Great little snapper! (Canon EOS 3000)

Member Name: Brazed

Product:	Canon EOS 3000
Date:	15/09/05 (3798 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Value for money, ease of use, robustness

Disadvantages: Basic functions, much bigger than a compact camera

In my mind, Canon SLR's are the definition of SLR Camera's. I absolutely love this camera. I do not pretend to be a professional photographer, but do have a GCSE in photography and know a good photo when I see one. The quality of the pictures this camera takes are very good, and tied with the Sigma lens I use (28-200mm) are very crisp. As you may or may not know, SLR camera's generally get sold separately to the lenses that they use. This was the case with this camera. The camera body cost £100 from Jessops and the Canon 35-80mm lens was £40. (I substituted this lens for the Sigma lens described above).


The Camera Body

The body if the camera is a matt black colour and is very robust (ie has been dropped a couple of times!). On the top of the body sits the mode wheel, the internal flash and external flash socket, the lcd display and the all important shutter release button. There is an apeture the tripod (sold seperately) fits into on the bottom of the camera. The camera runs on two 3v lithium batteries (CR17345). These last for absolutely ages and have only been changed twice in 3 years.

Modes

The camera is one of the most basic of the Canon SLR's, so there are not too many image modes. The included modes are Action, Macro, Scenery, and portraits. Basically, these different modes alter the aperture and shutter speed to preset values, optomising the camera for the shot you want to make. If you have the guts, you can use the manual modes, with these you have to set the shutter speed and aperture manually, but this makes for great night time shots (I had to try the lines of car lights I used 3 different shutter speeds and I think it was the 1 ½ second setting that was perfect.)

Auto Focus

When used with a compatible lens, the camera automatically focuses when you press the shutter release halfway down. When the camera is focused, it gives you an audible beep to let you know you can shoot. This is a very quick action in good light. In twilight, the camera takes a bit longer to get itself sorted.

Lenses

There are hundreds of different lenses available for these cameras and most are interchangeable between modern SLR cameras. As I said, the 35-80mm lens cost about £40 and the replacement I bought (28-200mm) was £100. The 200mm is the focal length of the zoom lens, the higher the number, the better the zoom.

Conclusion

As I said, I love this camera, the picture quality is better than I need. The camera comes everywhere there might be a shot and has never let me down. I can thoroughly recommend this entry level SLR camera to anyone that wants to enter the world of photography but wants a more hands on approach than a compact camera offers.

Summary: Great little camera and recommended!

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