I went to the Canon Service Center at Saujana Resort (on the way to Subang Airport) today to take back my Canon 400D. It was there for repair a few days ago.
I was suprise that their service is fast. My camera was at the service center 5 days ago and yesterday I received an SMS saying that my camera was repaired and ready for collection.
<SMS fr CANON> Your CAMERA, ref XXXXXXXXX: repaired & ready for collection;no charge; Pls refer voucher for working hr; Do not reply this msg, TQ.
Luckily my camera is still under the one year warranty and they didn’t charge me for the service fee and the parts replacement. They replaced a sub spring and focusing screen. The focusing screen is the screen near to the viewfinder (before the light go through the viewfinder) and also is the focus sensor (making sure the object is focused correctly).
What next for my camera? I’m thinking to buy a better lens. I’m currently using Sigma’s 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC. It’s a good len with capable of covering a wide range of focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto. The len is a bit slow (f/6.3) at larger focal lenght. My next target is Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM len. A general purpose len with fixed aperture. The len is quite expensive (I guess at least RM4000? not sure). Therefore I may need to sell my sigma len and save some money before I buy this len :)
Hey SzeHau. Nice blog! I will be spending the few months in New Zealand, thinking of getting a DSLR. What would you recommend for an entry level machine with powerful enough lens (mainly for scenery as you know, for NZ)? Thanks heap.
Hi Jayden. I’m not pro in DSLR but if you want me to recommend a entry level of DSLR, I will recommend Canon’s or Nikon’s.
I’m using Canon EOS 400D with kit lens (18-55mm) and I bought another 18-200mm zoom lens. The 18-200mm (~5x) zoom lens is not much useful than the kit lens in NZ and it is quite heavy to carry. So the kit lens is good enough for taking scenery photo.
If you want to buy Canon’s, you can consider the latest model, EOS 450D or EOS 500D. The latest model comes with live view and video recording capabilities. If you afford to buy a better lens, you can consider:
1) “Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM” (around RM4,490). The lens is wider and able to capture very high image quality.
2) “Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM” (around RM2,800). The lens is wider and provides a litle better zoom (~5x) if compared to kit lens (~3x). Best for general purpose use.
I didn’t do a research on Nikon’s so I won’t recommend anything for Nikon’s but both Canon and Nikon are very good on entry level machine.
If you are in KL, you can go to “Selangor Photographers” at Pertama Complex and ask the boss to recommend you a camera and lens. They are quite pro in DSLR camera and I bought my camera and lens there. The address of “Selangor Photographers” is as below:
Lot G-22, Ground floor, Pertama Complex
Jalan Tuanku Adbul Rahman, 50100 KL
Tel: 03-26917745
Will certainly check it out. Thanks SzeHau. Very helpful of you.
You are welcome!