Help upgrading

[Gopherkid]

Hey, this is my first post. At the beginning of this last summer I purchased a S3 IS to get started with photography to see if I would enjoy it for a hobby. My friends and I also ride motocross, so I made sure to get a camera with plenty of manual controls and a decent zoom. So $300 later and im addicted to photography, and not just motocross either. But while shooting motocross, obvious set backs from the S3 show their ugly face.

The noise is annoying from higher ISO settings, if I crop a photo at all from ISO 400 it looks really bad. Also the lack of multiple shots kills too. I get one chance from each lap they take to try and capture something, and practice is helping a ton, but 3-5 fps would be nice.

So im working to upgrade to a dSLR, and was just curious what would be the equivalent lens range my S3 has?(and no, im not looking for one lens to replace it) I think the sensor is a 2.5crop, its a 12x zoom, and i think it starts at 6mm???? If anyone would know, that would be great, or even better yet, help me figure out the conversion.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I couldn't find the S3 IS, on Dpreview, but the S2 IS has a 12X lens that is equivalent to 36-432mm on a 35mm film camera (or full frame digital)....which is the standard that everything is compared to. So if you are looking at something like the Canon Rebel series or the Canon 30D or 40D...the comparison factor is 1.6X. So, to get the same filed of view as your camera at the wide end, you would need... (36/1.6) 22mm. To get the same FOV as the long end, you would need...270mm.

A DSLR will give you much better quality at high ISO, a faster shooting rate and faster shutter lag...all good things for shooting things like motorcross.

If action shooting is your priority, I suggest looking at the 20D, 30D or the new 40D. The 20D and 30D are discontinued but they are great cameras. The each shoot at 5 frames per second. The new 40D is a major upgrade and shoots at a blistering 6.5 fps.

 

[Steph]

The range of the S3 IS is/was 36-432mm (35mm equivalent). If you buy a dSLR with a 1.6 crop factor (Nikon D40, D40x, D80, D200, D300... Canon 350D, 400D, 30D, 40D..., Pentax K100D, K10D... and many others) you would therefore need lenses going from around 22 to 270mm.

Mike beat me to it...

 

[Gopherkid]

Ok, so I'm pretty happy with the range, so I was thinking of getting a 70mm-200mm lense along with the 50 prime- wait to get a lens that will cover wide angle later. I want to invest with nice glass now sense glass really doesn't go "bad", but you think there will be an significant difference between a 20D and a XT or XTi? I suppose a used 20D will prob be close to the cost of a new rebel. Right?

 

[Big Mike]

The Rebels (XT, XTi etc) are good cameras, just as the 20D & 30D etc are. The biggest difference is the size and build of the body..and a few features (shooting rate being one of them). Personally, I don't like the Rebels because they are just too small for my hands...and they controls don't feel natural to me. I have a couple 20Ds and I love them. They fit my hands better, and they are bigger and feel better to me. Plus they have the wheel on the back, which the Rebels don't.

Also, the build quality is higher on the XXD series. More metal compared to more plastic on the rebels. Although, I haven't heard of anyone who has actually broken a rebel so they aren't cheap toys.

As I mentioned, the frame rate is faster on the 20D than any of the Rebels...which is good for sports, but not necessary.

You could probably get a great deal on a used 20D...but remember that these cameras are 3 to 5 years old...and may have been fired hundreds of thousands of times...and some of the moving parts (the shutter) may be close to wearing out. But again, I have yet to hear of anyone with a worn out shutter on these cameras.

Your plan to invest in good glass, because it doesnt go bad...is probably one of the best 2nd posts I have seen around here. Very good idea.

Any of the 70-200 lenses are fantastic and just about any of the prime lenses are very good as well. I think you would be missing the wide angle but as you said, you can pick one up at a later time.

 

[Gopherkid]

Lol thanks, I'm a long time reader, first time poster. So i've seen the same post over and over again, about importance of glass, and camera is opinion. I should also add that I am a college student, so that means broke half the time too. So thats why I was wondering about rebel vs 20d. Thanks for the help, time to start saving and searching for a good body. On a side note Big Mike, hows ol' Roloson treating you guys?

 

[Big Mike]

Good old Rollie...well, last year wasn't pretty but I think he had lingering injury problems...and it didn't help that our defence was pretty bad. They say that he is looking pretty good in training camp this year...and if not, well, we have a pretty good back up in Biron.

I'm going to the first pre-season game tonight, so maybe I'll get to see first hand. If he doesn't play, well I'm going to the game tomorrow night as well.

 

[Gopherkid]

Yeah, with our history it should be no time b4 Harding replaces Backstrom. Settling with a goalie is so hard sometimes.

 

[transaxion]

I bought my 20d body used for 600 before the 40d came out and the 30d was discontinued. I've had no problems with it thus far and I'd have to agree with big mike, the controls on the rebels are just not as fluent...

 

[Mike_E]

Hi, just thought I'd throw in my $.02. If you are going to be shooting Motocross or anything else that kicks up a lot of dust and or is done in bad/wet weather then you would be better served with a body that is weather sealed.

Wouldn't do to spend all that money on a nice camera and then kill it.