I've been looking at cameras for the past few days because the only one I have is from the dawn of time and the camera on my phone is actually better than it.

The cameras I was looking at were $300-400 Canadian, like the lumix lx3, fuji f200 etc

Then I saw on amazon they had the Canon EOS Rebel 1000d for $470 CAD with what is probably an awful 18-55 lens so I pretty much auto-bought it even though I have no idea how to use a SLR. I actually have a really old SLR that uses film (remember that stuff?) but it was my dads and I've never used it

In hindsight this was probably a bad idea

konadora

Singapore66358 Posts

July 28 2009 14:25 GMT

wish i had the money, would have bought so many stuff on impulse too T___T

Trezeguet

United States2656 Posts

July 28 2009 14:26 GMT

Wow, that's a sweet camera. Impulse buys are the best, especially when the happen online at 4 in the morning.

United States496 Posts

July 28 2009 14:32 GMT

Second Hand Nikon D200+50mm f/1,8

In general, don't buy a zoom yet. Prefer a standard lens (50mm) to start.
Why Nikon ? Because you can re-use old lens (Ai and recent series) which are great and cheaper.
The 50mm f/1,2 is very clear, the 80-200mm f/4,5 is incredibly sharp and the 50mm f/1,8 is so cheap now that you can got one for regular use.

HaFnium

United Kingdom1076 Posts

July 28 2009 14:38 GMT

Yeh you may be able to use the lenses of the old SLR

I used my Dad's lenses on my nikon DSLR, works just fine.

agreed with Mk,
50/ 1.8 (Both Canon and Nikon has this lens) is really good, considering their prices, it's quite fast and sharp.

I think the Nikon 18-55 is quite decent, so I suggest Nikon (Am quite bias lol)
I always think that the Nikons have more colourful colours... say compared with canon.

iceburn

United States303 Posts

July 28 2009 15:02 GMT

Just have fun with it, a 50prime is really cheap for a lens 80-90 bucks new. The stock 18-55 is not bad but its restricting as i believe it is a f3.5-5/6, But there is Image Stablization (IS) so that will help out a lot. google around try to learn what aperature and shutter speed do. and just take pictures youll get better with it

floor exercise

Canada5847 Posts

July 28 2009 15:03 GMT

Everything I've read, people have their own preferences but as long as you go with Nikon or Canon you have the most lenses at the most affordable prices. If you go sony, olympus, pentax etc there's just not as big a market for them new or used

And as far as entry level bodies, every one of them has their pros and cons it seems but they are such small details that they mean virtually nothing to me, especially since I am so clueless about SLRs

I was honestly tempted to spend twice as much for the nikon d5000 so when I saw the Canon for 470 i just jumped on it

Yaqoob

Canada3352 Posts

July 28 2009 16:38 GMT

I bought my wife a diamond tennis bracelet on impulse.

United States6173 Posts

July 28 2009 17:56 GMT

The first year or so when you get an SLR or DSLR is the best. You learn something new about it every day. haha.

Canon's stock 18-55mm lens isn't a terrible lens. It's actually a great lens for deep shots with lots of DOF, as for whatever reason, it makes very pretty bokeh (the background blur).

The overall image quality leaves a lot to be desired, but it's not unusable by any means. What you'll get frustrated with after a while is trying to shoot in low light with it, as the aperture doesn't get any bigger than 3.5, and I think goes down to 5.0 when you get to 55mm? I'm not sure.

Congratulations on getting a Canon, though. I'm supremely grateful you didn't get a Sony or Pentax or something. Canon and Nikon are the end all of DSLRs.

StorrZerg

United States13919 Posts

July 28 2009 18:30 GMT

#10

On July 28 2009 23:25 konadora wrote:
wish i had the money, would have bought so many stuff on impulse too T___T

but think of all that money your saving now! well err......

rredtooth

5461 Posts

July 28 2009 19:59 GMT

#11

On July 28 2009 23:26 Trezeguet23 wrote:
Wow, that's a sweet camera. Impulse buys are the best, especially when the happen online at 4 in the morning.

this is where woot.com comes in

NeverGG

United Kingdom5399 Posts

July 29 2009 01:57 GMT

#12

Agreeing with the comments above - the 18-55mm lenses are actually really useful for just practicing and because they're so small and light you can take them out with you wherever (I wish I hadn't lost mine.)

Husky

United States3362 Posts

July 29 2009 03:40 GMT

#13

Can you buy me http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830145103 on impulse as well?

Because seriously, I'm about to do the EXACT same thing you did hahaha.

I already did my camera impulse buy though.... it turned out to be worth it in the end. If that makes you feel any better.

Trezeguet

United States2656 Posts

July 29 2009 03:48 GMT

#14

On July 29 2009 04:59 redtooth wrote:

Show nested quote +

this is where woot.com comes in

Why oh why did you tell me about this!? Bank account Limit t->00 = 0

benjammin

United States2728 Posts

July 29 2009 04:21 GMT

#15

shame it's a canon, the 18-55mm kit lens on the nikon's are absolutely fantastic, but the canon still is better than you'd expect

don't bother buying anything additional until you get the hang of things with the 18-55 though!

United States496 Posts

July 29 2009 05:36 GMT

#16

I use Nikon (D200/D700).
yet thb, Canon's Software/Image treatment is better than Nikon's.
For higher price, so if you got money, I recommend you Canon but if you don't want the over-the-top one, go for Nikon.
And yeah, once again, to be able to use old lens is definitely a great deal.
If you need a Zoom : Nikon's 18-70mm is a great deal. Sharp and fast.

R3condite

Korea (South)1541 Posts

July 29 2009 05:45 GMT

#17

On July 28 2009 23:25 konadora wrote:
wish i had the money, would have bought so many stuff on impulse too T___T

it's called a creditcard... followed by massive debt.

floor exercise

Canada5847 Posts

July 29 2009 15:14 GMT

#18

I just got it, took a picture of a squirrel. Not sure what I'm doing at all yet or what kind of settings I should use. I'm charging the battery because it only came half charged, then who knows.

Also I only have a 1gb sdcard from my old camera

United States6173 Posts

July 29 2009 19:52 GMT

#19

Look up online resources and try to learn what all the different settings do.

One word of advice: ALWAYS keep your dial somewhere in the creative zones (P, Tv, Av, M or A-DEP if you have that on your camera). The preset zones are garbage, and any photographer passing you on the street will laugh at you if they see that.

The most important things to figure out how to use is the ISO setting and what that means, and what differing aperture and shutter speeds do for your photos in whatever ways (it's more than just exposure amount, etc).

Also, don't ever use the onboard flash unless you're using it as a fill for a portrait in direct sunlight, lol. I hate it when I see people using that.

benjammin

United States2728 Posts

July 29 2009 20:52 GMT

#20

in response to what PH was saying, just set your ISO at 400 unless you are in very brightly lit areas/outdoors in the sun, in which case you can go much lower. the higher the iso the more noise your photos will have, but at 400 you are still fine. it's going to be tough to shoot handheld at anything less than like 1/15, so just set it on manual and get used to adjusting the exposure settings yourself. it's not too hard to get a correctly exposed photo, especially with the great light meters most dslrs have

the onboard flash can still be very useful if you diffuse the light (wrap the flash in a kleenex or something), but again that's only going to be in low-light situations and very rarely as a fill

most of all, have fun!