Ugghhhh sorry to ask this question.... (Canon Rebel XT or Nikon D40)

[sjl]

Overall, I like Canon colors and quality--I own a few of their compacts--but I'm not fond of their DSLR business practices. It seems to me that they over-charge for bodies, lenses and accessories. They don't even include a hood or pouch with even their $1000+ lenses, for example, and then want $40 for the piece of plastic that all other brands include in the box.

Partially true. If you buy an L series lens, you get the hood and pouch. If you buy a "lesser" lens, you don't. (he says, remembering that his 100-400mm did indeed come with those two accessories.) I fully agree that the pricing for hoods and pouches is way over the top, but let's be accurate in our disagreement with their business practices (and don't misunderstand me, I'm in complete agreement with your main point.)

The one thing that's going to irk me in a year or two, once I have the money for the 5D, is that I'll have to get a new battery grip. It's so frikken similar to the 20D and 30D in size and shape, why the hell does it have to have a different grip? Grr.

 

[Diatribe]

Just read a couple of reviews on the 18-200mm lens. Wow, seems like despite some minor shortcomings it is THE multi-purpose lens.
I guess I'll be spending some money this year. My wallet hates you guys already.

 

[Mantronix]

I went to Bestbuy today to try out the Nikon d40 and Canon Rebel XT again and I've decided that I will go with the Nikon. It just feels much better in my hands and the nice size LCD is also a plus. I will be purchasing my Nikon from Adorama. Can anyone suggest what accessories should I purchase with my camera besides memory card and carrying case?

 

[kwalsh1991]

i got the d40 today and so far it is work amazing

 

[compuwar]

I love my D50 but I have to admit of some pictures I'd like a poster print, which makes the 6MP kind of the only limiting factor.
As I said, MP are about print size not about quality. I agree with you with most people the limiting factor is skill not the camera or the MP.


What lens is that 18-200mm of yours?

The 6MP files from most modern cameras will uprez just fine if you use a professional printer to get large prints made. You can go to 11x14 in Photoshop, but beyond that I'd let someone's RIP do the uprez.

 

[compuwar]

A higher megapixel count WILL NOT cause blurriness or make it more difficult to get blur-free pictures. What some posters meant is that since there is extra resolution any imperfections on the photo will be more visible as they will occupy more pixels.

..which will make the pictures more blurry. But more importantly, more megapixels (in the same sensor size) mean that you will reach diffraction limits earlier, and diffraction does make the picture blurrier. Try shooting both a D70s and a D2x at f/16 on a tripod with MLU on the D2x and see which picture is blurrier- I guarantee you it'll be the 12.4MP one and not the 6MP one.

If I had $1 from every person who upgraded from a D100 or D70 to a D200 and complained of blurry pictures out of the gate on DPR or Nikonians, I'd probably have enough for a 600/4. In almost every single case, it was technique. You can be sloppier on a 6MP camera- you can use lower quality lenses on a 6MP camera, you can use sloppy handholding on a 6MP camera and you're further away from diffraction issues on a 6MP camera.