DSLR Camera

[PCH (Paul)]

Hello All,

lots of people on the forum use DSLRs. The Canon brand seems very popular, and of the Canon models I've seen mentioned, there have been the 300D, 350D and 400D, though only the 400D seems to be currently listed on the Canon website.

Is any one of these better than the others for general and astronomy usage?

Cheers,

[h0ughy (David)]

do a search on each on the site and see what you dig up, personally I think the 350D is the better pick of the bunch.

[iceman (Mike)]

There's been a few discussions of 300D vs 350D vs 400D.

The 400D is the only one listed on Canon's website because it's the newest model. It superceded the 350D which superceded the 300D.

If you're on a budget, the 300D will still be a good performer and you can pick them up quite cheap second hand. The 400D is the most expensive, obviously, because it's the current model and is near new. It's also 10 mp as opposed to 8mp for the 350D and 6mp (I think) for the 300D.

There's been great images posted by owners of each of those cameras, so I don't really think one is significantly better than the other.

Personally if I was starting, I'd get the 400D. I want more megapixels!

[Ingo]

The 400D wasn't any improvement from the 350D besides 2 more megapixels and a bigger screen which only eats more of Canon's really bad batteries. Go for a 350D, nobody complains about it and it doesn't have all the extra junk the 400D has like the dust removal, which doesn't work.

Or the 300D has a firmware hack to enable ISO3200.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Ingo

The 400D wasn't any improvement from the 350D besides 2 more megapixels and a bigger screen which only eats more of Canon's really bad batteries. Go for a 350D, nobody complains about it and it doesn't have all the extra junk the 400D has like the dust removal, which doesn't work.
Or the 300D has a firmware hack to enable ISO3200.

Wow, is this from direct experience Ingo or from what you've read on the net?

[PCH (Paul)]

Thanks for the thoughts guys - I decided to go fot the 400D as it's current model, and I can use it for astro and non astro shots.

Cheers

[space oddity]

You do realize, that as soon as you put your money down, the new camera will be supersceded - a couple of extra megapixels... Damn shame that Pentax have totally missed the boat on digital, I'd love to be able to use my juicy wide angle glass on a full frame DSLR. Please wake me up when there is a K mount compatible 20MP full frame DSLR with the new Kodak extra sensitive chip (no noise problems please.)

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Never had a problem with my 400D, does great for Astropics as well as normal photography, turn the Display off during the night as its like using any other DSLR, only issue I have is the bright green light on top which can be fixed with the right modeling paint I have only ever once ran out batteries and that was before I bought a new one. If that concerns you, buy an AC adapter. As for dust removal, I have seen dust bunnies disappear from my images a couple of times now after a quick power down and power up. The 350D and 400D are great cameras for Astrophotography, whichever one you decide on will give you loads of fun.

BTW once you start in Astrophotography it will send you broke You will always want something more, I know, I am still sending myself broke LOL....

Good luck with your decision.

[centauri]

I have the old 300d and it I wouldn't part with it.
Firmware hack gives a lot of extra functions the others don't have (i think) eg mirror lockup,ISO3200, curtain sync.
Also plenty of details on the web to mod for astro work.
It's a wee ripper.