What do I really need?

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Arwensarah

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Wendy
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I'm looking for a new digital camera, I've just had mine nicked, a canon 550d. So I'm looking for something new. I'm still learning but I can't afford to be buying to replace later, I've been looking at the canon 7d, 60d and the 600d
and ive confused myself, Is there any real difference?

Can you also recommend me a few good lens, I would like to be able to take pictures of birds and picture of bugs and then there's the children too

I did say I was confused didn't I? Lol
 
You say you can't afford to be buying to replace later.. but what's the budget? You mention the 7D which isn't a low end camera so I expect you have some money to spend.

Loads of differences between those models including price tags.. The 7D being at the top of the scale with a really good feature set.

7D + 17-55/2.8 + 100-400L + 100/2.8 macro would have you sorted at around £4000 I think.. kids, birds, bugs, the lot. If that's waaay too expensive, let us know how much? :)

Realistically if you are willing to spend the money, the choice of body is between the 60D and 7D in APS-C. Nothing wrong with the 600D as such, the other 2 are just clearly a step up.
 
I would like to spend less than £2000, but I don't know if that's reasonable, I first thought the 60d would be great but then I read that it has a plastic body, I'm not sure if that's such a good thing I used to have a 10d which I dropped down the stairs and it was fine

I'm sort of thinking its the lens that will make a difference not the body

This forum though is great, I'm overawed by the photographs

Thank you though for the help
 
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Arwensarah said:
I would like to spend less than £2000, but I don't know if that's reasonable, I first thought the 60d would be great but then I read that it has a plastic body, I'm not sure if that's such a good thing I used to have a 10d which I dropped down the stairs and it was fine

I'm sort of thinking its the lens that will make a difference not the body

This forum though is great, I'm overawed by the photographs

Thank you though for the help
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I'm sorry but I can't help laughing at the thought of your face as you watch your camera bounce down the stairs...:lol:
 
shaylou said:
I'm sorry but I can't help laughing at the thought of your face as you watch your camera bounce down the stairs...:lol:
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Knew there was a reason I lived in a Bungalow :D
 
MWHCVT said:
Knew there was a reason I lived in a Bungalow :D
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A friend's PowerMac G5 once took a bit of a tumble - down a flight of stone steps. I wasn't present at the time, but I envision his reaction being at least a little like Doc Brown's sharp intake of breath.

:runaway:

(The outcome? The side panel's latch broke, so needed a bit of tape to stay put, but the machine's performance was completely unaffected. I was somewhat amazed)
 
It's seems like something's are built to last :)

I have lens envy....
 
For £2000, I would go with a Canon 60D and 15-85 lens. That would leave about £900 for either a 70-200 f/4 IS, or a 70-300L or a 100-400.
 
I've got a 60D as a backup to my 5D3 and it's a great camera. The AF may still only be 9 points but they are all cross type and very accurate. It's ISO performance is good, better than the 7D IMO, the moving screen is helpful for high up, low down and macro shots and it's well built. Forget about the 'plastic' body not being strong, it's actually made from Aluminium and polycarbonate resin with glass fibre to quote the Canon website.
My 60D gets far more use than my 7D ever did when I had it paired with a 5D2, I just found the 7D was a bit too quirky for my liking. One shot would be perfect and the next, with the same settings, would seem under or over exposed a lot of the time and was not as forgiving a slight mistake as the 60D is.
You could also have a look at the new 650D, which has a very good set of features (on paper at least) and is due for release any day now. I've ordered one as an update for the wife's 550D and should hopefully get it next week.
 
View it as a lucky escape - you can now move to Nikon...
(well, someone had to say it!)
 
Llamaman said:
View it as a lucky escape - you can now move to Nikon...
(well, someone had to say it!)
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:thumbs:

Seriously, compare carefully before you buy and see what you like, if I was in your shoes I'd be looking at a Nikon d7000 + a suitable nice lens + extras..
 
Arwensarah said:
I would like to spend less than £2000, but I don't know if that's reasonable, I first thought the 60d would be great but then I read that it has a plastic body, I'm not sure if that's such a good thing I used to have a 10d which I dropped down the stairs and it was fine

I'm sort of thinking its the lens that will make a difference not the body

This forum though is great, I'm overawed by the photographs

Thank you though for the help
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With that kind of thoughts you are better of getting an older 1D. They are hard to destroy, but you may want to have a good think about the lens. Zeiss are probably the toughest these days, the 24-70mm's are a lot more fragile than you would imagine.

Buy used anyway, or you will be watching the value of 600/60d falling like autumn leaves.
 
I would buy GOOD used gear, Mifsuds has always been great Ive bought from their used stock many times without any problems I always buy mint or mint - condition.
I got a Mint- Nikon D300 with only 1500 shutter actuation's for under £800 from them a couple of years ago ,over £300 off new price at the time.
Grays of Westminster are also competitive on their used stock.
Wont hurt to check it out.

I personally would only but from ebay if you can go and collect from the seller with cash, it can then be checked out.
 
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Pedalman said:
I would buy GOOD used gear, Mifsuds has always been great Ive bought from their used stock many times without any problems I always buy mint or mint - condition.
I got a Mint- Nikon D300 with only 1500 shutter actuation's for under £800 from them a couple of years ago ,over £300 off new price at the time.
Grays of Westminster are also competitive on their used stock.
Wont hurt to check it out.

I personally would only but from ebay if you can go and collect from the seller with cash, it can then be checked out.
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Really because I can find the 7d cheaper new, confusing this buying stuff
 
Canon 60d for about £600 new (HDEW)
Sigma 150-500mm for about £600 new (HDEW)
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro approx £200 (used)
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 approx £250 (used)
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 approx £200 (used)

Should give you everything you need for approx £1,850 (for bag, memory card, tripod etc)

HDEW will be grey imports but are uk based so canon seem to honour warranty and you'd get 3 years warranty on the 60d (years 2 to 3 through HDEW)
 
I meant with £150 left for bag, memory card etc.

My option also provides you with a walkabout lens
 
mike_6480 said:
Canon 60d for about £600 new (HDEW)
Sigma 150-500mm for about £600 new (HDEW)
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro approx £200 (used)
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 approx £250 (used)
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 approx £200 (used)

Should give you everything you need for approx £1,850 (for bag, memory card, tripod etc)

HDEW will be grey imports but are uk based so canon seem to honour warranty and you'd get 3 years warranty on the 60d (years 2 to 3 through HDEW)
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Yeah cool :thumbs: what are tamron lens like? I have had sigma ones and have been pleased with the quality
 
Arwensarah said:
Yeah cool :thumbs: what are tamron lens like? I have had sigma ones and have been pleased with the quality
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Usually very good. The 17-50mm in particular usually gets excellent reviews (I'd suggest doing a search on here for feedback or look in Flickr for photos taken with it)
 
mike_6480 said:
Usually very good. The 17-50mm in particular usually gets excellent reviews (I'd suggest doing a search on here for feedback or look in Flickr for photos taken with it)
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Yes, I did look last night, I'd heard a few things about tamron being a poor cousin but the reviews are excellent
 
If you want 7D build quality, with IQ better than either 60D / 7D while paying less than either your choice is a K-5.

That plus a 17-70 F4+60-250 F4 should run you to just about 2k for a really nicely built kit, with high IQ and a fair bit of range!
 
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I've bought a 5D2 and 24-105 L kit and a 5D3 body from Hdew cameras and can highly recommend them. Goods delivered in 3 to 4 days, 3 year warranty, they use Canon approved service centre, great prices for great quality. They get consistently good reviews on here very often.
 
I don't think I said thank you to everyone whose answered my questions, but a big thank you. I think I am going with the canon 60d and the suggested lens, because truthfully I don't think I will notice the difference between that and the 7d. I'm going to stick with canon because I have sort of got my head round the lens but the Nikon seem different

But a big thank you for everyone's input
 
If your looking at spending £2000 I would go for the 5dmk2 you can get a decent one for £1100 at mifsuds they are a really good camera. I have recently upgraded from the 7d which I still have! So I have experience with them both previously to these I started out with a 500d which I still have to I don't like to get rid of things as you can tell I have the 24-105 f4 lens which rarely comes off the body.
 
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