Used Rebel XT 350D - good buy?

[qbodsyt]

Hey,

I'm getting really tired of how crappy my night pics are turning out. My well loved Nikon bit the dust awhile ago and I've been using a friend's Canon SD1000 ELPH, which is a nice camera for a p&s, but doesn't give you any real manual control.

I found a lightly used XT 350D with all the original accessories and equipment for sale for a decent price. I know it's more or less stone age by modern standards, only 8mp and all, but the p&s I'm using is a 7.1, so even that would be an upgrade.

What I'm wondering is, does anyone here have experience with this camera? I'm pretty well used to the Nikon menu system (weird, but its very customizable) how is the Canon? Can I really fiddle with ISO, aperture and shutter speed times? If I wanted to buy a nicer lens would this camera be able to utilize it?

Opinions, reviews, they're all welcome. Thanks in advance

[H22Artman]

i have a 300d rebel which is only 6.3mp but it shoots great!
see the pics on my MR thread.

it has more options than i know how to use (iso, wb, aperture all adjustable) and you can get a shit-ton of accessories for it. lenses, flashes, remotes....

how much are you getting it for?

[Shinobi]

I have the Rebel XT (Which i'm actually selling) for quite awhile now. Its a great camera, very user friendly. Canon has a large variety of lens on which it can use, from EF lens to their EF-S or L lenses. I got this camera when I first got into photography and it hasn't disappointed me yet.

[zelseman]

It really depends on what price youre paying. $350? NO. Xti's and 20d's are going for that now and both of those are significantly better than the Xt. Not knocking the Xt, its a very capable little body.

[qbodsyt]

It really depends on what price youre paying. $350? NO. Xti's and 20d's are going for that now and both of those are significantly better than the Xt. Not knocking the Xt, its a very capable little body.

Yeah, but I'm in Canada. For some reason, we have to pay about 15-20% more for EVERYTHING. The deal for a mint condition XT with all original packaging and accessories is $350. I can't find anything else in that price range. Used XTi's around here are going for $500-$600

Thanks for everything though guys!

[H22Artman]

Yeah, but I'm in Canada. For some reason, we have to pay about 15-20% more for EVERYTHING. The deal for a mint condition XT with all original packaging and accessories is $350. I can't find anything else in that price range. Used XTi's around here are going for $500-$600

Thanks for everything though guys!

thats kinda high.

i got my 300d a year ago with the kit lens, a 300mm zoom lens, a leather canon case, and a independent flash and handle for 200bux....

[qbodsyt]

thats kinda high.

i got my 300d a year ago with the kit lens, a 300mm zoom lens, a leather canon case, and a independent flash and handle for 200bux....

Thats a pretty good price, and the 300d is nice, but it is an older model with less features, so I wouldn't expect to get the 350d for the same amount.

Don't get me wrong though, I completely agree that it's too high. But there is no good brand DSLR out there that can be had around my area for less than $300.

It's funny, our dollars are practically par, but we pay a lot more for car parts and electronics in Canada. That plus the snow 5 months of the year, I'm ready for a move, lol.

[zelseman]

Thats a pretty good price, and the 300d is nice, but it is an older model with less features, so I wouldn't expect to get the 350d for the same amount.

Don't get me wrong though, I completely agree that it's too high. But there is no good brand DSLR out there that can be had around my area for less than $300.

It's funny, our dollars are practically par, but we pay a lot more for car parts and electronics in Canada. That plus the snow 5 months of the year, I'm ready for a move, lol.

Why not buy it from someone in the states and have them send it as a gift? In all reality, the 350d isnt much more advanced than the 300d. Personally if youre going to spend $350-500 on a body id shoot for the Xti if you prefer the rebel, or a 20d or 30d. Much better cameras for not much more money.

[qbodsyt]

Why not buy it from someone in the states and have them send it as a gift? In all reality, the 350d isnt much more advanced than the 300d. Personally if youre going to spend $350-500 on a body id shoot for the Xti if you prefer the rebel, or a 20d or 30d. Much better cameras for not much more money.

Well, to be honest, I haven't been able to find a good price in the states either, plus I know from experience that the gift tagging doesn't always protect you from customs.

I also wouldn't mind holding the camera in my hands before paying for it, which is one advantage to buying local.

An alternative is to buy a Pentax K-m model. I can get one of those for about $400, it's newer then the 350d and has a high MP. I've never owned a Pentax digital before though, just an old school K-1000 35mm. I sure love that old camera though. Any opinions?

[zelseman]

Well, to be honest, I haven't been able to find a good price in the states either

Do you know where to look?
Canon 20d w/grip $425
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777487
Canon Rebel XS $350
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777456
Canon 30d $430
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777277
Canon 20d $280 shipped
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=775658

All of the above are better options than an Xt, and all are very affordable cameras right now.

plus I know from experience that the gift tagging doesn't always protect you from customs.

Care to elaborate? I have heard of a lot of people doing it successfully.

An alternative is to buy a Pentax K-m model. I can get one of those for about $400, it's newer then the 350d and has a high MP. I've never owned a Pentax digital before though, just an old school K-1000 35mm. I sure love that old camera though. Any opinions?

If you are going to compare cameras based on megapixels then go buy a super point and shoot with 23MP and call it a day. My old 20d has 8.2MP and it prints 16x20 consistently very well. I havent printed the same with my 30d yet, but im positive it is as good or better. Megapixels have little to do with every day shooting. High ISO and noise capabilities as well as feet/second shooting would be more interesting features for me. As well as the amount of lenses and accesories available for a particular body.

[qbodsyt]

Do you know where to look?
Canon 20d w/grip $425
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777487
Canon Rebel XS $350
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777456
Canon 30d $430
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=777277
Canon 20d $280 shipped
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=775658

All of the above are better options than an Xt, and all are very affordable cameras right now.


Care to elaborate? I have heard of a lot of people doing it successfully.

No, I don't know where to look. That was helpful, thank you.

What do I need to elaborate on? If something is listed as being above a $100 value, depending on the a-hole working the customs when your packages slides thru, you may or may not get dinged for duties and customs. Its happened to me before, probably will again. The best deal is get something under a "warranty exchange" description to avoid penalties, that's how I'm getting my coilovers from AMR.

If you are going to compare cameras based on megapixels then go buy a super point and shoot with 23MP and call it a day. My old 20d has 8.2MP and it prints 16x20 consistently very well. I havent printed the same with my 30d yet, but im positive it is as good or better. Megapixels have little to do with every day shooting. High ISO and noise capabilities as well as feet/second shooting would be more interesting features for me. As well as the amount of lenses and accesories available for a particular body.

I never said that MP sole was my criteria. I only mentioned that the Pentax was newer and had a slightly higher MP rating. I figured it made sense to refer to any so called "improvements" even though I really don't care that much about MP, anything at 8 or above is fine.

A few years ago I did a lot of 35mm B&W work (with that old Pentax) and did my own developing. I greatly enjoyed that, both the shooting and the work in the lab. Its not practical for me to run my own darkroom, so I'm starting to dabble in digital photography. I despise point and shoots. My criteria is primarily to have as much control manually over the process of picture taking as possible. I don't have $1000 to drop on lenses and accessories. I would like something reasonable that I can use out of the box that will allow me to do a little of everything, focusing especially on night photography. If it allows me to expand in future with some upgraded lenses, thats great, but I won't plan my whole purchase around just that.

I will investigate the camera listings you posted. Thanks

[H22Artman]

A few years ago I did a lot of 35mm B&W work (with that old Pentax) and did my own developing. I greatly enjoyed that, both the shooting and the work in the lab. Its not practical for me to run my own darkroom, so I'm starting to dabble in digital photography. I despise point and shoots. My criteria is primarily to have as much control manually over the process of picture taking as possible. I don't have $1000 to drop on lenses and accessories. I would like something reasonable that I can use out of the box that will allow me to do a little of everything, focusing especially on night photography. If it allows me to expand in future with some upgraded lenses, thats great, but I won't plan my whole purchase around just that.

shouldve been your first post....

any of the cameras discussed would allow you to have 10 times more control over a pic than even the best p&s.

if youre familiar with nikons and like the way they work for you then why not buy another nikon?
if its a shitty deal on the canon then why buy it?

[zelseman]

if its a shitty deal on the canon then why buy it?

Exactly my point. If you can get better gear for the same money, why do it?

[qbodsyt]

shouldve been your first post....

any of the cameras discussed would allow you to have 10 times more control over a pic than even the best p&s.

if youre familiar with nikons and like the way they work for you then why not buy another nikon?
if its a shitty deal on the canon then why buy it?

My apologies...... I know any DSLR will be better than a P&S, thats why I posted here in the first place about an older 350d model.

I haven't been able to find a Nikon locally for less than $5-600. I like the Nikon, but I'm not tied down to them. Their menu system on my last camera was completely arcane, I got used to it, but I didn't like it.

I started this thread asking if you all thought the Canon was decent, I didn't come on here and complain about a shitty deal. You are all saying that is too much money. I have NO experience buying DSLRs other than looking through the occasional Best Buy flyer.

Here's the other thing, all of those DSLRs on the forum that Zelseman posted are offered without any lenses. The 350d I was looking at for $350 comes with a 18-55mm II lens and the Pentax I mentioned for $420 comes with a DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6AL lens.

Sure, I know these lens aren't anything special, the ones that come with lower end DSLRs are usually pretty mediocre. But I'm interested in buying a camera for $400 or so that I can actually use right away.

I posted on here because I know NOTHING about DSLR's. My experience is limited to ancient SLR 35mm cameras and some lousy P&S digitals. I'm sorry if I'm not articulating my needs well enough, at least my grammar is correct and I'm trying to ask the right questions.

So, without sounding like a cheapass (I'm not, but I've spent about 2k on my car in the last month) I would like a DSLR with a lens that doesn't have its manual control features crippled for around $400 (I will spend more for a good deal but I have to try and set a limit) The cameras on that forum were nice, but they didn't come with lenses and with the shipping (which most specified was for the US only) and the possible customs, I don't know if they would be a much better deal than what I can get here.

I'm not asking for you to spoonfeed me deals. Here is what I have available to me:

Canon XT 300d with 18-55mm lens - $250 (Cheap, but old)

Canon XT 350d with 18-55mm lens - $350

Canon XTi 400d (body only) - $400 (Seems crappy compared to the next two choices)

Canon XTi 400d with 18-55mm lens - $450

Canon XS 1000d (body only) - $375 (I think this might be a good deal, but how much more for a decent lens?)

Pentax K-m (K2000) with 18-55mm lens - $420

Pentax K110d with DA 18-55mm, 1:3.5-5.8 lens & Tamron AF Tele-Macro 70-300mm, 1:4-5.6 + Tele-converter Tamron – F AF 1x1.4 Pz-AF MC4 - $450

If you were me, with $400-$450 to spend to have a camera with a lens, what would you choose? Thank you in advance and apologies if I'm being a colossal pain in the ass.

[H22Artman]

no ones baggin on you OP. dont get defensive.

canons are great and it sounds like your best deal so far is the canon.

if nothing else comes up then i would certainly recommend buying it. its got tons of features, is pretty user friendly and you can upgrade it with a mountain of accessories. cant go wrong.