Unhappy with my setup

[fokker]

A good tradesman never blames his tools

That's true, but only because a good tradesman knows not to bother with crap tools in the first place. Good tools = nothing to complain about

 

[Kofman13]

should i get an XS or XSi?
what are the big differences?

I looked up prices and on ebay i can find, from canon authorized sellers, the XS for around $430-$470, and the XSi for around $569

 

[Derrel]

A good tradesman never blames his tools

And as was stated, a good tradesman does not equip himself with poor tools that are far below the specifications or inherent capabilities of his era.

The problem with d-slrs is that they are the "film" and the camera, all in one. On the camera front, the tiny viewfinders that the lower-level, older Olympus cameras have is a really big problem. A good example is the Nikon D50--it had a very small, tiny, quite simply "bad" viewfinder image...the Nikon D90 by comparison blows the D50's viewfinder out of the water. The EOS 5D's viewfinder image is massive compared to a lower-level, three year old Olympus's viewfinder system. I hate to seem to be bashing on Olympus, but some of their cameras have had quite simply, atrocious viewfinder systems compared with Canon,Nikon,or Pentax APS-C or FF cameras. Many people find that the better the viewfinder, the better they can SEE to compose and to manually focus if needed.

 

[gsgary]

should i get an XS or XSi?
what are the big differences?

I looked up prices and on ebay i can find, from canon authorized sellers, the XS for around $430-$470, and the XSi for around $569

Why not get a secondhand 40D

 

[Kofman13]

A good tradesman never blames his tools

And as was stated, a good tradesman does not equip himself with poor tools that are far below the specifications or inherent capabilities of his era.

The problem with d-slrs is that they are the "film" and the camera, all in one. On the camera front, the tiny viewfinders that the lower-level, older Olympus cameras have is a really big problem. A good example is the Nikon D50--it had a very small, tiny, quite simply "bad" viewfinder image...the Nikon D90 by comparison blows the D50's viewfinder out of the water. The EOS 5D's viewfinder image is massive compared to a lower-level, three year old Olympus's viewfinder system. I hate to seem to be bashing on Olympus, but some of their cameras have had quite simply, atrocious viewfinder systems compared with Canon,Nikon,or Pentax APS-C or FF cameras. Many people find that the better the viewfinder, the better they can SEE to compose and to manually focus if needed.

This really explains alot. On my Olympus with OM lens I'm trying to focus and the small viewfinder makes my eyes strain so hard to accurately see what I'm doing. It's so frustrating

 

[Derrel]

Why not get a secondhand 40D

I would agree with gsgary on that--if "I" were looking for another Canon body, a used 40D would be the exact one I'd look for. There are LOTS of 40D's on craigslist. In my kind of small-towny area, there were three this week; you live in New York, so there must be 40x more people on Craigslist boards. 40D's are plentiful and right now there are loads of Canon hobbyists selling off 40D's to help finance their new 7D kits!

 

[inTempus]

+1 on the 40D.

 

[Dao]

As a 40D owner, I will say yes for a used 40D

 

[Kofman13]

the cheapest 40d on craigslist i see is $600 its a bit much for me

 

[inTempus]

Yeah, searching the Canon forums it seems that $600 is about the going price right now.

 

[Overread21]

If you can stretch to a 40D do since in the long run a good condition 40D will give you far more for what you pay. However make sure you get one with a low shutter count and also remember you need to get a lens for it too (unless you can find a good deal with the 40D and a kit lens

 

[Turbo]

A good tradesman never blames his tools

Seconded.

My olympus body is ancient, and I don't have a single autofocus lens. I have no problems. Yes, tiny viewfinder and all, I don't have any issues with it.

If you're going to blame your equipment, at least do it after you learn how to use it. :er:

 

[inTempus]

Hehe, I couldn't resist.

 

[Turbo]

:lmao: I like the drop after /p/

 

[dtzitko]

^I'm definitely at the point on the blue curve that is at the bottom. "Dammit I suck". Hopefully that thing holds true.

To the OP, why don't you do the switch already? This is the 3rd thread of yours I think I've seen complaining about your results with the Oly. Why do you continue to ask people..."Well, I think I want to switch, all I ever get is crappy out of focus images". PM me the info on the lenses you have for it. I may be interested in buying one if you want to sell one separately.