Advice on buying second hand 350D

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chau

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Hello everybody.
I found a second hand 350D with one of the older sigma 70-300mm lenses and battery grip for R1700. How dodgy would it be to get this camera? i will definitely test it before i buy it. Will the battery grip fit on the 400D and what could be the chances of the grip not working? Im actually more interested in the battery grip so i could sell the camera off at a later stage.
thanks guys
 
That is a very good price. The grip on it's own is R1900 new. The 350D and 400D uses the same battery grip (Product code BG - E3) so it should be fine. I bought a 350D last year second hand and have absolutely no complaints. IMHO it's a better camera for the price than some of the bigger models.
 
Not bad. The 350/400Ds have a pretty low shutter count rating (50k) but since there's no real way of getting an accurate count without hacking the firmware you'll have to play it by ear (literally).

Having a decent second camera means not having to change lenses in the field - keep in mind though the 350D doesnt share the 400Ds sensor cleaning.
 
R1700 all in? eish i would be suspicous. SLRs usually keep value well, and lenses too.

Maybe its got 20 000+ shutter mileage but even then. could also have 20 000 steps down stairs...

the battery grip is awesomeness :) I had one on my 400D. it helps so much for taking photos and makes shooting portrait a dream. pity i sold it all. Um, i would check compatibility as voltages may have changed. Just check that grips are equal, cause apart from voltage the camera size is different, mountings may have changed etc.

Just a PS on this - I dropped a 300mm lens down a flight of stairs at a bush lodge once. It took me ages to get the insurance to pay out cause they had it tested and it worked fine. thankfuly they gave in and paid. Thing is, the lens worked for another 6 months, so i could have sold it but kept it as spare. Until one day I tried autofocusing on something and it just wouldnt. And never did again. I'm assuming something finally gave on the motor drive to turn the lens, it sounded a bit dodge when it was driving it.
 
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cornestoltz said:
That is a very good price. The grip on it's own is R1900 new. The 350D and 400D uses the same battery grip (Product code BG - E3) so it should be fine. I bought a 350D last year second hand and have absolutely no complaints. IMHO it's a better camera for the price than some of the bigger models.
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and when i learn to read my questions are answered before i ask them :) So they do share grips. cool :)
 
bwana said:
Not bad. The 350/400Ds have a pretty low shutter count rating (50k) but since there's no real way of getting an accurate count without hacking the firmware you'll have to play it by ear (literally).

Having a decent second camera means not having to change lenses in the field - keep in mind though the 350D doesnt share the 400Ds sensor cleaning.
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I've actually never heard of a 350d's shutter failing - the two that I bought are still going strong. From what I've read, the 40d's shutter is more likely to go with everyone pushing the high burst rates.

rurapente said:
R1700 all in? eish i would be suspicous. SLRs usually keep value well, and lenses too.
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The 75-300 lenses don't hold their value at all, and the 350d is 4 generations old, but I agree, R1700 all in is a little bit fishy.
 
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BigAl-sa said:
I've actually never heard of a 350d's shutter failing - the two that I bought are still going strong. From what I've read, the 40d's shutter is more likely to go with everyone pushing the high burst rates.
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Do you feel like setting one of your 350Ds up as a 7 day time lapse in the name of science? I've got a old 400D lying around too if you do . . . . :D

It will fail eventually.
 
ok well i found this at a second hand shop so thats why its so cheap. the guys probably dont know what the real value of the camera is worth. a few weeks ago i also saw a sigma 70 300mm lens going for R200.
Bwana, i was considering using the 350D as a second body which will save me time in changing lenses. I also hope that the batteries are still in the body and grip as they are pretty pricey.
I will be testing the camera before i buy it.
 
It's always nice to have a second camera.
 
oh yes, is it possible to use the camera and battery grip with only one battery?im going to take my battery down to test but if the camera battery is dead will it still work?
thanks again
 
chau said:
oh yes, is it possible to use the camera and battery grip with only one battery?im going to take my battery down to test but if the camera battery is dead will it still work?
thanks again
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Best thing about the grip is that it comes with an adaptor that lets you use 6xAA batteries.

[-]AFAIK the grip with the canon battery adaptor will only work with 2 batteries.[/-] Disregard - I was wrong - it works with a single battery. :)
 
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feedback.. the battery grip is missing both batteries and my single battery didn't work in the 350D. The sigma 70-300mm lens was bust and could not focus. The 350D does work with my battery :) There was a canon 70-300mm IS USM that I swapped the sigma for but that also doesn't work. maybe i can send that in for repairs and they could get it to work.
it was R1700 but the guy said he would give it to me for R700. :D:D
so now I have a second body that works :)

how much does the AA cartridge cost for the battery grip? I think that could be a cheaper way out than buying two canon batteries

Edit: battery grip does work :D one of the terminals does not make contact as there is some muck on it. I'll try and clean it up and see what happens. The lens is goners though. There's nothing that I can do about it. I suspect the AF motor is shot. When it is in AF mode you cannot move the focussing element at all but it frees up once you switch over to manual. Also when the lens is attached to the body it gives an error saying that the communication between the lens and body is faulty.
 
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I'd take the lens in to Photo Hire or out to Iky and see what they can do with it.
 
yeah I was planning on going to Photohire and let them clean the camera as well. Where is Iky?
 
What you can do is try cleaning the contacts on the lens and camera - an eraser usually works quite well, just don't let any residue from the eraser get into the camera.
 
BigAl-sa said:
What you can do is try cleaning the contacts on the lens and camera - an eraser usually works quite well, just don't let any residue from the eraser get into the camera.
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I've unfortunately tried that already and it didn't seem to help. The guy at the shop rekons it was a water damaged camera so I think the lens is also damaged from the water.
 
chau said:
I've unfortunately tried that already and it didn't seem to help. The guy at the shop rekons it was a water damaged camera so I think the lens is also damaged from the water.
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OOPS :(

Have you tried taking pics with the camera with another lens?
 
BigAl-sa said:
OOPS :(

Have you tried taking pics with the camera with another lens?
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Yeah I have. It works fine and the body looks like it is in a pretty good condition. The only problem I am having with the battery grip is that one of the contacts inside has some oxidation on it and does not make contact when the second battery is in place so the grip can only use one battery at a time. As for the lens I taped up the contacts and I can use it manually. Picture quality looks decent although DOF is locked in at f4.

What are your guys views on generic batteries? they're half the price of the original Canon batteries and two at the original price is a bit heavy on the pocket
 
I'm not sure if you're able to see anything but here are some pictures..
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So the price was R1695 and they gave it to me for R700. Very nice chaps :D
 
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