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canon 400d

J

jonneymendoza

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Sep 11, 2004
Messages
6,415
Hi im alooking to buy my first entry level DSLR and was wondering what are your thoughts of this device.

is it good for burst shots, low light and shots of landscapes?
 
well it shoots 3fps so its not an action camera. Compared to a P&S its like a machine gun then.
Low light depends on the lens. If you gotta a crappy lens with a small aperature then the low light ability will not be as good at focusing thena lens that is a 2.8 or greater. Landscape once again depends on the lens you own. Wide angle like 10-20 is great for it.
This is just the body. its not like a P&S as you need to use different lens for different applications. the body itself is great for entry level.
 
ahh cool thanks. i heard there is the new canon 450d coming out soon and was wondering whats the major difference between the two. i have alos heard that teh sock lens that come with the 400d is not that great. one reason i wanted to buy DSLR is the options to change lenses and flash guns to match my needs.

i am no pro at photography but i certainly know what i want from a camera. i just dont know the jargon of things. so a lens with with a aperature of 2.8 and over is good for low lights? i want a camera/lens that can capture amazing in low light ie say for example i want to capture a shot of someone on stage in a music concert at night or if i want to take a pic of some fireworks display and a massive skyline building light up at night from a distance
 
jonneymendoza said:
ahh cool thanks. i heard there is the new canon 450d coming out soon and was wondering whats the major difference between the two. i have alos heard that teh sock lens that come with the 400d is not that great. one reason i wanted to buy DSLR is the options to change lenses and flash guns to match my needs.

i am no pro at photography but i certainly know what i want from a camera. i just dont know the jargon of things. so a lens with with a aperature of 2.8 and over is good for low lights? i want a camera/lens that can capture amazing in low light ie say for example i want to capture a shot of someone on stage in a music concert at night or if i want to take a pic of some fireworks display and a massive skyline building light up at night from a distance
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DPReview.com did a writeup on the 450D when it was announced. You can probably check that out if you're interested. The changes I remember are a bigger LCD, Live view on the LCD (the 400D does not let you compose shots with the LCD, it's just there for the settings, which I don't consider a problem at all), it has spot metering, among other changes.

For fireworks and nighttime skylines, you don't need a particularly low light lens, as far as I know. I'm just starting out as well, but as far as I've read, you will just be keeping the shutter open longer, and since the camera will be on a tripod for shots like these, the slow shutter speed will not result in a blurry picture.

EDIT: Oh, and after buying a decent lens for my XTi, I can definitely tell why people don't like the kit lens all that much. The difference between a quality lens and the kit lens is like night and day. However, the cost of the body with the lens isn't all that much more, so it isn't a bad value at all IMO.
 
I hate to hijack this thread, but since you guys are starting out and it seems you know pretty much already let me ask...any tips on learning photography? IM a TOTAL noob! Last year I bought an XTi with kit lense, shot maybe 3 pics that turned out like crap...lol. I seen a good deal on a cheap lense a week later, but havent used it yet. Its a Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 I looked at some tutorials Canon put out, but im still too dense to understand photography. With the weather starting to get nice, I really wanna use this stuff, just need a good kick in the ass, hopefully in the right direction. Thanks!
 
PaHick. photograph is not that hard as you think. if your pics are not coming out well adjust and learn all the functionalits of the camera and learn all the jargon that goes along with it.

experiment my friend, its not like your wasting film or such has its all DIGITAL hehe
 
@OP - The 400D is a great entry level DSLR. It has arguably the best high ISO performance of the entry level DSLR's, and there's a very inexpensive Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens that is great for low light photography with its large aperture.

@PaHick - A great way to learn about photography is find some local or nearby photography seminar/classes/conventions to go to. It's the best way to learn, and you get to meet some great people and photographers.
 
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Thanks guys. I spent some time over at DPReview today. After work tomorrow ill try a couple settings and see how that goes. Do you recommend someone starting out use filters? Guess its best not to get ahead of myself and learn some functions first though. Thanks again!
 
major diff would like be more MegaPixels and a larger view screen or something, there usally isnt a hige diff between new versions.

the low the aperature thefaster the lense the better for low light

example my tokina 100mm macro @ 2.8 could take shots at a motorcross show with 800 ISO, that my canon 17-85mm 3.8, when zoomed @ 5 couldnt even get with out blur... buyt my tokina pics came out perfect.,

the lower the number 2.8.3.2 /4 F stop, the better for low light cause it is a faster lense.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/
 
PaHick said:
I hate to hijack this thread, but since you guys are starting out and it seems you know pretty much already let me ask...any tips on learning photography? IM a TOTAL noob! Last year I bought an XTi with kit lense, shot maybe 3 pics that turned out like crap...lol. I seen a good deal on a cheap lense a week later, but havent used it yet. Its a Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 I looked at some tutorials Canon put out, but im still too dense to understand photography. With the weather starting to get nice, I really wanna use this stuff, just need a good kick in the ass, hopefully in the right direction. Thanks!
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Go sign up on

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

the best way to learn is trial and error.

By te way, cheap lenses are cheap for a reason, your better to save your money and a get decent lense over a cheap one - lense is where you want to invest in camera's
 
MrGuvernment said:
Go sign up on

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

the best way to learn is trial and error.

By te way, cheap lenses are cheap for a reason, your better to save your money and a get decent lense over a cheap one - lense is where you want to invest in camera's
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Thats the site I actually seen the cheap lense on. So I bought it from Adorama. One guy seemed to really like it alot, if I find the link ill PM ya. And thanks, im gonna sign up now. Read up some more. Take care!
 
^^ is a great community. I have been signed up and skulking around there for a couple months and they have been an absolutely great help. They are always willing to help with composition of shots and where you might have gone wrong. Be willing to take some criticism as they will let it out but also they will point out the good with the bad.
 
gregnash said:
^^ is a great community. I have been signed up and skulking around there for a couple months and they have been an absolutely great help. They are always willing to help with composition of shots and where you might have gone wrong. Be willing to take some criticism as they will let it out but also they will point out the good with the bad.
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Any criticism I get, I deserve...lol. I really need to put the effort into this like I do everything else. All takes time I guess. Btw, heres the link to the review on the lense I bought. I have a feeling that guy could take a great picture with a disposable :D .

PS..jonneymendoza , REALLY sorry I hijacked your thread. My appologies.
 
I have an XTi and still keep it around even though I have 3 other DSLRs. It's a very easy to use camera, light weight, and is responsive.

Burst shots - The frame rate of this camera is low for DSLRs but it's still far faster than P&S. You can get more speed here unless you upgrade to higher end bodies.

Night shots - You'll need a lens which lets more light in. < f/stop number means more light goes in. f/1.4 let's more light in than f/2 which let's more light than f/2.8 and so forth. IMO f/2.8 sometimes isn't usable in lowlight and you'll be maxing out the camera at ISO1600. If you want to do lowlight, you should use a lens f/2 or faster.

Landscape - Any body can do this really.
 
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With a hotshoe flash there are a lot of benefits, one of the most is that you can change the amount of flash produced (intensity) and you can adjust the flash lens to bounce of walls and ceilings (ie it pivots) thus you dont get that direct flash glare you do with P&S.
 
ahh yea im cusin in law has a canon DSLR and whenever he takes pics of people, he directs his flash gun up in the cieling at an angle and the results are stunning.

what would be most important to buy first, lens or a flash?
 
You need a lens first to take any photo and a good one(s) to take higher quality photos so that is important to learn from. But you also need light when there isn't any so a flash is important in those cases so I'd get that second. This really depends where you'll be doing most of your photos.
 
lan said:
You need a lens first to take any photo and a good one(s) to take higher quality photos so that is important to learn from. But you also need light when there isn't any so a flash is important in those cases so I'd get that second. This really depends where you'll be doing most of your photos.
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Exactly... normally the lens is first priority as that is the direct thing you will be taking pictures with (ie better lenses make for better quality pics). The flash would more be something that you would use in low light conditions but for the time being (if you cannot afford both) I would stick with the lens first then go with the flash later.

Check out POTN community (photography-on-the-net.com)
 
would it be cheaper to buy the body only then the lens? does the body only come with the standard flash for it?
 
For something like the 400D/XTi they come with a pop-up flash but it is not powerful enough for much of anything. Normally, the camera can be bought as a kit with a lens but the lens that the XT/XTi come with is not very good so in this case it is better to buy the body alone and then buy a seperate lens. Depending on what you plan to do and what your budget is you can get the XTi and a 50mm f/1.8 prime for about $600 with shipping. If you really do some shopping around you can probably find the lens and body for a bit cheaper. I believe that Canon is releasing the 450D/XSi this month so pricing should drop slightly on both the XT and XTi (hopefully on the 30D as well).

Check out these places:
Adorama
B&H Photo
KEH
Amazon
 
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according to amazing the XSi is supposed to be shipping on april 15th. So 6 weeks. :(
 
dunno. both are amazon.co.uk sales....but added at dif times. curious at least. what does 530 pounds equate to these days?
 
jonneymendoza said:
realy? in UK its released next week lol on a side not why is the camera with the lens more cheaper then the 450d by itself? LOL strange http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss...s=aps&field-keywords=450d&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go
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Not the same camera.... the second one is the 400D/XTi not the 450D/XSi...
The first is the 450D/XSi with lens ($679 pounds)
The second is the 400D/XTi with standard kit lens ($385 pounds)
The third is the 450D/XSi without lens ($599 pounds)
 
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yea it must of been a price error. should of pre ordered it and see what happens lol.

but anyways dont convert straigh nto USD because you guys will get ti cheaper then that as us UK people always get screwed more for tax etc. Thats why im thinking of asking someone who is going to the USA to buy it for me for cheap has i guarantee that it will be around 300/400 pounds when converting it from $ o £
 
edit: my mum has a old canon SLR classic camera ie not digital. she got it around late 80's/early 90's and she has lots of different lenses for it. i was wondering if these lenses will work on current DSLR canon camera's such has the 400/450d?
 
If it's an autofocus camera (which uses EF mount) then yes. What's the model number?
 
Stick with the 400D/XTi The 450D, is definitely not worth it. I skipped it and went to a 40D
 
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