Camera advice

[mcfctomo]

Hi im new. Im looking at the canon 20d or 350d theres good deals from canon on ebay. Im just wondering which you all think would be better. I could get the 350 with grip 18-55 and 50-200 for £689 from jessops or the 20d with 18-55 for around £650 on ebay. Im interested in wildlife and sports shooting and think the 20d would be better in the long run as i would replace the 50-200 eventually. I also like the size and idea of 5fps on the 20d.

thanks Tom

[Alan]

Hello Tom

Well I'm not a Canon user, but from what I've read and gathered on here, I'd definitely go for the 20D. I'm sure a lot of other members would agree with me. It all depends on whether you're comfortable buying off ebay.

Alan

[eeyore]

I'd definitely go with the 20D , if you dont want to ebay there are some suppliers arround who can do much cheaper than list while stocks last (as it has been superceded by the 30D) mine was about £750 but i believe a few people have them at £699.

[MalcolmX]

i suggest you decide if you are going to shoot more sports or wildlife and get the one that has the longest burst befor lock out which i think is the 20 .i would look at some of the sh sellers such as mxv in Sussex as they had a 20 for sale recently the fast . i have seen some very bad cameras from eBay even though they look sound out side the ccd has been scratched ,some are grey imports and not covered by UK warranty

[Ollie]

Hi Tom. Although I am a Canon 350D user I would go with the 20D simply because I think you are getting more camera for your money. The 350D is a great camera, but can feel a little small in some hands, although with the grip should be ok. At the end of the day, and this is only my opinion it's the lens that counts more than the camera itself. As for buying off ebay, well my thoughts are much the same as Alan's on this.
Roger

[carlj]

Whatever you buy, remember to get a fast enough memory card - otherwise you may miss that once in a lifetime shot, waiting for the files to be written.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Ollie

Hi Tom. Although I am a Canon 350D user I would go with the 20D simply because I think you are getting more camera for your money. The 350D is a great camera, but can feel a little small in some hands, although with the grip should be ok. At the end of the day, and this is only my opinion it's the lens that counts more than the camera itself. As for buying off ebay, well my thoughts are much the same as Alan's on this.
Roger

Ebays ok if you can get a reliable dealer, there are many good ones on there.

I've sold a Nikon F5, an F3 and a F90x on there, so not all dealers are bad

[mcfctomo]

Ok thats what i thought its the canon shop that sells refurbished cameras which i would be buying from so im not worried and they come with a 1 year warranty.

thanks for all the quick replies

[Zeb]

I use a cheap(ish) Olumpus camera (C350-Zoom) which I bought a couple years ago for £250 and can now be bought for as little as about £60. Comparing cameras with friends the Olympus seems to be great at picking up vibrant colors but if you can get a camera that takes different lenses then you've nothing really to worry about with the colors. You can always revert back to editing with Photoshop if you're able to.

My camera is well overdue for a replacement and have been looking at the Nikon D70. A bit pricey but the amount of pictures I take I think its worth it. I'm also going to be getting myself an analogue camera for the storm chasing. Digital cameras don't tend to like lightening.

[nevets2001uk]

Go for the 20D if you can afford it. It's a very capable camera for most subjects and has served me very well. Be aware though that you main investment will be lenses. The 18-55 kit lens that comes with it is sometimes ok but there are bad copies floating around. Also 55mm is not very long at all for wildlife photography / sports. I use a 100-300mm lens and even 300mm feels too short at times!! Don't skimp on cheap lenses though as you'll never be happy with the results. While I expect to replace my 20D in a year or two when I can afford to upgrade I'd still like to be using the Sigma 100-300. It cost nearly as much as the body but is well worth it.

Cheers,
Steve

[mcfctomo]

Yes I know about cheap lenses I hope to get a bigma or maybe 70-200 f/4 L with teleconverter within a few months but i will have to get a cheap 75-300 or something similar to begin with.

[Kev Lewis]

20D, no question, fast af and good noise control. Handles well with the battery grip fitted.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by mcfctomo

Yes I know about cheap lenses I hope to get a bigma or maybe 70-200 f/4 L with teleconverter within a few months but i will have to get a cheap 75-300 or something similar to begin with.

You might also like to consider the little bigma (170-500mm) it isnt an ex lens and so doesnt have the HSM focusing of its big brother but it is still damn good and is "only" £439

It is a tad soft at the edges which might be a problem on full frame but wont be noticeably on the 1.6 crop 20D

[Boddie]

The 350 is a lovely piece of kit and with the grip is not too small. I started with the 350 and then got a 30. You may ask why

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Boddie

The 350 is a lovely piece of kit and with the grip is not too small. I started with the 350 and then got a 30. You may ask why

Why ?