My Rebel XT finally came!

[goodferry]

I finally got it! Here are a few of the pictures I took yesterday afternoon and this morning at soccer. Feel free to give me any advice, I could use it!

Shelby

Zoe

soccer

I missed a great picture when this little girl came walking out of the tall grass, arms outstretched carrying the skeletal remains of a deer. Just as I focused in her mother screamed "drop that" and I missed it.

 

[ldibo]

Those came out great! What kind of lens were you using? I love my XT!

Lynn

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Yaaay! Welcome to the Canon family.

Now get out there and buy
18-55 f/2.8 EF-S IS,
70-200 f/2.8L IS,
50 f/1.8 II (hey, at least this lens is mighty cheap!)

 

[party of 3]

wow crystal clear pics.they are beautiful. did you do alot of research before buying it? i have been looking, but can not make up my mind. i have also been looking at the 20d. are they waaaay to complicated to use? i love my minolta regular 35 mm, then i went to a kodak digital, now i want a better digital.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

20D is very easy to use. 30D is even easier. Since I've bought my 30D, I never use the 20D anymore for three reasons:

1. It allows you to choose auto rotate function while NOT rotating the preview picture on the LCD. Since the LCD is so huge, now I no longer need to bring my laptop to show the pic to my client. (I know, laptop screen is larger, but the LCD on the 30D is large enough my client never ask for a larger preview anymore)

2. Better low-light and back-light AF on the 30D

3. Oh, and the capability to use (say) ISO 640 instead of 800 (20D only allows me to change from 400, to 800, to 1600, and nothing in between, 30D allows me to up it by 1/3 stop)

 

[goodferry]

I am using a Sigma 18-125 mm lens. I have the original lens that came with it also and I have the 50 1.8 on order, that's about all I have the cash for right now! I would love to have the 70-200 IS, but it's so expensive, I am going to have to convince DH that this is more than a phase and that I won't be shopping for a pocket sized point and shoot in a month.

I did do a lot of research before I bought this camera, I knew I wanted a canon, but deciding which one was tough! I have wanted an SLR for YEARS, but have always been seduced by the convenient size of the little point and shoots, but this time I knew that I wanted a better camera.

We spent about three months researching what we wanted. I knew almost immediately I wanted the Rebel, but DH was not convinced. His fear was that the camera would be too bulky and I would not want to lug it around.

I spent a lot of time talking to salespeople and friends and family and reading on this forum and got the ammunition I needed. When it came right down to it, it was between the new canon IS3 and the Rebel, the price difference was not significant enough to justify not getting my dream camera, so we did!

I read up about the lenses on here and different other websites before deciding which "extra" lenses to get. My next purchase will be a tri-pod (hopefully they have taken all the Mother's Day is coming hints I have dropped and I will get one next weekend )

Anything else I need to shop for?

 

[JR6ooo4]

Anything else I need to shop for?

Hi Goodferry and congratulations! My starter extras list:

Second Battery
Memory
If you like to hand the camera to others for shooting or just looking at the pics then a UV filter will help protect the lens from fingers and even a drop as some have posted.
Bulb blower (first method for removing possible dust on the sensor) It may be a while before you get some dust but almost everyone does and it's no fun at that point waiting until you can go to the store or have one shipped.

If you are shooting outdoors in the middle of the day the light is very harsh and washes out much color. A polarizer filter helps but they also can be expensive by the time you get a build quality equal to the lenses you may have.
Mikeeee

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I would storngly recommend two things:

1. remote shutter release (don't buy original Canon, too expensive, just get third-party stuff from eBay, they work the same way)
2. battery grip. It will make vertical shooting (portrait mode) more stable.

 

[JCTurner]

Great choice of camera !

I have had mine since launch and have ended up with the following lenses - each has its own merits:-

My fave all purpose - Canon 28-135IS
Night lens - Sigma 30mm F1.4
Wide lens - Sigma 10-20mm
Tele - Sigma 70-300mm
And not forgetting the 18-55mm which came with it

Not forgetting the spare battery, remote shutter release and lowepro Computrekker bag.

Enjoy your camera !

JC

 

[captaincrash]

Just keep in mind that your 350 has an UNSPECIFIED but widely acknowledged finite shutter life. By that - I mean various sources have cited 50,000 (unlikely); 35,000 (likely) or 30,000 (certain) as the shutter life span. The consumer level SLRs like the Elan have been cited as having a 30,000 actuation shutter life span. The top end Canon DLSRs have a 100,000 or 200,000 (?!) life span. I replaced my Digital Rebel sutter after a little over 2 years use! But I was potentially an extreme user who shoots about 10,000+ images a year. I spent $180 to replace the shutter with Canon and then decided I would a) be more judicious in shooting as opposed to spraying; and b) I wanted a different body. So I sold the Drebel for $500 (body only) and bought a 10D for $590. ALthough these are nearly identical in spec - I gained a magnesium body and black finish. I was growing tired of the rapid depreciation in value so I decided to side step a generation of two until I saw a DSLR with compelling advances.