Jun 19, 2006 01:11 PM
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I have been shooting for what would now seem - most of my life. Introduced to the art early in life and an SLR as long back as '84, I have not really owned too many different models through my life with film photography. Started with a Nikon FE gifted by my dad. Stayed with it and the Kodak films till 2004. In the meantime, digital photography was creeping into the country and my attention, through various sleek and some un-cameralike models with my friends. It was only a matter of time before I saw the practicality of the whole thing (no more waiting for prints at the neighbourhood Kodak Express!) and wanted one. My first digicam was a Canon Powershot S1IS. This review is not about that.
The camera
I generally do tonnes of research (online reviews, user reviews etc.) before I dump money on anything that costs more than t-shirt does today. And amazingly, the entire world wide web was singing hallelujahs for this breakthrough model from Canon that took on the mighty D70 from arch rival Nikon, and beat it hollow.
Following a trail of dealers across the world, I zeroed down on JJ Mehta in Bombay, who were marginally more costly for the model, but (a) had an Indian warranty and (b) offered interesting packages on optional extra lenses. Moreover, I could touch and try before I parted with the cash.
The camera itself is a bit of an anticlimax when you hold it for the first time after pouring over all its features on the net for so long. Its lighter than you thought. Smaller than you imagined and ummm...less sophisticated to the touch than you would have liked. The plastic body is a little hard, minus texture and feels just that much plain. This despite being warned about all of this in ALL reviews you read on the net. On immediate comparison, the D70 felt heftier and more business-like. I still chose the Canon. Here's why:
CMOS sensor against CCD. They are more power efficient reportedly.
8.1 mpix against 6 of the Nikons (D50 included).
Faster start-up time. Really useful if you need to capture shots on the move.
Better battery life. Important when batteries cost as much as they do.
Lighter weight. Have you had a camera swinging on your neck while on a 8 hours hike?
Smaller size. Have you had a camera swinging from your neck on a 8 hour hike?
The Net said 350D was better than D70.
At a shade over 65,000, the package came with the basic EOS kit (body + 18-55 EFS lens + software + wires + battery + some free lens wipes etc) and a 18-210 Tamron zoom/macro lens. The latter had a fair deal of support from the international community as a versatile do-all lens. Not exceptional, but good to have for its range and quality.
Oh, and I bought the body in black, since it looks way cooler and less touristy.
The experience, so far
Obviously, paying attention to user-reviews pay off. The 350D has been nothing short of what people were saying all this time. The images are clear with loads of colour definition. The standard lens does appear to be a little 'soft' at times, but nothing a bit of photoshop cant take care of. The Tamron is a great lens too, when you are shooting with high enough shutter speed to take care of camera shake from such a heavy lens. A tripod is recommended for this lens. The strange thing is, the camera body itself being so light, any larger than normal lens will tend to offset the balance of the equipment as you hold it. Nothing wrong, but I find it a little distracting.
The levels of control you get with this camera on your subject is just too good. Right down from the basic auto features which select camera settings for various conditions - motion, portrait, low light, backlight etc etc, to manual overrides on shutter speed, apperture priority, fully manual settings. Most of the features are to be found in one or the other pro-sumer dSLR today. But what makes this stand out is being present all in a great little package. The screen at the back, is small, and unlike the D70, does not come with its own scratch protector. You have to buy one of those anti-scratch films from the market and fix it on to achieve this. Works. The screen itself is quite sharp and accurate. You should know that a dSLR screen cannot be used for pre-viewing a shot before actually shooting. That is, you still frame a shot through the view-finder and not with the camera hovering close to your chest. Screen's for review only and for navigating through various menu options. Also, a dSLR does not shoot movies or sound clips. For those seeking a combination of the above, stick to a good compact digicam.
Actually, in the short span between the time I bought the EOS, and now, the market has flooded with better and better compact digicams. Some of them would even have you believe they are dSLRs by the way they look. And frankly, I would be very foxed for an answer today if somebody were to ask me why not a top-end compact digicam instead of a dSLR. After all, most functions of a good dSLR are there and more in any of those top of the line compacts. The war is truly on now. And the dSLRs (at least the entry-level ones) have been caught up. Its now between the 1 lac plus dSLR's and the prosumer digicams, which have a sharp difference.
But, I'll tell you what - for the kind of pictures you get to take, for the kind of ruggedness that comes through and simply for the kind of admiring looks you get with an SLR round your neck, its worth it! And if you're in the market for an entry level dSLR, it doesn't get better than the EOS 350D today.
If you want, check out some of the results from my 350D through this link https://flickr.com/photos/19714681@N00/
Happy shooting.
