Canon EOS 300D DSLR Digital Camera

[lazer]

Canon EOS 300D DSLR Digital Camera.

This any good as i am looking to move over to DSLR but don't have a lot to spend. If good, how much should i expect to pay for a 2nd hand one? My budget is around £200 ish.

[stavroshamster]

It's a good camera. I am still using mine which I bought 5ish years ago (although I am looking to upgrade now as I get into my photography more). I would think you should be able to buy it second hand, and have money left for a new 50mm f1.8 lens (which is about £80) which is a great lens for not very much money.

Also, if you do end up buying a 300d, you can also download custom firmware onto it which opens up functions which were available on the more expensive 10d at the time.

Probably worth buying from a shop rather than online so you can take it back if you notice problems. Things to look out for from experience:

Hot/dead pixels - my camera has quite a lot of these now. It was actually sent back under warranty after less than a year from new to get rid of some which were really bad. It now has one which is alwaus white no matter what the shot settings are, and others which are quite noticeable when shooting in low-ish light. This isn't a big problem for me as I shoot in RAW and load into Photoshop which automatically removes the hot pixels, but they show up on JPEGS so its worth looking out for.

Dust on the sensor - shows up as dark smudges or circles on images. There are likely to be a few, and they can usually be cleaned off pretty easily. It might be worth asking the shop to clean the sensor for you before you buy?

Corrupting files: My 300d has developed a problem recently where it spends ages trying to save a shot to the card, then shuts itself down and the picture is then corrupted. It will do this for 3 or 4 shots before it starts working again. Not sure why it's doing this, but its pretty annoying, and might not do it for hundreds of shots before playing up again. So, make sure you take a lot of photos to check while you still have a chance to take it back.

[Bobster]

You can pick up a 20D for approx £180-200 so expect to pay around 100-120 for a 300D

[lazer]

Would a 20D be a better buy then?

[stavroshamster]

Maybe, it's a more modern camera and has improved features and much better build quality. It will be slightly heavier though.

As Bobster says, a second hand one will set you back around 180-200 pounds for the body alone. You are going to have to consider what lens(es) to buy as well... As I said, you can't go wrong with the 50mm F1.8 for 80 quid, but it depends what you are after. It's a fixed focal length lens and so isn't that flexible.

A good lens is as important as a good body - so I wouldn't really recommend going for a 20d if you are then going to have to buy the cheapest lens possible - better of going for the cheaper 300d and spending a bit more on the glass IMHO.