scrapping my 350D

I am considering selling my Canon 350 D and lenses as I cannot deal with poor focus and I do not want to invest in the camera.

I would then buy the best point and shoot possible. Best meaning optics, sensor,manual use, flexibility, etc.

1) Your thoughts on my considerations.

2) Which camera should I look at.

Perhaps you should give up photography and take up knitting.

If you cant get a properly focussed shot with a 350 D then what makes you think you will do any better with a point & shoot.

Point and Shoot focusses on anything

350D has to have a subject mostly

that's what I think ! I mean..I cant expect it to focus in thin air on a dark night!!

a POint and Shoot will still shoot !!

just a thought...dont kill me!!!

Mo50 said:

I am considering selling my Canon 350 D and lenses as I cannot deal
with poor focus and I do not want to invest in the camera.

Click to expand...

Can't you stop down for more DOF?

Mo Kwart said:

I would then buy the best point and shoot possible. Best meaning
optics, sensor,manual use, flexibility, etc.

Click to expand...

I don't think you can find all four best in one camera.
The FZ30 may be a good candidate for best optics, manual use
and flexibility.

Just my two öre
Erik from Sweden

Ramon_uk said:

Perhaps you should give up photography and take up knitting.

If you cant get a properly focussed shot with a 350 D then what
makes you think you will do any better with a point & shoot.

Click to expand...

A DSLR requires an extra level of involvement to get good results - perhaps he's just not that interested in the extra work involved. Nothing wrong with that. I suspect that a lot of current DSLR users will migrate back to a point-and-shoot eventually.

--
http://www.pixelstatic.com

Arvind said:

Point and Shoot focusses on anything

Click to expand...

not entirely true.

Arvind371276 said:

350D has to have a subject mostly

Click to expand...

Tricky taking a photo without a subject.

Arvind371276 said:

that's what I think ! I mean..I cant expect it to focus in thin air
on a dark night!!

a POint and Shoot will still shoot !!

Click to expand...

And that will produce a better focussed picture than the 350D will it ?

Arvind371276 said:

just a thought...dont kill me!!!

Click to expand...

Don't worry, I only post replies for the fun of it. If I want a real agressive argument then I contradict my wife

well yeah right
and when you want to feel like a winner
come and hassle some non-photographer guy on the forum !

Nice going Hercules

heh heh heh

Gary Martin said:

I suspect that a lot of current DSLR users
will migrate back to a point-and-shoot eventually.

Click to expand...

I think you are right. Sadly DSLRs are seen by many as more of a fashion accessory and the camera manufacturers don't help by labelling their low end models as beginners cameras.

I wonder if the problem is not so much the camera or even your understanding of what you should photograph but rather your expectations of how it should be done and what can be achieved.

By this I mean that as you walk around you see so many opportunities and have in your mind's eye these fabulous images that others display, so want to capture them yourself. However, as your experience is perhaps of seeing photojournalists in action (which is a different discipline entirely and few of us witness any other type of professional in action) you are not aware that frequently the fabulous images you remember are taken after meticulous planning, patience and care.

By all means do as PJ's do and learn your camera so that you can operate it in the blink of an eye instinctively but I believe for most of us the best option is to learn to think!
Breathe slowly and consider the shot.

Most of all, don't agonise over those shots you think 'got away'. Every single infinitessimal moment is another opportunity and unless you take the time to consider, a P&S won't make a difference to the results.

Get a Nikon d50 .It has autofocus

Seriously , what an unbelivable question/comment. When you put these entry level DSLRs on their Green Auto setting they are point and shoots.
--
http://parisea.blogspot.com/

If the 350D is under warranty, Canon will fix it and get it back to you quickly. At least this is true about the Canon Service Center in Irvine, California.
--

Retired Navy Master Chief Photographer's Mate - 30 years service. Combat Cameraman, Motion Picture Director and Naval Aircrewman. I have done considerable comercial photography including advertising, weddings and portraiture.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700 & Sony R1
CATS #25
PAS Scribe @ http://www.here-ugo.com/PAS_List.htm
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
'I brake for pixels...'

Mo50 said:

I am considering selling my Canon 350 D and lenses as I cannot deal
with poor focus and I do not want to invest in the camera.

I would then buy the best point and shoot possible. Best meaning
optics, sensor,manual use, flexibility, etc.

1) Your thoughts on my considerations.

2) Which camera should I look at.

Click to expand...

You sound frustrated with your equipment.... it happens.

A few thoughts:

1. As another poster mentioned, send your camera in for servicing. I don't own a 350XT, but if every one of them was that bad it wouldn't be selling like it does. If every thing checks out at Canon Service, consider taking a course at the local university to help you learn to overcome the limitations of your present kit.

2. Have you tried a bit of unsharp mask? I use 100-300, 0, 0.3-0.5 initially and then 15, 0, 40 after curves and levels. Makes all the difference - see this thread:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=15870402

dSLR output looks soft straight from the camera, it's up to you to sharpen and adjust color and contrast.

3. Consider keeping the Canon and getting one or two point-n-shoots to complement it. I have an Oly E300, an Oly C-5060 in an underwater case for dust/rain/snow/underwater, and I just got a Fuji F10 for snapshooting and pocket camera duty. They each have their niche; I use the E300 the most but the Fuji goes everywhere with me.

4. There's no such thing as a perfect camera, they all have their problems. And what's ideal for one person is c--p to the next. What is is you want to DO with a camera?

Good luck!
ECM

It's a shame that you want to downgrade to a point and shoot, but if that's what you want, then I can't stop you. I don't know if you knew this or not, but you can do everything with a DSLR that a point and shoot can do, and much much more. It sounds like to me you should research how to use a DSLR more if you want to learn how to take better shots that are in focus.

Just as long, as you stay in photography, its all good.

Parisis- Yea no kidding lol.