Im not a fan of these threads, but..DSLR decisions..

[Cullen]

Its the holiday season once again, and my first DSLR is on santas list! Ive been a film shooter (EOS 5) for 2 years now and i have 3 main lenses, a fish that is useless on a digi, a short zoom, and a 50mm 1.8. I shoot alot of skateboard photography (hence the fish). Now my family is far from rich, and without saying too much ill say the budget is low. Im buying this to compliment my 35mm SLR, not to replace it. Now to the question:

I have 2 choices. Canon D30 3.3mp SLR (theyre first digi) and An Original Digtal Rebel.

The rebel is 350 with a 256mb card
The d30 is 339 without a card.

Im undecided. I dont want to make the ignorant decision of going with more MPs automaticly, ive heard horible things about the build of the rebel and ive held the XT and hated it. The D30 has a better build (so i hear) and more options manually, such as metering mode. Id like to hear from anybody who has used both and would reccomend one or the other. And how much different is the size of the XT vs. the OG rebel? Im not a soccer mom and i have fairly large hands, too big for the tiny little XT.

 

[Abstract]

I don't know about the D30's photo quality, but I'd go with the Rebel. It shares a lot of things with the Rebel XT, including photo quality, but with a few features "locked." If you find a way to unlock some of the blacked out features of the Rebel, you'll get a camera that's quite comparable to the Rebel XT, which is a nice camera (although I don't like the feel of it either, so I own a Nikon D50).

 

[Cullen]

i love the d50. if i didnt have hundreds in canon glass already it would be in my bag. It seems to me that the 3 worst things about the Rebel aside from the feel are a lack of a PC port (bigg deal for me), lack of a thumb wheel, and the pentamirror vs. prism.
The D30 seems like a great camera but is older and will end up just slightly more expensive than the D-reb.*

*Actually after buying a Hotshoe-PC adapter for the Rebel the cost would probbably even out.

 

[wmmk]

I'd get the rebel. hands down.
or save a little longer and get a used nikon D50.

 

[Cullen]

d50 would mean trashing like..$500 worth of glass and starting new. Not planing on doing that..

 

[pip11]

It really depends on what you hated about the XT. I've used the original digital rebel and found that the grip was perfectly fine--basically the same as my 35mm Rebel Ti, and *much* more comfortable than the XT. If you're looking for something comparable to the original digital rebel, look in stores to find a Rebel T2--I think they still sell those, and the grip size is about the same. The Rebel's feel won't be as good as the D30 though (its still plastic) and it doesn't look as pro, but the Rebel is probably a better choice. It's cheaper in your case, has a comfortably higher megapixel count, better lens compatibility (in case you happen across an EF-S), and I find the ergonomics to be better than the XT/XTi.

 

[Abstract]

Ok, 300D/Digital Rebel or nothing. But again, I don't know much about the Canon D30.

How much can you eBay those Canon lenses for? Is it nice glass? I'm just thinking that you may see the D50 at a discounted price with the new Nikon D40 on the way.

 

[Cullen]

To tell the truth i really would not want a d50 anyway. i love the feel and size of it but im not a fan of nikons control layout.

If the Rebel is really much more ergonomic than the XT then ill have to try a T2 to see. I know that the rebel is so superior in many ways, but i feel drawn to the D30 for the reasons of dependability/comfort. Ill try the T2 though thanks.

 

[wmmk]

To tell the truth i really would not want a d50 anyway. i love the feel and size of it but im not a fan of nikons control layout.

If the Rebel is really much more ergonomic than the XT then ill have to try a T2 to see. I know that the rebel is so superior in many ways, but i feel drawn to the D30 for the reasons of dependability/comfort. Ill try the T2 though thanks.

honestly, there are better cameras than the canons, that are in your price range. you could always get a mount adaptor. how about a used Pentax DL2 or DS2, they are amazing cameras, as are all Pentaxes.
if you must go canon, get the Rebel. Is has better image quality. Or again, save up and buy a more current camera. the XTi honestly has some great image quality, even though the kit lense and plasticey body are rather junky.

 

[Cullen]

I didnt think that a mount adapter for an EOS lens was possible, due to the CPU control of the lens.?

Saving up really isnt an option, i have family members to think about and im really asking for alot, id just like to get the camera.
Unfortunately, the rebel man is beggining to seem less and less legit, so hopefully either im wrong or i can find another seller..

 

[ChrisA]

Its the holiday season once again, and my first DSLR is on santas list! Ive been a film shooter (EOS 5) for 2 years now and i have 3 main lenses, a fish that is useless on a digi, a short zoom, and a 50mm 1.8.......

I'd only for for the d30 if (1) your target publication media is the web or some other electronic screen and (2) you know you can get the shot without need to crop or do much post processing.

You are right to not go for the extra pixels without thinking but less than 4MP is really small. What you really should do is turn those letters around and go the 30D.

As for switch brands, it is hardly ever worth the cost. But still you should price it out. You will likey ned to buy a wide lens for the new camera because what's wide in 35mm format is not wide in APS-C format. You are going to want a lens that goes to at least 18mm and maybe even to 12mm.
So if you need a 12-24 the cost to switch may (maybe?) not be as bad.

Why can't the fish eye work on digital? I know the crop factor but still it should be usfull.

Nikon does make a great 10.5m fisheye but for $550

 

[sjl]

I didnt think that a mount adapter for an EOS lens was possible, due to the CPU control of the lens.?

Electronic control of a lens does not stop a mount adapter being made - it just means that you would have to use manual focusing, and you'd be stuck with the widest aperture the lens can produce (unless the adapter has some sort of aperture control, which is unlikely).

The issue with the EF mount, if I remember rightly (read: take this with a shaker of salt), is that the back element is placed closer to the film/sensor than any other mount. Consider what happens when you attach an adapter to a lens: it pushes it away from the sensor. This is fine when mounting (eg) a Nikon lens on a Canon body, but going the other way will lose the ability to focus to infinity. Fine for macro work, but ... well ...

As for the fisheye, it'll work, but you'll lose the edge of the shots, where the effect is most pronounced. For the 30D, or other 1.6 crop bodies (which includes the Rebel, XT, and XTi), you'd want an 8mm fisheye or similar, rather than Canon's 15mm fisheye, for the full effect.

 

[Cullen]

As for the fisheye, it'll work, but you'll lose the edge of the shots, where the effect is most pronounced. For the 30D, or other 1.6 crop bodies (which includes the Rebel, XT, and XTi), you'd want an 8mm fisheye or similar, rather than Canon's 15mm fisheye, for the full effect.

Yea, im very sadly aware of this, and i just bought the fish... so i dont want to sell it.

Chris, the reason for the DSLR would be for uploading to my blog/website and sending to friends, as well as light tests. All my prints would still be made from 35mm. In this way, i can save the cost of film for those not-so-neccesary shots and also the cost for those shots i screwed up lighting on. With this saved cash the cost will even out fairly quickly (i shoot ALOT of film and proccesing E6 has become a pain in the @ss as well as the wallet)

 

[sjl]

Yea, im very sadly aware of this, and i just bought the fish... so i dont want to sell it.

Which leaves you with three options of varying degrees of utility to you.

1. Suck it up and buy a 1.6 crop factor body, accepting that the fisheye becomes less effective when mounted on that body.
2. Buy a Canon 5D (or, if you have money to burn, a 1Ds body of some sort).
3. Accept that you won't be using the fisheye on the digital body.

You still have the 35mm film body, so the fisheye can still be used on that. So in that sense, you don't lose the fisheye if you buy a DSLR. You can always buy the 1.6 crop body, play with the fisheye on it, see if you get results you can live with ... it ends up being a win-win, in that you get most of the utility you want from the DSLR until the film savings become enough to buy a full frame body to get all of the utility.

 

[Cullen]

that was pretty much the plan, i hate over-use of the fish anyway and it'll give me an excuse to still shoot film. I like film

 

[Abstract]

If it's not going to be your main camera, I'd go for the Canon 300D/Digital Rebel even though you don't like the size. It's the better camera, and you still have the film camera.

 

[maxi]

$500 worth of glass is what? 1 lens?

 

[Aperture]

I was in the same situation as you back in August, I got a used Rebel (300d) and haven't looked back. I wouldn't say the camera feels "junky" at all, IMHO. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, though. I considered saving up for a d50, just didn't see that many features it had over the Rebel. Anyway, go with the Rebel. It is a great camera and is also fairly durable.

Kevin

Edit: Also, the reason I didn't get a Pentax/like brands is because I wanted to stick to the mainstream Canon/Nikon brands because of lens choices.

 

[Cullen]

$500 worth of glass is what? 1 lens?

haha nope. 3 cheap lenses. Point was its not worth the hassle to me to trade in my lenses for a d50 with sligtly better features.

Thanks aperture im pushed over to the Rebel side now..I hope i get a chance to hold one before I make a purchase, Ive only held an Xt.

 

[-hh]

FWIW, something else that I'd probably take a quick look at is the specifications for the two camera's start-up (boot up) times.

We have a 10D in the office and I got a 20D for at home; the difference between these two is pretty noticable.


-hh