Is the new Rebel XSi really as good as it sounds?

[JerryPH]

And the D60 also has the ability to make stop-motion movies. 3 words. Windows Movie Maker.

I have 3 words there too... Crappy Quality Movies. comparing the motion video from that camera to an average video cam is like comparing a 1998 1MP Kodak to a D3.

When I want motion video, I sure as heck do not look to my digital picture camera, but my Sony 100GB HD Handycam. Video has its place in my hobby, but not in my SLR. It's more of a convenience, not something that I would think useful to a serious photographer.

 

[jg123]

I always thought a stop-motion movie was a few gazzillion still shots placed one after another to give the illusion of motion video.

 

[JerryPH]

One thing I have noticed is that because the XSI is so widely available and at a discount in a few places, the used prices of XTI's has gotten a bit more reasonable.

Thats the same with all manufacturers. As the new stuff comes out, the old/discontinued stuff gets discounted to clear out stock. Used prices also plumet rediculously. A used D200 in excellent condition and low shutter counts is worth about $500 to a dealer as a trade-in value in Canada... rediculous, and adds the cherry to the sunday to confirm another reason why I won't upgrade but just buy the next camera outright and make the D200 my backup body. A 66% drop in value over 4 months... amazing, thats worse than automobiles!

 

[Village Idiot]

How big of an impact is memory and batteries though? I got my 8 gig card for 100 bucks.

Chances are the next big brother to the XSi will have the same change.

Spare batteries are useless and I think it would be hilarious trying to watch you fit that 8gb CF card into the XSI's SD card slot.

I upgraded from a 300d to a 30d. I lucked out, they use the same batteries.

 

[asfixiate]

LOL...I just pictured that. I'm just saying its not like I'd have to go spend 1,000 dollars to switch memory or batteries.

70 bucks for a battery and 100 bucks for a card.

 

[BoblyBill]

As it is the case with so many of the threads here in the BF, it SEEMS to me that it really comes down to what you NEED and NOT what you want. As a storm chaser, I come across some very interesting situations. I shoot panoramics (usually auto bracketed) of the storms that I chase and two things that are a selling point for me are: fps, and continous shooting. Last year when I went out on storm chases, I would shoot with my D30 (3fps for only 8 shots). I still got the shots that I wanted but panos where hard to stitch, because 1. after 8 shots I had to hold (tripods take too long to setup most of the time) my camera in the same spot until I was able to take the next shot, 2. in tornadic supercells those clouds are moving FAST so I would have noticable differences from picture to picture. So, the 40D had big selling points to me because now I can almost get a whole 180 degrees while autobracketing before the camera has to buffer, and since I push 12-bits to the max (in some of the chases the clouds alone can have over a 3-6 stop difference not even conscidering that fact the ground is even darker in some cases) I have found 14bits usefull but not esential (autobracking helps but is a pain blending the shots sometimes). I never thought that I would ever use Live View but I love it. It makes it a whole lot easier to focus with it, still have problems when it's shooting ligthning but that's just because it's mostly guess work on where that's going to be anyways (focusing to inifinty doesn't quite cut it most of the time). That's my 2 cents... ok more like half of a cent. All that to say... if those extra features are worth the extra $200 bucks FOR YOU, then by all means buy an Xsi, but if the Xti has most if not all the features that you want don't spend the extra $200 dollars for Xsi.

 

[Mav]

LOL...I just pictured that. I'm just saying its not like I'd have to go spend 1,000 dollars to switch memory or batteries.

70 bucks for a battery and 100 bucks for a card.

That's a lens right there!

 

[Mav]

As it is the case with so many of the threads here in the BF, it SEEMS to me that it really comes down to what you NEED and NOT what you want.

The biggest problem among beginners though is trying to determine the difference between the two.


Storm chasing sounds fun! :stun:

 

[BoblyBill]

The biggest problem among beginners though is trying to determine the difference between the two.


Storm chasing sounds fun! :stun:

Very true... I makes the "which camera" questions so hard to answer because there are so many features that really I never use on my camera (which is probably true for most photographers). But without going out and shooting, I would never known that fps and continuous shooting would be that big of a selling point. I have no need for 1/500 flash sync as I would use that maybe once a year if that (just thinking about using a flash on a tornado makes me laugh).

If you are ever in the Arlington area... PM me... I'll take you out on a chase.

 

[asfixiate]

That's a lens right there!

True Mav. I'm just saying that its not as huge as if the lenses didn't work with it.

I wouldn't upgrade from XT to XSi...but if I didn't have a camera I would have no issues getting XSi.

My next camera would be big brother to Rebel with Rebel as backup.

Probably 5d no less than 40d

 

[prodigy2k7]

Yes it is as good as it sounds, but it doesn't sound very good to me

 

[asfixiate]

both of us have rebels so we know what they are capable of...looking at what changed doesn't sound crazy...if we dind't have rebels i'm sure it would sound a lot better. Rebel is always a good start and even can be used professional so I'm sure Canon is selling a lot of them.

 

[jg123]

Since I am a beginner it is a tough choice, I know the XTI gives a lot of value for the money but there are a few features that appeal to me on XSI which might make it easier on a newbie like me.

 

[asfixiate]

Totally your decision. Like I said before probably there's nothing wrong with have the latest and greatest. Even if its not tha tmuch more than the XTi...its still is a better camera...is it better enough to get me to switch?...no because I want to upgrade to 40d or 5d next. is it something I would recommend to a newbie?...Yes because its a great starter...

 

[iluvphotography]

So from reading all the posts I gather that if you have XTi you don't get much by upgrading to XSi. But what if I have the first generation Rebel? the one before XT? Should I get a used XTi or a new XSi? What is the difference between the XTi kit lense and XSi's kit lense that everyone is talking about?