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A few questions (1 Viewer)

jmammo

jmammo

Member
Hi guys,
I am going to be purchasing my first DSLR and I have a few questions.
1. Has anyone every made a purchase from http://www.usaphotonation.com ?
There price on the Rebel XT (which is $279) seems to good to be true.

2. Which lens should I be getting? I know this question has been asked before but the amount of information is just overwhelming.

Thanks for putting up with my redundancy B :)
 
Hi
I purchased a DSLR at the end of last year. It was a Canon 350D which I think is the same as the Rebel XT (not sure) and I find it excellent but the lens it comes with is rubbish. If you buy a Canon you have to accept that in order to get good quality Canon lenses you have part with a lot (and I mean a lot) of hard earned cash.
My suggestion is to buy the camera and sell the lens on ebay. You might get £30 ($50/60) to put towards a good quality Tamron or Sigma. These manufacturers, whilst inferior to Canon are still not far behind.
If you want to take photos of birds/wildlife then try digiscoping, i.e. using your telescope (if you have one) for long range pics.

Your might know all this but I hope it helps.

Cheers
 
It certainly does seem an amazing bargain - maybe something to do with the popularity of the 400D.

I think it would help if you were to give some idea of your lens budget, so that some of the experts on here (of which I am certainly not) can give you some advice.

Personally I owned a 350D and now a 400D and use a Canon 70 - 300 f4.5 (sometimes with 1.4 t/c) and a Tamron 200 - 500. If you've a higher budget, many people rave about the Canon 100 - 400.

I've found that for an amateur like myself, it's your skill (or lack of it in my case) that makes a good pic, not necessarily the lens. I rushed out and purchased the lenses without first getting to learn basic techniques, or understanding the camera.
 
hi

I bought a Canon Rebel XT (EOS 350D) last month at Best Buy. They sold it as a kit. It came with a EF S18-55mm f3.5-5.6 II, a EF75-300mm f4-5.6 III lens, and a camera bag. I added a 1GB card and a polarizing filter for a total of $859.96 plus tax. They also sell just the body for $649.99.
I am very happy with the camera, except I don't really have the hang of it yet (to many settings).
Now I'm looking for a longer lens (torn between the Canon 100-400mm and the Tamron 200-500mm). Any suggestion?

Hope that helps.

Gunter
 
hi
lol You're so right about it being the skill and not the equipment, but in my case its also the frustration of seeing good pictures and not being able to duplicate them because I don't have the right equipment. Catch 22. Anyway, nice pictures on your website

Gunter
 
Hi,

I have the Rebel XT (or 350D), and it's a great little camera. But if you (like me) have larger hands, that might be the problem. It is small, and to me it was too small. But adding the battery grip made all the difference in the world.
For birding I use the Canon EF 100-400. It's a top lens, but unfortunately that also goes for the price. If you are on a tight budget, the Sigma 135-400 could be the best choice.
People get stunnig results with the Tamron 200-500 as well, and it has longer reach than the Canon. On the other hand, the contrast and color saturation seems to be a little better on the Canon (you can probably fix that in PP), the build quality of the Canon is second to none, it has IS, and will probably hold it's value better. It is off course also way more expensive. Though choice.

Thomas
 
If I was not going to go with the Rebel XT and instead buy a different camera and a scope would I be looking at about $500 for everything?
 
jmammo said:
1. Has anyone every made a purchase from http://www.usaphotonation.com ?
There price on the Rebel XT (which is $279) seems to good to be true.
Click to expand...

That price really does sound too good to be true, I would be very cautious about it unless you can find out that the seller is definitely genuine.

I just had a look at the site - all the prices seem far to low to be genuine, I wonder if you would actually be able to buy a camera for the quoted price.
 
jmammo said:
Hi guys,
I am going to be purchasing my first DSLR and I have a few questions.
1. Has anyone every made a purchase from http://www.usaphotonation.com ?
There price on the Rebel XT (which is $279) seems to good to be true.
Click to expand...

That price really seems too good to be true - they are normally priced twice that and I just tried looking for a second hand model anywhere and couldn't find one for less than $300. I would be cautious that this is just bait and switch advertising.
 
I am going to order the Rebel Xt from Amazon. I was looking at the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM Telephoto Zoom Lens. Then I found the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens which is $60 cheaper. I know there is a difference, but what is it?
 
laservet said:
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller8278.html

http://photo.net/neighbor/subcategory-index?id=2
Click to expand...

Just goes to show how-many rip-off merchants there are out there. I feel sorry for all the people who get sucked in.

Jmammo, optically the two lenses will have no difference but personally I'd get the one with USM. Birds that are really close to you won't get scared when using the AF and the USM really speeds up the AF too, very useful for flight shots.

In short, yes it does make a big difference when birding.
Jaff
 
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