Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 45240
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2025/07/09 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/9     

2006/11/7-8 [Consumer/Camera] UID:45240 Activity:high
11/7    looking for an entry level digital slr camera.  canon eos
        digital rebel xt with lens selling at $590 with shipping.
        good deal?  thanks!
        i am new to slr camera.  i just want to get something
        cheap to start with.  will the price come down for
        thanksgiving?
        \- my one piece of advice: for similarly priced camera [like
           the entry level nikon dSLRs] rather than focusing on small
           technical details, pick on interface. things like location of
           exposure copensation or focus lock ... or does one camera have
           something on a 1-deep menu that another has on a 3 deep menu ...
           this stuff really ends up matting in practice. for example
           one of the really annoying thins on the Nikon D70 is dual
           purposing the ISO change button ... that is something i do a
           lot and it is annoying that if the preview display is active
           the button changes picture preview type. this stuff ends up
           mattering more than a few pixels here and there or other stuff
           that will be mostly a wash.
        \_ Nikon D70 or or the Rebel XT.  If you can afford it, get the 400D
           instead of the 350D, but there's no huge difference.  I don't like
           the Nikon's size.  More important:  get a decent lens (I have a
           350D with an 17/85) and a UV or polarization filter or something
           similar to protect it with.  The kit lenses are usually kind of
           crap.  If money's an issue, go for the lesser model with the
           better lens and a big memory card and shoot RAW.  As for the ISO
           button, I shoot in ISO 100 unless it's absolutely not possible, so
           YMMV.  If you want really specific info, http://dpreview.com  -John
           \- you do not get a polarizing filter to "protect" the lens:
              1. they actually do something 2. they are expensive. the kit
              lenses are going to be reasonable but not great ... they
              will have distiortion at the ends of the zoom range, but
              this is fine for entry level. for entry level photographer
              the most important thing is what encourage you to take
              lots of pix ... since you skill will be the "liming reagent",
              not the technical specs of the camera. [i am assuming the OP
              doesnt have that much photo experience. if you are
              an experienced photographer looking for a cheep digital,
              other criteria apply]. i also thing shooting RAW is a mistake.
              also i would get probably 1-2gb memory cards at the largest.
              you really dont want to put all your eggs in one basket
              when it comes to your pix ... and it's not like carrying
              3 cards is a lot of extra weight. cant give lens advice until
              the OP says what kind of photography is important to him ...
              but the kit lens is generally a cheep enough addition
              that it's worth getting.
              \- BTW, the comparison to the Rebel 400 is the Nikon D80.
                 also if you have a friend you can borrow gear from (lenses
                 typically), that can be a consideration for which camera
                 to get sometimes. if you budget is in the $600 range, these
                 may exceed that.
              \_ _You_ do not get a UV filter, I do. YMMV, let op do some
                 research.  Fair point on the D80, hence dpreview.  Do some
                 comparison.  I found the 17/85 a great general purpose lens
                 to start with, it's just a tip.  As for RAW, if he's getting
                 an SLR I assume it's for higher quality pics.  It took me a
                 while to figure out that shooting jpeg was pretty pointless
                 as I lost a lot of detail and color even highest settings--
                 just passing that on.  And I have two 2GB cards, I wasn't
                 talking about 16GB or anything likee that, probably should
                 have been clearer.  -John
                 \- you realize a UV filter != polarizing filter right?
                    yes, the lens protection filter is often called a UV
                    or Haze or skylight filter. Also a circular polar
                    will cause prolems if you have polarizing sun glasses.
                    I really like polarizing filters ... if you do plan to
                    shoot landscapes, i'd get a decent one. [and make sure
                    it doesnt vignette at 18mm ... although may not be an
                    issue on a dSLR]. as for shooting RAW, i think you are
                    better off braketing a lot than shooting RAW ... which
                    isnt to say cant do both, but i bet you arent ...
                    hundreds of giant files are pretty hard to deal with.
                    [how big are your RAW images?]
                    [how big are your RAW images? ... also RAW is not really
                    a format ... so it is unclear software will be able
                    to read it in 10years. canon RAW today isnt even canon RAW
                    of 5 yrs ago ... although i assume at a given point in time
                    canon-RAW is the same across the whole product line. but
                    i would think with a major platform like canon there
                    will be some software aroudn that can read/convert it].
                    you might want to google(raw, jpg, workflow). a lot of
                    people ahve weighed in on this.]
                    \_ Partha, you may have noticed I said "UV filter OR
                       pol filter."  My RAW are about 7 megs, which is, what,
                       35,000 photos on a 250GB drive?  Plus, CR2 is
                       handled very nicely by iPhoto, GIMP, and most other
                       non-stone-age photo tools.  As for bracketing, it takes
                       some practice to get the feel, and I've not found it to
                       be nearly as good dealing with haze.  OP:  You might
                       prefer to find a good photo store where they can advise
                       you, given what we posted.  I'd still look at dpreview
                       first just to get the skinny on all this crap.  I don't
                       know good stores in the SFBA, but http://bhphotovideo.com in
                       NYC is where I've gotten 2 cameras and they're great.
                       \- re: filter: you get a UV filter for protection.
                          nobody who isnt stupid gets a polarizer ... because
                          they are expensive and they will affect you picture
                          and you want the protection element to be as netural
                          as possible, while a pol will cost you some stops.
                          taking refuge in the "or" is like saying "you can
                          either get a UV filter OR a cow to protect your lens,
                          BUT the cow might now work as well." OP: bhphoto is
                          great. anybody significant cheeper than bh ... you
                          should worry about no free lunch. there are a huge
                          number of sleazy dealers so do some research if
                          price seems too good to be true. well if you
                          are up to using RAW, that's fine, but it's not a
                          no brainer. i'd distinguish between "settled"
                          info and personal preference when giving advice.
                          you might find some of the debates interesting BTW.
                          \_ Re. filter:  UV filter _is_ more neutral, but my
                             use of a pol filter is based on my own
                             experimentation.  As I said, YMMV.  I don't
                             notice much difference--you were aware that you
                             can adjust these, right?  Try turning the little
                             ring thingy, it's pretty cool.  -John
                             \- i wrote the mueller calculus software to
                                model polarimetry systems for NASA and was
                                one of the underpaid designers [along with
                                another ucb person] the polarimetry system
                                on http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu so yes,
                                i know how polarizers work. you might use
                                a CP opprotunistically as lens pro, but nobody
                                gets one as lens pro.
                                \_ Fine, that sounds more reasonable.  I got
                                   mine for about $120 (no drop-in.)  -John
        \_ The Nikon D50 and D70s have 1/500sec top flash sync speed.  this
           comes handy when you don't want to spend money on an external flash
           and you want to use the whimpy built-in flash to fill when shooting
           in sunny outdoor settings.  The higher and newer model D80, on the
           other hand, only goes up to 1/200sec.  Stupid.  -- yuen
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7/9     

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