Hey there from Brissy

[Lori]

I have just recently decided that life is too short to take **************** photos so I am making a full on effort to improve...Iv'e always loved photography but never been much good, so I'm hoping to get some help. :) At the moment I have a trusty old Canon G2 Powershot, but am looking at upgrading maybe to a 400D :confused: Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
I will post a couple of pics when i get a chance ....
Lori

[Mike]

Welcome Lori
The 400D looks likes a good deal and I havn't heard of any complaints

[Scott Murray]

Welcome to the forum, am looking forward to some pics.:)

[SSSchwing]

welcome!

I have the 400D and am very happy with it.
i am only new to all that is photography and its a great peice to learn on and is is upgrade-able (lenses etc) so its a great starting point.

I grabbed the twin lens kit. Good value.

Looking forward to seeing some pics!

[Janedoe67]

Hi Lori.................................:)

[Atlas]

Hi Lori,

Welcome, great to see another Brisvegas person onboard.

I have been doing quite a bit of research on the 400D. The only real neagtive I keep coming accross is with the 'kit' lenses... Apparently better to buy the body only and get a decent lens.

[Lori]

Thanks guys
I look forward to getting to know you all & contributing to the site.
Lori

[Lori]

Hi Lori,

Welcome, great to see another Brisvegas person onboard.

I have been doing quite a bit of research on the 400D. The only real neagtive I keep coming accross is with the 'kit' lenses... Apparently better to buy the body only and get a decent lens.

Thanks Atlas I had read this about the kit lenses....does anyone know why this is an issue? & what other lenses would you put on it?
Lori

[xa-coupe]

welcome lori !!
The kit lenses are just cheaper quality to make the kit look good and still be affordable. be warned though, quickly you will find the lenses costing more than the camera !!
Personally I would get the kit and get to know the camera and develop your skills with them. Once you have a good grip on your camera ( pun intended !! ) it's worth the extra then.
All IMHO of course !

[Steve]

Hi Lori
Welcome to the APF, will be looking foward to seeing a few of your photos.
I cant comment on the 400 as I haven't had the chance to try one out but I have been shooting with canon slr's (film and digital) for a good number of years now and always found them a good reliable camera. As for the lenses XA is right the better the lens the more you pay, many thousands of dollars for canons big high end L series primes.

[Lori]

Thanks everyone for your comments & good advice. I will post some photos as soon as i figure out how :)

[daveo]

I've had my 400d for a few months now. I have to agree, purchase the 400d body and buy a IS lens. The standard lens are pritty ordinary. This might cost you abit more than the twins lens kit but it is worth it.

[Axel]

My thoughts would be - Spend as much as you can preferably body plus decent lens but the deal with the kit lenses may only cost slightly more than the body alone and if you bought those lenses separately they may cost a lot more. So if it's only cost $100 or $200 extra I would get the kit lenses (bargain prices, gives a nice range to play with and ask Ssschwing if it's possible to win competions with the kit lens?) and then buy a decent lens on top of that. It's all economics I suppose. You can get decent photographs out of the kit lenses, just have to work harder than the guys with the Canon IS $$ USM $$ L $ lenses

[Janedoe67]

So true! Cameras are one thing you never get the best in, as they are always building something better lol

I am in the same boat Lori, except I am looking at Nikon. Champagne wish list and a beer budget. I will be going for a lens kit on an average model for now, until I get used to it and we plan on spending the bigger bucks on lenses in the future, and printing gear (save the life of a chemist chick u no - plus, my printing came with a free-hubby-to-be).

You could be lucky too. Years ago, when I was selling on my beer budget, I scored an 'awesome' standard lens kit on my old Canon. It was crisp and did everything I needed. Shame because when I separated from the kids father, the camera became part of the 'property" *eye roll* and I lost it. My family tried to replace it with the exact same model and they may as well bought a cardboard camera with the crappy lens quality.

Plus, my first old, old manual camera had fungus on the lens, and I STILL sold a shot lol true story

So yeah, I reckon those lemon lenses are rare and the kits are doable for sure .

[SSSchwing]

welcome lori !!
The kit lenses are just cheaper quality to make the kit look good and still be affordable. be warned though, quickly you will find the lenses costing more than the camera !!
Personally I would get the kit and get to know the camera and develop your skills with them. Once you have a good grip on your camera ( pun intended !! ) it's worth the extra then.
All IMHO of course !

totally agree. this is what I did/am doing...

Do I find the lens' a little soft and clearly less quality than other lens'.... of course. But I didn't buy the kit to become a professional. I bought as it is a great starting point to learn with and once I get some experience up, I'll get some L glass.

The only thing I'm looking at purchasing at the moment is a macro lens (Sigma) but thats only because thats a field I enjoy and the filters I have have led me to want a proper lens.

And in my mind, if I can leanr to take decent shots with no IS or whatever lens', then I am learning more than I would if the lens is doing the work for me ;)

Thats in my head anyhow, LOL

edit - and Axel is right. I won 2nd place in a comp using only the kit lens.... :D

[spalen]

Hi Lori,

I got my 400d with twin kit lense from that camera shop in city opposite starbucks in the new queen street mall - I can find name if its important but cant remember now - its next to Ted's cameras. (but importantly its not Teds Cameras!)

They had the best deal by about 200$ when I was looking around on the net across aus and even compared to ebay imports they were great price.

The benefit of getting the twin lense kit if you are new to SLR (as I Am) is that it gives you experience of what different lenses do and its very cheap - the photos you get from it will NOT be **************** - they will be great - but they can be greater from a 500$+ lense (I guess!).

As a newbie I find that having the two lenses to play with i get more out of this than I would with one lense - if you can get the twin lense kit then do.

Its a great camera really starting to enjoy using it now after about 2mths

[Lori]

Thanks everyone, I sure do have a lot to digest now! I guess it comes down to $$$, practicality & what I want to do with the lenses. Like SSSchwing, I think starting with the basics & getting used to a DSLR is probably the way to go, especially if the kit lenses are not much dearer than the body alone. Then later upgrade to some serious glass when i know more about what I'm doing....could take a while LOL
Also, having the best lenses is not going to make me a great photographer....there has to be some talent involved & I would like to think I could improve that aspect without relying on the lenses to carry me through!

[Axel]

Spalen, that's Cameraland. I bought my Canon 350D there, also got a much better deal there.