Which Cannon DSLR & Lens for under £500

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tainga

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Trevor
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Hi,
My daughter is doing a creative media course and is looking to buy a digital SLR camera. She has decided on a Canon, as her Uncle has a Canon and she would be able to borrow his lens on occasion.

She will be taking a mix of portrait and landscape photographs, the camera would need to be able to take photographs in Raw format to allow her greater control of the editing. She does not need video.

She has a budget of £500 and would need a camera body and Lens. What would you recommend.

It may be possiable to strech the budget, within reason.

Thanks

Trevor
 
tainga said:
Hi,
My daughter is doing a creative media course and is looking to buy a digital SLR camera. She has decided on a Canon, as her Uncle has a Canon and she would be able to borrow his lens on occasion.

She will be taking a mix of portrait and landscape photographs, the camera would need to be able to take photographs in Raw format to allow her greater control of the editing. She does not need video.

She has a budget of £500 and would need a camera body and Lens. What would you recommend.

It may be possiable to strech the budget, within reason.

Thanks

Trevor
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It might be an idea for your daughter to join the forum..as to camera does she want new or used...used she could pick up a 40/50D and a kit lens plus maybe a 50/1.8 for that kind of budget...your also going to need things like memory cards etc
 
MWHCVT said:
It might be an idea for your daughter to join the forum..as to camera does she want new or used...used she could pick up a 40/50D and a kit lens plus maybe a 50/1.8 for that kind of budget...your also going to need things like memory cards etc
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Could also pick up a 5D + 50mm f1.8 but a better lens might be a better idea but sadly that means spending less on the body. An extra £100 could possible bag a 5D and 50mm f1.4 but as there's memory cards and a bag to think of maybe a 5D is stretching the budget a little too much unless she can make do with just the 5D and borrowed lenses assuming they're FF compatible?

A 5D (about £400?) + 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 (about £150) but I don't know how good that lens is. Memory card... £10, bag... £20? Making a total budget of maybe just under £600?

Or maybe a 40D is a better option in this price range but I'd still question the 50mm f1.8 and personally I'd probably go for a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for more flexibility and less likelihood of falling apart.
 
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The Memory cards and bag are not an issue as I have a bag and cards she can have and she can borrow my tripod.

So it is mainly down to camera and lens.

To date we have looked at new but from what you are suggesting it would be looking at second hand.
 
Had a quick look around some second hand equipment and The 40D 50D and 5D are all good options. I think she likes the idea of a 5D but is it any more complex to use than say a 40D and is there any additional equipment she may need such as a flashgun.
 
tainga said:
Had a quick look around some second hand equipment and The 40D 50D and 5D are all good options. I think she likes the idea of a 5D but is it any more complex to use than say a 40D and is there any additional equipment she may need such as a flashgun.
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The 5D is no more complex than the 40D. And both would be easier to use than say a 500D or any of the ###D range.

She's doing the course, only she can know what equipment it will need. what she needs to own and what can be borrowed. She may have to ask her tutor, they'll be in a better position than anyone on this forum to answer the question.


5D and 50mm f/1.8 would get het started. But, going back to the original question. What could she borrow from her Uncle? A bit pointless if we suggest duplicating something she could borrow.

For portraits and landscapes, autofocus is nice but not necessary. There are some real bargains to be had with good quality older lenses used with an adapter. You do need to check compatibility at shorter focal lengths as some block the mirror on full-frame. But there are dedicated manual lens forums, and many compatibility charts online.
 
Spoke to her uncle and he has a canon 50mm f1.8 she can borrow long term to get her started, so this makes the 5D more of a possibility. All of his lenses are FF compatible as they are all Canon EF L lenses, realistically these could only be borrowed for specific tasks and for a very limited time.

If she goes for a 5D and has a 50mm f1.8 lens, CF cards, case and tripod. is there any other lens worth considering around the £200 mark or is she better saving for something better?
 
tainga said:
If she goes for a 5D and has a 50mm f1.8 lens, CF cards, case and tripod. is there any other lens worth considering around the £200 mark or is she better saving for something better?
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Not until she reaches the point on her course where she knows what she needs. There are more wrong guesses than right answers to this question.
 
tainga said:
Spoke to her uncle and he has a canon 50mm f1.8 she can borrow long term to get her started, so this makes the 5D more of a possibility. All of his lenses are FF compatible as they are all Canon EF L lenses, realistically these could only be borrowed for specific tasks and for a very limited time.

If she goes for a 5D and has a 50mm f1.8 lens, CF cards, case and tripod. is there any other lens worth considering around the £200 mark or is she better saving for something better?
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Personally I'd view the 50mm f1.8 as a temporary fix on a budget with the budget being the deciding factor here. I've not owned one so can only go on reviews and other peoples reports but there does seem to be talk of poor build quality, mediocre image quality and poor focusing performance, but the price is the big pull here and a better option (I went for the Sigma 50mm f1.4) is much more expensive.

Again personally... I'd consider a 5D and 50mm (even a cheap one) and a mid range if uninspiring workhorse zoom in the 28-70 or 28-105mm type range with an aperture of f3.5-5.6 to be a very good start and personally I'd add a macro lens, possibly an old manual focus lens if you can find a cheap one as the lack of AF wont be a problem for macro and it could double for portrait shooting.

How about a flash and a tripod?

PS. I have a niece who started with a 5D and a zoom doing reportage and she had success (good feedback from the newspaper) shooting everything just with the one zoom lens and natural light.

Gonna disagree here with the importance of AF as apart from macro shooting or shooting with the subject big in the frame I find focusing a modern DSLR manually to be... difficult... to say the least and I'd rather have a cheap crappy AF lens than a wonderful top of the line manual lens on my 5D. Especially when images can be viewed a 100% on screen. A manual focus shot taken with a DSLR with no manual focus aid may look great when viewed as a small image but at higher magnification it may come in for a lot of critisism whereas a shot from even a cheap AF lens stopped down a bit will very likely stand up to close viewing very well.
 
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woof woof said:
Personally I'd view the 50mm f1.8 as a temporary fix on a budget with the budget being the deciding factor here. I've not owned one so can only go on reviews and other peoples reports but there does seem to be talk of poor build quality, mediocre image quality and poor focusing performance
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I'd take 50 f1.8 II any day over whatever slow and cheep (and not that so) kit zoom. It is far better from what you've described, except the poor build quality. But even this is not a real-world issue, unless you want to keep it forever.
 
A 5D + 50mm won't get you much landscape shots.

For a starter photographer I'd have probably said a 550D + Tamron 17-50/2.8. A good lens for both portrait and landscape.

It would be a cheaper entry into the world of DSLR photography.

Just my 2p.
 
woof woof said:
Gonna disagree here with the importance of AF as apart from macro shooting or shooting with the subject big in the frame I find focusing a modern DSLR manually to be... difficult... to say the least and I'd rather have a cheap crappy AF lens than a wonderful top of the line manual lens on my 5D. Especially when images can be viewed a 100% on screen. A manual focus shot taken with a DSLR with no manual focus aid may look great when viewed as a small image but at higher magnification it may come in for a lot of critisism whereas a shot from even a cheap AF lens stopped down a bit will very likely stand up to close viewing very well.
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The 5D doesn't have live view, but there are very good shipped adapters for most mounts that will give focus confirm through the viewfinder with manual lenses. It's as good as AF for a static subject, e.g. portraiture and landscapes.


Back to the OP..

If she can borrow the 50mm 1.8, then save her pennies until she knows what she needs that would keep options open. "Creative Media" is a very wide ranging course title. Photography may not be the focus of what she decides to do - what is the level and duration of the course?

The essential student trick is to buy used. For everything. She needs an account on here asap to get qualified for the classifieds in time to use it.
 
Alastair said:
The 5D doesn't have live view, but there are very good shipped adapters for most mounts that will give focus confirm through the viewfinder with manual lenses. It's as good as AF for a static subject, e.g. portraiture and landscapes.
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Yes there are focus confirmation adapters and I have one but they're not as precise as AF. As I said, fine for small images but in these days of pixel peeping you have to decide if zone focusing or focus that's just there abouts is good enough for you and those you're shooting for.
 
She is doing an NVQ Level 3 in Creative Media and about half the classes relate to photography.

Along with the 50mm lens would a EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens be a good general Lens to start with.

She does need an account on here as there is a wealth of information and help available, as for letting her lose on the Classifieds, I'd be out a fortune lol
 
For £ 500 for a starter setup I'd shop secondhand.

40D body - £ 230
50mm f/1.8 - £ 65
18-55 IS kit lens - £ 65
55-250 IS lens - £ 120

Those prices from s/h dealer MPB. Totals £ 480.

If you bought privately you may have room for a cheap ETTL flashgun, bag etc., but you loose the peace of mind that buying from a dealer gives, plus a short warranty.

Canny buying may get you a 50D instead of a 40D.
 
Alastair said:
The 5D doesn't have live view, but there are very good shipped adapters for most mounts that will give focus confirm through the viewfinder with manual lenses. It's as good as AF for a static subject, e.g. portraiture and landscapes.


Back to the OP..

If she can borrow the 50mm 1.8, then save her pennies until she knows what she needs that would keep options open. "Creative Media" is a very wide ranging course title. Photography may not be the focus of what she decides to do - what is the level and duration of the course?

The essential student trick is to buy used. For everything. She needs an account on here asap to get qualified for the classifieds in time to use it.
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I just bought one from china. Can anyone confirm how accurate these things actually are? Ideally, I'd like focus peaking, but my camera simply doesn't support magic lantern and I don't own the latest sony.
 
Krichton said:
I just bought one from china. Can anyone confirm how accurate these things actually are? Ideally, I'd like focus peaking, but my camera simply doesn't support magic lantern and I don't own the latest sony.
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I have several chipped m42-eos adapters and they're all accurate. Well, all but the one I have fitted to an Auto Cosmogon 55mm I'm not confident about, but my first tests were handheld in woodland and I suffer from unsteady hands. I need to do some tripod tests before I look at adjusting the focus on the chip.

I also have a few unchipped adapters, and I much prefer using the chipped ones. I'm still waiting for a chipped qbm-eos adapter, and not looking forward to replacing the unhipped one fitted to the tele-tessar, it's a screwdriver, tweezers and wishing I had three hands job..
 
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