650D

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Allen
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Hi

Anyone own a 650D ?

Any good's and bad's

Is it a crop censer of full frame

Is it a metal frame body or plastic

and do you know if the lens elements are glass or plastic

I had a look on several web sites and cant find the info

Cheers
 
650D is:
-Canon crop sensor at 1.6x crop factor
-plastic body like all other xxxD cameras
-kit lens body is plastic. lens elements are surely glass?
 
Hi Allen, I bought a 650D for the wife and although I haven't used it much I can only find good things about it and no bad. The body isn't Plastic as stated by others, according to the Canon website it's Stainless Steel and polycarbonate resin with glass fiber. The AF system is excellent and uses all cross points, the ISO ability is better than my 60D, 5 fps is equal to the 60D and the touchscreen is very responsive and very accurate. The AF for video is great but when coupled with an STM lens it's fantastic. It also takes the same grip and batteries as the 550D (which I already had) and with the grip fitted the weight and size is easily handled. Overall I just can't fault it, the only reason I chose the 60D over the 650D is the top screen and rear dial that I'm used to on my 5D3.

The kit lens body is made of plastic, but it is very well built and is very sharp. If you search on the forum for the 18-55 IS II lens then you'll see it gets very good write ups and yes the lens is definitely glass. Hope this helps a bit more than the negative comments.
 
polycarbonate is a fancy word for plastic. real high end camera bodies are magnesium alloy, a.k.a. metal.

"Stainless Steel" is what they are required to use on the lens mounts. not rest the body.

can't see how any previous posts are negative comments, all are solid facts.
 
The 650D feels a more solid camera than the 550D and 600D. You notice it more when taking a picture, the shutter just sounds more solid and better quality. Rear screen is superb too!
 
Thanks very much for the feedback comments

When looking through the viewfinder do you see the actual image that will be taken ( Size wise ) ?

same with the LCD screen ?

I have a G11 Canon with the swing out LCD and think its a very good feature , so with touch screen as well it must be very good

Sold all my Canon gear 2 years ago and now want another DSLR

I am like a stick of rock , snap my arm off and it will say Cannon in red :lol:

:canon::canon::canon::canon:
 
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Just ordered a 650D and 2 basic lenses along with a 16gig card and spare battery

Should be here tomorrow :D

:canon:
 
wuyanxu said:
polycarbonate is a fancy word for plastic. real high end camera bodies are magnesium alloy, a.k.a. metal.

"Stainless Steel" is what they are required to use on the lens mounts. not rest the body.

can't see how any previous posts are negative comments, all are solid facts.
Click to expand...

So polycarbonate is just fancy plastic? Does that mean I can just clip a plastic bucket on my head next time I ride a motorbike?

Or just maybe polycarbonate is a bit different?

If magnesium alloy a.k.a. metal is really so superior to "fancy plastic" why can't I buy a magnesium alloy crash helmet?
 
may be because your crash helmet is designed to fragment and crush under heavy impact so that it doesnt transmit the shock to your head (like crumple zones on a car) so magnesium alloy would be unsuitable for that application

a decent lid is designed for a single use (ie a single impact) then you bin it and buy another one - same thing with forestry and construct hard hats

wheras on a camera body you don't want it to crack on impact if you happen to drop it, and you don't want to have to replace the whole body because its had a bump
 
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Dave1 said:
So polycarbonate is just fancy plastic? Does that mean I can just clip a plastic bucket on my head next time I ride a motorbike?

Or just maybe polycarbonate is a bit different?

If magnesium alloy a.k.a. metal is really so superior to "fancy plastic" why can't I buy a magnesium alloy crash helmet?
Click to expand...

So polycarbonate is just fancy plastic? Yes

Does that mean I can just clip a plastic bucket on my head next time I ride a motorbike? Depends how you value your head :D

I could by a crash helmet for £20 but choose to pay for a top quality lid ;)

High quality camera body's use magnesium chassis / frames and then build a body around it :thumbs:
 
Actually I knew the answers to my (facetious) questions ;)

It was a flippant answer to wuyanxu's flippant post.

Polycarbonate plastics of the type used in camera construction are actually designed to deform slightly on impact but not to crack or dent. From an impact point they are probably more durable than most metals in a drop scenario due to their "bouncebackability" (excuse the technical terms ;) ). This is the same reason most car bumpers are now ABS / polycarbonate, a metal bumper would dent and crack at 15mph while polycarbonate would probably be undamaged.

Mag alloy has a higher tensile strength for rigidity and crush type damage, both have advantages but Mag alloy will probably always be used, even if only for PR purposes, even if new plastics that were actually superior were discovered.

Meant to also add for wuyanxu, the xxxd models do actually have a metal chassis (not just the lens mount) with polycarboverlay.

Courtesy of DP Review
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/page4.asp
Construction

Just like the EOS 350D the 400D is made from three main materials; a stainless steel chassis (blue in this diagram), the mirror box which is made of high-strength 'engineering plastic' (red in the diagram) and the body made of a special lightweight 'engineering plastic' which also provides some electromagnetic shielding. The joints are tight and the camera doesn't creak or rattle, it feels well put together and surprisingly solid considering it's "affordable" price tag.
Click to expand...
construction.gif
 
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Arrived at 9am :D

Battery on charge

Will hopefully have a play with it later today ( yes the camera ;) )
 
wait, 400D has a plastic lens mount? i know the Canon xxx film cameras have plastic lens mount, thought they've changed to metal on digital. the newer ones like 550D are certainly metal.

but thanks for the info on metal chassis. good to learn something new everyday.
 
Just really shows how much ignorance still exists around plastics and the assumptions that because it is metal it must be better. The camera manufacturers continue to push this by making their high end cameras of metal as some sort of selling point.
Look at many other industries and they would laugh at someone clinging on to past construction methods using metals.

Anyway, I am sure the 650D is very nice and it seems to get good reviews and the touch screen seems to be winning people over due to the way it has been implemented but no doubt the 'serious' camera users will dismiss a touch screen as for novices or kids :)
 
they make 1D series cameras from alloy because it is better - ie its more weather tight and stands up to prolonged daily use better, ad thats what working pro's expect

theres nothing wrong with polycarbonate for amateur level use ,but something like a 400D wouldnt last very long at all with the ammount of hammer a pro camera gets
 
big soft moose said:
they make 1D series cameras from alloy because it is better - ie its more weather tight and stands up to prolonged daily use better, ad thats what working pro's expect

theres nothing wrong with polycarbonate for amateur level use ,but something like a 400D wouldnt last very long at all with the ammount of hammer a pro camera gets
Click to expand...

The 400D wouldn't last as long because it is plastic made down to a price point. Make a plastic camera for £4000 using the best processes and it would easily equal the alloy one. However, the working pro wouldn't buy it because it is plastic and therefore can't be trusted. Which is the point I was making...
 
ernesto said:
The 400D wouldn't last as long because it is plastic made down to a price point. Make a plastic camera for £4000 using the best processes and it would easily equal the alloy one. However, the working pro wouldn't buy it because it is plastic and therefore can't be trusted. Which is the point I was making...
Click to expand...

Spot on Chris, there are plastics used in the space industry (and trickling down to things like f1) which have much higher strength than the equivalent metal alloy. Its just public perception that metal is better.

Some reviewers even hinted that the d7000 was given some magnesium alloy parts just so they could use the term in advertising.
 
Battery charged

And I am liking the buttons and knobs I have played with so far

GPS option , maybe it can navigate me to some better images :D
 
I hope you will enjoy going out and shooting some great pics with it, and don't worry about knocking it too much cause it doesn't fall to bits, the wife can vouch for that after being knocked over by a cyclist in the park while shooting squirrels with it.

And as for 'plastic' bodied cameras not worth having, from what it says here http://www.cameratips.com/d3100/nikon-d3100-specs "The D3100 is made of plastic materials, with a black textured finish", so Canon maybe the only company using Polycarbonate for their bodies and not 'plastic'.
 
ernesto said:
Just really shows how much ignorance still exists around plastics and the assumptions that because it is metal it must be better.
Click to expand...

It's was like that, and more, in the 50s and 60s. Plastic was 'cheap and nasty', especially if it was made in Japan...
 
Just to ask, is the mount strong enough to hold certain lenses on its own?

I don't feel safe not holding the 24-70 to support it when it's on the camera... But I'd like to put it on a tripod and I don't want the lens to 'snap off'

Edit: sorry for the massive thread revival, didn't look at the dates, woops
 
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The wife uses her 650D with a Sigma 120-400 OS and occasionally my 150-500 OS and 70-200 f2.8 IS L MkII and has no problems with the mount. When I've used it with the above lenses it feels solid, steady and certainly strong enough. There's less play in the mount on the 650D than there is on my 7D TBH and that doesn't feel like a weakling either.

I've just checked the weight of the 24-70 and it's 950grams and the Sigma 150-500 OS is 1910grams so you shouldn't have any problems with it at all.
 
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