Canon 300D won't start - new camera needed

[Zak33]

Lo people

300D has died... won't power up at all. It failed to power up on a cold morning out in the woods, and then DID start at home so we both guessed cold battery syndrome.. charge battery but it was fine.. took it out another day... no boot up at all... nothing. And now... it won't start at all

Having spent ages online, changing the CMOS style battery, powering if off, batteries out.. left on overnight and then off switch to off.... batteries back in... etc...

My wife's beloved 300D has died I think. I see the fuse replacement plan (ie my soldering skills) as a POTENTIAL with a low chance of success...

So... (unless anyone can suggest any other solutions to get this to start)... I think it's new camera time for her

She's got 3 Canon fitting lenses, and understood the 300D well.

What's the most logical, brand new or nearly new, replacement Canon pls?

Image quality is all.... the 300D I think was a mere 6mp but it took some stunning pictures and she's good with it (imo) so while I don't mind her going right up the mp tree, I'd rather not deliberately aim at 18mp 20mp etc ... the hard disks on her PC and my server won't take it (joke.. they will actually).

What camera.. and where from then pls?

1000D?

I know money is important.. but value is more important... what you pay vs what you get

Advice gratefully received ....and thank you.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What kind of budget are we talking about??

[Zak33]

£300 to maybe £400ish

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

£300 to maybe £400ish

The Canon 7D is getting on a bit but is on clearance with a few retailers at £599 and its a proper professional level body with a pentaprism and the build to match.

There are also a lot of deals for new and refurbished 650D and 700D cameras on Ebay.

Canon have a refurbished 600D for under £300 delivered ATM:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS-...item5b0ab51787

[Zak33]

nice work CAT

ty.... good food for thought that refurb 600D

although the negative feedback is written by people who can type and spell so looks genuine, and maybe it's not actually Canon selling this refurb stuff

[TheAnimus]

Have a crack at repairing it yourself, I mean you've nothing to lose but your time, and it will be fun!

I really, really, wouldn't recommend a 7D unless she has some very nice lenses. When viewed objectively, the image quality is very poor for the price. It's so poor, we can compare it to a 3 year old entry level camera! http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_7D-vs-Pentax-K-30 and it looses in image quality... Badly, to a camera that was on the market years before it, at a third of the price.

I'd second Cat's suggestion, hell I'd even go as far as to say maybe a second hand 300d if you can find a cheap one. Otherwise, I'd jump ship. Canon have really dropped the ball with their innovation lately. Where lately is about 5 years. Sony and Nikon have been doing some aggressive things in the low end DSLR market, whilst Olympus have been showing that you can have stunning quality from a m4/3rds, whilst Pentax for the entry level, is sucking it's thumb and pentax users like myself are saying well at least it's not eating the glue again as Ricoh are obviously better owners.

If the lenses you have aren't great, consider flogging them on ebay and jumping ship.

[Butcher]

700D is around £450 and Canon have a winter cashback on at the moment, offering £50 and a free wifi SD card back on that. £400 gets you a nice new body. A cheaper alternative is a 100D which is around £375, with £30 cashback and the same SD card.

[TheAnimus]

£450 for a Pentamirror camera, that has potato image quality? Really?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

nice work CAT

ty.... good food for thought that refurb 600D

although the negative feedback is written by people who can type and spell so looks genuine, and maybe it's not actually Canon selling this refurb stuff

Its run on behalf of Canon by a large company(you see the name on the invoice):

http://www.canon.co.uk/Where_to_Buy/For_Home/index.aspx

However,Canon lists it as there own refurb shop. I and mates have bought a few things from them - they appear to be more or less brand new.

OTH,if you do not mind jumping ship I would definitely consider Pentax.

The K50 is weatherproof,has a pentaprism and can take AA batteries with an adaptor:

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/pen...lens-3237.html

The kit lense is weatherproof.

The K5 II was the former Pentax top end APS-C dSLR:

http://www.parkcameras.com/24512/Pen...r=CamPriceBust

It has a die cast metal construction and has a pentaprism and is weatherproof.

[Butcher]

£450 for a Pentamirror camera, that has potato image quality? Really?

I'm not sure pentamirror vs pentaprism makes that much difference in actual usage. I have used both and didn't really notice the upgrade.
Not sure what potato image quality is supposed to mean.

I was offering options that didn't require a new set of lenses. It's his choice really.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have used both in digital SLRs and would never touch a dark,tunnel like pentamirror over a pentaprism especially bin low light and especially with consumer zooms with their limited apertures. The pentamirrors in the film days were much brighter than the ones in the modern budget dSLRs which appear to be an exercise in cost cutting.Also the viewpoint is much better with many of the pentaprisms meaning if you wear glasses they are far better.

I would never go back to the pentamirrors of the newer canon and nikon budget dSLRs after using the one in my D600 or the K5 I borrowed.

Especially with a Tele Lense the difference was night and day for me.

[TheAnimus]

I'm not sure pentamirror vs pentaprism makes that much difference in actual usage. I have used both and didn't really notice the upgrade.

As Cat says, to me the difference is night and day, but you might be blessed with better eye sight.

Not sure what potato image quality is supposed to mean.

I think it's a joke that started on reddit or 4chan, for describing cameras in phones. Basically, it means poor quality.

Objectively, the quality of the 7D is poor.

Now image quality, just like audio quality in HiFi is absolutely something that you can end up chasing diminishing returns, however, thankfully, image quality isn't plauged by the bull you find in HiFi world. The fact is that you can get a lot more detail, more dynamic range, better low light, for a fraction of the price. Canon have invested themselves into a corner with their sensor tech. Will they pull something out of the bag in 2015 that makes up for it? Given that they've failed to for the last few years, I doubt it.

I was offering options that didn't require a new set of lenses. It's his choice really.

Absolutely why I asked about them. Otherwise, I'd recommend saving money and just buying a second hand camera. If you think the step in quality between say a 7D and a 70D is worth it, jump ship to Nikon/Sony/Pentax and you've got a step in quality much, much higher.

[Bagnaj97]

although the negative feedback is written by people who can type and spell so looks genuine, and maybe it's not actually Canon selling this refurb stuff

It's digital river selling on behalf of canon. I've had 2 compacts and an SLR from that refurb outlet and all have been fine - all 3 have appeared as new except 2 of them had a single thumbprint on the screen O.o Almost like it's the signature of whoever's checking/cleaning them!

If you want to get more up to date, the Currys outlet has the 100d with 18-55 (appears to be non-IS) and extra battery for £379 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS1...item19ec8c5d3a

Or WEX Photographic's used Canon DSLR section has loads of cameras - http://www.wexphotographic.com/used-...b3235?sortby=1
£245 for a 600d is cheaper than the ebay outlet.
Their used stock all comes with a 12 month warranty unless otherwise stated and I've bought both new and used lenses from them with no problems. If it helps, they used DPD for both lenses!

[oldboy47]

Personally I would pick another Canon, but then I am biased. It could well be worth considering a second hand body from a reputable dealer. I have used Ffordes following a previous recommendation on this forum. Currently they list a second hand 300d body for sale at £49. Previously I had a 400d that my son appropriated after I bought a 650d. The improved resolution and controls/features are great.

[TheAnimus]

Personally I would pick another Canon, but then I am biased.

Out of curiosity, why?

I dunno if my day job has desensitised me into spending money jumping ship between systems, but unless you are doing a lot of Video work I just can't see any reason at all.

Heck I wouldn't even really be recommending Pentax at the moment, until knowing that the new K isn't going to be a dud like the S1, their remote live view wifi thing on the K-3 really pissed me off, some of the worst programming I've seen in a long time, no wonder it's unreliable.

[Zak33]

firstly.. it will be Canon..

7D feels too.... pro

So.. we shall look at the 600 Di think