Yet another satisfied customer

I will not try to go into technical details. The other reviews say it all.
Its light,Quick and well made. Does the job with wonderful results. The price was good and delivery excellent. My wife nagged me not to open it till xmas.Xmas day seemed to take forever. Finally it arrived and nearly cut myself in the rush to get at it. I was very happy with it and spent the entire morning trying it out.
The manual covers every thing but I found it a little confusing. Have sent for a book on it, also from Amazon. Why? Well given Amazons service to the many things I have bought from them it's my most used supplier. Go on, you won't regret it.

Creaking lens

Unfortunately, the lens reveals how the camera can be sold so cheaply. The made in China lens Lens kit on the A200 creaks when rotating the zoom. I returned the camera thinking this was a fault. But the second camera does the same. Not what I would expect of precision made equipment, come on Sony.

Second hand when bought new

I just bought a new Canon EOS 450D as a Christmas present from Amazon online. The camera was supplied by Amazon EU S.a.r.L. I was sent what was very clearly a used camera. The box was clearly opened, not packed properly and what should have been a new camera had finger prints on the lens and view finder of the camera. Very very disappointed.

To Amazon's credit I was given the opportunity to retun the camera and now just hope I get a full refund. Any one had a similar experience. ?

Great entry level DSLR

Recently bought this digital SLR (with the VR lens kit) and I'm very impressed so far. This is my first dSLR purchase but I don't think I was prepared for just how great the jump in quality would be from a compact.

Out of the box it's pretty much ready to go, and I was taking pictures about five minutes after the battery was done charging. The camera does come with the obligatory 300page manual for when you get round to needing to know about f-stop and aperture timings and all that but the quickstart guide is enough to get you up and running.

So far I've been shooting inside and outside and the picture quality thus far has been, to my untrained eye, exemplary. Although the auto-flash seems a little oversensitive it's just a flick of a lever to turn it off.

The camera comes with it's own picture exporting and viewing programmes although the installation to my PC seemed a little buggy so I'm taking them off manually with Windows Explorer and it's fine.

The only two things to bear in mind before you buy is that, firstly, unlike compacts (or even your phone) at this price range you shouldn't expect to be able to arange a shot via the screen, so you'll be using the viewfinder. Secondly, the Nikon D60, like it's predecessor does not have an internal auto-focus motor, so you're dependent upon the lens having one - this is a standard feature on pretty much EVERY compatable lens that the entry-level amateur will be looking at (if indeed you upgrade at all)but bear in mind that if you're looking to dig out an old Nikon or Sigma from your standard SLR you might be on manual focus.

All round a great camera - really happy with it and would definitely buy again knowing what I know now.

Nice Camera

I purchased this as a novice but have learned a lot reading through the in depth manual. I find this camera very capable and easy to use in comparison to the d100 and d80 cameras they have at work!! very nice.

Nice but sent two back

I've been using the 400d for two years & thought it was time for a upgrade but I was very disappointed.
The first was sent back because it showed a blue Hot Pixel on the image & the second suffered the reported focus problem which many have posted about on various forums. It focused OK about 60% of the time using the Canon kit lens but badly missed focused when using a Sigma 70-300mm APO which works fine with my 400d & looking at the exact same shots using a tripod I compared my 400d against the 450d & my copy was not focusing as well as the 400 & it over exposed in many shots when the 400d didn't.

Not happy with it so sent it back for a refund which is a shame because the 400d is brilliant.

Better than the Cannon 450D

Ive just started A level photography and decided to buy a good camera.
Stright away I thought of Cannon as they have a good reputation. I brought the Cannon 450D.

After about 5 days it was just not what I was looking for, the live view wasent amazing and the standard lens was not good enough for the price I paid.

I decided to go for the Sony a350. WOW what a differance, the live view was fantastic. The standard lens was great and the 14MP made alot of differance when zoomed in.
Im very satisfied with this product, friends and teacher think its great..

I advice people to buy this product due to the simplicity of it and how it works.

Hope this helped you choose between the two.

Pro quality product - skgr

Having delayed moving to a DSLR for a number of years, I feel the market has now stabalised in the way of features, and prices have come down considerably.
I started looking at the 350D then the 400D and then the 450D, but luckily decided to opt for the 40D, especially as the additional price over the 450D seemed justified for the extra build. To be honest the features of the 450D are not that far behind the 40D, although what you are paying for is mainly the build quality - die cast aluminum and stainless steel body, etc.
Similar to the 450D the 40D includes a 'live view' function, which you may feel is essential if you are used to a compact, although in reality you are unlikely to use very often.
The lens is very good and another reason why I opted for the 40D over the 400D or 450D, although I believe the lens on the 450D is superior to that of the 400D.
You get a 17 - 85mm, which in old SLR terminology relates to 28 - 135mm. It is very quiet in operation, being a USM lens, and also includes IS (Image Stabilisation) which does reduce the effects of camera shake, especially in low light conditions, by up to 4 stops.
The stabilisation is actually in the lens which may seem odd compared to other lens/camera manufacturers, although it does mean that the image you see through the viewfinder has been stabilised as opposed to other systems which only appear stabilised after you have taken the photo.
Camera is intuitive and easy to use in fully auto mode, until you become familiar with all the manual features. This is a large camera, especially suitable for those with larger clumsy hands!
I have no regrets whatsoever and would recommend to anyone who is above the amateur, or at least thinks they are, who wishes to pay that extra to own a higher quality 'fully loaded' product.
Don't be put off by 10+ mpg image; this is sufficient for images up to at least A3 if not even A2. Last point - I have purchased the Sandisk 4GB Extreme III card which I believe is an excellent choice having researched just about every other card out there. Really no need to go above 4GB as this is sufficient for 999+ jpg at the highest quality. Unlike compacts there is no facility for recording mpeg video so no need for big cards.
For those tempted, don't delay your purchase - you will not be dissapointed.

Which accessories are in the box?

Accessories included are a Wide strap EW-100DBIII, Battery charger LC-E5E, Battery pack LP-E5, Interface cable IFC-200U, Video cable VC-100 and Software (CD-ROM).

Perfect for the transition from compact camera to digital SLR

Have had the D60+VR lens for a couple of days now and am thoroughly impressed. I did a lot of research online before buying and finally went for a Nikon after using a friend's D300 at a wedding. The controls are intuitive, the image quality and vibration reduction features excellent. The display at the back really helps the newcomer to dSLRs understand the implications and relationships between shutter speed and aperture, white balance etc and there is a handy help function which gives basic explanations, making dSLR photography highly intuitive and the learning curve very steep but easy. I bought the camera with a Transcend 16gb class 6 card from Amazon and the write speed is more than adequate. Highly recommended.

Amazing camera

I bought this camera about a year ago and its still amazing. It is perfect for me as im doing a photography degree and gives me all the control i need, but its not over complicated. My friend recently bought a D200 an he's very happy with it but feels its just an over complicated D80. So if you are trying to decide between the two, i would suggest the D80.

Also the 18-135mm lens is definatly worth going for!

excellent but beware of cashback

This is a wonderful camera. I upgraded from a prosumer model ( panasonic fx20 ) and it still took me a little while to get used to all the functions.
I would highly recommend it. It is a vast improvement over what I am used to.

Better versatility eg iso performance
Frames per second
Viewfinder does not freeze up when you take a picture
Powerful in built flash
Better automatic white balance
Quality of picture

One word of warning is the canon cashback, it took almost three months to arrive.

The Five Star All-Rounder

I upgraded to this camera from a Canon Eos 40D because I really wanted the Full Frame capability that is only achievable with film cameras or FF sensors. I should mention as an aside that the 40D is a fantastic camera and really impressed me in every department.

The D700 is a big step up in price but having now owned it for six months, the price for Full Frame is worth it for me.

The D700 is in a class of three; the choices for the non-millionaires are the Sony A900, the Canon 5D Mk II or the Nikon D700 (although they are all still too expensive).

The good news is that there is not a turkey among them; the image quality is fantastic with all three (I only quote from the ludicrous number of reviews I have sadly read).

My choice was ultimately driven by the way in which I use my camera rather than the spec sheets, as the three cameras all point at a different type of photographer. This camera would better suit the intermediate or advanced photographer, as there are lot of menus to learn and much room to configure or hang yourself. On the other hand, the progamme mode does make the decisions for you, although even then you can change the settings.

I mainly use the camera for shooting (in order of importance for me):
my kids running around (speed), portraits (IQ), plays (low light) (speed), rugby, football matches (speed) and lastly landscapes (detail).
I wanted a camera that was fast, had great image quality, worked really well in low light and was FF. On all those counts the Nikon is probably the best package. The Sony and Canon can resolve more detail for landscapes or architecture and can be blown up larger, they probably have the edge in studio / stock photography work.

The Nikon produces skin tones beautifully and is the best performer in low light, although the Canon comes very close (again from my reading, I don't own one).

It is worth mentioning the low light ability of this camera and by that, I mean the ability to shoot at higher ISO than anything else around, yet produce excellent images. You can be shooting handheld, in virtual darkness and produce quality images. Living in the UK, this was really important to me (we specialise in cloud) and the camera is truly outstanding in this respect. Even when there is noise, it is grainy and film like; ultimately it is usable rather than unusable. Less pixels than the competition = larger pixels; this translates into an ability to pick up more light.

The Nikon is much better thought out than my 40D - it is more comfortable to hold, it is easier to change the settings on the fly (you tend to spin dials on the camera rather than having to delve into sub-sub menus), it is more ruggedly constructed and more configurable but on the other hand only has half the resolution of the Sony or 5D MkII. However, it blows up to 50cm by 70cm without pixelation (that's as far as I have got) and beyond that it's academic for me, as I don't have a house big enough to cope with larger prints. For some the ability to resolve the finest detail in landscapes may be more pertinent.
You do need to fiddle a little more with the in camera settings to get the sharpness, contrast etc that you want for your shot but the camera is so configurable that you can really control your output.

The autofocus is excellent on the Nikon (superior to the competition) and I have the grip which gives me 8fps when needed (it did mean buying another memory card as they don't last long on machine gun mode).
The quality of the images I have produced from plays, landscapes and action is really high - note the quality of the images is high, not necessarily the photographer (some of my landscapes in low light are on Flickr, type - Sun Setting Over Woodingdean into Google).

In terms of lenses, the spending does not stop with the camera. Full frame cameras need good glass, as they are devils for showing up the flaws in anything less. I bought the Nikor 50mm f/1.4D - the quality is in a different league and worth the bit extra - I paid about £200. For a zoom I chose the Nikor 80-200mm f/2.8 D, this set me back about £600 but you could probably shave a bit off that price. This zoom is again pro-quality but you could pay significantly more without improving image quality. I also tried a manual 20mm film lens second hand and was not disappointed with the results.

I only ramble on about lenses because a kit lens really does not cut it with this camera and you will be disappointed if you spend mega bucks on the D700 and then go low-calorie on the glass.

I am really happy with the D700, mainly because it suits the type of shooting that I generally do and is a great all-rounder.

Superb starter digital SLR package

I decided to get back into photography with an SLR, and did quite a lot of research. This lead me to buy this camera and lens (as well as a 70-300 zoom). This camera is a superb entry level camera, with preset picture style types such as portrait, landscape, sports etc. and a fully auto setting, so as easy to use as a point and shoot. For the more professional photographers amongst you, there are the manual setting options where you can adjust the ISO, aperture etc. and a fully manual option. The basic 18-55 lens will be fine when you are getting used to the camera, however the lenses will be the first thing you upgrade if you fall in love with photography! I recommend the USM IS range of lenses as reasonable priced good quality upgrades.

Best camera Ever!!

I guess not ever, but for a big 'compact' camera, it's great. The images are great quality, the night shots are especially good. However, make sure you have the camera on a tripod or a solid surface or they tend to blur but I guess thats just photography.
It's not too heavy which is good and the size means you can still slip it into your bag. It's a great camera for those who are just getting into photography or if you're like me, a poor student.

Love it!

Stunning! Stunning! Stunning!

...what else can I say?? - Canon does it again!! - I am a working professional photographer and have purchased this as a backup to my EOS 1DS Mk3 and all I can say is that it is the perfect combination. At 21 megapixels and stunning HD video performance, plus the DIGIC 4 processor, this camera just stands out from the rest of the competition. I watch all the others (Nikon, Hasselblad etc.,) shaking in their shoes and trying furiously to justify the ridiculous price tags they put on their puny competition, but in the REAL world, these cameras are portable, versatile and produce incredible imagery in conjunction with the right operators and software. Canon leads the world in this technology and proves it once again with this gem of a camera.

I couldn't be more pleased...

I've had three months of intensive use of the D300 before writing this review. Straight out of the box I thought it was wonderful, but would I still feel the same way after I'd used it for a range of photographic subjects and conditions?

The answer is a resounding YES. Everything about this camera is perfect - from the bright view, the ease of changing the lenses, the simplicity of the controls, the feel of the camera in the hands - just perfect. The images I've taken have been universally excellent, whether macro photographs of natural subjects, fish-eye landscapes or portrait shots, there's nothing an enthusiastic amateur can't achieve.

When it comes to accessories, the D300 also doesn't disappoint, with the range and quality of everything I've bought for it being outstanding.

The quality of any photograph is the combination of camera, subject and photographer. With the D300, one of those is perfection - the other two are up to you.

Crazy Fisheye Views

Brought this from a site in America called 42nd street photo i beleive, great service and very fast delivery which was appriciated in this christmas period.

Lens fits camara perfectlty with the adapter rings (i have a 58mm fitting) and does everything it should do, great images and awesome views. Perfect for when i go climbing!