#1  
Old 24-11-2006, 09:02 PM
andrew's Avatar
andrew
Registered User

andrew is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 95
Buying a new camera..

Hi guys, I'm currently in the process of buying myself a new camera, sort of as a present for finishing my VCE studies this year I would want to use the new camera in main for astrophotography. I've had the Canon Powershot A75 for a number of years now and it has served me exceptionally well, but I now wish to step up.

Through being a keen reader around these forums, I can see the Canon 350D is very popular. However, I went into the city the other day and went to four stores...Michael's, Camera house, some Kodak shop and JB. None of them sold the 350D because they said it was discontinued and they all immediately attempted to sell me the new Canon 400D...which is just outside my price range...

I'm looking for a camera that has the bulb setting for exposures, but can somebody fully explain to me how the bulb feature works? Can you take an all night exposure using the bulb feature?

At camera house, the guy also recommended the Olympus E-500 and Nikon K-100 as good value for money, but I wish to continue with the Canon's after the success with the A75..

Is there anywhere I can buy the 350D (not using green guide ) or should I go with the E-500 or K-100...or pay the extra $$$ for a 400D?

Any help is much appreciated
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 24-11-2006, 09:23 PM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

Dennis is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 11,704
Hi Andrew

In the old days of 35mm cameras, a bulb was literally used to remotely fire camera shutters. It was like a bladder than when squeezed, triggered the shutter mechanism with a pulse of air.

In today’s terms, you usually attach an electrical remote release to a camera, which allows you to hold the shutter open for as long as you press and hold/lock the button on the remote release. A remote release is a small battery operated hand unit (with a switch/button) with a cable that plugs into the camera.

When you start exposing a digital ccd camera for longer than say 3 or 4 seconds, you begin to see thermal noise building up in the image. So, you have the actual photons that you want to record from the image you are taking, plus the (unwanted) heat generated noise in the chip and associated circuitry, arising from the long exposure.

You can “remove” this noise by taking and subtracting a second exposure, at the same temperature and duration but with the lens cap on. You are thus effectively taking an image of the chip’s thermal noise (or dark current) as there is no light coming through the lens cap. Most cameras do this automatically, in-camera. I think that most modern DSLRs have a top manual exposure of 30 seconds. If you want to go longer, you switch to the “Bulb” setting and then you can hold the shutter open for as long as you want, or until the batteries run out, or until the thermal sensor kicks in to shut the system down.

Using the bulb setting, most imagers would take several exposures of between 3 and 10 mins then stack these together. So, if you capture 6 x 5 minute exposures, it is almost equivalent of a single 30 minute exposure.

Cheers

Dennis
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 24-11-2006, 11:47 PM
Suzy_A's Avatar
Suzy_A
Registered User

Suzy_A is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Fremantle
Posts: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
In the old days of 35mm cameras, a bulb was literally used to remotely fire camera shutters. It was like a bladder than when squeezed, triggered the shutter mechanism with a pulse of air.
Hi All,

I thought that the 'Bulb' setting was originally for flash bulbs. In the daze before flash synch, you would open the shutter, manually fire the flash, then close the shutter. Hence the 'B' setting was for the flash 'Bulb', not the shutter 'bulb' - the shutter 'bulb' being used for all exposures to open the shutter, whatever the shutter speed.

Anyway, what camera....

If you can afford it, maybe a 400. But then on the other hand, now that the 400 is out, the 350s are starting to appear on the second hand market. Even cheaper are second hand 300s.

I just had a look on the WA Quokka website (I'm in WA) and there is...

DIGITAL CAMERA Canon EOS SLR, 300D, with Canon 18/55mm lens, with all access cords & cables & Canon RS 60-E3 remote $600, lens.

Canon EOS 300 SLR Camera - comes with a case and a brand new sealed battery. Has ben used only once - Brand new For $400 only.

Canon EOS 350d Digital SLR. 8 mega pixel. 18-55mm f3.5 Zoom Lens, and 75-300MM f4 zoom lens. Both from Canon EF range.512mb Legend memory card. Extra New battery. Everything is in perfect working order, no dust scratches or marks in any lens. Everything like new, and boxed. Selling as upgrading. $1250.

Hey, here's someone that knows what they are on about...

CAMERA Prof, Canon EOS 500, very strong lens, 20-80, auto/manual, very new, c/w prof case $250.

I better phone them up and get the 'very strong lens'! Might be good for propping up my car when the tyres are being changed or something like that. And what's more, it's 'very new'!

Anyway - I'm sure if you look around you will find a good, s/h 350 for a bargain wherever you are. The thing is that these daze, digital cameras become obsolete very quickly (or maybe out of fashion?) and their s/h price is much less than their new price.


Comparing a 8.2 MP 350 and a 10.1MP 400, the actual difference in image quality is not really that much - 23%. So if you are on a tight budget, I suggest the 350.

Or here we go... http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=15177


Hope you have fun!

Susan
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 24-11-2006, 11:55 PM
[1ponders]'s Avatar
[1ponders] (Paul)
Retired, damn no pension

[1ponders] is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Obi Obi, Qld
Posts: 18,778
And the EOS 500 is a film camera to boot Not a bad little camera actually if you are into film.

Last edited by [1ponders]; 25-11-2006 at 09:06 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 25-11-2006, 09:06 AM
[1ponders]'s Avatar
[1ponders] (Paul)
Retired, damn no pension

[1ponders] is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Obi Obi, Qld
Posts: 18,778
I'm with Dennis on the definition of bulb.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 25-11-2006, 01:05 PM
andrew's Avatar
andrew
Registered User

andrew is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 95
Thanks for defining the Bulb setting, seems a lot clearer now I've been hunting around, and I have found one place to purchase a 350D, but it's so close to the price of a 400D that it simply doesn't make sense to go with the 350D. I think I've found a good deal, although quite expensive for my liking:

Canon 400D Twin Lens: 18-55 lens & 75-300 zoom lens for $1439 and I'll make them throw in a 1GB CF card also if possible.

Does that sound like a reasonable deal?

EDIT: Just saw they also have Canon350D with 18-55 lens kit for $995...I'm confused..
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 25-11-2006, 04:18 PM
Suzy_A's Avatar
Suzy_A
Registered User

Suzy_A is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Fremantle
Posts: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by [1ponders]
I'm with Dennis on the definition of bulb.
I just did a search on the Internet and both definitions are around... 'B' for Air Bulb and 'B' for Flash Bulb setting.

There is also 'T' for Time setting.

Assuming that the post about Harvey Norman having the 350 for $995 is correct, you can get one even cheaper... The Fat Guyz advertise "If you find a lower advertised price we will refund 120% of the difference." As their price is about $1200, that means that you could get a $240 refund which takes it down to about $960 or so.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 27-11-2006, 04:36 PM
Omaroo's Avatar
Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)
Let there be night...

Omaroo is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hobart, TAS
Posts: 7,639
LOL! Does someone on here work for, or own Canon shares or something? I'm still trying to get my head around its popularity as a brand. I've been a Nikon guy for 25 years plus, so I'm curious why Canon is so popular. I'm not attempting to be a smartass, but am genuinely interested in the subject. No one would ever get me off my current film Nikons (3 bodies and too much of an investment in lenses and ancilliary equipment to move), but might have to one day if Nikon isn't catering to astrophotography needs. Why are the Canon series so popular? Is there some performance edge, or is it just down to price?

Last edited by Omaroo; 27-11-2006 at 04:54 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 27-11-2006, 04:57 PM
andrew's Avatar
andrew
Registered User

andrew is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 95
Well..I bargained a bit, and in the end I went for a Canon 400D twin lens pack with a 1GB memory card, all up for $1500, so I'm reasonably happy with that price.

Thanks for all your help and explanations

EDIT: Just took this image of my dog with the new camera

Last edited by andrew; 27-11-2006 at 07:10 PM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 09:16 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement