I have been a rather proud camera Luddite for some time now. I have said that they will take my Honeywell-Pentax H3 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. I’ve even bought some lenses for it on eBay. I shoot slides. I used to live someplace where I could project them on the wall six-by-ten feet. (You look at your cat differently once you’ve seen a picture of her big enough to eat you.) I figured I’d consider getting a digital camera when they made one with more pixels than 35mm film.
I’m not totally against progress. I bought a film scanner and have put some of the results online. But I’m not completely happy with that, either. I’ve had the camera cleaned and serviced, but we’ll never get all the little specks out. And the color and sharpness could be a little better.
Someone at work is selling his Canon EOS 20D. I’ve played around with it a bit today, and it’s very nice. And the site in that link speaks well of it. He’s selling it with an 18-55mm lens, and all the accompanying software and manuals. He says it has ~1100 pictures taken so far. It’s a little scratched on the bottom, but everything seems to work well. He’s asking $950.
So, for those dopers who know anything about cameras made in this century, is this a good camera and a fair deal? I always hate the feeling that I’m settling for something that won’t do what I really want later. I’m tempted to hold out for a full-size sensor and better resolution (someday, maybe), but I don’t even know if digital camera prices are still coming down or if they’ve been around long enough for things to have leveled off. Share some wisdom with a newbie.
The 20D is an outstanding camera. $950 isn’t a bad price for that with that few shots on the shutter mechanism. The 20D (and it’s recent update, the 30D) are simply outstanding prosumer DSLR cameras. I would probably recommend getting a better lens if you’re serious about photography, though, as the 18-55 kit lens is pretty crappy overall (especially in build quality), though the image quality is passable.
The 20D’s images have enough detail to produce quite stunning 20x30" prints. It will produce clearer and higher quality images than 35mm film at ISOs above 200 (compared to film at that speed), and at lower ISOs will produce detail and clarity quite similar to Velvia 50 (though the color saturation won’t be as rich straight out of the camera.)
Well, dSLRs have come quite a ways in the 2+ years since that camera was released. And two years from now the current crop will be fairly long in the tooth. Digital camera technology is still advancing rapidly, so if you’re going to invest in something for the long term, invest in the glass.
If the 18-55mm lens is the kit lens, and I think that it is, it’s not very good. The Canon is a fine camera, but spend some time figuring out what lenses you want and work from there.
The 20D is a fine camera and that’s not a bad price. Still you can get the Rebel XT for significantly less than that with the kit lens, and the difference in picture quality between that and the 20D is pretty minimal. So if you’re thinking that you’ll be trading in bodies in a couple of years, I’d go with the XT and spend the difference on glass.
One thing to watch out for on used DSLRs is dust on the detector. DSLRs have interchangeable lens so the body isn’t sealed, and the detector stays in the body - you don’t get a fresh new film for each shot. Take an out-of-focus photo of a white wall and check to see if you see dust spots.
The sensors can (and must) be cleaned periodically on dSLRs. One brand (Olympus) has an auto dust cleaner built into the camera. Cleaning the sensor appears to be a necessary evil.
However, just using it for a day was a real eye-opener; easier and with better results than I expected. I was a lot more spontaneous than with my manual-everything camera. I didn’t have to check the light meter before every shot, and if I didn’t like a picture, just delete, move a few steps, change something, and try again. It was very nice.
But it kinda feels like there’s still one more big advance to come with digital cameras, in price, performance or features. I’m not too worried that I passed up a great bargain, but I also don’t like to spend that much money without doing a little more research into what I’m buying.
I too felt that I’d never give up my film SLR, but recently I got a digital one (Canon EOS350d ) and for the reasons you mentioned I’m in love with it. I can just shoot away merrily taking literally hundreds of shots (I’ve been trying to shoot birds lately - those suckers can move!) and then just toss the ones I don’t like without worry about the cost of film or developing.
I don’t actually have any print copies of my shots, for me that’s not an issue, for others it might be.
The 350d is very popular and therefore often overpriced. I would definitely suggest doing a lot of research and then shopping around.
It’ll be like that for the next several years. Don’t delay, the camera body isn’t the big expense, it’s the glass, and you can keep using that for years. Think of all the pictures you’ll miss out on if you wait.
It doesn’t have to be this camera, but it’s really worth it to take the plunge. You won’t go back to film. Shoot RAW and you can have lots of fun.
Now that you all mention it, the lens that was with the camera did feel awfully light. I figured it was just material advances and design. Old lenses had some heft to them. I once found an eBay listing for a 1000mm lens that would fit my old camera. Not a compound lens, either, that sucker was one meter long.
Well, yeah, but the lenses I have now are Pentax screw-mount (and I’m not sure how good they are), so I’d be pretty much starting from scratch. And once I start buying lenses, wouldn’t I be pretty much locked into a particular format? When the next generation of cameras shows up, if the body I like isn’t compatible with my lenses, I’m screwed.
I’m not missing much right now. I’ve got my old camera, a few lenses, a store nearby with a good selection of film, and a scanner. Trying out that Canon was a big push toward going digital, but I’m not quite there yet.
