Canon 350D or FZ50

Hello All,

My name is Ravi and I'm from INDIA.
I'm planning to buy a digital camera to learn photography . My needs are to shoot things in and around where I move.

I have to decided between Fz50 and Canon 350D. Could you please let me know which is the best options for me. I like the Fz50 very much like the format etc.

I have never owned a Digital Camera and this will be the first one for me. Both the cameras are available at the same price here in INDIA.

Basically I have to learn every bit of Camera.

Help please !!!!

Regards,
Ravi

Ravi it would help if you could give more details on what you want to shoot. Since you're just starting out, there's quite a bit to learn. I don't know what the Fz50 camera is, but the 350D is an excellent starter camera that will allow you pursue photography and learn the principles necessary to produce excellent photos.

Mark

Hello Mark,

Thank you for your responce.

I Would like shoot these kind of pictures including Aircraft
http://www.dpreview.co​m/gallery/canons5is_sa​mples/

Also this link has information on FZ-50.
http://www.dpreview.co​m …nic/panasonic_d​mcfz50.asp

Regards
Ravi

Ravi,

First of all greetings!

Second of all, you should realize that this is a forum dedicated to users of the Canon SLR sytems, which means that we get a camera body and then we add an exhorbitant amount of "stuff" to that body so that we can do more cool things, and then, when we reach some kind of "point", we have to get a new body. And then, the cycle starts all over again.

I'm just warning you...if you want the "best shots" then poke around here, but beware! We won't be talking up the fZ50 or the S5 IS, but we will be talking about getting the best shot with the best gear!

Hello Tony !!

Got your point.. I was just asking for suggestion for my purchase as I'm a beginner.

Regards,
~Ravi

In very general terms, if you buy a DSLR camera like the 350D, you will have to spend even more money to buy lenses to get the same lens range as the FZ50 (you would have to buy at least one additional lens like a 70-300mm). The 350D also does not have any built-in image stabilization for low-light photography. Canon sells lenses with image stabilization, however, these are generally rather expensive (although there are supposed to be one or two relatively inxepensive Canon IS lenses coming out in the near future).

On the other hand, the FZ50 has a shutter lag of .5 to 1 second meaning there's going to be a small delay after you press the shutter release button which can mess up your shot if the subject is moving. The FZ50 gets pretty good reviews though.

Here's how I look at the question. If you want to be a Photographer and don't mind spending more (and more) money on equipment and upgrades, the 350D will serve you well as an entry-level camera. If, however, you only want to take some snapshots and don't want to spend any more money or aren't very interested in learning the nuts and bolts of photography, the FZ50 looks like a very nice camera to have. The 350D will give you superior results if you spend the extra time and money on it. The FZ50 will probably give you superior results if you just want to open the box and start shooting pictures immediately.