Cheap DSLR

[Andy]

I see that 7 Day Shop (www.7dayshop.com) are doing the Canon EOS Digital 300D for £399 or £449 with the kit lens including VAT. I guess others may be doing similar deals as the 350D replacement is out now, but it seems to be a good deal for anyone who wants a cheaper DSLR.

Andy

[marg]

There are similar deals in the States. I'd heard that the delay between shots was very long on these cameras. Anyone know how bad it is?

Also, I'm curious that only Canon is dropping prices this low. I'd have expected a price war.

[Andy]

I'd heard that the delay between shots was very long on these cameras.

I think it is about the same as the Canon 10D which is quite respectable. Richard here has got one (known as a Rebel in the USA) and John had one before he upgraded to the 20D so they may be able to say.

Canon have only dropped the price to clear old stock whereas Nikon and Olympus etc have current models which are competing with the new Canon 350D on price.

Cameras still seem to be a lot cheaper in the US.

Andy

[John]

I think it is about the same as the Canon 10D which is quite respectable. Richard here has got one (known as a Rebel in the USA) and John had one before he upgraded to the 20D so they may be able to say.

The 300D firmware is a crippled version of the 10D with options removed, and less ram for the image buffer. You can take pictures at about half second intervals until the buffer is full (about 3 shots). Writing to flash memory is not particularly fast so once the buffer is full there is a delay of several seconds whilst it is emptied. The other delay which I particularly noticed with the 300D was the time to boot whether from a cold start or from sleep. This was around 3 seconds.

Now that the 350D is out (which does not suffer from these delays) the 300D price had to fall considerably. It is now excellent value as an entry level camera.

A hands-on review of the 350D is here.

John

[marg]

Thanks, John, for the info. I'm not sure which I'll buy, but speed is pretty important to me. (Though price is more so