Totally OT - cameral advice

Cannon 350d, the 400d is out now so it should be gettable at a very good price, excellent camera, I love mine. You might if you shop around get a

400d for that price as well, but likely to get fewer extras.

Anti shack means not buying a Nikon Or Canon. They go for building it in to some long lens rather then the body. But that should not worry you at this stage as the length of a kit lens will not give you problems.

safe bets are the Cannon 400d or the Nikon 40x. You don't want to have to recharge the batts in camera better a separate charger as it does not tie you down

In message , estarriol writes

I can second that. I've got the Canon 300D, which I've had for some time, and it is a superb bit of kit. It also works with the lenses from my Canon film camera, and the pictures taken with the longest zoom on

400mm are excellent quality.

The batteries are rechargeable, and you can get a mains adaptor which takes the place of the battery for when you are taking pix within plugging-in distance of the mains. Obviously, though, if you were thinking of using one of these you'd need a different one in Canada because of the different mains voltage compared with the UK.

The best "antishake" device is a tripod, either full-size or miniature. To use one of those you'll need a cable release, or the modern-day equivalent (which is electronic).

You can get the Canon digital from Jessops, amongst other places. If you don't want to go to them, a quick Google search will find other places where you can obtain one.

Cameral? You're not a Bristolian, are you?

Just to buck the trend Sony DSLR-A100

Based on the kit they took over from Minolta and it will use any of the Minolta AF lens ( some of them come up second hand on ebay ;) ) You can buy a kit with lens and body for around £450 I'm seeing good battery life even with a 2Gb flash card, and the anti-shake works well (SteadyShot).

10.2MegaPixel sensor, but optical viewfinder means you can do good close-up work without eating battery power. Battery does need an external charger, but it's small enough to take with you. I find it a lot more practical than the Minolta digital camera that I was using, but both go in the camera bag.

That might be my first chose too If I was going the DSL route.

Though its Sony and my Minolta MD/MC lens would not work on it I still think Thats the one I would wont. But I'm happy at the moment with my Minolta phi a big Wight saving with 28 to 200 all in one package and to think I used to go on 7 day Treks across Scotland with a XE 1 and 3 Lens in my pack.

Mike Hughes writes

Why not look at either Canon or Nikon bodies with a sigma lens for starters and then spend on better glass when you have a firmer idea later.

Jane Sullivan wrote

The above statement is NOT TRUE

What you need to BUY is just a plug adapter: get from Boots . There are 2 types either Flat Pin or Round Pin I would get both at the same time -not going to break the bank.

The power supply as supplied will work either 240 or 110 volts.

>

In message , d hill writes

I'm sorry for that. I've got one myself, and I haven't used it yet, as you may have gathered.

In that case, it makes things even better value for the traveller.

In message , d hill writes

The Canon system has autofocus. Do the Sigma lenses incorporate stuff that works with the Canon body? (Can't speak for the Nikon)

Yes with both, SonyMinolta and Pentax and some For the 4/3 Olympus and of course Sigma

As an addendum, if you get a cannon, get the battery grip, it does make the camera easier to handle, and has the capability to hold 2 camera batteries, very handy if out and about a lot, also it has the adapter for 6 or 8 (can't remember just how many) AA batteries which is a very handy back up.

Jane Sullivan wrote

Personally i haven't gone that way BUT yes a Sigma lens on a Cannon body will work BUT remember to get the correct fitting lens to match the Canon body. Also correct fit for the Sigma lens to Nikon body

I did look at getting a wide angle lens and was thinking sigma - a cost consideration- i have several Canon lenses already and the wide angle would have had limited usage.

Another thing to remember when buying Canon lenses. ALL EF style lenses fit all EOS cameras BUT the range EF-S lenses will only fit a limited digital camera range in the Canon stable.

Hi Mike, bottom end SLRs for you to choose from are the Sony alpha, Nikon D50 (very recently superseded I think by the D80), Canon EOS

400. Olympus have one as well. All have image stabilisation in the lenses except the Sony which has it built into the body. The advantage of body resident image stabilisation means any older lenses of the correct mount can be used. In Sony's case the alpha is a replacement of the Minolta Dynax 5D which it replaced when Sony took over Konica-Minolta's SLR operations.

Added to this there are some with large built in zoom lenses giving up to 12X optical magnification, a couple of which are the Panasonic Lumix FZ50 and the Canon IS3. These are considerably cheaper and you don't need to lug a variety of lenses round with you. Other advantage is they usually have a video mode The minus side is that their high ISO performance is a lot poorer than an equivalent SLR.

Jessops sell most of the range and warehouseexpress.com on the web seem to be one of the cheaper internet sites.

If you want to read a few reviews then go to

. They review all new cameras from the cheaper point-and-press to the top end SLRs. It's an American site so some of the model numbers differ from European or UK ones but they usually mention the differences.

Hope this helps.

Phil

"phil_ashton wrote

Actually dpreview IS NOT an American web site, just that a lot of the posters present are from over the pond.

You left out a crucial spec: a folding, tiltable screen of at least

2-1/2 inches diagonal measurement. Essential when taking pictures outdoors in bright sunlight.

Apart from the SLR, all the features you want are available in the point'n'shoot cameras. A Canon Sureshot, Fuji Finepix, or similar, for around 300GBP will do all that you want and more. (We own two Sureshots, our daughter owns a Finepix, both excellent cameras.) You won't even need extra lenses, since these will have 6-to1 or better zoom with macro capability. (Good zoom and macro are both cheaper to make with small lenses, such as these cameras have.) They use AA batteries, and have electronics that will work with the lower voltage rechargeables. (BTW, recharging in the camera is if anything a a hindrance - you can't use the camera when it's plugged into the wall.)

The main difference between a $500SLR and a $300 pocket camera is the lens. The SLR will have a large (and heavy) lens. It's costly to make large pieces of glass behave optically, so the rest of the camera (sensor, electronics, focussing, etc) will be no better than the pocket camera that sells for a couple 100 less.

OTOH, SLRs with professional specs are worth owning, if you are a professional type photographer or aspire to be one. They have very large sensors with loads of megapixels, very fast electronics, storage of images in RAW format, very sharp lenses, and so on. But you 'd have to pay at least twice as much a you've specified.

BTW, don't be dazzled by megapixels numbers. 4 to 6 megapixels or so is enough, unless you want to make very large prints. However, pretty well all better pocket cameras now boast 6 megapixels and more.

I can recommend the Nikon D40, most of my recent rail stuff (

) on Flickr was taken with a D40

it's very easy to use... you can use it like a point-and-shoot if you like, or can use it a fully manual SLR, (or any point in between)... it's got excellent low noise in the higher ISO's and by default produces nice & deep saturated colours (but you can change the color profile to suit your needs)

the kit lens is excellent (for a kit lens), and it's light... the battery lasts for ages.. the screen on the back is nice & clear & reproduces the colours well... you'd have to be doing a lot of shooting or using the flash a lot to drain your battery in 1 day.. the battery is rechargable and you get a little charger in with the kit... battery takes about an hour to charge

it doesn't have anti-shake built in, so if this is a crucial requirement the options are: get something else, or buy a nikon lens that has 'VR' (vibration reduction).... the Nikkor vr 18-200 is supposed to be fantastic

If you don't fancy the Nikon, the good stuff people have said on this thread about the Canon EOS 350d and the 400d is all true... stick with Canon & Nikon and you won't buy a duff camera

Steve

on Flickr was

I can reccomend the Fiji S9600.

Whatever you buy, check the web for reviews first and then check to se if Jessops offer to match Internet prices at their shops is still on.

Then if it goes wrong you don't have to post it back to get a repair or replacement.

Best of luck

DaS

"d hill" wrote

Can anybody tell me if my 4 old Canon FD series lenses can be used with any digital SLR ?

Dave W