Need digital SLR-Looking to save $$$

[BlakeNJ]

I currently have a Canon Rebel EOS (not digital) from 2003. I loved it but wanted something smaller to carry around. I went with a Canon Elf (digital of course) that I carry in my bag at all times. The EOS went to the closet and has never come back out. I really needed digital with two little kids.

Now I am shopping for a digital SLR. The Nikon D40 & D80 have been suggested but I thought I could get away a little cheaper buying the Canon xTi body and using my existing lens. It looks like I would save around $100. I see an 8 MP and a 10 MP.

What do you think?

 

[Master Mason]

If your trying to get into a cannon DSLR, on a budget I would highly recomend getting the XT rather than the XTi.

I have the XT and it has been a great camera. Depending on what lenses you have, you might be able to get away with just purchasing the Body only, but I am going to guess your widest lens is probably around 28 right now, which could be a little tight at times.

B&H currently has the body only for 497 and the body with 18-55 kit for about 580, the silver is a bit cheaper than the black.

 

[BlakeNJ]

Thanks for the reply. Is there much of a difference btw the XTi ad the XT other than mega pixels? When you say the lens might be tight, what do you mean?

 

[Master Mason]

the dslr will have an effective crop, so you mulitply the lens by 1.6 to get the MM equivalent

so if your film lens was a 28 wide open then it will be 44 wide open on the dslr, which means it doesn't go very wide. the standard lens on the dslr is 18

 

[ukcatfan]

If saving money is your primary concern, then look at the Pentax K100D for $469.00 plus a $50 rebate from Buydig. Unless you are big into shooting in burst mode, then I highly recommend it. I have had one since Oct. '06 and have not been happier with it. The burst is only 3 in RAW and 5 in JPG, so when that is important, then look elsewhere. Basically any DSLR is going to be good. Much of it comes down to how it feels in your hands, certain specific features, and price.

I agree that if you go Canon, get the XT due to the good deal on it right now. The supply on them is likely getting short, so you would not want to hold off too long. I also agree that your existing lens is probably not wide enough, so get the kit.

Kevin

 

[jann1033]

the xt and xti have a few differences, xti has more mps, dust cleaning mechanism for your sensor, 9 instead of 7 point auto focus, 2.5 instead of 1.8 lcd display, i think it also does not have the little display that lists shutter aperture, how many photos left on the card , exposure mode, etc under the eyepiece, i think with the xti you have to check on the main lcd( not having one i could be wrong about that) guessing most of the ireally pertinent nfo ( shutter ap. exposure scale, exposure lock etc) still shows up in the eyepiece but not as much info as in the small lcd on the xt. it also has picture styles which are preset to determine color etc as well as custom set ones, the rebel has only the custom functions that you set that i think basically do the same thing but aren't preset .they have the same processor, the same sensor, look pretty much the same, same fps, same shutter lag etc
so basically , it depends on what you want to spend for those features. i have a rebel xt and like it. probably wouldn't upgrade to an xti but do want to get a 30d or it's successor when it comes out.

your lens will work for sure if its a canon but if it's a third party sometimes they need rechipped to work ( ie sigma), sometimes they don't, sometimes they won't work at all( since your's if fairly new i would think it would work but may need rechipped, my sigma from my film eos did but still was and is a lousy lens, my promaster didn't and works fine with it although not good either ( or i've just gotten way more picky)

 

[Groucho]

Beach Camera is a good place to shop by price, plus they have very fast shipping.

For comparison, here's current prices from them on entry-level DSLRs, lowest to highest, including kit lenses except for the Canon since you already have a lens:
$419 Pentax K100D (kit after rebate)
$489 Olympus E500 (kit)
$494 Canon XT (body)
$540 Nikon D40 (kit + 1gb card)
$659 Canon XTi (body)
$716 Olympus E410 (kit)
$719 Nikon D40x (kit + 1gb card)

They don't sell the Sony Alpha. That one didn't really start out as an entry-level DSLR, but some aggressive price cuts have brought it down to similar prices as the XTi.

Why do your kids require that you have a digital camera? Your film SLR should be plenty speedy enough to capture them, and certainly has better quality than an Elph. If the size and weight of your film SLR made you put it in the closet, a DSLR could easily end up in the same place.

 

[YEKCIM]

Nikon D40 with 18-135 lens.

A bit more money, but the lens has much greater range.

~YEKCIM

 

[BlakeNJ]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice. Sounds like I better go with a kit. My lens might not work.

It wasn't size that I didn't like about my Canon--it was two kids who move too much (DS3 & DD1 at the time)--I was wasting film.

My son is starting to get into sports so my little Elf isn't cutting. I will still keep it in my bag but pull out the slr for sports and more artistic shots.

Thanks again!
Blakely

 

[jann1033]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice. Sounds like I better go with a kit. My lens might not work.

It wasn't size that I didn't like about my Canon--it was two kids who move too much (DS3 & DD1 at the time)--I was wasting film.

My son is starting to get into sports so my little Elf isn't cutting. I will still keep it in my bag but pull out the slr for sports and more artistic shots.

Thanks again!
Blakely

if it's sigma, they will tell you if it does or not( and if they rechip it it's only $10) don't know if anyone else will but it's worth calling/emailing them to find out. if you ask canon they will just tell you, " " about 3rd party stuff

 

[jenseib]

I have the Rebel Xti. I went to best buy and played with all the cameras. My favorite was actuall ythe Sony Alph, but becuase it is the first SLR by sony, and I ahve hated all sony point and shoots, I was leary on it. Sopme recomend it highly, while others said wait till they have mad a few more. (it technically is a Minolta). Between the Xt & XTi, I liked the feel of the XT i better for me. I also reallly liek the big screen. My P7S has the big screen for me too, and it was hard to step down to a smaller one for my "nicer" camera.
I thought some one once told me to stay away from Beach Camera. I have read alot about them being scammers.
I got mine through Dell and find really great and competitive prices with them.
If you aren't sure about a site to buy from just google the name with the word scam and you can find out how goo or not they are.

 

[YEKCIM]

I thought some one once told me to stay away from Beach Camera. I have read alot about them being scammers.

WHERE??? I've NEVER heard anyone even hint at Beach/Buydig being a scam shop. Beach currently has a lifetime 9.07 out of 10 on Resellerratings.com. There are few online camera retailers with a higher rating.

I think you have them confused with someone else.

~YEKCIM

 

[jenseib]

WHERE??? I've NEVER heard anyone even hint at Beach/Buydig being a scam shop. Beach currently has a lifetime 9.07 out of 10 on Resellerratings.com. There are few online camera retailers with a higher rating.

I think you have them confused with someone else.

~YEKCIM

No, I have read mixed reviews about them online. Some really love them ,but others call them liars,scammers, etc, Supposedly they have another company as well and that is where alot of problems stem from.
Just google Beach camera scam and you can find stuff. Like I said, some say they are great and some don't. Also their shipping is suppose to be really high compared to others. I know there are others that are worse them they are though!

 

[YEKCIM]

No, I have read mixed reviews about them online. Some really love them ,but others call them liars,scammers, etc, Supposedly they have another company as well and that is where alot of problems stem from.
Just google Beach camera scam and you can find stuff. Like I said, some say they are great and some don't. Also their shipping is suppose to be really high compared to others. I know there are others that are worse them they are though!

All I can share with the OP is that we have had zero problems with Beach. My wife ordered her complete Nikon D200 system from them, and I ordered a D50 body and an SB-800 flash unit from them, all within the last year, and was very pleased with their service. Concerning shipping charges, I don't believe they charge *anything* extra for shipping so, again, I wonder if you are thinking about another retailer.

Their "other company", btw, is buydig.com which has an 8.36 out of 10 lifetime rating with resellerratings.com. For reference, B&H is the king, at 9.37 out of 10, which is only slightly higher than Beach.

They're right up there with B&H, from everything I know about them, and from personal experience.

~YEKCIM

 

[jenseib]

Like I said, those are the reviews I read. I never bought from them myself because of those reviews. Unless there is two Beach cameras. And yes the shipping cost was the one of the highest complaints. Maybe they did away with it now???? I read this in the last month or so though.

 

[Master Mason]

you can find bad reviews of any site, there is no such thing as a perfect company.

Your best bet is to look at resellerratings.com as Yekcim suggested. And make your decision based on that.

 

[Groucho]

Beach has had free shipping for a long time, I got my DSLR last year with free shipping from them and got extremely fast shipping and a terrific price. I recommended them again to a friend of mine who is buying his first DSLR and he was amazed how good their prices are.

Speaking of buydig, I realized that they have more lenses than I thought - and some are cheaper than at Beach (who also have more than I thought). Not all the lenses show when you browse, but putting in the system name produced a lot more than I expected. Buydig has the Pentax 10-17mm fisheye zoom for only $309 after rebate! I may have to pick this one up... that's an amazing price considering how much the same lens (by Tokina) sells for in other mounts. FWIW, Beach has it for $329 after rebate - still a great price, but not as great.

 

[ukcatfan]

Like I said, those are the reviews I read. I never bought from them myself because of those reviews. Unless there is two Beach cameras. And yes the shipping cost was the one of the highest complaints. Maybe they did away with it now???? I read this in the last month or so though.

There is another company doing business with a similar name to Buydig. I think it is something like Gobuydig or something like that. They are scammers. I have made a number of purchases through both Buydig and Beach and have never had any problems. Are you sure that you are not thinking about Butterfly Photo? They are one on the borderline of bad and good. All of the complaints I have read were truly the consumer's fault. They were complaints that you had to sign for the package, people that did not inspect their packages upon delivery and did not receive everything, were mad about restocking fees, etc. If you read on the terms of a sale before making it(plain stupid if you don't) then you would know that these things were going to happen and you have no excuse for complaining in my opinion. They NEVER do the high pressure sales, forced accessory sales, bait n' switch, and so on. I think Adorama and B&H are better, but only marginally. In fact, Dell has a below 5 out of 10 rating, so I do not see your logic going with them??? No retailer is going to ever make everyone happy, but it looks like Beach/Buydig does better than Dell.

Kevin

 

[YEKCIM]

I'll add a quick note about butterflyphoto.com. I have ordered from them twice and, while I did get an "order verification" / upsell phone call, before they shipped, they were very polite and there was NO pressure to buy anything else...they just asked. Other than that, I was satisfied with the service.

~YEKCIM

 

[jenseib]

I'm not sure of the ratings you guys are talking about. Never been to a site with ratings. I LOVE Dell. I bought my computer through them and several other things. I get in with 2 days usually, low, to no shipping on most and they take back and replace stuff when it is faulty. I guess it's waht I'm familiar with, so I stick with them. I think you are right about the gobuydig thing. I think that is the company that was referred to as a company that Beach was hiding behind.
where do I find these rating? What do they stand for? I know I can't complain at all about Dell.