Which Canon - 400D/450D/500D/550D

  • Thread starter Thread starter ajom10
  • Start date Start date
A

ajom10

Guest
Really hoping for some help here as trying to decide which of these Canons to buy is making my head spin.:shrug:

First I thought I'd go for the cheapest option, then I figured the most I could spend would be the best idea, but comparing the specs, is there really THAT much of a difference and would I be better saving by getting the 400D/450D and then being able to add another lens.
My budget is, well I don't want to go over the £300's really
Use - landscape work, architecture, maybe some close up/macro stuff in the future.
:help:
 
Hi there!

My own experience is similar to yours, as I've recently bought my first DSLR, and went for the Canon 600D. It's a great camera and it's really fun to use.

However, where you'll start to feel the pinch a little is with the lenses. You can probably pick up a decent kit lens cheap, and this will start you off, but then you'll begin to see the limitations of what a kit lens can do...then you'll want to get a better lens and that's when it can get expensive.

With landscape you'll need a tripod, bag, etc so be prepared that you might have to go over the budget to do what you want with it.
 
I had the 450d for my first dslr and loved it! The natural upgrade was to get the 550d but I got a bit carried away and opted for the 60d!
I would highly recommend the 450d, but also look into the 40d or 50d! I'm assuming that you'll be buying second hand which can get you a lot of camera for your money!! Many people will would probably say to spend less on body and more on glass!!!
 
I had a 500D and bought a 450D after as a backup/2nd body Im too slow at swapping lenses, to be honest I prefered the 450D when I pushed the ISO slightly less noise. Everything else there wasnt that much difference that I noticed.

The 550D my mate bought and the ISO performance at higher ISO was a lot better that both the 450D and 500D.

Unless your shooting something in difficult conditions then pretty much any DSLR will work for what your wanting to do, the main thing is learning how to use it to get the desired results.
 
Think the 40d/50d will be just out of range, don't want to spend so much that I have nothing left, although I know what you mean about getting carried away I'd started at the 300D and now I'm up to the 550D.
 
Yeah, just want to play with the kit lens first, get the feel of the camera etc, but sure I'll want to spend again soon enough. Just want to make sure I get the right one to start with so I don't feel like I need to upgrade in a few months.

Think the 40D/50D will be really pushing my budget, to be honest hadn't really thought of them as didn't want anything too complex, which I though they might be.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
My first DSLR was a 400D and it is a great budget camera, i'm so glad i kept it, because i still use it a lot.
 
My 400D still gets a lot of use even though i now own 'better' camera's.
 
It's quite noisy at 1600 but most camera's in that price range will be, it's nothing that can't be sorted in PP though.
 
Swissy said:
It's quite noisy at 1600 but most camera's in that price range will be.
Click to expand...

I would disagree, high ISO noise on a 400D is going to be noticeably worse than on a 550D/600D, for example.
 
You can pick up a used 400D for about £120 body only which is a lot cheaper than the other 2 camera's you mentioned, so not really in the same price range IMO
 
ajom10 said:
Think the 40d/50d will be just out of range, don't want to spend so much that I have nothing left, although I know what you mean about getting carried away I'd started at the 300D and now I'm up to the 550D.
Click to expand...

Should be able to get a 40D body for about £200 second hand, do you have any lenses?
 
ajom10 said:
Yeah, just want to play with the kit lens first, get the feel of the camera etc, but sure I'll want to spend again soon enough. Just want to make sure I get the right one to start with so I don't feel like I need to upgrade in a few months.

Think the 40D/50D will be really pushing my budget, to be honest hadn't really thought of them as didn't want anything too complex, which I though they might be.
Click to expand...

40D's are going for about £200 2nd hand so definitely within your budget. Shame I've just promised to sell mine to someone I know for that price or I'd be sticking it in the classifieds as we speak.

I had a 450d a little while back and the 40d is a far better camera
 
Will take a look at 40D's too then, just to add to my list! I'm just starting out with digital (SLRs that is) and I didn't want anything too complex that I won't end up using, but I guess that's unlikely to be the case.

I'm not allowed on the classifieds here yet anyway :-(
 
I've just purchased the 600d and as a complete novice am having great fun with it. Easy to use even in manual settings and although I am a novice the pictures that I have taken seen excellent quality.
 
I had a 400d as my first camera (after a Fuji bridge) and found it to be a really good camera, was great to learn how to use a camera properly and it just seemed right for me which is why when I upgraded I got a 650d as I was so used to the size/weight etc.
 
Why 2 separate threads?
 
Last edited:
STAFF EDIT: Please do not open two threads for the same question. Threads merged.
 
:nono:Apologies, I'm a newbie and wasn't sure which, if either, would get any responses. :bonk:
 
Dave1 said:
I would disagree, high ISO noise on a 400D is going to be noticeably worse than on a 550D/600D, for example.
Click to expand...

So, would you say avoid the 400D if I'm likely to be doing some stuff at 1600 ISO? It'll be night time shots.
 
I have the 500D which is actually a very well made and capable camera. All my higher end kit is Nikon as I prefer it but having played with both the Nikon and Canon entry level cameras the Canon is best. I would suggest that any of the 500-600D models will very much suit your needs. There are some incremental improvements through these models which you might like but to all intents and purposes they are basically the same. I would see what is available and balance them against price. You can easily get a decent 500/550D with kit lens for £300 so probably one of those.
 
ajom10 said:
So, would you say avoid the 400D if I'm likely to be doing some stuff at 1600 ISO? It'll be night time shots.
Click to expand...

I owned a 400D from new till last month. I never used it above ISO 800 because of the noise. Basically the noise control got better with pretty much every DIGIC processor upgrade. On the other hand as a cheap camera (they go with lens on ebay for about 100-120), and ISO 400 or lower it's really excellent. Only really replaced mine because I also have a 7D, and spotted a 600D body only deal in Amazon's new year sale for a very reasonable 330.

Having said that if you feel you're going to take this seriously a 40D would be a much better option, or a 500D for one of the smaller bodies would be good too. Pricier though.
 
For high ISO use, I think the OP might be better off with one of the 18MP sensor bodies.
 
I have the 500D and I'd happily recommend it, 1600 is no problem at all, 3200 and above things start to drop off though (the 550D improved on that).

The 500D had a couple of key improvements over the 450D and earlier models - it introduced the faster Digic 4 processor and was the first in the series with Live View, and a movie mode, and also the first to make the jump to a big high res screen on the back - very useful for checking focus etc.

If you can run to a 550D for the slightly better ISO then great, otherwise the 500D is virtually identical and a big leap ahead of the 450 and earlier.
 
Many thanks for all your help, looking at going for the 550 I think, offers me quite a bit more than the 400 and think I'd rather pay the extra for that than wish I had later on. The XXD range are just a little further out of my budget from what I've seen and more complex, maybe later on that will be what I go for, it seems like all these cameras hold their value pretty well. Will keep you posted on what I get.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top