Filmasaourus here...

[rover]

Hi gals and guys.

I just dropped 16 rolls of film off to be processed and have another 6 B&W rolls to develop myself. Yes, it was a nice vacation, but after shelling out a couple hundred dollars later this week to acquire my prints I am thinking that I need to start considering this digital fad. ;)

I do envision that I will still be shooting my RF cameras and B&W film for most of "my" shooting. The stuff I shoot for me. But, I do have a 5 year old, starting school, soccer.....you know the drill. Digital capture may be the way to go for my quickening paced life.

So, I played with a Rebel XT today and was quite impressed overall with its handling. Similar to my EOS 10s which isn't getting any younger. Ideally, I would like a digital Elan 7n, but I don't know enough about the XT or 20D to be able to tell the two apart. I guess with the XT you loose an ISO equivalent of 3200, a few less frames per second, am I missing anything else?

My brother just bought a Canon G6, it is nice, but didn't knock me over as something that would satisfy me. Is there any hope that improvements in focusing, shutter lag and light sensitivity will be made in this class of camera?

Well, I am starting my digital camera education, thank you for putting up with my newbie questions.

[sblair]

Go to www.dpreview.com and they have good reviews on the XT. I have been using my XT for about 4 months and really like it. I did have to get used to some focus issues but no problem now. Learning curve coming from a Nikon FM.

I really like the smaller size of the XT. I did buy 3 lenses for it. The kit lens seemed a little soft at first. I now have a 25-105, 60 macro and a 70-200. That about covers anything that I shoot.

Steve

[rover]

My main draw towards Canon right now is that I do have a history with them, the 28-105 and a 50/1.8. Which 70-200 do you have Steve? The Sigma 2.8 gets very good reviews and is a good bagain for a 2.8 tele-zoom.

[GeneW]

The 350D XT should make a very nice cam -- I recently purchased a used 300D and am quite satisfied with it. The 'plastic fantastic' EF 50/1.8 lens is a bargain -- inexpensive and very sharp. The kit lens is not bad stopped down, and it gives you a 28mm equiv wide angle. I do a lot of macro work and for awhile owned the EF 100mm 2.8 macro usm -- it's a peach! I now use a Zuiko 90mm/2 macro with an adapter.

Gene

[Unregistered]

Chipmanp here (not logged in).

As sblair says, go to dpreview, but a cautionary note: Their reviews aren't allways the best (IMHO). Case in point is the Minolta A2 8-megapixel camera they reviewed a while ago. They went on and on about how soft the images were. Well, ya, of course because like Canon's 1DS series, Minolta is not applying gobs of sharpening effects in the camera and leaving it to the photographer to get better results from Photoshop or a plug-in. I borrowed a friends A200 (a more consumer-level version of the same camera), and despite some quirks that were indeed pointed out by dpreview, all in all I found it to be a very compitent performer for the money not to mention that it has a live histogram!

I guess what I'm saying is, in addition to dpreview, check other places like the luminous-landscape and outbackphoto before you make a final decision. As to the 350XT...nice camera, same image quality as the 20D, but you don't get mirror lock-up and other niceties in the 20D. Definitely the best bang for the buck under $1,000 (used to be Nikon before the XT version of the Rebel came along).

Pete.

[Unregistered]

Chipmanp here again...

Sorry, meant to say "as you do in the 20D." If I'm correct, they programmed out mirror lock-up in the XT. (Dumb, dumb, dumb, and mean thing to do!).

Pete.

[Kin Lau]

The XT has mirror lockup. It's in the custom functions, and turns the timer into a 2 sec instead of 10 sec timer. I just tested it.

I also still have the 300D. The XT feels nicer, it's definitely smaller but the main reason I got the XT was the faster shots/sec and more number of consecutive shots which I need since I mostly shoot birds. The extra 2 mp doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.

[rover]

Well, the 16 rolls of film I developed from my vacation ran me $225. I took a look at the 20D and Rebel XT while in the shop. I need to sell some gear and saving some money.

[Alex]

Go digital, the cross over is costly if you need to get new lenses but your end saving make it worth while. I've got the 300D and print up to A3 size. XT is more solid and has better specs but I don't know if two more MPs is really noticable. I will always want a rangefinder and some triX but then I remember what a pain developing and scaning ( I no longer print chemicaly) can be and then I want to get a full frame DSLR, even better would be a full frame panoramic rangefinder(XpanIIID).

[agphotography]

rover,

i used to shoot the Elan 7 before i moved on to a couple EOS 3 bodies.

you may want to look at the 10D as well, i currently have one, and i love it immensely, the 20d is nice, but it doesnt feel as ergonomic to me, a friend of mine has it and i tested the two of them. you can snag one for a pretty fair price too. and its a much better build over the rebel cameras.

[taffer]

Hem...

:o raises hand...

Same here. I've been turning the ball around for the last few weeks and then some things happened.

- I suddenly found myself interested in photo projects where color is desirable.
- I became interested in the D70 and could try one yesterday, it restarted my interest in old Nikkor glass.
- Then yesterday night I managed to get two non-AI Nikkors, 105/2.5 and 24/2.8, both and shipment made a total of roughly $100, try that with new glass / RF glass. Also I already own an 8 elements 35/2 I got from Brian some months ago.
- Then recalled something about non-AI glass on the EOS and found this: http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/EOSclassiclenses.htm, while the D70 doesn't even meter with them (and cannot physically mount them unless you convert them to AI).

The rest... is up to you :)

Time to go back to RFF to post some more stuff for sale :D

[Ray_G]

Same here, Taffer. I had resolved to shoot with RF's and my film SLR's while waiting for DSLR prices to come down. Then I found myself with a 300D kit obtained in a trade on RFF.

For the past month, I have been shooting quite a bit with an M42 adapter and old glass - pentax, Tamron SP, CZ Jenas, and russian lenses in m42 mount. Focusing is a bit squinty, but at f/5.6 (or smaller) I get consistent results.

Next I'll need to find a good Contax to EOS adapter :)

[taffer]

Btw, for those interested in manual focusing with Canon digitals, you may find this info interesting...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=14612329

:)

[Kin Lau]

There's also this thread http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Cfa5 and the company is http://www.keoptics.com

[rover]

I have so talked myself out of a DSLR. I just don't want another system. I can't/refuse to afford the body and the lenses that I would want. I think that Sony R1 is a sign of good things to come for EVF cameras. Note, this is a "gadget man" saying he doesn't want a bunch of toys, just a self contained unit not to fuss over.

[jdos2]

Psssst!

(Epson RD-1)

[taffer]

Even more sources of focusing screens for Canon

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7548129686&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

The seller's feedback talk highly about them, and they are reasonably priced...

[Ray_G]

That IS reasonably priced, compared to what's currently available. It would be nice to hear some feedback from anyone who has this screen.

[taffer]

Have you checked his feedback Ray ? Some comments seem to be from people who knows quite a bit about it and seem pretty favorable...

There's some more info about these hoada produts on photo.net... The most tough part for me would be installation, as I'm all thumbs and should look for a decent technical service to do the job for me...

[Rick66]

Hello
I know you require an adapter to mount Olympus (&others) to EOS bodies, but does anybody know if the Zuiko 90mm F2 Macro will physically fit on the 30D (or 20D) without extra modification. The back element protruded quite a bit so was conderned about mirror damage with this specific lens.
Regards
Rick

[JohnS]

Regarding your brother's G6 and other similar cameras. Their sensor is smaller and they do not perform as well as the DSLR's. I have a point and shoot and I am limited by this fact.
It seems you get the most bang for the buck in the DSLR space. It is probably because there are at least 5 competitors vying for a piece of the upscale pie. They have to keep up with each other with features and pricing. Regarding the non interchangeable lens cameras; they all end up missing something you will probably want two weeks after you buy them.
The DSLR space seems the most affordable. If you get a good zoom lens you might never take it off, (and let dust in). :) :)

[Unregistered]

You can pick up an Olympus E1 new for around £400 in the UK - 5MP, 3f/sec for 12 frames, professional build quality, no dust issues and you can get an adapter for just about any lens you can think of from cameraquest - http://www.cameraquest.com/adapt_olyE1.htm

The E1 is fine up to iso 800, but gets a bit noisy above that (can be cleaned up pretty well though, but that involves time and effort). Don't be concerned about pixel count - you can produce excellent prints to A3 and beyond - I know, I've done it.

Just to add to your confusion.

Regards

Gid (from RFF)

[Al Patterson]

I'd still like a DSLR. While I've been a Canon SLR shooter for 25 years, I can't seem to get excited by the Digital Rebel series. The first one was too small for me, and the newer ones keep getting smaller. I'm convinced the design team are either midgets or sub 5 foot tall women.

The 30D feels great though. Why can't Canon be like Nikon and make an entry level DSLR for real people, instead of folks with child sized hands? I mean the D50, D70 and D80 feel like real camera, not child sized toys...