Monday 7 February 2011

Time for a change

After 4 years of loyal service I have decided to upgrade from my Canon 400D.  I don't want to sound like a workman blaming his tools but I have reached the stage were I need something new, something more up to date, something bigger, better, etc, etc.
After all, 4 years is a very long lifetime for a piece of technology.  In fact, as with all gadgets I remember purchasing my 400D and then seeing the adverts for the 450D within days of placing the order.

Well the same thing has happened again.  My new 60D arrived the other day and in typical fashion the 600D was announced...probably just as I pressed the "Purchase" button ! 

Not that it bothered me as I had spent a good few months reading reviews and taking time to make sure I was happy with my upgrade decision.  In fact, "happy" is an understatement.  Although I've only had the 60D for a few days and not had chance to get out and shoot with it, from what I have seen so far it is fantastic.

There are so many features I was lacking on the 400D and those that were there have been enhanced significantly.  The 3 big selling points for me where;

    1)  Wireless Flash control
    2)  The LCD screen
    3)  ISO performance

I'm already finding more features to add to the list and no doubt once I manage to get out and about with the camera I will find even more. 

HD Video - I didn't put this on my list of selling points because.....well, it wasn't !   not for me anyway.    So this is where I contradict myself.  I'm an amateur photographer and as such don't really take much video footage (even though I own a camcorder).  I'm much more comfortable taking stills rather than video.  That said, I do spend a lot of time watching HD video footage taken by other people, particularly of MTB and BMX riders.  I have been amazed by the overall quality of the movies that are out there and certainly prefer to watch than to create.   

So, to the contradiction.....having played with the HD functionality I can safely say that I am hooked.  I've shot about 2 minutes of footage around the house and I love it already.

When I started looking at replacement cameras I was a bit put off by the fact that I would be paying for functionality I didn't want/need.  But given that all the models in the running had HD functionality I resigned myself to that fact.  Now I am even more pleased with my decision.

It's also worth mentioning that you should shop around for the best deals.  If you are buying online then make sure you read reviews about the websites/companies.  You may find some fantastic deals but you need to be confident that you are giving your money to a reputable business.  I found a 60D for £100 less than anywhere else....bargain.  Not so, the write-ups on the company where terrible.

Trade-in......purchasing on the High Street will give you the opportunity to trade-in your old camera.  However, I opted for ebay.  While researching replacement models I was also checking out ebay to see how much I could potentially get for my 400D.  This was a key factor in the decision making as it helped bring the cost down.  At the time of writing this my 400D has 21 watchers and just under 2 days left to go.  There is one bid but the reserve hasn't been met yet.  I'm confident I will get a decent price as I have seen over 20 of them sell for a decent price over the past couple of weeks.

Now, time to go and take some pictures...........

1 comment:

  1. nice one Keith! Now time for a new big hard drive for all that hd video

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