Digital SLR Camera under $800.00

Hey All,

Finially reached my Kiting level where i want to get a few good pictures and the girlfriend is happy to shoot away, but all I have is a old compact digital camera.

So time to upgrade and throwing it out there on a half decent SLR Options. I am considering a Cannon 550d or similar....something with a good lens also...

Any preferences????

P.s - if anyone has one second hand for sale let me know also

It really depends whether you want to do other stuff with the camera (make it a hobby).

My wife and I went with a Nikon D3100.

One reason is that we have a new baby, wanted something to last and take great pics. If you commit to Nikon or Canon then your lenses should last a long time (10 - 20 yrs), and you can sell your old body and update without spending too much.

We did lots of research, started with a basic 55-200 kit lens and a 35mm f1.8 prime (non-zoom) lens. It takes amazing portrait and low light pics like this (random example, my cat)


We found a good guy at clive anthonys, and he price matched internet stores like ryda.com.au. Best of both worlds, hundreds off asking price but a real store for warranty etc.

We can now expand to a 300mm zoom for kite pics, a macro for insects etc, a wide angle for landscape, etc. But we'll wait and see how much it gets used before spending more. (5000 pics in first 6 months..)

Yep thats a good camera for the price and the EF 70-300 IS F4-5.6 is an excellent lens to shoot from the beach, its around $800 new, avoid the cheap kit lenses, just get the camera body and that lens, and something with a shorter focal length later for portrait and more point and shoot.
Canon dealers do have better quality kits, I think they are called platinum, they are ok.
I've got a 60D and had that lens took some awesome shots with it. Its worth spending a bit extra on lenses, they last a very long time and will be able to be used on upgraded camera bodies. EFS lenses only fit on canon cameras that are not full frame, the only full frame cameras are for serious addicts though they are the 5D and 1D series.

All the Canon stuff on kogan.com.au is coming from overseas, the warranty is not from Canon Australia, its from a company in Melb that does warranties for "grey" parallel importers out of asia.
Once I found the truth about these "too good to believe" camera prices I've been buying in Australia.
For me its about supporting the guys that give me really great service and very competitive prices, like at georges.com.au I bought one lens from them and they gave me a card that entitles me to free unlimited one on one lessons with a pro photographer, that to me is worth something. Everyone I've dealt with at the shop is very knowledgeable about cameras and photography too.

My advice is buy the Canon EFS mount camera that suits your budget, the 550D is a good camera, get it with the lenses you can afford for now and then see if you can borrow someone elses EF (all EF lenses fit on EFS mount canon cameras), then I bet you save for a better lens. The HD video on the 550 is very good and you will most likely get a lot of use from it, its like 2 cameras in one. Always get zoom lenses with Image Stabilisation IS.

Panasonic Gh1 on run out with a 300 mm lens will deliver some joy at the price you are after

I use the gh1 for still and video (with the 20mm pancake lens) and love it

The gh2 is a cracker - but a bit out of your price range

Dam your camera looked the goods...PM me if it's still for sale. eBay ad shows it sold.

Here's some Canon 550D surfing footage - cheap 200mm kit lens - hand held using a home made shoulder mount... (taking good video requires a bit of practice)

and a couple of stills...

Try the Dicapac waterproof bag....got some decent results from it until my mate lost an edge and put his harness hook through the lens....

Just bought the 600D with the kit lenses- upgraded from the 350D...the kit lenses are fairly good, just have to think about your camera settings and work a little harder to get a good shot...

Expensive cameras and glass make it too easy- in m,y opinion it's almost worthwhile learning on something hard too use so you get used to how each setting affects the camera...

They cost you light! They all knock a couple of stops off your attached lens widest aperture, but so long as you shoot on a sunny to patchy sunny day, you can still get crisp results. Even on grey days upping your ISO a bit so that you can still shoot at above 1/400th, you will still "freeze a moment" with a crisp sharp pic of a kiter in action.
The Canon extenders are L series quality, so they are really nice quality and strongly built and sealed. They allow full communication between the lens and camera for certain L series lenses, so on other lenses things like autofocus and IS don't work. On my 70-200 lens everything works but on my 100-400 only the center focus point works, as well as IS.
I don't know much about Sigma/tamron extenders and to what extent they will allow the lens to fully communicate with the camera, check with a good camera store that sells Sigma and Tamron, like Georges in Sydney.
Mine is the series II 1.4X, the series III is better but its about $500, not the $350 I paid.
Here's a review on the one I have www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Extender-EF-1.4x-II-Tele-Converter-Review.aspx