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Best point and shoot around $300?

Started Mar 2, 2017 | Discussions thread
DanMcG Regular Member • Posts: 311
Re: Best point and shoot around $300?

Rudy61 wrote:

I strongly recommend:

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-sl1-18-55-is-stm-lens-kit-refurbished

The SL1 is no bigger than many mirrorless models from some of the other makers (e.g., Olympus, Panasonic, Fujifilm) that are far, far pricier. It is a fully fledged DSLR that can utilize the entire range of Canon EF and EF-S lenses. Over the years I've purchased quite a few (too many) items from Canon refurbished- 2 camera bodies, several lenses, and 3 or 4 compacts. Without exception they have always been impeccably clean, professionally packed with all-new accessories, and are indistinguishable from retail-new except for a modest number of shutter actuations. And Canon supports their refurbished products with a full 1-year warranty, which is the same as the retail warranty. You cannot go wrong with a refurb purchase. Personally, I almost prefer refurbished because a human being has actually "gone over" the item, rather than it being something that just rolled off the assembly line and was popped into a box. This deal comes with the 18-55mm STM kit lens, definitely sufficient for an introductory photography class. (By the way the SL1 also comes in white; it's there on the site as well). If your friend gets "into" photography, I would recommend that she add the companion 55-250mm STM lens at some point, which sometimes goes on sale on the Canon refurbished site for as low as $129 (look for reviews; it's an excellent lens). One last recommendation would be to add the 50mm f/1.8 STM, which can also be found at times on the refurb site for around $100. This will allow your friend to experiment with shallow depth-of-field photography, and that focal length on a DSLR like the SL1 is perfect for portraits with great isolation of the main subject. Last but not least, she could consider adding a small external flash (270EX II or 320EX) to learn about bouncing flash and off-camera flash lighting. But this basic kit to start -- SL1 with the kit lens-- is both small and light for travel and will be more than sufficient for her class, and is in the right price range you specified. I have the SL1 as well as 2 other DSLR camera bodies (a T3i and older 40D) and several high quality compacts, but I use the SL1 far more than any other. I could live with it as my only camera.

Good luck!

Rudy

I have a G1X but keep looking at the refurb'd SL1 and some lenses as my "next step" into photography, your post definitely pushed me in that direction a bit more. Thanks!

 DanMcG's gear list:DanMcG's gear list
Canon EOS M6 Canon EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Canon EF 50mm F1.8 STM Canon EF-M 32mm F1.4
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