Canon EOS 400D > Reviews > Shoot from a real Canon

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Excellent
Range & Quality of Features	Diverse
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Overall Look & Design	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Ease of use, easy to follow instruction book, very good handling
Disadvantages:	No spot metering, a little on the heavy side, Lack of availability of accessories

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I'm new to digital photography. I've only ever dabbled with a small point and shoot cameras, but decided to get a decent camera. I don't believe in all this entry level buy to learn on, then buy another, so I went for the best I could afford; the Canon 400D. I purchased a package deal from Jessops that included a Sigma 70 - 300 mm telephoto lens as well as the standard lens (18 -55mm). I was immediately impressed by its handling. Although it's a little on the heavy side it is very well balanced which helps enormously with camerashake, and all the controls are readily available. This is a deceptive camera on the outside it appears quite basic, but it's got alot of features that you would expect from a camera in this range such as pre-sets for various situations, fully automatic through to fully manual controls, exposure and depth of field locks. All these features may seem daunting especially to the beginner like me, but the easy to understand, well laid out instruction book deals with this issue, so although this may not be classed as a starter camera officially, I have to say, as a newcomer to digital, it's as good for us newbies as it is for the professionals or more advanced user. It handles very well and picture quality is first rate. It is a bit disapointing, though, to find that it has partial metering rather than spot metering which is more accurate for portraits and macro work, and I have had some touble getting accessories for it. I waited over three months to get hold of a remote release for it. Other than that this is a camera with a punch and well worth the money.