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May. 1st, 2009
I've had a Canon Digital Rebel (the original, 300D) for about 6 years now. I've been pretty happy with it, it was absolutely great when I got it; it was SO NICE to hold a REAL camera again instead of a point-and-shoot. Over the years it's been surpassed by now 4 generations of new cameras. It still works great but it shows its age in that it's a bit slow (to boot up, mainly) and images are quite noisy at higher ISOs. Since I wind up doing a lot of shooting in fairly poorly-lit areas, that's actually a bit of a problem for me; lots of the stuff I shoot with it winds up kind of noisy.
In fact, the SLR has gotten so dated that I've largely stopped using it; my point-and-shoot was giving me almost as good results in many if not most situations because it was a couple of generations newer. I was only really using the SLR when I needed to shoot fast or needed to use a big flash.
I recently started looking and it turns out that high ISO performance is one of the things that have VASTLY improved in newer models. Honestly the new cameras have less noise at ISO 3200 than mine does at 400. So I decided it's time to upgrade. I was trying to decide between the 450D and biting the bullet for a 50D, which is about $400+ more.
Then Wednesday night I discovered that Canon had just released the 500D in March (it's just showing up in stores now) and it's most of a 50D crammed into a 450D body, and at only about $140 more than the 450D. It's got the 15.1MP sensor, the 930,000 pixel 3" screen, and all the other cool stuff. The only significant difference is that it only shoots at 3.5 fps in burst mode rather than 6, and it has less sophisticated autofocus sensors, which somewhat limits its performance in low light situations. I can live with that for about a $300 savings, which I can put into lenses instead.
Also, the 500D shoots true HD video. It's still not a replacement for the actual HD camcorder since it has a monaural microphone the size of a pinhead, but it'll be nice to have as an option when the camcorder isn't in hand.
All that and a bag of chips: The new camera with all that and the new lens with IS is $100 less than I paid for the old camera 6+ years ago.
Also, they've redesigned the 18-55 kit lens; it now includes IS and is apparently a big improvement over the last one. While the original 18-55 was OK, it was a bit mediocre and I wound up replacing it with a Sigma 18-135.
With the old camera, I also originally had the 55-200 companion lens, which honestly STUNK. It was horrible and I sold it after about 6 months. However, Canon now has replaced it with the 55-250 IS. I was seriously considering the 70-200L, and it still might happen someday, it's a darn nice lens, but at 2.5X the cost of the 55-250 IS and no IS on the L lens, I can't currently justify buying L glass. At least, not until the credit cards are paid off...
Both the 18-55 and the 55-250 have I think a 3rd generation IS; it has actually many fewer moving parts and reviews say it's pretty much as good as the IS in the expensive L series lenses. Also the technical reviews indicate that Canon has clearly taken significant steps in reducing chromatic and spherical aberration. And the new cameras ship with a RAW processor that includes a database of Canon lenses and can correct out the remaining CA and barrel/pincusion distortion.
I think it's a really good time to upgrade. A friend at work disagrees and is sticking by the old "when upgrading, always buy better glass" adage, but I think in the digital age that doesn't hold quite as true. The image sensor and supporting circuitry has become much more important than the camera body used to be in the film days, and it needs upgrading occasionally.
I'm also happy to see that 3rd party battery grips are now available for dirt cheap. I have a battery grip for the 300D and I really, really like it. It's not on the camera a lot, but when I go somewhere specifically to shoot pictures, I put it on. It is VERY nice to have a proper grip on the camera in portrait mode, and I was worried I'd have to give it up if I upgraded. Honestly I may wind up with the battery grip on most of the time; apparently they've made the new camera so damn small that it can be hard to grip.
In fact, the SLR has gotten so dated that I've largely stopped using it; my point-and-shoot was giving me almost as good results in many if not most situations because it was a couple of generations newer. I was only really using the SLR when I needed to shoot fast or needed to use a big flash.
I recently started looking and it turns out that high ISO performance is one of the things that have VASTLY improved in newer models. Honestly the new cameras have less noise at ISO 3200 than mine does at 400. So I decided it's time to upgrade. I was trying to decide between the 450D and biting the bullet for a 50D, which is about $400+ more.
Then Wednesday night I discovered that Canon had just released the 500D in March (it's just showing up in stores now) and it's most of a 50D crammed into a 450D body, and at only about $140 more than the 450D. It's got the 15.1MP sensor, the 930,000 pixel 3" screen, and all the other cool stuff. The only significant difference is that it only shoots at 3.5 fps in burst mode rather than 6, and it has less sophisticated autofocus sensors, which somewhat limits its performance in low light situations. I can live with that for about a $300 savings, which I can put into lenses instead.
Also, the 500D shoots true HD video. It's still not a replacement for the actual HD camcorder since it has a monaural microphone the size of a pinhead, but it'll be nice to have as an option when the camcorder isn't in hand.
All that and a bag of chips: The new camera with all that and the new lens with IS is $100 less than I paid for the old camera 6+ years ago.
Also, they've redesigned the 18-55 kit lens; it now includes IS and is apparently a big improvement over the last one. While the original 18-55 was OK, it was a bit mediocre and I wound up replacing it with a Sigma 18-135.
With the old camera, I also originally had the 55-200 companion lens, which honestly STUNK. It was horrible and I sold it after about 6 months. However, Canon now has replaced it with the 55-250 IS. I was seriously considering the 70-200L, and it still might happen someday, it's a darn nice lens, but at 2.5X the cost of the 55-250 IS and no IS on the L lens, I can't currently justify buying L glass. At least, not until the credit cards are paid off...
Both the 18-55 and the 55-250 have I think a 3rd generation IS; it has actually many fewer moving parts and reviews say it's pretty much as good as the IS in the expensive L series lenses. Also the technical reviews indicate that Canon has clearly taken significant steps in reducing chromatic and spherical aberration. And the new cameras ship with a RAW processor that includes a database of Canon lenses and can correct out the remaining CA and barrel/pincusion distortion.
I think it's a really good time to upgrade. A friend at work disagrees and is sticking by the old "when upgrading, always buy better glass" adage, but I think in the digital age that doesn't hold quite as true. The image sensor and supporting circuitry has become much more important than the camera body used to be in the film days, and it needs upgrading occasionally.
I'm also happy to see that 3rd party battery grips are now available for dirt cheap. I have a battery grip for the 300D and I really, really like it. It's not on the camera a lot, but when I go somewhere specifically to shoot pictures, I put it on. It is VERY nice to have a proper grip on the camera in portrait mode, and I was worried I'd have to give it up if I upgraded. Honestly I may wind up with the battery grip on most of the time; apparently they've made the new camera so damn small that it can be hard to grip.