Re: Canon 10d


David Littlewood wrote:
In article <1151878605.858823.87180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ivan
<find.ivan@xxxxxxxxx> writes
Hi all..

Yesterday I had the chance to buy a Canon 10d for about US$500 with a
battery grip.
I lost the auction on e-bay at the last minute (unfortunately) but
instead of wallowing in self pitty for not putting a higher bid on the
last 10 seconds, I see this as an opportunity to learn more about the
digital format and establish whether this would be the best camera for
me, and if so, if that was a decent price to pay for it.

My budget is of about $800-900, and I would prefer to go for a Canon
body, as I've a lens to go with it. Albeit it being a kit lens, it will
have to do until I can save up a bit more and purchase a decent one.

So I did do some research on the 10d (and the rebel digital) and a few
nikon bodies (f100 and f70), with the latter still being a bit pricy
for me here in Australia, what with its retail price being about $1800.

My needs?
I don't really have that many. I want a camera that would do everything
I tell it to, and not make any assumptions.
On the other hand, with my better half using the camera also, I would
want it to do everything she wants to do without her having to tell it.

I've been using film up until this day and decided to take the pluge
into the digital world, my original camera being a Pentax k1000.

So if anyone could perhaps recommend something, I will keep on looking
around and will see if I can find something out there that will meet my
needs.

In any case, I'll be sure to come by the forum with more questions and
conclussions to my findings.


Cheers..

Ivan,

I have had an EOS 10D for 2-3 years. It is a fine camera and I was
mostly very pleased with it. Most of its drawbacks have been mentioned,
but for the sake of completeness I may repeat some of them:

(1) It does not take EF-S lenses. These were only introduced after the
10D came out, just in time for the 300D which is its cheaper brother. In
reality, the 10D should be able to cope with an EF-S lens, since it has
a smaller mirror than 35mm bodies, but it lacks the recess for the extra
bulge on the EF-S lenses. I believe it should be possible to cut off the
bulge - it is plastic on the EF-S lenses I looked at - but don't take my
guesstimation, look for reports from people who have actually done it.
(My daughter has a 300D, and I did intend to borrow the 18-55 she got
with it to try this out, but then I bought a 5D and didn't need to). If
you *do* try this, you will have to remember not to put the modified
EF-S lens on a 35mm body though, as the rear lens element will probably
foul the mirror.

(2) It is much slower to switch on or wake up from sleep mode compared
with the next generation (20D/350D) models. I never had a problem with
shutter lag (the time between pressing the shutter and the start of the
exposure) as you find on may digital compacts (and which renders them
virtually unusable) and you can live with the slow turn-on. I set the
default sleep time to something quite long, and kept half-pressing the
shutter button (the equivalent of nudging a drunken friend) to keep it
awake if rapid response was likely to be needed.

(3) The viewing screen is rather small compared with the later
generation. I only really noticed this on getting a 5D 3 months ago; now
it seems cramped, but I was quite thrilled by it before then. (BTW, you
do realise that DSLRs with interchangeable lenses only show you the
picture *after* you have taken it? I mention this as many people moving
up from digital compacts find this a shock.)

(4) The resolution is only 6Mp. This is not really an issue unless you
are planning to make large prints (over A4 size) or submit to stock
agencies.

On the plus side, the camera is robust, has good exposure control, very
low noise, and gives good clean images. It has all the controls and
overrides you could wish for, but it also has an "idiot" mode for those
who don't want to bother with technicalities (sorry, don't mean to be
offensive to your wife, it's just that that is the common term for it).
If you get one in good condition it should give many years of
satisfactory service. When I got my 5D, I kept the 10D as a backup, and
did not (for example) contemplate getting a 20D or 30D as backup. I too
was unimpressed with the 300D and 350D bodies, I just don't care for
lightweight plastic stuff, though to be fair all the reports I have seen
say their robustness is much better than impression would suggest. You
should get an instruction book and all the accessories, software and
leads, though there is little you can't manage without

I was fortunate enough to have some good quality Canon wide lenses, but
even so I found the angle of view thing real pain - much of my
photography is done on wide-ish lenses. That, for me, made a 5D a
must-have. OTOH, if I had been more into long lenses, the smaller sensor
would have been no problem at all (most such users would see it as an
advantage).

One final point regarding the Canon 35-70 lens you say you have, or can
use. Are you sure it is an EF lens? If it is an old Canon FD lens, then
it will not even fit on the 10D, or any other Canon EOS body. I mention
it because the 35-70 focal length was quite common in the FD range; I
think there was a 35-70 EF, but not very common - one of the early
members of the EF range.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your buying.
--
David Littlewood


Thanks for your reply David. The lens I have, I don't know where it
comes from but it might possibly come out of an FD camera. It is an AF
lens although the camera it currently sits in is not AF.. It's at least
10-12 years old, but in all honesty I can't remember what type of
camera it is.

Perhaps I might not be able to fit the lens into it after all.

Ah well, twas a nice thought.


Maybe I would need to spend some more time saving up some money and
during that time the prices of DSLRs will drop considerably enough for
me to purchase the camera I want for the money I have..

.

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