When to buy dRebel

[enkydu]

I'm sold on Canon's Digital Rebel camera.

My wife and I are amateur photographers and bought a Canon Rebel four years ago and love it. We have since invested over $600 in lenses for that camera.

Now that we're looking to go digital, the EOS Digital Rebel is one we have our sights on since we can keep our investment in our Canon EF lenses. But, $1000 is a lot of money, even for an amateur who takes pictures as often as we do.

If we were to wait 3 or 6 months to buy, could we expect the dRebel's price to drop some, or do you think the $1000 sticker is pretty firm for quite a while? We're in no rush, and I have no particular desire to have "the latest and greatest" thing out there. I'm totally happy buying an outdated model, if it has what I want...and the dRebel has what I've been waiting for.

Prices of digital cameras are dropping all the time, can I expect the dRebel to be selling for something like $750ish by the end of June? Is Canon going to release something else like the dRebel soon that will cause them to lower their price on it? Or can we expect a competitor to release something similar that leads to Canon to drop their price?

[PKchopper]

Since the 300D is the most popular digital camera out there right now and since it is less than a year old and since Nikon just released the D70 (most direct competition to the 300D) and the prices have yet to fluctuate...

Just buy the thing and go have fun...welcome to the digital SLR world.

If you have enough lenses from your film version of the rebel and if one of them covers the same focal field, 18mm-55mm, as the kit lens you may think about saving $100 and buy the camera body alone. (but for only $100 you will be hard pressed to find a similiar lens and others have said that it would be a good lens to sell the camera with if you decide to upgrade the body down the road)

Remember there is a 1.6x field of view crop factor (FOV crop) because the 300D's sensor is smaller than a 35mm negative. The 18-55mm kit lens equates to a 28.8mm-88mm focal length for a traditional 35mm film camera.

Just multiply all of your current lens by the 1.6x FOV crop to determine the 35mm equivalent.

[ursa]

While prices continue to drop they've only dropped when new cameras actually hit the market. With the D70's launch you might see a decrease in the price on the dRebel but I doubt it. Things will probably remain pretty constant until September, Canon sometimes announces a new camera then.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of film, sure you won't shoot as much on film as a digital camera but it can add up. Don't forget to budget for at least 512 MB of memory cards too.

[enkydu]

Thanks, guys.

Obviously, I was hoping for better news, but at least now I have more realistic expectations.

I'll probably save up for a couple more months--adding an extra $100 for a mem card didn't make my heart leap for joy, but I certainly have to keep it in mind. (actually, since I have a laptop, couldn't I get away with 128 or 256 MB if I just plan on downloading the pixs more often, even when I'm on vacation?)

While I'm saving up, I'll practice multiplying things by 1.6 to get used to the dRebel's FOV cropping.

[ursa]

A 128 MB card will fill up very fast - high quality jpegs are about 2-3 mega bytes per. A couple of 256 meg cards would be a nice start and they seem to be at the sweet spot price wise. I always have two cards, just in case one fails.

[choeschen]

Yes the Rebel has a 1.6x factor on the lens but if you use the lens that comes with the Rebel it is not effected by this 1.6x factor so you will get 18-55mm.

[PKchopper]

Originally Posted by choeschen

Yes the Rebel has a 1.6x factor on the lens but if you use the lens that comes with the Rebel it is not effected by this 1.6x factor so you will get 18-55mm.

Actually the kit lens is also affected. The size of the sensor is the size of the sensor. I think what you are speaking about is the "kit" lens sits closer to the sensor, which enabled Canon to use less glass thus a lighter more economical lens (the kit lens is an EFS mount, which will only fit the 300D. No other Canon can accommodate an EFS mount not even the EF mounts however the 300D can accommodate all EF mount lenses).

[PKchopper]

Originally Posted by enkydu

Thanks, guys.

Obviously, I was hoping for better news, but at least now I have more realistic expectations.

I'll probably save up for a couple more months--adding an extra $100 for a mem card didn't make my heart leap for joy, but I certainly have to keep it in mind. (actually, since I have a laptop, couldn't I get away with 128 or 256 MB if I just plan on downloading the pixs more often, even when I'm on vacation?)

While I'm saving up, I'll practice multiplying things by 1.6 to get used to the dRebel's FOV cropping.

I just waited for a sale and got my 512 MB card for your same budgeted $100. I love the extra space and love not having to stop every 15 pictures or so to download. At between 2 mb and 3 mb per picture I can shoot over 200 without downloading and the battery just goes and goes.

[Setiprime]

Listen to PKchopper. I think he secretly lives inside this forum in a small little cubbyhole somewhere.

Even with your film experience, you will have a new learning curve and a ton of things to learn about that do not exist in the film world.

By the time you have outgrown the Rebel there will be much better equipment on the market.

I have found that MOST cameras are more capable than MOST shooters- for a while.

Like he said - buy it now and you won't regret it.

I've only been shooting for 30years - so I don't know too much.

I LOVE my Rebel -

[PKchopper]

Originally Posted by Setiprime

Listen to PKchopper. I think he secretly lives inside this forum in a small little cubbyhole somewhere.

HaHa, now that's a good one. Sometimes I to think I'm stuck in some little cubby somewhere in the forum :lol: