Okay camera peeps, I need some help here. I want to pick up a new camera. I'm thinking along the lines of the Canon EOS 30D. Thoughts on that? I'm seeing pricing in the $1150-$1200 range. Does that sound about right? Also, lenses. What do I need to look for. Most pictures would be of the kids and boring stuff like that (I'll make sure to post plenty here for you, Papa... ). Are the Tamron lenses any good or should I stay with the Canon? What is the "F" value on the lenses? I've seen some packages on ebay and such (like THIS ) for around $1400. Thoughts on that? Size of the storage card? I know more is better, but how much is that much better? Thanks for the input.
www.dpreview.com One of the best digital photography hardware sites out there. As far as brand/model choice ... go with what you feel comfortable with. Some folks drive Fords, others drive Dodges (some even have wings on their Dodge trucks). Different strokes for different folks. B&H Photo is a great resource for online ordering. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/
the 30D is a great camera...and so is the new rebel xti, but i wouldnt get that unless you have small hands, for the money it doesn't get any better than that. hell if you want to cut cost, get a 20D( did weddings and got my RRW cover shot with it).....its not that much of a down grade than the 30D, especially if you are just taking snapshots of the kids. another great site is www.fredmiranda.com they also do reviews on lenses. for what you are looking for tamron, sigma lense would do just fine. although I myself would choose sigma with the HSM motordrive which isn't too diff than the Canon's focus system. I like sticking with Canon lenses though, the price difference isn't really that big. you want to get a good all around zoom for what you are looking for....a 24-135 or 28-105 would be perfect. F value or F stop is what the aperture setting on the lenses are....the lower/faster the f stop is the wide the lense will open up which would allow for a fast Shutter speed, less depth of field and a brighter background....basically the lower the f stop the more light is able to travel in quicker. for the amount of money and needs you described go with: 20D unless you have small hands go with the new XTI 24-105 F 3.5-4.5 II USM definitely go to Best Buy for a touch and feel, then call B & H to order...cheaper and no taxes...
compared to shopping locally yes....some other online shops will have cheaper prices which is fine, but they will try to sell all kinds of shiite to even costs. out of the online sites, they are probably trusted more than others. Wolf camera online isn't too bad neither.
Thats where I got my Nikon although I did pay tax since they're local too. We were actually comparing B&H to Dell and they were expensive by a few hundred.
The rebel viewfinder has been described as looking at a postage stamp down a long dark tunnel" and I think that is being very generous. It has an ergonomic interface from hell, the worst of any camera out there and when my six year old daughter picked one up to choose a camera for herself she looked at me kind of funny and said (I kid you not) "Daddy it's too small". Thats my humble view of the rebel line without getting into some of the personal nitpicking. Get something better- you deserve it ... and even if you don't deserve it ... get something better. B&H is a reputable dealer. Many of the lowball prices that you see on line are not realistic and can be outright scams. Even if you do get the body as advertised if you get unlucky and get a product that requires returning or service it can be such a pain to deal with these lowball companies that it's worth the extra bit to deal with some of the reputable online dealers. I've owned almost every Canon body since the original D30 (only sold that two years ago) and many of the Nikons. Between the two brands there are plusses and minuses in both but two thing that I have personally experienced with Canon is a high percentage of returns needed in both bodies and especially lenses so buying from a reputable dealer is doubly important to me now with the misery I've gone through. I would also encourage you if you buy canon to buy their better lenses. They just seem to put out variable quality in the low end stuff and much of it sub-par. Don't get me wrong they have a great set of lenses as all manufacturers do and some spectacular ones like their fast primes (35 f 1.4 and the 135 f 2.0 are Wow!) but be prepared to pay - it's worth it. I would suggest not putting too much weight to reviews like Dpreview or the spec sheets. The reviews are very good and very thorough but it's a bit like picking a wife because she is 6 foot two and has an MBA. It misses the point. It is highly subjective and often overlooked but the way a camera feels in your hand and fits into your way of working is probably the most important point. So go to your local shop and handle four or five. take some pictures in bright light outisde and dim light inside the store. Notice how easy or difficult it is to do things like switch focus points, switch iso and other important contols and how well or poorly you can work without thinking too much about it. If you are like most people you will find that you will really like some far more than others. Ergonomics are very important. Go with you gut and don't look back. So go see what feels right to you - and don't listen to us too much. Good luck.
I'll agree with Pavel. But concerning lenses, what type of shots do you plan on doing? A little bit of everything? Sports? Family? I like my Canon 100-400 IS. For a zoom it basically covers most everything you need. And I really use it for almost everything. Then I have smaller lenses for up close shots...
now if you want a really kick ass body......find an excellent, low actuations Canon 1D as long as you don't need any images bigger than a 16x20 w/out cropping...you can find some for about a 1K which is much less than what its really worth. it was Canons #1 body until 2004 for photojournalism and sports don't get caught up with the MP hoopla.....the 1D sensor is fantastic and 4mp is just fine.......you will find the people that have sold theirs, regret it. I almost sold mine, but I'm so glad I didn't. I just couldn't part way with her. 45 focus sensors/fastest auto focus you will find 8fps spot metering built like a tank
Go all in and get a Hasselblad H2D-39. It may cost as much as a house but you will never need another one........unless it gets dropped.:up:
I know all you photo guys & gals live and breathe this stuff ... but I have to say, we have a Digital Rebel (The first one, 300D, basically the same thing as the 10D with different firmware and the body isn't magnesium) and for the average person who wants to shoot a wide range of things and get good results, it's an awesome camera. We have a sigma 400mm IS lens for it for shooting racing, as well as some basic canon lenses (85mm, 300mm, etc) and couldn't be happier with the results given that we're not professional photographers. I used to shoot with a Nikon n90s film camera (Their "pro-sumer" body from the late '90s) and I get much better results shooting with the Rebel than I ever did with the Nikon (of course, being digital I've also gotten to shoot a LOT more pics as you can chuck the ones that suck instantly). PS -> no matter what size memory card you get, get the fastest write speed you can afford. You'll spend more money for the same amount of storage but tt makes a huge difference in usability as you don't want to have to wait for the images to get written to the card while you're shooting. - Roach
Not to be too quarrelsome Roach but I fully disagree with your statements. I had the original rebel and sold it after three weeks. I had the 10D (which I considered a horribly camera) and the rebel is not in any meaningful way a substitute for it. In particular for sports it's a recipe for giving up quickly. You can't even use focus priority in manual mode only in sports mode but then you can't chose your aperture. The focus is very poor for keeping up with action and the delay as well as the impossible buffer add up to the equivalent in motorcycle terms - of competing in the superbike 750 class with a yamaha mini 50 cc. Yup, for sports ... that bad. The best all around bang for the buck is the canon 1D. I had two of these and consider them to be the very best of all the canon products still today within several constraints. In fact I sold my mk2 and kept those two instead until I finaly left canon to go to nikon only. Those bodies are excellent. In particular they are very good with jpg's where you don't want to run it through photoshop at all - I found the shots very nice and crisp. The focus is as good as it gets in Canon land and the viewfinder gorgeous. YOu can print up to 11x14 with any kind of subject matter and sports shots look great even bigger than that. It can use the fast cards to good effect - the original rebel couldn't. It's built like a tank. You could hit a rhino with one of these and the Canon would pick up less damage than the rhino. It's weather-sealed so you don't have to pack up and slink away when it starts to rain and the custom functions let you set it up to any kind of possible personal dream come true. So while I like Nikon better I do consider the 1D the best bang for the buck and a far wiser choice for any kind of action shooting over the newer bodies like the 30D, 20D or D200. They used to sell for 5400 when first released and now you can get good condition used ones for less than 1300 - a value better than any other out there. (imho) So yeah we do breathe this stuff a bit heavy sometimes but there are possibilities than we know are better than some of the normal considerations that may be worth trying out - and save loads of money by - in the long term. Your shots will than you for it too! It's just not the best idea to bring a fork to a gunfight, a scooter into the superbike field or a Rebel to any kind of sports shooting.
One more comment. I personaly have found the off brand lenses very good alternatives optically and good ways to save money but there are some long term considerations. Tamron does not seem to suffer from this (or maybe I just have not heard) but in the sigma brand you should be aware that after a while when a new camera body model comes out the old sigma lens may not work properly with it. Sigma is very good at fixing it but you do have to send a lens away to get re-chipped and so you are without it for two or three weeks. After a much longer time at some point sigma decides that they no longer support the lens and you can no longer get the chips for re-chipping so this could be a consideration in very expensive lenses meant to be kept for a long time. I found the optical qualities of the best sigma's to be indistinguishable from the Canon lenses but there is a bit of a difference in fit and finnish of the L lenses. The Canon L glass is built very well and is a joy to use. YOu likely wont see any difference in print ... but it does kind of add up to a differnt experience if you care about the little subtle things. Also the resale value is far stronger. That may be a consideration. Same with the NIkon glass. Their best is expensive but there is nothing in the aftermarket quite like it. It's like a fine watch or perfectly tuned machine. It's just nice to use, the feel is a notch superior. YOu can just tell upon using it once that a higher grade of material was used and higher standards in the building of it. I can't prove it but I think that the manufacturers lenses will probably last longer - so in the long run the price difference becomes mute. Probably a bit like a russian or chineese built bike of some sort compared to the best german or japanese bike. I dunno?
the XTi has much more control over the frankly retarded firmware crippled original rebel. but many people never even touch those controls, and wouldnt know the difference. the hand fit with the new rebels is definitely an issue for some. if you dont need 10 megapixels (who does REALLY) look at the nikon d50, or if youre not going to be buying lots of lenses, the pentax k100d which has built in body stabilization. if you want more megapixels, look at the 10 mp nikon d80, which has a nicer viewfinder then the rebel or 30d, and 2 more mp. some tamron lenses are nice, some are rubbish, some sit in the middle. which one were you looking at?
