Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR Camera (incl. EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens Kit)
Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR Camera (incl. EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens Kit)
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £609.99Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent bundle
(5 out of 5) by Andrew J. Poulter on Dec 27, 2007 (Farnborough, England)I'm not going to review the excellent Canon EOS 400D (as there are dozens of professional reviews of the camera already on the internet) - but it really is an excellent DSLR - the best by far at it's price-point.
This bundle include the 400D body, the superb 17-85 IS USM (stabilised) lens; and (Amazon don't make this clear) the Canon battery grip.
The 17-85mm IS USM lens is generally regarded as the best general purpose lens for the 400D. I've seen the "regular" kit lens (the "cheap" 18-55mm) - and there's no comparison. It's not quite a pro lens - but for the average (serious) hobby photographer it's an excellent lens to start off with. The APS sized sensor in the 400D means that this lens has an equivalent range to a 27-136mm lens on a film SLR.
The stabilisation really does work - permitting you to hand-hold an exposure two or three stops longer than you'd expect for the length of the lens. The old rule is not to hold slower than 1/focal length. Due to the APS-sized sensor that become 1/(focal length x 1.6) for the 400D: meaning that 1/125 is about as slow as you'd want to hold when zoomed all the way to 85mm. With the IS turned on, you can hold as slow as 1/30 sec (which is pretty darned impressive) - or maybe even longer, if you've a steady hand.
The battery grip is a nice extra too. It's worth about £80 - and it enables you to either use two of the standard batteries at once (to save the need to change battery part-way through the day) - or (in "emergencies") use 6x AA batteries. These won't last you too long (especially with the power hungry IS lens) - but it's a nice extra feature. It also makes the whole camera feel a little chunkier. The 400D is fairly small - and the battery grip makes it feel a bit larger (good if you've not got small hands). It also replicates the major controls - positioning an additional shutter-release, control-wheel, etc optimally for holding the camera in a portrait orientation.
Two things not included in this kit are a CF memory card (I know they're really cheap - but not including one just seems a tad mean), or a lens-hood. This (aparently) is Canon policy (they only include hoods with their L-series lenses); but this too seems a little mean.
In summary - this is an excellent camera, included here in an excellent bundle (which is quite a bit cheaper than buying the parts separately).
This bundle include the 400D body, the superb 17-85 IS USM (stabilised) lens; and (Amazon don't make this clear) the Canon battery grip.
The 17-85mm IS USM lens is generally regarded as the best general purpose lens for the 400D. I've seen the "regular" kit lens (the "cheap" 18-55mm) - and there's no comparison. It's not quite a pro lens - but for the average (serious) hobby photographer it's an excellent lens to start off with. The APS sized sensor in the 400D means that this lens has an equivalent range to a 27-136mm lens on a film SLR.
The stabilisation really does work - permitting you to hand-hold an exposure two or three stops longer than you'd expect for the length of the lens. The old rule is not to hold slower than 1/focal length. Due to the APS-sized sensor that become 1/(focal length x 1.6) for the 400D: meaning that 1/125 is about as slow as you'd want to hold when zoomed all the way to 85mm. With the IS turned on, you can hold as slow as 1/30 sec (which is pretty darned impressive) - or maybe even longer, if you've a steady hand.
The battery grip is a nice extra too. It's worth about £80 - and it enables you to either use two of the standard batteries at once (to save the need to change battery part-way through the day) - or (in "emergencies") use 6x AA batteries. These won't last you too long (especially with the power hungry IS lens) - but it's a nice extra feature. It also makes the whole camera feel a little chunkier. The 400D is fairly small - and the battery grip makes it feel a bit larger (good if you've not got small hands). It also replicates the major controls - positioning an additional shutter-release, control-wheel, etc optimally for holding the camera in a portrait orientation.
Two things not included in this kit are a CF memory card (I know they're really cheap - but not including one just seems a tad mean), or a lens-hood. This (aparently) is Canon policy (they only include hoods with their L-series lenses); but this too seems a little mean.
In summary - this is an excellent camera, included here in an excellent bundle (which is quite a bit cheaper than buying the parts separately).