Used camera body: £220 budget

Even better! Jeez you guys are good. Thank you!
 
My order of preference would be the price order of the ones you list, the 40D has the best sensor and all of them have decent build/body.

A consideration though is that the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime isn't a patch on the Nikon one in build quality, I've heard of quite a few just falling apart, never heard of that happening with the Nikon version. The Canon is cheaper though...


The 40D is an excellent camera. I used to own one and regret selling it, but the sensors are old and as such the low light performance is not great compared to today's standards. The Canon 50mm f1.8 is cheap and cheerful, but remember there are two versions. The mark 2, that is now in high street shops for around £90, is very 'plasticky' and the focus ring is tiny. However, there is an older Canon EF-S 50mm f1.8, which can now only be picked up second hand, that has a steel mount and a much wider focusing barrel and produces very similar images. The reason for the downgrade in the lens was probably to make room for the f1.4 in the market thus giving Canon a reason, other than the wider aperture, for the price difference.
 
As said, the 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS is a cracking combo which covers pretty much everything you need for general shooting.
The 55-250 is an absolute gem, tbh, for the money it's unbeatable!
Get those two, add a 50mm when funds permit and it'll see you ok for a long time. (y)
 
I'd go for the 40d, had a 30d a long time ago but will be pretty dated now. the 40d for not much more offers much better performance
 
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