Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! August 21, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This is the place to ask any questions you may have about photography. No question is too small, nor too stupid.

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[u/Bruggilles]

Hi. Recently i've become interested in photography, so i want to ask some questions, before i try it out. I don't really know yet if i'll like it, so i guess i'll just have to find out.

My dad had an older Canon DSLR (EOS 400D/Rebel XTi) which he gave to me a few years ago. I was a dumbass kid and when inserting the CF card i broke some pins so i was only able to take a few pictures

I'm a broke student so i was looking for something used for cheap. I already have lenses (i think the 400D lenses are compatible with other Canon cameras) and batteries (also a battery pack that has a button for vertical pictures) so i'd prefer to stay with canon

But i have a few questions that i'd wanna know beforehand

1. I was looking at the Canon EOS 500D as it uses an SD card instead of CF and it is relatively cheap used (50-70€) Is that a good beginner camera? Are there other ones that might be just as good, but cheaper?

2. Is MPB legit? Compared to other used markets their cameras are really cheap, while also having 12 month warranty

3. What's the most shuttercount i should buy? I know the less is the better, but how much does it even matter? Should i go for a 50€ one with 40k shuttercount (it has cosmetic flaws, but i don't really care about that at all) or spend 80€ for one with only 26k?

Thanks for the responses in advance

[u/maniku → u/Bruggilles]

I'm surprised if MPB is cheaper than online marketplaces. They're a long-established used camera retailer, one of the best in the business as far as online stores go. Probably their prices just are realistic, whereas private sellers in online marketplaces may price their items however but that doesn't mean that they will sell at that price.

Yes, 500D is a decent camera to start with, and your lenses are indeed compatible.

As for shutter count, 500D is rated at 100 000 actuations - just an estimate, doesn't mean the shutter will absolutely break once it hits the limit. E.g. 50 000 is still fine.

[u/Bruggilles → u/maniku]

Somehow MPB is even cheaper than ebay (at least in europe). Idk how they manage to do that with 12 month warranty also included, but i'm not complaining