Some advice on my first SLR...

[TidyRach]

I have a budget of £1000, but that doesn't mean I necessarily want to spend the whole lot!

I have been looking for a long time researching what I want & what will be best for me & i've decided I want Canon & i've narrowed it down to the EOS 1000D & the EOS 600D.

I have asked some friends on their advice (who are professional photographers) & they have advised me that it is worth spending more on lens rather than the body. But then they have top of the line bodys so haven't ever purchased the kind of camera I am looking at.

I have a full time job, have no aspirations (at the moment) to become a professional photographer, just my old compact camera has packed up & I would like to replace it with something 'decent'. I want to be able to take beautiful photographs when I go on holiday, of my friends, at their weddings, of the countryside, my house & garden, pets etc. But I would like my photographs to have a professional feel to them, so that maybe someone who doesn't know anything about photography could be mislead to my camera & set up!

Basically I want something that is a massive step up from old compact, but isn't going to confuse the hell out of me, or be over-priced for what I want it for!

I have looked at the 1000D for its image stabilization function & very reasonable price, but then the 600D tempts me with its little extra features like more mega pixels & intelligent scene feature. I have been 'in to' photography from a very young age, through my family, so this isn't just a phase & a 'snap buy', i'd like to make an investment!

Any advice you could give me on which one would be worth spending my hard earn cash on would be very gratefully received! Thanks for reading... :o)

P.S - Within my £1000 budget is the need to buy accessories like bags, straps, filters, memory cards etc, which I have costed up at around an extra £100 & if possible I would love a fish eye lens at part of that budget to!

[wave]

Hi there is lot of difference between the 1000d and 600d infect theres an 1100d now. If you don't want all the features of the 600d then 550d is a good buy it shares the same sensor. so you could save some money and get another lens.

[canismajor]

Hi, I would agree with your friends where lenses are concerned, you could have the most expensive body but if the lenses are not up to the job then all your images will suffer. Canon lenses are expensive but many people including myself use other reputable lenses which are known to be very good. I have several Sigma lenses and all I can say is that they do a great job. I'm a Nikon user myself and only have 1 Nikon lens, the 18-200mm which is great, but I can see no difference in the images it produces than the images which my Sigma lenses produce. A great deal of dosh can be saved buying lenses this way, and when you upgrade the body you'll still have the lenses. I wish you all success in your quest, Mike.