Is a Canon Rebel XTI the way to go for a good value high quality digital camera?
I’m looking to finally upgrade to a camera that I can take truly great looking pictures with; I’m sick of taking pictures that should look awesome and only turn out OK. I’ve seen some taken by the XTI and was wondered what everyone thought if I wanted a high quality camera under $1000 and what you think of the lens that comes with the kit. Just looking for a little advice. Thanks in advance.
Since CW mentioned the Nikon D80, perhaps you’d like to read a comparison I did on the two cameras.
Please understand that, at this level, how YOU feel with a camera is probably the most important single factor in your purchase decision. If you have handled the Canon and like it, buy it. It is indeed an excellent camera. I understand that the kit lens leaves something to be desired, so you might want to look into an upgrade right off the bat. One of our devoted Canon users recommended the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (28-135 equiv.) ($500)
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=149&modelid=10511
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-17-85mm-f-4-5.6-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Okay. If you are set on the Canon, don’t read any more. If you aer still shopping, go ahead…
Comparing the Nikon D80 vs. Canon 400D/Rebel XTi
Check this page:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/page21.asp
The first thing I notice is that the Canon does not have a spot meter. I thought they added that in the XTi, but I guess past criticism was not heard at Canon.
The Nikon user-definable Auto-ISO is an interesting feature that lets you define a couple of parameters about what’s acceptable to you and what’s not. I don’t think this would be the tie-breaker, though, if you can’t decide between cameras.
The D80 has a pentaprism and the Canon uses mirrors. “They” say that mirrors are getting pretty good, but I would expect the pentaprism to be a brighter viewfinder.
The Nikon lets you do actual multiple exposures in the camera and some people think this is pretty cool.
Click “next” and move to page 22 and you’ll see some image comparisons. Click “next” a couple more times to see more direct comparisons on page 25. Click “next” a couple more times to see some noise level comparisons on page 27. It looks to me like the D80 has actually tamed the noise better than the XTi, but read the comments about image softness.
Click one more time and see that the D80 is clearly the winner in image sharpness.
Go on to the next page and read the conclusions.
You can go to the side-by-side at
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_eos400d%2Cnikon_d80&show=all and also click on “Our in depth review” and “Read owner opinions” for each camera.
The last line in the Nikon D80 review reads, “If you’re a more discerning photographer who can see the advantages offered by the ‘all round’ D80 you may well consider the extra money well spent.”
The last line in the Canon 400D/XTi review reads, “Thanks to its blood line and low price the EOS 400D will no doubt be a huge success for Canon. However unlike the EOS 350D, for me it’s no longer the first or obvious choice, so before jumping on the bandwagon make sure you’ve weighed up the competition.”
In other words, you’ve selected with the two best cameras in their price class.
Canon is probably saving a little money using their CMOS sensor and this will bring them some market share. Whether the sensor and images are better or not is open to wild debate based on personal preferences. Whether one camera feels better in your hands might just be the determining factor. You have got to go to a real camera store and handle them both. I guess Costco, Circuit City or Best Buy would also have actual samples on display, but you may not get as much help from the staff.
As far as lens choice, I’d rather see you start with one decent lens instead of the kit lens, although Nikon’s kit lens (18-55) has actually tested pretty will. (Canon’s has not.) For Nikon, I like the Nikkor AF-S 18-70 f/3.5-4.5G ED DX. This costs about $300. I bought this for my wife on her D50 and liked it so much (for the money) that I bought it as a backup for one of my cameras. For Canon, one of our best answerers (Panacea) recommends the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. This costs about $500, so there goes the $200 price difference.
Of course, you’ll need a decent memory card and I recommend a genuine Sandisk Ultra II (60X) or Extreme III (133X) of at least 1GB – preferable 2 GB – for either camera. Lexar is another excellent card supplier and they have the “Professional” 133X as well as the Platinum 80X to choose from. Both Lexar and Sandisk come with image recovery software and limited lifetime warranties.
Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Camera – Review SD-1000 New
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