Amateur Setup

[woodsac]

I’m really thinking about getting a new camera? I’ve had my eye on the new Canon Rebel XT.



I’ve never taken a photog class before and no very little as far as the technical aspect goes. I’ve posted a few pics here. Nothing to write home about, but I think they're a good start. I do understand film speeds, aperture, etc. At least enough to get by. :confused: Right now I’m using a Panasonic DMC-FZ5. I really like it, but I feel limited?



Would the 350D be a good choice for an am like me? If not, could you recommend something else?



The actual camera I’m looking at is an eBay package. It comes with the body, 3 lenses, ext. flash, 4 GB microdrive, filters and some other accessories for about $1300. Do these lenses and accessories seem ok for starter to semi advanced photography?



Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 AF Lens

Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4 HIGH SPEED lens

Titanium .45x Wide Angle Lens

Hitachi 4GB MicroDrive



One more thing. Do you think the actual package is fair in price? Or could I find the body, lenses and micro drive (or better quality) for an equal price or cheaper without all the other accessories included? I don't know anything about those lenses :meh: $1300 is a lot of money for someone like me that only does this as a hobby. I don’t want to regret a big purchase.

[SLOShooter]

The 350D would be a great starter DSLR. You should also check out the Nikon D70s which I believe is the direct competitor to the Rebel XT.

I'd be a little warry of buying a package deal. The Sigma lenses, while good, are deffinatly not top notch and after the honeymoon period with your camera ends you might find the sharpness lacking. I'm not sure what the wideangle lens is either which makes me a little suspicous. I'm guessing maybe it's just a piece of glass that goes over an attached lens with .45x magnification. If that's the case then I would consider it practically useless.

One other thing to consider is that a 4GB drive is probably larger than you would ever practially use and may cause you problems. The larger drives have issues after awhile with data loss, and the fact that your keeping all your eggs in one basket if it goes down while your out on a shoot.

I personally, this is where your critical thinking center should kick in, would not go for that package. I would go for the body, a nice starter lens and something around 1GB compact flash ultra II. The ultra II will be a bit more costly but the faster write time will let you get more frames per second, if your into that.

That's what I would do, but as you know, I'm not you, so if the above suits your needs and your budget than it might be worth a go.

[Big Mike]

Well you have officially caught the bug and realized that you want a DSLR...welcome to the club :D

I think the Rebel XT is a good choice. However, it might be a good idea to hold it in a store before you buy it. It's quite small and I might not feel comfortable to everyone.

As for the E-bay package, I don't like it. Firstly, buying something new from E-bay seldom gets you a good deal (IMO). You are better off buying from a local store or one of the linked stores at the bottom of this page (B&H & Adorama). They will have the best price and have a good reputation.
I'm not sure I like that combination of lenses either. The 28-70 is a regular lens on a film camera but will be too long to be 'normal' on this camera. And I don't think that the wide angle adapter is the best solution.

I think you would be better off with the Canon kit lens (18-55 EF-S), or better yet the Canon 18-70 EF-S. That will give you a wide enough lens for walking around. There are other options as well but I think a digital specific wide zoom lens would be a good lens to start with.

The longer zoom lens, might be OK. Probably similar to most cheap 70-300 lenses.

As for the microdrive, I've heard that they are delicate. They have moving parts and therefore might be susceptible to damage from drops or knocks. Regular CF cards are getting less & less expensive all the time. Go for a 1 Gig card or two.

If you want to look at other cameras. Compare this one to the Nikon D50 and D70s. Maybe even the Canon 20D if you want to raise your budget a bit (I have one and it's great)

Good luck with your choice.

[LWW]

I'm a Nikon person myself and besides outstanding glass I'll tell you a perfect reason that often gets overlooked.

Nikon has used the same F mount since 1959 and the odds of dropping in within my lifetime are long indeed.

Forward and backward compatibility is almost without limit.

LWW