Suggestions for a Camera

my birthday is coming up in April and i've been wanting to get a nice digital camera for a long time. my parents and GF have agreed upon splitting the costs and getting one for me. with that being said what is a good beginner SLR camera?? i've been looking at a Canon Rebel XT and it looks pretty straightforward.

ooh! we've got a recent thread floating around here on this sort of thing...

and here it is!
looking to get a camera

I am getting my wife an XT or an XTi, can't decide which. The main differences between the XT and the XTi are the resolution (which is immaterial at that level) and the size of the viewscreen; the XT's screen is really small. The XTi also has a built-in sensor cleaning mechanism, but I don't know how well it works.

The XTi is about $180 more than the XT.

I just got the Rebel XT. I love it, takes awesome pics. Plus the price they are going for now is great too. You wont be dissapointed. Just took a bit to get used to having to look thru the viewfinder to take the picture. I havent had to do that for a few years since I last used my 35mm SLR.

Either of the Canon Rebels are a good cchoice. Each has a feature set that is slightly different but yet inherently the same in terms of the menuing.

The one thing that I have not heard much about is the antidust mechanism and how well it is working.

Also, you should find out from your dealer if the antidust mechanism would interfere with cleaning the sensor which you will have to do eventually. All DSLR's are dust magnets!

Check on the canon web site for technical details. Two good dites for info are:

www.prophotohome.com

www.openphotographyforums.com

There is always DPR (digital photography Review) but a lot of flaming and it's unmoderated.

Google: Fred Miranda and Luminous Landscape for those forums. Both excellent as well.

Choose your entry level system based on the cost of adding lenses, flash etc.

Stay with a name brand as they have more product sold and better support.

Good luck!

I have the Rebel XT (EOS 350D). I upgraded from the Rebel (EOS 300D) because I do a lot of wildlife pictures and speed of responsiveness is very important. When the EOS 300D fell asleep, it took about 3 seconds to wake up while the EOS 350D's awakening is instantaneous (of course you can keep the EOS 300D awake all the time by pushing on the button halfway all the time but that drains the batteries). It also has a few more features.

If you want to compare both models, here are two great reviews from a website I really really dig, Digital Camera Resource page:

DCRP Review: Canon Digital Rebel XT

DCRP Review: Canon Digital Rebel

ToddG said:

The XTi also has a built-in sensor cleaning mechanism, but I don't know how well it works.

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It's not so much a cleaning mechanism..but whenever you turn on the camera it shakes the sensor to get loose particles off the sensor.

trpmonkey -- interesting. I went ahead and ordered her the XTi, it will be waiting for her as a surprise when we get to our destination in Florida tomorrow (4-day weekend vacation, wha-hoo!).

What? And you're leaving us in this cold weather? Well really!... Harumphie!







Kidding ya big guy!

Unless you really need those extra megapixels i would recommend you the Pentax K100d. I got a K110d and the image quality and colors are great, plus you get the backwards compatibility. The K100d has image stabilization included using a magnetic frame around the sensor, it works really great as far as i know, sadly i didn't have enough for that model ($500-$600). If you like it and want to save some money, i have an extra kit lens (18-55mm, f/3.5-5.6, AF) that i can sell you cheap.

i have a canon 350d. its great !

the new model is out now - i think its called the rebel or something (look at posts above)

canon are high quality and reliable. i reccomend them

thanks for the help guys. i think my decision is leaning towards the Rebel XT. its not as expensive as others and i think it will last a good while too. i have a lot of friends that are into photography and they all recommend Canon cameras to just about any other SLRs out there. i'll keep you all posted when the time comes on what i actually get. i might just ask everyone for a little cash to put into a pot to get the XTI. :batman:

I'd actually recommend Nikon over Canon, but I think that's a personal preference more than anything. As far as quality goes it's definitely between those two.

FWIW, I went with the XTi. It's only about $180 more and the big factor for me was the screen size ... the old XT had a tiny viewscreen while the XTi's is huge (2.5" I think). The higher resolution sensor and sensor-"cleaning" weren't important enough to make me spend the extra cash but a tiny viewscreen on a dSLR is painful to use.

I bought mine from B&H Photo online. Silver camera body, no lens, overnight shipping ... total was just over $700.

ToddG said:

FWIW, I went with the XTi. It's only about $180 more and the big factor for me was the screen size ... the old XT had a tiny viewscreen while the XTi's is huge (2.5" I think). The higher resolution sensor and sensor-"cleaning" weren't important enough to make me spend the extra cash but a tiny viewscreen on a dSLR is painful to use.

I bought mine from B&H Photo online. Silver camera body, no lens, overnight shipping ... total was just over $700.

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thats a pretty great price. what lens are you going to be using?? or do you already have some with another camera?? i need a kit because i basically don't know what i'm going to be doing with it. (i just want to snap some pics to get some picture taking and editing skills started)

The XTi is for my wife to replace the 10D she'd been using. The XTi is much smaller and lighter. The lens she used on the 10D was the 28-135 IS USM, which is an awesome and incredibly versatile lens. The only drawbacks are that it's a bit heavy and it's not terribly fast.

I use a 1D MkII N and have a handful of lenses, mostly L's, that she can use, too. Right now, her XTi is wearing a simple 50/1.4 so the whole setup is light as a feather.

moss918 said:

I'd actually recommend Nikon over Canon, but I think that's a personal preference more than anything. As far as quality goes it's definitely between those two.

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This is kinda like Windoze VS. Mac OS X, if you know what I mean...

ToddG said:

The XTi is for my wife to replace the 10D she'd been using. The XTi is much smaller and lighter. The lens she used on the 10D was the 28-135 IS USM, which is an awesome and incredibly versatile lens. The only drawbacks are that it's a bit heavy and it's not terribly fast.

I use a 1D MkII N and have a handful of lenses, mostly L's, that she can use, too. Right now, her XTi is wearing a simple 50/1.4 so the whole setup is light as a feather.

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I am seriously envious at the mo...

MacHeadCase said:

This is kinda like Windoze VS. Mac OS X, if you know what I mean...

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Yeah I know, that's why I made sure to add that it's a personal preference. I always recommend trying out both if possible as, like I said, they're pretty comparable on quality, although sometimes not on price.

I'm not even sure "Windows vs. OS X" is the best analogy. Nikon and Canon are so close in quality, features, and price that choosing between them really comes down to timing. Once you choose one over the other, though, and you sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into lenses, flashes, remotes, etc., you're a customer for life.

I bought the 10D when it first came out and it was generally considered a better value for the features at that time compared to the most comparable Nikon. When I decided to upgrade to the 1DIIN, I already had a flash, some lenses, etc. for the Canon system ... and Nikon didn't have a camera that could take 8.3fps, which was the major selling point of the 1DIIN for me in the first place.

Then I bought a 16-35/2.8 L, 24-105/4 L IS, 70-200/2.8 L IS ... there is no way I could switch now even if Nikon came out with "the world's best camera." Which they haven't.

So when it came time to buy my wife a new dSLR, I didn't even look at Nikon offerings. No point recreating the wheel with all new lenses, etc.

Windows vs OS X definitely is not a very good analogy. Nikon and Canon both make top notch cameras and lenses and you really can't go wrong with either. I started with Canon and have built a solid selection of lenses that would cost thousands of dollars for me to replace if I wanted to switch to Nikon. I have no complaints on my Canon, and I probably wouldn't with Nikon, but I started with Canon adn have just stuck with them