Canon Rebel Digital XT...get it or skip it?

Nikato · Feb 7, 2011

Hello everyone. My name is Gary and this is my first post =). I am getting into photography. I have always been interested in it and feel I would be good at it. I have been reading the dummies guide to DSLR camera's and what not as well and have checked out a few of the entry level canon and nikon cameras.

So far I like the canon's more, especially the XS and T2I but I don't really have a huge budget and so I am always looking for deals on craigs list. Was looking today and found someone selling a Canon Rebel XT DSLR. Since I am still new I had to look that up on wikipedia to see which one that is and found that it was the 350D. Came out in 2005 and is a few camera's behind the T1I and T2I. She's selling it for 500 and at first I was like "well, its a 2005 model and the XS is probably even better since the XS is a 10mp" but then I noticed that she's including two lenses as well.

The first lens seems to be the standard one that is on all of the canon camera's i was looking at, the Canon 18-55mm IS kit lens (which apparently only focuses in manual mode?). What got me though is the second lens which is a Canon 75-300mm telephoto lens.

The Canon XS is on sale at BB for I think 545. The T2i is I think 899. I don't really want to pay 899 but it looked really nice and I did like it. I don't know much about this XT Camera though and want to know from the professionals what they think about this camera and deal. I am new to photography like I said. Obviously I will probably get a new camera in a few years when I get better and find myself needing more.

I have been reading the dummies book pretty extensively, especially about shutter speed, iso, and ap so I would like to do manual shots too. Is the XT canon that this gal is selling good for a beginner like me that wants to do this stuff as a serious hobby? Do the 2 lenses justice the purchase?

Any help would be awesome. And if I shouldn't get the camera, what about the others I mentioned. I don't really care about video btw... Thanks. =)

subscuck · Feb 7, 2011

For a beginner, I don't think that's a bad place to start. The kit lens is a pretty decent lens, and I'm not sure where you heard it only manually focuses, but trust me, it auto focuses just fine. The 75-300, honestly, isn't great, but it's better than nothing. $500 isn't a bad price as long as it's all as it should be. If you have a friend who knows a little something, or preferably more, about cameras, bring them along to check it out. You already realize you don't need new equipment to learn on, and better equipment is purchased when the need to do more arises. I say go for it.

Nikato · Feb 7, 2011

It is what she said in the ad, which is why I was a little confused.

Thank you for the tips though, and yeah I realized a long time ago that people new to something don't necessarily need new equipment to work with.

I did want to update though. I checked bestbuy and found that the online prices were cheaper then the store prices, and they do match their online price.

Here are the prices for the 2 camera's I was looking at at bestbuy:

Canon Rebel T2i (18-55mm image-stabilized zoom lens included): $768.99

Canon Rebel XS (Includes EF-S 18-55mm zoom lens with optical image stabilization): $478.99

So, the canon rebel XS is cheaper. Both of these camera's also use SD cards. I was actually curious if the SD cards were / are better then the CF cards for cameras? I notice a lot of new ones seem to have the SD ones.

But yeah, so if they match the online price, the xs is actually cheaper, though it only has 1 lens. Since the XT is 5 years older (or so) does the XS actually beat it in terms of well...everything? Should I just not bother now or still look into the XT?

subscuck · Feb 8, 2011

For all practical purposes, the difference between the XT and the XS is pretty small. I guess it's fair to say it's a better camera, but only marginally. The advantage with the XS is it's new, so it comes with a warranty. If it fits in your budget, I'd get the XS and sleep a little better with a warranty.

As far as CF vs SD, it's not really possible to say one is better than the other. They both work. Lower end consumer models generally use SD, Prosumer and pro generally use CF. Some higher end bodies have dual ports and can use both. I wouldn't get hung up on it.