Indecisive newbie can't decide on glass to start his collection.

[ham]

Haha, it won't mean missing a rent payment, but it might mean waiting for ANOTHER month's wages before I can splash out (time goes incredibly slowly when you're waiting to buy a new toy!). It also might mean holding back on accessories like lens hoods, spare batteries (may not be an issue) a bag (borrowing my Dad's slingshot would be fine) and will definitely mean waiting a bit longer before I use anything better than the kit lens with it (I don't think I'll want to use either of my Dad's if I get the newer kit lens with whichever camera I buy).


Most of my photography is opportunistic so far, I've not been out somewhere specifically to take photos, but I do notice myself viewing the world differently and wishing I had the thing with me at least once a day, and when I do spend time taking photos, I can't put it down.


A lot of the features on the 60D are more than I need at the moment, but the question is will I get hooked and want/need them in the future? And if I do, will whichever camera I have by then need upgrading anyway? The only features that really stand out as being useful at the moment are the pentaprism viewfinder and the build quality of the thing. But then will the extra size hinder me when out and about? Will I be less tempted (and will the GF be more persuasve for me not) to take it out if it's a bit bigger and heavier?


I think the future upgrade point is probably the biggest one at the moment. I'll be more than happy with the 600D for a while, it's more than a good enough camera for what I'm using it for at the moment, and if the time comes when I want to upgrade, I'll have a set of lenses already, and either a very capable but smaller second camera, or an asset to either p/x or sell second hand.


Speaking of removing the quick-option buttons from the 4-way control, are the ones from the "zoom" buttons removed too? I'm forever finding myself trying to zoom in on a preview and accidentally changing the focus point setup. That might be worth £200 on it's own!





Thanks for your help chaps, I'll be sure to stick about on here and <span style="text-decoration: line-through;"]pester you with more questions share my pictures in the future [Y]





Oh, can someone explain the advantage of cross-type focus points over the standard ones please?

[neuroanatomist]

A lot of the features on the 60D are more than I need at the moment, but the question is will I get hooked and want/need them in the future? And if I do, will whichever camera I have by then need upgrading anyway?

Possibly. Depends on how 'hooked' you get. Personally, I started out with a 500D/T1i...and in a few months switched to a 7D (and subsequently added a 5DII). But the xxxD cameras are quite capable, and IMO you're better off spending money on lenses, unless a body has a feature you definitely require (e.g. better AF and faster frame rate for sports/action, etc.).

can someone explain the advantage of cross-type focus points over the standard ones please?

All AF points detect contrast with a line-type sensor. Cross-type points (the center point on the 550D/600D and all points on the 60D) are sensitive to both vertical and horizontal lines, linear AF points (off center points on the 550D/600D) are sensitive to lines/contrast on only one orientation. The translation is that a cross-type point can lock onto more images features than a line-type point, so is better able to achieve a focus lock.

[ham]

Gah. I still haven

[qwRad]

I wouldn

[ham]

Erm... thank-you qwRad, I've managed to find the 600D + 15-85mm for just over &pound;1,000 at digitalrev.com


It's almost impossible to search for it, searching for "600D" or "15-85mm" finds very few results, so no idea how I've found it, but I've bookmarked it!


The only thing is, all their prices seem to be a good &pound;50-100 cheaper than Amazon, which not only seems just a little too good to be true, but also means the two together only works out as a &pound;25 saving compared to buying them seperately. Do DigitalRev have a decent reputation?


If this is a temporary deal or something it'll convince me to buy the two together.

[qwRad]

Don't know about them, haven't bought anything from there. I live in Finland and over here everything camera related is pretty expensive compared to rest of the Europe/World. I have ordered some lenses from www.fotemia.de and www.cameranu.nl and they were very good both regarding price and shipping. I have found www.geizhals.eu to be a good site for price comparisons in EU.


For &pound;25 the saving is much less than I would have imagined, maybe the 15-85mm price bought alone has dropped significantly from the last time I checked. It's a good lens nevertheless, perfect focal length for an all-around lens, excellent IS and good image quality for my 7D but I eventually ended up selling it since I wanted something that is weather sealed and/or a little faster and also hope to buy a used 5D2 as a second/first body as soon as I get the cash together. I also tested the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS briefly in a shop on my 7D and frankly I wasn't very impressed with it compared to my 17-40L and 70-200 f/4.0 L IS but that might be because of the demo lens in question and also I would have to shoot with one for at least a day to get a real sense of the performance.


As a side note I have an Asus Transformer android tablet on order from www.simplyelectronics.net (ordered on 26th of june) but that is a more debated shop, they usually quote "1-2 day" shipping times but it can take as long as 3-4 weeks to get your order. Some also complain that it takes forever for a refund if you need one. Their prices are really "too good to be true" though. The consensus on the forums is that they import grey market products from Hong Kong and sell them from their UK based warehouse so EU buyers won't have to pay taxes. On some Finnish forums people have had both positive and negative comments about the shop and I decided to take a risk since I wasn't in a real hurry to get the tablet. Paid with a credit card so there's no real risk of losing my money if the product doesn't arrive. I will let you know in my "Best tablet for a photographer thread" when/if I eventually get it.

[Dr Croubie]

damn, i replied to this a few hours ago and didn