D-SLR Shopping List - Critique please!

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Hey all,

Many thanks to Travis for assisting me with my D-SLR choices, I just wanted to see what others thought too.

OK so here is what I'm going with.

dslrshopping.png


EOS 1100D body (£299) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004MPQXSM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III Lens (£150) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00005K47Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&smid=A25SSRS87SUDW9 <- will this work with the 1100D?? Can somebody please confirm? This is my biggest "worry" if you like. ;)

SanDisk 32GB SDHC card (£14) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00422GVQE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Case (£15) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0042PUH5C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A27UIGBWAGUDML

Total is £478 pretty much. I'm going to say £500 is my absolute, absolute budget.

Anybody have any suggestions for improvement? I'd like a telephoto lens with a large zoom, the one I've chosen appears to have a large zoom - will that lens work with the 1100D/T3? Anybody have any idea roughly how big the zoom on that lens would be? I saw this YouTube video (skip to 2.47) and it seems pretty large, but a figure of exactly how big the zoom is would be good. :)

Also I'd ideally like a 32GB card as I will most likely be shooting in RAW and probably recording video too. A 16GB card is just over a fiver though so maybe I could get away with 16GB fine?

Does anybody else have any other suggestions for different cameras and lenses? As said, ideally I'd like a telephoto lens as I like zoom, I'd like image stabilization (which that lens has) - size is not an issue really. I chose the 1100D/T3 over the D3100 because apparently the 1100D/T3 has a better battery life. I know about the Pnetax K-r too, they're expensive here - too expensive for me.

I'm going to keep the Fuji most likely even once I've got my SLR. Not sure when I'm going to be buying all of this, could be a way off yet I think. :( These are just ideas/suggestions.

The whole thing (including a bag and SD card) needs to ideally come to less than £500.

Thanks! :)
 
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mx344

New Member
looks decent, although some suggestions :)
-The 1100d has 12mpx, so you can hold over 400 raw photos on that thing, thats more than you will want lol. I have 4 different cards, (1) 4gig, (2) 8gigs, and (1)16 gig. Id rather have more smaller sized sticks than one big one, because of one factor, losing it.;)
75-300 is not wide at all, thats a sports lens essentially so anything your going to be taking photos of, will have to be far away...
***example*** I'd guess and say one person, would have to be 15+ feet away just to fit one in the frame.
Another thing plays into it, the 110d is crop factored, so whatever length your lens is, you must multiply that by 1.6x so 75mm is really 120mm, and the 300mm length is really 480, now this can be both good, and bad, bad because its not good close up, but great for long shots.
Me personally, would start with a wider lens, the kit lens 18-55mm would be a better start...youll use it alot more.
if you have any questions about anything just give me a holllarr :D
 

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah that's what I thouhgt, no wide angle? Nothing below 50mm? You only have a zoom lens there...

I personally have a 18-55mm and a 70-300mm... And I use both of them all the time, 18-55mm is useful for scenery...
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks all for the advice, the new shopping list is as follows.

EOS 1100D + 18-55mm lens http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004MPQXZA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A1D24MP37JR7K

Canon EF 75-300 lens (possibly, may get this one a bit later on to save cost) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00005K47Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&smid=A25SSRS87SUDW9

32GB card http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00422GVQE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Bag http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0042PUH5C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=A27UIGBWAGUDML

Total is £555 w/ the extra lens and £400.32 w/out the extra lens.

mx344 said:
-The 1100d has 12mpx, so you can hold over 400 raw photos on that thing, thats more than you will want lol.
Is that 400 with the 32GB card or 400 with a 4GB, 8GB or 16GB card? Whenever I go to places I do tend to take a lot of photos and I'd like space for video too. How many photos would say an 8GB card hold roughly? If I'm shooting in RAW with 12MP, then my photos would be roughly 12MB each, right (sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller) - so 8192MB divided by 12 gives me 682 photos roughly - that seems all right, so I may just go for an 8GB or if a 16GB is the same cost one of those.

mx344 said:
Me personally, would start with a wider lens, the kit lens 18-55mm would be a better start...youll use it alot more.
Noted - added the 1100D with the kit 18-55mm lens to my wishlist.

Punk said:
I personally have a 18-55mm and a 70-300mm... And I use both of them all the time, 18-55mm is useful for scenery...
Ah... ok - yep defo want the 18-55 now if it's better for stuff like scenery. Thanks! :D
 
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Ramodkk

VIP Member
Keep in mind that your bridge camera has what, 30X optical zoom? That's huge range in focal length. You are not going to get that much zoom or get to that level of telephoto with the 75-300mm lens. That would be the equivalent to around 10-15X. That's an advantage of SLR-Like cameras, you get a LOT of optical zoom for the money. If you want super telephoto on a DSLR, you're gonna have to spend thousands of dollars/pounds for good quality, fast, 300mm+ glass.

That 75-300mm lens is the entry-level telephoto zoom lens for Canon.

Now, about the memory card, like mx344 said, I would suggest you get 2+ cards with average capacity like 8-16GB as opposed to one behemoth card with 32-64GB. It will make your life easier because they're easy to fill up with pictures but then downloading them if you need a fast import to your PC it will take ages for full 64GB card. Also, the fear of losing your card, it's better to lose part of your photoshoot than the whole thing.

The ideal starting lens is the kit lens (18-55mm). If you feel up for it and are willing to buy used, I'm sure you can find a cheap 50mm prime to learn with as well. Don't worry about having to buy two lenses to start with. You can always buy more lenses as you go.
 
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mx344

New Member
Is that 400 with the 32GB card or 400 with a 4GB, 8GB or 16GB card? Whenever I go to places I do tend to take a lot of photos and I'd like space for video too. How many photos would say an 8GB card hold roughly? If I'm shooting in RAW with 12MP, then my photos would be roughly 12MB each, right (sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller) - so 8192MB divided by 12 gives me 682 photos roughly - that seems all right, so I may just go for an 8GB or if a 16GB is the same cost one of those.
Thats for 8 gig, and for me when i was shooting with my 450d, the average would be 14-15mb, so yah you'll get more over 500+:good::)
Although, fair warning, video SUCKS up memory lol. I was shooting some tennis, and if I remember correctly, the clip was 20ish seconds long, and it used up 40mb lmao.
So my recommendation, once you import on the computer, delete off the memory card so you can have space for new material that you may be wanting to do.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Keep in mind that your bridge camera has what, 30X optical zoom? That's huge range in focal length. You are not going to get that much zoom or get to that level of telephoto with the 75-300mm lens. That would be the equivalent to around 10-15X. That's an advantage of SLR-Like cameras, you get a LOT of optical zoom for the money. If you want super telephoto on a DSLR, you're gonna have to spend thousands of dollars/pounds for good quality, fast, 300mm+ glass.
Yeah I'm aware the Fuji's zoom will still be much bigger - much bigger. 10-12x zoom should be fine for me though, but I'll probably get that lens another time and practise on the kit lens. I'm going to keep the Fuji for the zoom and stuff too (take it on school trips and stuff too - don't want my D-SLR getting nicked at school!).

Now, about the memory card, like mx344 said, I would suggest you get 2+ cards with average capacity like 8-16GB as opposed to one behemoth card with 32-64GB. It will make your life easier because they're easy to fill up with pictures but then downloading them if you need a fast import to your PC it will take ages for full 64GB card. Also, the fear of losing your card, it's better to lose part of your photoshoot than the whole thing.
I'll probably grab myself a 16GB or 32GB card and then a spare 8GB or 16GB card. 32GB cards are £13, 16GB cards are £6 and 8GB cards are about £4 - either way I'll get myself a spare card.

The ideal starting lens is the kit lens (18-55mm). If you feel up for it and are willing to buy used, I'm sure you can find a cheap 50mm prime to learn with as well. Don't worry about having to buy two lenses to start with. You can always buy more lenses as you go.
Any suggestions for good used and cheap lenses? I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to D-SLRs, but I'm learning and getting there. :)

Yeah that's the whole idea of getting an SLR, so that I can keep it a for long while and not having to replace the whole camera, but just the lens when I feel I'd like and upgrade.

Thats for 8 gig, and for me when i was shooting with my 450d, the average would be 14-15mb, so yah you'll get more over 500+:good::)
Although, fair warning, video SUCKS up memory lol. I was shooting some tennis, and if I remember correctly, the clip was 20ish seconds long, and it used up 40mb lmao.
So my recommendation, once you import on the computer, delete off the memory card so you can have space for new material that you may be wanting to do.
Video is main reason why I'd like a 32GB card preferably. If I can get around 500 photos on an 8GB card then I'll get an 8GB card as a "backup" and I'll have a 16GB or 32GB card as a "primary card" if you get me?

I move all the files off the memory card when I put the photos on my PC now anyway, it's a good habit. :)
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
I'd say 8 gig for photos, and 16 for video would be great!
OK that's what I'll do.

Any suggestions on carry cases or is the one I've picked OK?

Edit: possibly going for a 32GB and a 16GB card now - 16 for photos 32 for backup and video. Would that be OK?
 
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voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
I say 8GB as well. I have 2x 4GB and 1x 8GB card. Shooting on RAW with the 4GB card, I get about 166 shots. With the 8GB card, I get 649 shots.
 

mx344

New Member
OK that's what I'll do.

Any suggestions on carry cases or is the one I've picked OK?

Edit: possibly going for a 32GB and a 16GB card now - 16 for photos 32 for backup and video. Would that be OK?

The case is good, for me, I just put my wide angle on my camera and put that in the case, and I just put the others in my backpack that I put the case in...
Eventually you'll want to get some form of bakpack. Cause Once you starting getting those big 70-300's or 70-200 lenses, its not going to fit in that bag lol.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Nikon D3100 vs Canon EOS 1100D - which would you lot go for? The Nikon is only slightly more expensive, but apparently the battery life isn't very good.
 

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Both of them are fine, try each one of them and choose the one you're most confortable with. The only thing is that once you choose a brand, you have to stay in that brand because Nikon lens and Canon lens don't have the same lens diameter.
 

mx344

New Member
The D3100 would be better camera overall, but I like the ergonomics of the 1100D, so I'd go with that.
 

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah I thought the D3100 would be the better camera, I hear the battery life isn't very good though and it costs an arm and a leg to get spare ones, so I'll probably just go for the Canon.
 

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
As long as you match the model numbers and the mHa, you can find good batteries on eBay for cheap. I got the two for my Canon on eBay for maybe $12 a piece.
 
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