Just Getting Started! Lens or Body Question

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Hey everyone,

I'm nineteen and am interested in getting into digital SLR photography. Interest started when my stepmother got a Nikon D80. I have saved up for a little bit and I ow have a budget of around £600 for everything. I've decided to stick with Canon, but I can't decide on what to get (I know this question has probably been asked a million times!). I can't decide between:

Canon 450D w/ standard EF-S 18-55mm
Canon 500D w/ standard EF-S 18-55mm

(or spend a little more for)
Canon 400D Body (used) and Canon EF - Zoom lens - 28mm-135mm

I am just an amateur and I will probably be shooting photos in the city and out on walks in the lake district and stuff like that. Mostly outdoor photos of nature, some landscape and wildlife as well as peopple in urban shots.

Any advice would be great! Many thanks.
 
Hey there, sorry to hijack the thread - but I'm very interested on the outcome of it. I too am pondering between a 450D and 500D at the minute, although I will be buying second hand or refurbished. If I were to buy a 450D, I could buy the 55-250mm near enough straight away, however if I opted for the 500D, I'd have to wait until summer or after summer before I purchased that lens..
 
Actually, I've just been scouting around fleabay, and it seems you can get a 40D for near enough the same price as a refurbished/second hand 500D.

If you're willing to buy second hand, the 40D is really worth considering, you'd need to get a lens though. If you were to get both the 40D and a second hand 28-135mm it will be pushing it over £600. I don't know how much the 18-55mm IS lenses go for, no more than £100, surely?

Whether the 40D really performs that much better than the 450D/500D in terms of landscapes and general shooting out and about in the city, I just don't know - I'll leave that one up to the pros to argue about. I'd be interested in hearing a few arguments either way though, I'm still really unsure about whether or not to get a 40D or 500D.
 
If you don't mind second hand well cared for kit the classified sction on here would allow you to get a better camera and more kit which would give you more flexibility...
 
I personally shoot with the 450D. And it's a fantastic bit of kit! And a very neat allrounder, check out my flickr in my sig, but you can see on there the variety it can take, wildlife, landscape, motorsports... I don't really post people pictures, but I can't fault the camera at all. Quiet, light, great for newbies, plus it's a canon. :D

hope this is of help, if you have any other questions related to the 450D just shout! :)
 
It's all about the glass not the body so if your stepmum has a few different lenses I would seriously consider going Nikon.
 
For street and landscape photography you're probably going to wish for a wider angle than the 28-135mm, so whatever brand you settle on I would try to include a kit lens which will go from 18mm upwards. It won't add much to your budget and you will probably be able to afford a medium telephoto such as the 55-200mm to extend your range.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.
For the same price as a Canon 450D package, I can pick up the following:

Slightly used Canon D40, Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Canon fit lens, SD card/case/etc.

I gues I will have to go try them out!
 
What made me decide was how the smaller Canon cameras felt in my hands. I didn't like the feel even though I don't have particularly large hands.

I eventually bought a 30D and it was an excellent first DSLR for me. You can pick them up for around £300 which will leave you lots to spare for glass.
 
40d is a great body and you can pick them up for a fair price 2nd hand, i bought a 2nd hand body and 17-85mm IS both mint for £500 very low clicks to, the 40d is a good body, fine for in the city/landscapes, bit uve also got the advantage if you want to use it for fast moving subjects as it has 6.5 fps which is ideal, the main reason i went for the 40d was the speed and ergonomics, it feels great in the hand, nice and weighty but not over the top, oh and also the high iso performance, my first body was the canon 400d which was very good also, but ive never looked back since upgrading.... As mentioned above glass is the most important upgrade you can make...................:thumbs:

Good Luck
 
I'd say it's a no-brainer if your step mum has a few nikon lenses you could borrow then you would be well advised to go the nikon route. The D90 is an awesome camera and fits into your £600 budget body only. And if you were to save another £100 you can now get the D90 with the 18-105mm kit for just over £700. :thumbs:

read the reviews on this over the canons your looking at, thats what made my mind up plus another big point is to actually go to a shop and get tham in your hands and see which feels right to you.

good luck
 
I've recently upgraded from a 400D to a 50D ... not in your price range but I suggest if you go to your local camera shop and get a feel of a xxxD to a xxD ... you'll really notice the difference in material quality.

The xxD's are built way better, metal rather than plastic... if you can get hold of a 40D and lens within your budget I'd go for it over the 500D.

One reason being that if you do get into it you'll be wanting to upgrade quickly! and this way loose less money in the long run if you were to upgrade from a 500D.

Hope that makes sense!

I reckon Canon are on par with Nikon ....IMO.... so try out your step-mums! Don't rule out Nikon.
 
you can get a new 18-55mm IS kit lens from OneStop for around £70 - so combine that with a secondhand 40d and you'll have a good starting place.
 
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