Which digital camera?

drew.haynes said:
The price of the XT currently makes it a good choice as well. Lots of people will buy the XT and a good lens or two over time, then really grow into photography and decide they want a big hitter like a 30D, 40D, 5D.. and you can keep your high quality lenses and upgrade bodies easy.



Thats what I am so amazed at.



Body only for this camera is $319, then a used 50mm runs you $70, and a 2gb flash card for $17.



$406 for a b.a Camera
 
Well and that lens is great for beginners because, while the build quality is low, the glass quality is unbeatable for the price. There are plenty of guys who have moved up to 5D or 40D and have $1k+ L-series lenses, but still hang on to their old 50mm 1.8 :)
 
Looks like I am going to have to wait to buy.



Deal fell through on my sale for my A620, which that money would be going towards the new camera. Oh well.
 
The XT is certainly a good and very capable S entry-level SLR. My only problem with it is that it is so small and is very uncomfortable in my hand. Same goes for the XTi, XSi, and the smaller Nikons like the D40 & D60. I plan to go with a Sonly Alpha 200 sometime in the near future. It's not a Canon or Nikon, but there are still a lot of lenses available for it and it has image stabilzation built into the body.



As for that 50mm 1.8 prime, that is a kick *** lens for the money. Friend of mine uses it for her wedding photography business and loves it. Produces some stunningly sharp images.



evenflow said:
Awesome, thanks for all the help!



One thing I want to learn to do is take rolling shots



Is something like that learning hard to do?



Something I've read a few times during my photography studies.....As a very general rule of thumb for rolling shots, it's best to match your shutter speed with that of the car. For instance, if the car is going 60, try a 1/60 shutter speed.
 
evenflow said:
How is the 18-55mm lens? Found that cam and lens for less than $400...which looks like a steal

It is a decent lens at best by kit lens standards. If you can get the whole kit for for only a few bucks more than the body only, then I'd say go for it. But I would still pick up that 50mm 1.8 prime.
 
4fit? said:
It is a decent lens at best by kit lens standards. If you can get the whole kit for for only a few bucks more than the body only, then I'd say go for it. But I would still pick up that 50mm 1.8 prime.



the kit I am looking at w/ the 18-55m is $389, while body only is $319.
 
evenflow said:
well if i went body only id get the 50mm18 lens everyone is talking about

Oh, I agree completely. Regardless of if you bought the body only or the kit, I would still get the 1.8 prime. I just meant that you could put that $70 towards a second lens; the 18-55 IS. So, you would have a nice entry-level body, a tack-sharp 50mm 1.8 prime, and an image stabalized 18-55, which will come in handy for those landscape/nature shots you mentioned.



Oh, and get yourself a nice, sturdy tripod for even sharper images.
 
4fit? said:
Oh, I agree completely. Regardless of if you bought the body only or the kit, I would still get the 1.8 prime. I just meant that you could put that $70 towards a second lens; the 18-55 IS. So, you would have a nice entry-level body, a tack-sharp 50mm 1.8 prime, and an image stabalized 18-55, which will come in handy for those landscape/nature shots you mentioned.



Oh, and get yourself a nice, sturdy tripod for even sharper images.



ya definitely want to look into getting a tripod too
 
evenflow said:
How is the 18-55mm lens? Found that cam and lens for less than $400...which looks like a steal



Here are some of my pics with the 18-55mm; not sure what they are compared to other lens but it does fine for me:



AsadG351.jpg


AsadG353.jpg


detail1.jpg






Everyone seems to really like the 50m prime lens; so I might pick that up next (they have the cheap Canon plastic body one for $80).
 
the F stop as you get smaller. you get less that's in focus.



here you see the focus on the u and the rest is falls off..



IMG_5494.jpg






Photo Description



File Name: IMG_5494.jpg Taken With: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL ...

File Size: 153 kb - 864x576 Taken On: 2006:04:09 04:48:28

Camera Make: Canon Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

Date/Time: 2006:04:09 04:48:28 Resolution: 864 x 576

Flash Used: No Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 81mm...

CCD Width: 22.20mm Exposure Time: 0.0003 s (1/4000)

Aperture: f/2.0 ISO Equiv.: 200

Whitebalance: Manual Light Source: Daylight

Metering Mode: matrix Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
 
Differences...



Cons of the 50mm:

It's a prime, so one focal length - can't drop down to 18mm like on the other lens.



Pros of the 50mm:

It's a prime, so like most, very sharp.

It goes to a 1.8 aperture, vs the 3.X max aperture of the 18-55 IS (which would have a max aperture of only 5.6 @ 50mm!)

Great color.

F'ing cheap for a lens of it's IQ



Another thing about IS.. it only compensates for a certain level of shake. Lots of times it's worth about 2 stops. In other words... say you can take a shot "shake-free" at f4.5 with an IS lens in a given environment. Well a non-IS lens can shoot that same shot in the same environment "shake-free" at about f2.5. So comparing the 50mm prime with a f1.8 max aperture to an 18-55 IS (which has a max aperture of F3.5-F5.6 depending on the zoom), the f1.8 should always be as SHAKE-FREE, assuming you shoot it 2 f-stops lower. And of course the sharpness and color will be better with the 50mm. Having much larger possible apertures will frequently reduce your need for a tripod too. You'll get much quicker shutters at say 50mm and f2.5 than you would with the IS lens shooting only f5.6 or higher at 50mm.
 
Great OK enough questions for now. I think I have tired all of you out with these questions haha.



Once I sell my powershot, I am going to pick up the XT and the 50mm f/1.8 EF
 
holland_patrick said:
don't for get the 17-40 F4L,100-400L,200 2.8L,and the sigma 30,and soon to be 50 1.4



Oh and the 1 D mark IIN..





oh wait that's my kit...



Damn!!! Nice gear!
 
drew.haynes said:
Differences...



Cons of the 50mm:

It's a prime, so one focal length - can't drop down to 18mm like on the other lens.



Pros of the 50mm:

It's a prime, so like most, very sharp.

It goes to a 1.8 aperture, vs the 3.X max aperture of the 18-55 IS (which would have a max aperture of only 5.6 @ 50mm!)

Great color.

F'ing cheap for a lens of it's IQ



Another thing about IS.. it only compensates for a certain level of shake. Lots of times it's worth about 2 stops. In other words... say you can take a shot "shake-free" at f4.5 with an IS lens in a given environment. Well a non-IS lens can shoot that same shot in the same environment "shake-free" at about f2.5. So comparing the 50mm prime with a f1.8 max aperture to an 18-55 IS (which has a max aperture of F3.5-F5.6 depending on the zoom), the f1.8 should always be as SHAKE-FREE, assuming you shoot it 2 f-stops lower. And of course the sharpness and color will be better with the 50mm. Having much larger possible apertures will frequently reduce your need for a tripod too. You'll get much quicker shutters at say 50mm and f2.5 than you would with the IS lens shooting only f5.6 or higher at 50mm.





Nice explanation Drew! :chuckle:
 
Back
Top