Canon EOS 350D Digital SLR Camera (18-55mm Lens Kit)

I absolutely love taking pics, and most of my best ones have been using my iPhone 5 and ab editing app! I read every single review and feedback comment in the 48hrs before purchasing. . I settled on the 350D as firstly it was within my measly budget, secondly there were so many people saying nice things about it!Techradar were harsh and i normally read their reviews on everything im thinking of buying.The camera is obviously a second hand purchase thru amazon, hadnt ever bought second hand here before but i contacted the seller and read up about the camera and couldnt be happier!It feels lovely to hold - will need to practice finding the shoot button tho, its right there in front of me but i must be a bit kak-handed!Ive been out and taken about 250 shots this morning, using the flashnon most and the battery is still going!Im an enthusiastic beginner when it comes to digital slr cameras and im absolutely loving this.. its very straight forward, and of course has a full automatic mode which is fab!They say you always remember your 1st camera and me and this are going on a journey together..its more than capable of helping me out when i get stuck, i thought any dslr would be a nightmare to use, but i was so wrong!!All in all this is a fab camera, for more experienced photographers as well as beginners. . Obviously it will be lacking some features that new camera's have but learning with this one means that youll soon be ready for something newer.Another benefit of an older camera is the fact that it doesn't carry the huge brand new price tag!! I paid £130 for camera, 2 batteries, charger, standard zoom lens, bag and leads and books.. and that was in excellent condition. .. if i were you, stop thinking about it and go and buy one.. you wont regret it! :)

I bought one of these on special offer from Jessops - where the same money got me the kit with the superb USM lens. I also bought two spare batteries (more on which later), and used the 1GB Lexar CF card I already had.I used it extensively on a trip to Thailand & Cambodia, clearing the CF card each night onto an iPod with Camera Connector (this works very well by the way). Several thousand images later, I have formed my opinion about the camera.If you are used to compact style digital cameras, the speed will be astonishing. It's as quick as a film SLR and the action shots I got from speeding tuk-tuks (is there any other sort?!) were stunning. I found I could trust the camera to sort it out much better than I could - set to Sport mode and shoot to your heart's content. Who cares if 10% or so are rubbish? Just delete them.On the other hand I also used full manual controls for some lovely sunsets across Angkor Wat, and I also got some really nice night time traffic shots in Bangkok. Capturing street scenes was easy too.The controls are really well laid-out. The menu system is simplicity itself; I'm used to Canon digitals so that probably helps, but it really is easy. I didn't bother reading the (quite good) manual to start with and only referred to it for some specifics on exposure modes.Landscapes are superb but you may wish for a wider angle lens. The other end of the lens is more of a problem though, and this is where Canon has saved money. It's the equivalent of a 28-80mm 35mm lens and that's really not good enough any more. I was eyeing up replacement lenses - ok it's an SLR and you can change the lens but how many people actually will on the consumer-level offerings?Battery life is great. I needn't have bothered with the extras. A whole day of shooting, several hundred frames, and still going strong. I recharged each night in case but I never had to use a spare battery. It's a shame that Canon didn't opt for AAs though.It's fast, has an optically excellent lens, has given me several thousand great images, and I loved it. So why don't I have the camera any longer? Well, after the trip abroad I found I didn't use it. Instead I use an old digital Ixus. No, it hasn't got manual control. No, the speed is laughably slow by comparison. And no, the results are nowhere near as good. In the end it is laziness. I couldn't be bothered to have this great big lumpy thing hanging round my neck, when a little snappy thing like the Ixus can lurk in a pocket. So I sold the EOS.Heartily recommend the camera and it served me really, really well. Three changes I would like: AA batteries; a higher eyepoint viewfinder; and a longer lens. Whatever though, I'd happily do the same procedure again if I went on another fantastic trip!

After umming and ahhing for about a year about buying a digital SLR I finally took delivery of the EOS 350D today and I am really over the moon with this camera. Having waded through its multiple menus and buttons I can honestly say that Canon have thought of every possible feature and gizmo. If you've used an EOS SLR before then working out how to operate this is a breeze, many of the symbols and control layouts are practically the same, except that with the 350D many functions are more flexible & customisable.The build quality is obviously not as good as the old 35mm EOSs but the extra plastic in the body and lens (the 18-55mm) means this camera is far lighter and more portable on long walks.Oh, and dont worry if you hear a muffled rattle from inside the camera (I know I did!) when you tip it over, its just the hinges on the flash mechanism which move around a bit. I've checked with other 350d owners and most seem to suffer from this slight niggle which isnt a fault of any kind.Anyway, the 350d really is the bee's pyjamas - I can even use it without my glasses thanks to the dioptric adjustment on the eyepiece. Everything about this camera is smooth, slick and lightening quick - start-up, saving images to Compact Flash, even downloading RAW files onto PC takes a matter of seconds with USB 2.0. The supplied software is also excellent with everything you need to store, adjust, edit and organise images on the harddrive.My only gripe is the cost of the semi-hard case for this camera.