Cheapest way to buy a Canon 350d please!!

hellend1983

I wanna buy one of these at a good price... where do I start?

ollyk

can I ask why?

anyway I got my 350d from Jessops for £379 with kit lens AND a free £100 flash gun (which I quickly sold to upgrade the kit lens) but really if you like photography I hope you are real serious otherwise you are wasting your money. i.e. Don't think a DSLR will necesarily give better results than a higher end 'prosumer' without a LOT of hard work and ability to learn!

If you are still really keen you might want to look here http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?Type=SKU&ID=230403492&source=12021 that seems the cheapest at the mo. The 350D has been discontinued you know! DO NOT BUY REFURBED OFF EBAY!!!!
Oh and the Canon 400 has better autofocus ability - this area lets the 350 down in my opinion.

SaverSarah_2

It was rated best buy on Which? in their digital SLR report on 14 May, so it's a good choice.

SaverSarah_2

ollyk wrote: »

can I ask why?... if you like photography I hope you are real serious otherwise you are wasting your money. i.e. Don't think a DSLR will necesarily give better results than a higher end 'prosumer' without a LOT of hard work and ability to learn!

This is somewhat condescending and not particularly helpful – you know nothing about the OP's needs so perhaps it's better not to make assumptions.

SaverSarah_2

I've just called John Lewis as the camera is showing as out of stock. Apparently they won't be getting it back in now (as it's been discontinued). I'd still consider buying it because of Which's review which is pretty comprehensive.

Could have sworn I saw it on Curry's website the other day for around £350 but it's not there now. Probably for the same reason. Why Which? would review a product that's just been discontinued is beyond me, though it doesn't always follow that a new model will be superior to the model it's replaced.

ollyk

SaverSarah wrote: »

This is somewhat condescending and not particularly helpful – you know nothing about the OP's needs so perhaps it's better not to make assumptions.

Well I did give them a link thanks very much and I suspect you know very little about camera's SaverSara. Too many people think DSLR's are the ultimate choice, which is rarely the case unless you have money to spend on good lens's or really want to learn the finer points of photography.
I don't think I was doing any harm whatsoever in asking the OP if he/she really new what they were getting into?

i.e. one hell of an expensive hobby which needs a lot of time & devotion!

It was rated best buy on Which? in their digital SLR report on 14 May, so it's a good choice

And that means the OP will automatically get better value out of such a camera than that of a P&S? I suggest you check out Dpreview and check the example pics compared to some other high end 'normal' camera's...

It is a good choice if you are serious about photography.

OP If you want to learn, or already know all the finer points of photography (that means learning about ISO Dof Apature Shutter speed composition modes other than 'auto' or 'program' etc etc) first I will apologise for my condescending attitude, I didn't mean it if that is how I came across.
I really would suggest Canons 400d which is the replacement to the 350d http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-1666.aspx The only reason I say this is because I myself find the autofocus very fustrating on the 350d. Apart from that and the fact the kit (only "3x optical zoom") lens is a bit poor it is an amazing camera with a bit of post processing of pictures!
Oh, to get an 'ok' lens I had to pay £230 for something that gives me 4x equivelent optical zoom. Nice lens but even this is considered a cheap alternative!
To cover the zoom range of many 'prosumers' I will probably have to pay £500 or more on 'ok' lens's alone! If I want good quality lens's to produce nice Dof (really one of the biggest advantages of DSLR)* I will have to spend £$$$$$$$

Hope I have helped in some way?

*edit just wanted to emphasize there are obviously other advantages but I felt this was an important one! others are speed (although becoming less so these days) and low light quality (maybe biggest advantage)....

marklar_2

Check; https://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

Enterprise_1701C

If you don't manage to get one (and from experience I know you have worked out that you want that one and nothing elses will do!) I can recommend the Nikon D40 - I've never had so much fun taking pictures as I have since I have had mine!

Monkhouse

New offer strating today from Nikon - buy a D40 or D40x and get £60 cash back.... just ordered mine today, what great timing! :cool:

http://www.europe-nikon.com/promotions/

ollyk

Monkhouse wrote: »

New offer strating today from Nikon - buy a D40 or D40x and get £60 cash back.... just ordered mine today, what great timing! :cool:

http://www.europe-nikon.com/promotions/

was just about to post this offer! Please OP handle the camera's before you buy I went for a Nikon D50 came out with a Canon 350 although price played a big part at the time I was very suprised with the Canon!

Anyway look at the D40x especially at this price!

Enterprise_1701C

ollyk wrote: »

was just about to post this offer! Please OP handle the camera's before you buy I went for a Nikon D50 came out with a Canon 350 although price played a big part at the time I was very suprised with the Canon!

Anyway look at the D40x especially at this price!

I second this - could not decide between Canon and Nikon, went into Jessops and tried them out and the Nikon turned out to fit my hand perfectly (you'll see what I mean if you try them!). There are often fantastic offers on them - using codes on here and taking advantage of Currys mega deals I got the twin lens set for £377! I bet there's someone on here that can beat me though!!! I intentionally avoided the D40x because it would naturally require more storage space on the card, and I really do not think I want to blow pictures up to a massive size!