the 500 lenses.
Ideas anybody?

Considered the 300D myself, but as I had an A-1 & an AE-1 I really had no compatible lenses.

The 300D is a good camera, basically the same as the 10D (IIRC) with a plastic body and some functions removed. For the price difference it's quite hard to argue for the 10D.

The basic question you've got to ask yourself is: Do I need a bulky 6Mpixel digital SLR camera if I already have a traditional SLR?

The picture quality you get from the Canon is fine, but it's still not a match for traditional film. If you really want high quality digital pictures as your output then the 300D is good, but if you mainly want to do holiday snaps & so on the point-and-shoot digital cameras are the best bet. I picked myself an Ixus400 at €500, less than half the cost of the 300D body. You can get Canon 5MP cameras now too. I find the quality of the output good enough for all the quick snapping that I do, and I keep my traditional film cameras for the real photography.

March 7, 2004

Thanks for the info Yannick.

I used to have an AE-1 prior to a nasty accident at a party, when some kind soul washed it with a glass of coke, hence the EOS 500. Sadly, although the camera was reasonably expensive at the time, I was offered £50 in exchange for a new one.

As I am not really into developing my own pictures, the ease of printing and storing digital has more appeal, but I have got used to the functions and capabilities of the SLR (bulkiness doesn't bother me), plus as far as I'm aware my existing lenses & flash will fit the 300D.

Les

March 7, 2004

Thanks for the info Yannick.

Considering your requirements the 300D sounds like a good deal for you.

I inherited the AE-1 ten years ago after having had my A-1 stolen, along with several hundred pounds worth of equipment :( As I'm planning to go medium format I finally decided against the 300D, but I must admit I was tempted :D

March 7, 2004

Digital is a whole new ball game. The photography part is the same (as long as you remember about white balance - it still gets me after 18 months with a digicam).

Here are a few things that need thought before committing your self soley to digital.

If you want to get the best from your digital pics you will need to learn some new photoediting skills if you don't already have them - not to mention the software. I use Photoshop for editing (but it is expensive) and then Qimage to get the best prints.

Storeage is easy by burning CDs or, better still, DVDs but always make two copies then if one fails you always have a backup. And always always save your original images before you start any image manipulation - that way if you make a mess of a picture you can always go back to the original and start again. Also as your editing knowledge improves you can revisit your old photos and redo the editing with your new skills.

You need to have some method of cataloguing the stuff you store so that you can easily find a specific image (I use IMatch).

Think about how are you going to show you prized pics to your friends and family. Not all of mine have a computer or DVD player so I have to save them back to the camera media and connect the camera up to a TV. There are now devices available that can do this but again it all costs money.

Prints are not cheap to produce. Most of the cost of a printer these days seems to be the ink cartridges. And you just know that you will run out of ink in the middle of a print run :ffs: Also ensure that the paper you use is compatible with the ink - I made that mistake and found that my prints faded badly in a couple of months.

As far as the hardware is concerned I know nothing about Canons (I have a Fuji) so can't help you there. But budget for several sets of batteries and a charger (the Battery will always die on you just as you about to press the shutter to capture that photo of a lifetime) and the same goes for camera media. Don't buy just one big media card - buy several smaller ones so that if one fails (or you lose it) you haven't lost everything. I've bought an image tank which is a portable hard drive with its own power supply and slots for camera media. Put the media card in the slot and press the download button - I always do it twice just to be sure. A couple of minutes later the card can be wiped and off you go again.

I'm not trying to put you off swapping to digital - far from it - it's the best thing I ever did but I found out these things the hard way AFTER I had bought my camera. I've taken more phots in the last 18 months than I did in the previous 10 years. It frees you to experiment with different things and see the results immediately - if it doesnt work then wipe the images and try again.

One thing I would do is take a look at Dpreview and check out the forums to see what existing users are saying about your intended purchase. I've used them since I purchased my camera and gained so much useful info from there. As well as the camera specific forums there are also computer hardware, image editing and printer/printing forums. It's a bit like TOC but for digital imaging.

Best of luck with your decision - whatever you decide to do,

Go DIGITAL you know you want to :thumbsup: