Anyone own the new Canon Digital Rebel XT (D350)?

40Hands

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2004
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Should I do it? Experiences? I am looking for something with a little more kick.
 

40Hands

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2004
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hah. right as I was posting this thread someone bumped a DSLR thread....
 

Yaotl

Senior member
Jul 7, 2001
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I have it. Just know that you'll lose a few things making the switch. You'll have to buy lenses to get a bigger zoom or a better wide angle. You'll lose the live preview on the LCD. You'll be able to buy crappy lenses that will make your pictures look bad. You'll probably need to buy more and bigger CF cards. The pros outweighed the cons for me, so I got one. There's a pretty decent learning curve though, so you might get frustrated early on if you've never used an SLR before.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
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Originally posted by: Yaotl
I have it. Just know that you'll lose a few things making the switch. You'll have to buy lenses to get a bigger zoom or a better wide angle. You'll lose the live preview on the LCD. You'll be able to buy crappy lenses that will make your pictures look bad. You'll probably need to buy more and bigger CF cards. The pros outweighed the cons for me, so I got one. There's a pretty decent learning curve though, so you might get frustrated early on if you've never used an SLR before.

I have the 300D and 2 Canon L-series lenses. I have one 1GB Sandisk CF II card and I can shoot over 200 pictures on one card.

It will take you a while to learn how to take good pictures with it but if it is something you enjoy it will be a fun experience. I sometimes take 20-30 pictures with different settings and/or lighting just to see how they differ. If they suck and you don't like them you can just delete them.

I say go for it and start saving for some L glass.
 

40Hands

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2004
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I have the CF thing figured out. 256 meg card + Gmini 400 20 gig portable media device with built in CF reader.

Did you get the kit or did you just get the camera itself? I don't have enough cash to buy the camera plus a fancy lens at the moment.
 

Yaotl

Senior member
Jul 7, 2001
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I bought the kit and the 50mm 1.8 lens. 256 is a bit skimpy even if you have a bigger storage to dump it in. You'll be dumping too often and might miss shots. I can only dream of L-glass for now :(
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
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I'd recommend just learning how to use the equipment you have now. Just getting a better camera isn't going to make you take better pictures, especially because the A80 isn't a bad camera to begin with.

There was a user on here who posted pictures he took with an A70 (I think), and the pictures looked professional because he's a good photographer. A skilled photographer would be able to take good pictures with whatever they have.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
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Originally posted by: BroeBo
I have the CF thing figured out. 256 meg card + Gmini 400 20 gig portable media device with built in CF reader.

Did you get the kit or did you just get the camera itself? I don't have enough cash to buy the camera plus a fancy lens at the moment.

I already had one L lens and a medium quality 28-135 IS zoom lens (much better than the kit lenses) for my film camera. I recently added the 17-40mm f/4 L lens to my gear bag.

Just buy a large CF card, it's much better than carrying around a portable media device and constantly downloading pictures to it.
 

40Hands

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Jun 29, 2004
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Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I'd recommend just learning how to use the equipment you have now. Just getting a better camera isn't going to make you take better pictures, especially because the A80 isn't a bad camera to begin with.

There was a user on here who posted pictures he took with an A70 (I think), and the pictures looked professional because he's a good photographer. A skilled photographer would be able to take good pictures with whatever they have.

I already am getting pretty good at taking pictures but I am feeling like I want to take the next step to a higher end camera. Here is my bbzzdd gallery (reduced file sizes but you get the idea) I may keep my old camera just to carry around with me all the time but I feel like shutter lag is a pain the ass and I could double my resolution with the 350D. (on top of all the other cool features) Its like an itch that I need to scratch.
 

Mark R

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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I recently changed from a Canon Powershot G3 to an EOS350D

The main changes I noticed:
- Kit lens on EOS350D isn't very good. It is a marked downgrade from the G3 - both in terms of zoom range, and in speed. I'm not familiar with the A80, but I would guess the comparison will be much closer.
- No LCD preview - I'd become accustomed to using the LCD for composition, and it was quite convenient in some circumstances.
- Self-timer button rests directly under where your right thumb goes - I was caught out a few times by that, before I learned.
- Bigger. G3 would fit in a jacket pocket at a pinch. No chance of getting a 350D in there.
- Canon's bundled software is just as bad, but more bloated.
- Walking past the shop with the L lenses in the window has become a trial of willpower.

- Sensor on EOS350D is much better - I was scared of using ISO 200 and 400 on the G3. I accidentally shot a whole card at ISO 1600 on the EOS350D and didn't notice by looking at the pictures - only found out when I checked the image data.
- Better autofocus - more capable in low light, and seems more accurate - with the big advantage that you can see what it is actually focussing on (a little spot appears in the viewfinder). Very useful if you're doing macro shots.
- Much better shutter lag, generally better responsiveness, fast continuous shooting, no power-on lag, can carry on shooting after buffer memory is full - just not as fast. G3 would stop until buffer had completely emptied.

You can see some pics in my sig: with the ones accidentally shot at 1600 here
 

40Hands

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2004
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How good is the stock zoom on the 350D kit? The A80 has a 3x optical zoom which is not good enough for me. Is the shutter lag pretty low? The A80 takes a while....
 

Mark R

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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It's a 3x optical zoom (18-55mm ; 30-90 mm 35mm equiv) and f3.5-5.6. It's quite slow particularly at its maximum focal length - although the high ISO capability of the 350D sensor makes this less of an issue, than it might otherwise be. Forget about sports photography with this lens.

Shutter lag - it's as long as it takes to focus, which is usually pretty quick. I gather that the kit lens has pretty slow AF compared to some of the higher-end lenses.
In manual focus mode, or in continuous AF mode - there is no noticable shutter lag.
 

SSP

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
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Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I'd recommend just learning how to use the equipment you have now. Just getting a better camera isn't going to make you take better pictures, especially because the A80 isn't a bad camera to begin with.

There was a user on here who posted pictures he took with an A70 (I think), and the pictures looked professional because he's a good photographer. A skilled photographer would be able to take good pictures with whatever they have.

I agree as well. If you dont know how to shoot manual with the A80 then having a DSLR isnt gona help. If you do... then spend away! :)