would like some opinions

[Johnefer]

buying my first nice camera mainly going to use for shooting surfers and was wondering swinging between canon rebel xt xti and the 40d d50 would just like to know what you guys think

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

It really depends on which feels better in your hands......can you use all the controls with ease.....that sort of thing. Go to a store and hold them and shoot a few pics in the store with each of them.......so on and so forth

 

[lifeafter2am]

buying my first nice camera mainly going to use for shooting surfers and was wondering swinging between canon rebel xt xti and the 40d d50 would just like to know what you guys think

I shoot surfing and my best advice is to shoot with a high framerate. The higher the better! I, personally, shot a 30D and now a 40d.

Do you mean 40d or D40?

 

[Johnefer]

40d sorry

 

[Johnefer]

so you think like a 40d with a 75-300 will do the job nicly and im a really big noob what do you mean byframerate? like shutter speed?

 

[Johnefer]

god i mean d40

 

[dpolston]

Could be both shutter speed frames per second. If you can swing the extra cash... find a VR lens (reduces the vibration or camera shake). I'm not sure though if a 300 is big enough. A lot of big time sports shooters are in the 400-600mm range.

Good luck to you!

 

[lifeafter2am]

I ment actual frames per second, which sometimes can be dependent on shutter speed. 300mm might work, depending on where you are shooting. I live in Florida, and most of our breaks are pretty close to shore and considered shore-breaks. I can shoot most of those with a 70-200, mostly on the long end. Now, I also used a friends 100-400 and it was really nice for the tighter shots and for the occasional outside break.

 

[John_Olexa]

Which ever you choose. Cover it!! Sea salt water & blowing sand can kill a camera quick!!

 

[Johnefer]

k thanks for input guys really is helping me out on my dicision making

 

[elemental]

Could be both shutter speed frames per second. If you can swing the extra cash... find a VR lens (reduces the vibration or camera shake). I'm not sure though if a 300 is big enough. A lot of big time sports shooters are in the 400-600mm range.

Good luck to you!

Having recently gone through a lengthy search for my first dslr, I think one thing to consider might be how important image stabilization is to you. Some dslrs, even at the entry level, have image stabilization built into the bodies, meaning any lens you mount will have image stabilization, whereas with a D40 you will need VR lenses for image stabilization. Off the top of my head, Pentax (K100D) and Sony (A100) come to mind in your price range, though I am sure there are others. Since you will likely be shooting at long focal lengths handheld and will never have the opportunity to retry that "perfect shot" if it gets blurred like a landscape photographer, I would seriously consider image stabilization. Just buying VR lenses for a D40 is also a solution, I just didn't like the idea of having my selection restricted.

I also agree that frames per second is important, but be sure to look at how many frames you can get at this rate before the memory fills and the camera slows down. My K100D has a fairly high framerate for an entry-level dslr, but the memory fills and it slows down after only four frames or so at full resolution. If you want to be able to take ten frames in a two-second machine gun burst, that is not the body for you.

My guess is that these two factors (image stabilization and framerate/frames at this rate) would be the primary issues to consider for someone with your interests, but like many said, the most important thing to do is to go to a store and hold them in your hands. I was almost completely sold on a D40 based on research, but after holding one in a store and actually taking some test shots, I found other options more impressive. Whatever you buy, good luck and happy shooting.

 

[yeti]

One thing to keep in mind when talking about image stabilization:

In-camera image stabilization typically relies on accelerometers, which shift the CCD around to compensate for some types of shake. Accelerometers are semiconductor components that have a finite responce time. You then need some high-tech logic, which also has a finite responce time, to move your CCD around based on the input from the accelerometers. The advantage here is that every lens you put on a camera with built-in image stabilization is therefore image-stabilized as well to a degree.

In-lens image stabilization relies on spinning gyroscopes. This is a very VERY simple technique that relies on the tendency of a spinning object to maintain its plane of rotation. If Canon and Nikon are smart, they have implemented it 100% mechanically, increasing the effectiveness of the image-stabilizer. I haven't taken a lens apart to find out what it is they are doing, though. The downside is that, being part of the lens rather than part of the camera, you have to buy image stabilization with every lens you get whenever you want it.

I personally think in-lens image stabilization tends to do a better job as it is a lot simpler and can (depending on implementation) potentially have a much shorter reaction time - the one thing to limit performance of a gyroscope image stabilizer is mechanical friction. Today digital logic is regarded as superior to its low-tech implementations, but this is one example where it can never perform as fast or as well as a simple low-tech implementation. Truth be told digital technology is prevalent just because it's cheaper to make on a large scale.

It is up to you to choose the image stabilization system you want. Keep in mind that you cannot have two image-stabilizers working at the same time as together they cannot synchronize and will overcompensate for any shake. This in turn will reintroduce shake all over again, rendering them both ineffective.

 

[Cinka]

I don't shoot sports, but I started out with a Rebel and eventually moved to a 40D. I say go for the 40D, if you're serious, eventually you're gonna want to upgrade anyway

 

[Johnefer]

ok thanks guys/girls i think i am going to go with the 40D thank you thank you

 

[Johnefer]

a little confused the price on some websites for the body of a 40d is about 420-450 but on others its 1,200 and up?