Well, I finally pulled the trigger yesterday and joined the digital photography age. I ended up going with a DSLR ... the Canon Rebel XSi. What finally pushed me to the DSLR: Viewfinder. I HATE the LCD screen as viewfinder on digital cameras & wanted something with a real viewfinder. The Canon "superzoom" has an electronic viewfinder, but it's just condensed version of the big LCD on the back. Value of my gear. My film SLR dates to 1993, so it turns out my gear didn't have much trade in value. I gained more value by keeping my lenses (which can be used with the new camera). Now I just have to learn how to use the damned thing. Thanks for all your help!!
Gratz. I am still holding off on my conversion to digital. But it shouldnt be too long. (The whole buying a new Prius took priority). I also want to compare my current gear against Canon and Nikon. But right now, I am still leaning toward the Nikon 5000 as my choice.
Congratulations on the XSi! I've had mine for about a year now, taken a couple thousand photos with it and I love it. What lenses do you have? I just have the standard kit lenses with mine, the 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS, they both do the job quite well as far as I'm concerned. Also don't discount the software that came with it, it's OK, but for serious work you'll want a copy of either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (I use elements myself). To get the most out of the camera you'll probably want to pick up an aftermarket book on it, as you probably noticed the one that comes with it is a bit lame, there are a number of good aftermarket ones available, I got this one it really fills in where the Canon manual leaves off. Happy shooting! :high5:
It came with the 18-55 IS and I have the 35-80 and 75-300 (both EF series) from my old camera, so I'm good to go on lenses for a little while. Eventually I'll want to upgrade to newer zooms (and at least one macro lens), but I can wait. Thanks for the tip about the book. I'll have to look into that.
I have the Canon Rebel XS(not the i), and the pictures it takes are phenomenal! I have some night shots I took that are just great. Being able to take low light pictures, and depth of field shots are so easy, something that just cant be done on a regular digital camera, and being able to switch out the lenses is a plus. My previous camera was an Olympus D400, and it took great pictures too, but was so limited in what it can do. Last month we went to the House on the Rock in Wisconsin, and I used the camera with the stock lenses, the regular lens and the telephoto that are included with the package. I have some great shots of the dolls on the carousel, first with one lens then the other. I haven't figured out yet how to downsize them correctly with IrFan, I keep mucking them up. I like the canon because of the wide range of lens choices, and the backward compatibility of the body to use older lenses, something the Nikons dont have(at least the equivalent to the Rebel).
Before you upgrade your lenses, research to see just what larger fixed aperture and IS lenses can do for you. They are expensive but when it gets to the point that your current lenses are not making you happy they are the only way to go.
That is actually the DSLR that I had sitting in my Amazon cart for over a month. As soon as I get enough money, back into the cart it goes, and then I'll buy it!
