rcwelch

I'm sorry this is posted here but I trust you guys. My daughter wants to get a good camera that will last a good while and is looking at the Canon Digital Rebel XTI 400d with a 18-55MM lens. Any feedback would be appreciated or advice on another camera that will fill the bill. Please give me some direction as I am camera challenged.

gohno

I have found the following website to be a great resource for Canon equipment.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/

The review for the 400D is here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...Ti-Review.aspx

Black993

also check out dpreview.com

I have a 20d canon and love it. I've also heard lots of good things about the XTi so I think it would be a pretty decent purchase.


A word of caution: L-series glass is a very very slippery slope, much like that of a 911
The cost is not nearly as great but its very addicting.

jimhsu

Agree: another great website is www.dpreview.com.

here is the in-depth review of the EOS 400D: (there are THIRTY web pages to this review; you can go straight to the "conclusions" page for the pros and cons.) Sounds like Phil Askey liked it: he gave it the "Highly Recommended" conclusion.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/

I have had Canon digital SLR experience for many years and I think their lineup is very user-friendly. The kit 18-55 lens should be OK, but the huge assortment of lens possibilities will ensure that your daughter won't outgrow the camera for years to come.

Napa Valley Realtor

What is she hoping to accomplish?
Will she be using the interchangable lenses? Or simply sticking with the single "kit" lens?

I was looking at a XTI, but bought the Sony R1 instead. It is a fixed lens with an APC sized sensor (ie the same used in the Nikon line of semi-pro cams) so it has great ISO sensitivity (Not as good as the XTI) but close, and has a fixed lens that is truly amazing. It is great for wide angle photography, but it's max focal length is 120mm, so rather poor at "zooming in" to a shot. No longer sold new, you can buy quality used examples at bhphoto.com in the used section.

The single most important thing when buying a SLR is to pick a "lens system" you like. I.e. pick out lenses you want first, then see which brand best meets those needs. Your lenses will FAAAARR outprice your camera. Also you can use the lenses on future cameras, when you decide to move on form the original.


Please note the inherent weakness of these cameras is lack of wide angle lenses. Due to the non full frame senser, you must multiply the focal length by 1.6 to get the appropriate focal length. I.e. the included lens is NOT 18-55mm for all intensive purposes it is 28-88mm. Therefore you will need to buy and "ultra" wide angle lens to achieve the results of a typical wide angle lens. If wide angle is not important to her then this is not a negative. If long range photography is what she is hoping to do, then this actually is a plus, as it extends the range of any given lens by a factor of 1.6.

DPreview.com is by far the best site for camera reviews. Phil is very unbiased, where I would say most other sites are moderatly to extremely biased.

If she does go with the XTI, Costco sells them. Please use them as they have a 90 day customer satisfaction period. I see alot of people buy SLR's and later realize it was a bit "more" camera than they need. If so she could take it back. I believe Amazon.com also has a 30 day, but I have never actually tried to return anything so I cannot vouch for them.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask, as I know a great deal about digital photography.

Christer

The 400D is a really good camera, however the kit lens 18-55mm is not so good. It is a good starter lens though and of course the camera will take pictures that a compact digital could not match but if you have budget then i would suggest that you buy another lens. Whivh lens opens up a huge amount of discussion, because we would need to know what she wants to do. Does she want to photograph landscapes, portraits, sports, wildlife?

If you PM me, I can try to give you some advice?

rcwelch

Thanks for the information and I will get some more info from her to answer some of the questions.

Davies

I have an XTi DSLR. A lot of camera for the money. Definitely a thumbs up from this user.

SR71BLACKBIRD

Hey Randy:

You definitlely can't go wrong with the Canon Rebel XTI as it seems to be always top in its class of camera and it is so compact.

A friend of mine bought one and he was happy with it until he did a lot of indoor shooting and was comparing it to his buddy's EOS 20D which is at a higher level and complained that it was much slower in indoor photography but other than that he was happy with it .

Scott

eloyex

will go for the canon. very very good one.
great optics. lot of accessories and forums.
will never get a sony. my personal bad experience of course.
eloy

RallyJon

+1

A no brainer--especially if she is learning or interested in improving her skills--is the 50mm Canon f/1.8. Cheap and amazingly sharp: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0mm_f_1_8.html

Then you can budget $700-1000 a year to buy her a new L lens for Xmas.

ninjabones

I'm partial to Nikon. I think the D50 (no-longer in production and replaced by the D40, but still available by some distributors) is a steal for a full function Digital SLR. I bought one about 6 months ago (body only) and added a Sigma 18 - 200 mm zoom. I think the whole gig was about 500 bones. If anything, get yourself that Sigma 18 - 200 zoom... extremely versatile and in essence, you'll never have to change your lenses (thus avoiding getting dirt, etc on the mirror). The camera takes unbelievable photos right out of the box with several presets, but has the capability to do so much more. You do not need a 10 megapixel camera. Also, with the smaller LCD screen the battery life is incredible (I haven't charged it in over a month and that is with heavy daily use)

FotoVeloce

I had an original Rebel, and now a piar of 20D's (hm.. sounds like the begining of an America's Top Model episode). One is almost 2 years old and has really suffered some abuse, including over 8,000 miles packed on the back of a motorcycle. Very reliable.

The only suggestion I would make is get the kit WITHOUT the 18-55 lens. Really.. it's crap. Spend the money on a decent F2.8 Tamron which you can get for nearly the cost of the bottom-basement Canon lenses (the L glass is very pricey). A fellow professional photographer turned me on to the new Tamrons (I used to be a Canon L glass snob and I have plenty of them to show for it) and I've been so impressed, one now lives on a 20D body.

Photography is a great hobby, and can be a very lucarative and exciting profession. The XTi is a great camera to get started with IMHO and all the glass will fit the higher-end bodies if she ever wants to go that way.

The 18-55 e glass will NOT fit the higher-end bodies... not that she'd likely want to use it past the first few weeks anyway (I know.. I have a couple of them rattling around that came with camera kits -- they have very little street value).

FotoVeloce

AHAH exactly. I think the cheapest L lens I have cost me $1600.00

RallyJon

80% of the time, my wife uses this lens for everyday stuff, kid pics, etc:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...4L_IS_USM.html

Before that, she had this one, which was really very good and versatile, a great value, and a good step-up from the kit lens:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._4_5_6_IS.html