is there any advantages for dslr body made of metal?


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sheng89

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Aug 27, 2009
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jus being curious. i went to the sept comex. i asked the diff between d5000 n 500d. he told me d5000 body is made of plastic, whereas 500d is metal.

but wat is the use of having the body metal? :D
 

feels weightier, and therefore, sturdier.
 

jus being curious. i went to the sept comex. i asked the diff between d5000 n 500d. he told me d5000 body is made of plastic, whereas 500d is metal.

but wat is the use of having the body metal? :D

In addition to the above statement, it's also less prone to fatigue and material failure.
 

Metal is stronger than plastic, therefore... Logical, right?
 

Can tahan you bashing ppl's head with.... :bsmilie::bsmilie:
 

From experience using pro and consumer bodies/lenses, looks like metal finish gets scratched more easily. Once the coating is gone, you'll see the bare metal color.

Whereas for plastic, it can still be easily hidden.
 

I tot 500D is also plastic?
 

From experience using pro and consumer bodies/lenses, looks like metal finish gets scratched more easily. Once the coating is gone, you'll see the bare metal color.

Whereas for plastic, it can still be easily hidden.

Anyway, for DSLRs, the metal is all hiden away. It's still protected by a plastic cowling.
 

Not much advantage unless you intended drop and knock it. I have seen posting about rubber breaking and turning white, battery not working, LCD and button dropping out but hardly anyone talk about body frame.
 

In manufacturing terms, it is easier to form shapes with metal than with plastic. Metal can be bent, folded, stretched, reworked and annealed to give strength. Metal can withstand high temperatures. For camera bodies, nowadays magnesium alloy is used to get light weight and high strength. Coating is applied to give good outer appearance and prevent corrosion.

Plastics are not as workable as metals and are usually injection molded or compression molded. High strength plastics are brittle materials that can shatter on impact so if need super high strength, you need to embed fibres inside. That's fibreglass. But fibreglass is not cheap. Thin strips of plastics do not have high rigidity or strength in the thin direction so the plastic camera body is probably quite thick to get shape and strength.

Certain plastics degrade with high temperature. And ageing also take place and certain plastics will go from soft to hard, turn brittle and change colour.

That's what I can remember from materials engineering course. Your 500D might shatter and crack next time you drop it, change colour if used in the sun too long. :bsmilie:
 

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For magnesium alloy bodies is xxD onwards. Those with magnesium alloy battery grips are the 5D series and of cos, 1D series.
 

better build. that's about it.

but that also depends on a lot of other factors, like engineering, actually.
 

but does anyone who owns XXD series experience any whitish marks on the body after a period of usage?
 

but does anyone who owns XXD series experience any whitish marks on the body after a period of usage?

Sweat residual?
 

it doesnt seem to be able to be cleaned off even by using a damp cloth or lenspen... so is sweat residue so stubborn on a magnesium alloy body?
 

haha.. so 500d is oso plastic body lah? think sales talk cant be trusted fully:bsmilie:
 

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