Have G3, want 300D, should I?

[cloudless]

I really like my G3 but I am so tempted to buy the EOS300D!
Today I went to a camera shop and hold the 300D on my hands... it is surprisingly small and light, actually without the lens it isn't much bigger than my G3. The main reasons that I want to buy the 300D are:

- Ability to use shallow DOF
- Very low noise
- High ISO
- Fast response
- Accurate focus
- Choice of lenses

I am waiting for the 300D to drop prices when the Nikon D70 releases. However I really want to buy a wide-angle converter lens for my G3 before my trip in March. Should I save up right now or go ahead to buy the lens? I am really tight on budget.

Please tell me if there is any additional reasons to justify my upgrade to the EOS300D, thanks!

[marksw]

Sounds like you are just looking for an excuse to buy it :lol:

My brother had a G2 with all the extras (wide angle lens, telephoto lens, filters, flash etc.) Great camera, but he sold it all and got a 300D. He loves it and doesn't regret it one bit.

Think of all the great photos you can take on your trip if you get it now!

Go on - treat yourself!

[Man-Fai Wong]

Yeah, if you really need it for March, just get the 300D now. You'll want to have some time to practice and warm up to it before your trip.

However, I'm wondering. You mentioned wideangle converter for the G3. If you get the 300D, you'll need to spend good $$$ to get the same wideangle as G3 + 0.7x converter. The Sigma 15-30 would give you exactly that, but the lens costs at least as much as a used G3 + 0.7x converter. The 300D kit lens does go wider than G3 by itself, but it's not super wide. And you'll lose the tele end unless you add some other lens like 28-135IS.

_Man_

[cloudless]

Thanks for your tip. Can I buy a wide-angle lens for 300D for less than US$200? I wouldn't want to afford more than that.

[marksw]

Probably not a new one. How wide do you want?

[cloudless]

Actually I have no idea, I just think my G3 is not wide enough. There are some landscape/cityscape photos that I definitely want a wider perspective.

[AndyDe]

A year ago I was in the same position as you. I was really pleased with my G2 but missed the flexibility of an SLR. Then the 10D came out & I had to have one. Now got the best of both worlds. The G2, with wide angle
attachment, when I don't want to lug a bag full of stuff around & the 10D for the serious stuff.
I think the wide angle for the G2, & I assume the G3, is a must....I leave it on most of the time.

[marksw]

I think the lens on the G3 is a 35-140mm (equivalent) lens.

The EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens that you can get bundled with the 300D is a 29-87mm equivalent lens. This will be much wider than you are used to: Angle of view: 64°28' ~ 23°19' rather than 54°25' ~ 15°ish.

In other words, the lens you get in the 300D kit will be fairly wide already, so you may not need to buy anything else straight away.

Does that help?

Look at my lens calculator (link below) to see what I mean.

[Andy_T]

The kit lens gives you 28 mm (35 mm equivalent), that's about what you get with the G3 and a 0.8x adapter.

The manual focus Zenitar 16 mm Fisheye lens for about $ 120-150 (new) might be another cost-efficient alternative if you want to go as wide as the G2 and a 0.7 adapter. Of course, you'll have to apply de-fishing-software to many of the pictures.

I use the Olympus WCON-08 on the G2, it's a great adapter. I'm quite confident that when I decide to sell it off after upgrading to a DSLR, I'll get back much of the $ 120 I paid for it.

I'll definitely keep the G2, as a walk-around-camera, but maybe not the add-on lenses. They are on my G2 only when I venture out with the tripod to do some 'serious photography', as they make the camera quite big (bigger than the DRebel with a standard lens :lol: )

Regards,
Andy

[marksw]

That's strange - I've never seen it come with a 28mm lens as standard. I'm in the UK though and things may be different here.

Basically you have two choices:

1) Buy the camera and a full price lens of your choice, or

2) Buy the camera _with_ the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (kit) for about 100 GBP ($60US?) more.

I'm sure if you look around cloudless you'll find the body and lens kit described here.

[roanjohn]

I would wait!!!

Stick with your G3 for now........The PMA is coming up........Newer cameras are coming out............(that means a decrease in price from the older models ;-) Get your G3 wide angle adaptor and sell it once the Rebel hits rock bottom price.

JMHO.

Ro1

[ijohnson]

Get the 300D and the Kit lens. I have heard great things about the 18-55 kit lens, Your only other reasonable choice is to spend another $700 on the 17-40L, not that it wouldn't be your best choice if you can afford it.

I would not expect a price drop of any significance or a replacement at PMA. Just do it.

[McShred]

I bought a G3 in September and love it. So much so I upgraded to a Digital rebel in January. Now I struggle to decide which camera I should use because they both are so nice.

[gcogger]

Make sure you handle a 300D first.

I've also got a G3 and would love a 300D, but when I tried one for real I found that I just can't hold it comfortably. I'd have cramp or RSI within a few shots.

Now I'm trying to persuade myself that a 10D is affordable :-)

[new girl on the bloc]

i bought a g3 last april. i bought a rebel in december. the g3 is great and will remain with me on my outings. but the rebel is fantastic! i love being able to quickly take a photo w/o that darn shutter lag of the g3. that was one of my biggest issues with the g3 so for me the rebel is worth it for that reason, among the many others. :lol:

[Bubber Jones]

Make sure you handle a 300D first.

I've also got a G3 and would love a 300D, but when I tried one for real I found that I just can't hold it comfortably. I'd have cramp or RSI within a few shots.

The battery grip helps tremendously....

[drisley]

I had a G3 for about one year, and bought a Digital Rebel last month.
I dont regret it at all.
The things I like about it are exactly what you said you are looking for:

- Ability to use shallow DOF
- Very low noise
- High ISO
- Fast response
- Accurate focus
- Choice of lenses

I've taken ISO 800 shots that look better than ISO100 with my G3.
The ISO 400 shots are as clean as ISO 50 on the G3 in my opinion.
I LOVE the shallow DOF, and the fast response is SO nice to use.
The G3 had nice low light (arguable) focus, but the Rebel blows it away.
Plus, if you have a 420ex external flash, it can actually use the external focus assist lamp. The first additional lens you should buy is the 50mm F1.8 MKII. It's cheap and SHARP as anyone here will attest.
Battery life was great on the G3, but it's even better on the Rebel.

I also find the flash exposure on the Rebel to be much better. It doesn't have flash compensation, but judging how accurate it meters flash exposure, I don't think I would need it.

Here are my first Rebel shots using the 50mm F1.8 lens and the 420ex flash. You almost wouldnt know they are flash shots. Plus, some are ISO800.
Pictures Here (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/50mm/index.htm)

The nice thing is that you will be able to use the lenses you buy with the next camera upgrade you do (if you get another Canon).

[Canuck]

I completely understand this option is out of you budget, but this is more FYI...

I have a Canon EOS 10D and I was playing with the the new len I had bought, the Canon 16-35 F2.8L. What I noticed was on trip to Colchester,
I was taking some pics of Colchester Castle and was getting mega fisheye effect from 16mm and disappeared at about 20mm. I needed the wide angle to get most of it in and was hoping to stitch the 2 pics together. That has never worked right for me, especially if I don't have a tripod. Murphy's law! Ok, so you might not want to go as wide as 16mm is the point which is a 25.6 on the 300D/10D. Incidentally, the Canon 16-35 F2.8L is about $1350 alone!

Another question for you...how well do you know photography? I can't say I would reccommend a DSLR with no knowledge of how it works and how to use it or should I say exploit the capabilities of it. Basically I am saying it is 100% pointless to put that much money into a completely new system just of the "it would be cool" factor!

Getting a good zoom for the 300D for super cheap isn't going to happen. There will be constant expenses on the purchases, like filters, a shutter release, tripod, and so on. Don't think for an instant that like the G3 you have, it is purchase it all in one go and that is that. You will want to look at the Sigma EX series as the alternative to the Canon L series and Sigma is sometimes better than Canon L lenses. All I have to say on that is the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8EX. Please for the 1,000,003rd time don't skimp on the glass you will seriously be disappointed in the pics you take. I started with cheap lenses on the 10D and they sucked. I went and got the Sigma 120-300 lens and the world changed a million fold for the better. See moon pic on the link to my site on the bottom of my post. I then got the Canon 16-35mm L lens and it changed again for the way better. I am stunned! I have taken some of the best pics ever just goofing off. I took some pics of a then 9 month old daughter of a coworker and he was really impressed! I had the camera set to small/fine in JPEG mode. I was more about the goof off factor and they turned out awesome he said. Here's his quote, "Hey great pics they made my day!!! You the man!!!" There was more to it but that other bit is irrelevant. I have an archive of e-mails that I haven't had time to sort and that one was in the bunch.

Cheers from England,
Canuck

[CoolToolGuy]

I was exactly where you are last summer when the Drebel (300D) was announced. I had (still do) a G3 which I love. I wanted more than the lens that comes with it, but I knew that add-on lenses are a compromise, and by the time you buy the adapter and the lens you are talking about real money. While I was agonizing, Canon announced the Drebel, and one agony ended and another one began (which lens first? then what?).
My advice is to go for the 300D with the kit lens, and hold onto the G3 if you can. The kit lens is wider than the G3, and going any wider will be rather expensive. You may find the kit lens is wide enough.
PMA is next week. I don't think Canon will be replacing the 300D, but wait and see what they come up with. They may announce some more EF-S lenses for the 300D.
You won't regret getting the 300D, but you might regret getting rid of the G3. If you must, you must, but the G3 is a great walkaround camera.
Hope this helps. Good luck

Have Fun
Rick 8)

[cloudless]

Thanks for so many responses of yours! You are really helping me to make a better decision. (Although I haven't made one yet)


In other words, the lens you get in the 300D kit will be fairly wide already, so you may not need to buy anything else straight away.


Thanks marksw! That means I should probably be fine with the kit lens. And yes it is easy to find the body and lens kit here in Hong Kong.


The PMA is coming up........Newer cameras are coming out............(that means a decrease in price from the older models


Yes I expect the D-Rebel to drop about US$100 shortly after the Nikon is released.


Make sure you handle a 300D first.


Yes I tried that at the shop yesterday, and the grip was perfect for me. The size and weight is also just right.


i love being able to quickly take a photo w/o that darn shutter lag of the g3.


The shutter lag is quite annoying but what's worse is even after the lag the focus is often inaccurate, especially in low light.


I also find the flash exposure on the Rebel to be much better.


Yes I bought the 420EX just a few weeks ago, and I am quite concerned about the lack of flash compensation on the 300D. I'm glad to know the 300D has good flash exposure. By the way, really nice bady pics you have.


Another question for you...how well do you know photography?


Yes sometimes I worry that I will make crap with such a fine camera. However there are often times I feel my G3 is too limiting. For example when I shot portrait I want shallow DOF, when I shot in low light I want lower noise.

[ilya]

Pointless to talk about this a week before the PMA. It looks like you decided to get a Canon DSLR in the sub-1000 range, and that's a good decision, and you'll get a lot for your money. Your skills will improve logarithmically as well as soon as you go SLR. So just wait a week, and then if nothing significant changes in that 1000$ range, go ahead and buy the Rebel. If something does change, the rebel can only get cheaper, or you may want to get whatever else Canon sticks in that space.

[CRCs Reality]

I also sold my much loved G3 last month and upgraded to a 300D (would have kept them both if I could have afforded it).
As much as liked the G3, I couldn't stand the shutter-lag, slow AF, and noisy low-light images. Moving to the 300D was a great solution, and I don't regret it at all.
The only thing I'd caution about is that it's an addiction, it starts simple with needing a larger camera bag (my G3 bag was snug for just the G3, with the 300D and 420EX it wasn't gonna cut it).
Then you think "I could use a better telephoto lens, one with a bit more reach".
After that, it's "wow, those shots I see posted with the 50mm lens sure are sharp, I need one of those"
Then, if you use filters, the same ones that fit the kit lens (which is a great deal BTW) don't fit the 50mm or the zoom (most likely), so you need to buy more filters.
Then you realize that the new lenses and filters don't fit your (still new) camera bag, so you need yet another bigger one :)

Best addiction I've ever had ;) (well, maybe it's a tie with coffee).

[alexd1983]

I'm currently in this boat myself. Just sold my G3.. and saving for a Drebel. I've read so much about it already, printed off like 50 pages of info and specs (waste of paper lol).. I can't wait! Sounds like a wicked camera :)

The g3 was nice... but i don't think it'll compare to my soon-to-be Drebel..

The addiction has begun... :lol:

[rockabillyrebel]

I also sold my much loved G3 last month and upgraded to a 300D (would have kept them both if I could have afforded it).
As much as liked the G3, I couldn't stand the shutter-lag, slow AF, and noisy low-light images. Moving to the 300D was a great solution, and I don't regret it at all.
The only thing I'd caution about is that it's an addiction, it starts simple with needing a larger camera bag (my G3 bag was snug for just the G3, with the 300D and 420EX it wasn't gonna cut it).
Then you think "I could use a better telephoto lens, one with a bit more reach".
After that, it's "wow, those shots I see posted with the 50mm lens sure are sharp, I need one of those"
Then, if you use filters, the same ones that fit the kit lens (which is a great deal BTW) don't fit the 50mm or the zoom (most likely), so you need to buy more filters.
Then you realize that the new lenses and filters don't fit your (still new) camera bag, so you need yet another bigger one :)

Best addiction I've ever had ;) (well, maybe it's a tie with coffee).

Apart from the 'coffee' bit (mine's tea) I'm in exactly the same boat as CRCs Reality. I too wished I could have kept my G3 but under the scrict orders of my wife it had to go if I wanted the 300D. Once I had the 300D kit in my hands I went straight out & bought a new camera bag & a Sigma 70-300 lens. Everything was dandy until a few days later when after reading a lot of posts on this forum & also every photo magazine I could lay my hands on I convinced myself I should have a seperate flash - out came my faithful visa & I soon had a 420ex to play with. Only now my camera bag was just a bit too small. I managed to talk the shop into exchanging it for a bigger (& more expencive!) bag & once again everything was good. Then I noticed Sigma did a APO version of the same zoom lens I had owned for less than a week - so back to the shop with that one & back I came with the slightly more expensive one, again everthing was good.

Last week was my Birthday & lucky ol' me had a nice cash surprise :D , what was the first thing that entered my mind...of course it was - straight to the magazines & websites to see what I could spend my money on. Now I'm waiting on a delivery of a 17-40L, a 50mm f1.4, a couple of filters & a spare memory card, and guess what....a bigger camera bag!! Of course I blame this forum entirely :wink:

[cgratti]

Absolutely...

You will truly enjoy the 300D.

[cloudless]

I'm the original poster of this thread and I don't know why it floats to the top again. :roll: Anyway, I took the advices here and bought the 300D in February, and "I'm loving it!" I have to thank everyone in this board for making me spend more money than I should! :lol: I bought the kit lens, the 50mm F1.8, and a Sigma 55-200 DC. So far so good but I'm looking for a better lens to replace my kit lens. My world of photography has changed dramatically ever since I bought the 300D! The only problem now I carry my heavy camera bag with me every day.

[Andy_T]

Hi cloudless,

just wanted to tell you that I like your new pictures with the 300D even better than the old ones on your BLOG (which I already considered very good).

Keep up the good work!

Best regards,
Andy

[JulianHt]

because the EFS 18-55 is a crappy lens. I tested it and compared it with my EF 50mm 1.8 and I was shocked at the difference. It was just as bad as the old Sigma 28-200 Hyperzoom I have.
Mind you, both lenses are good enough if you only want to print out your images at postard size or put them on the web at 72 ppi but for larger prints they don't cut it.

My advice is to buy the EOS 300 Digital body only and get yourself a better lens, the best you can afford, second hand is OK.
I already had the EF 50mm 1.8 and the EF 85 mm 1.8 from previous Canon EOS 35mm cameras and those old (and relatively cheap) lenses are far superior to the EFS 18-55 that comes with the Canon 300D. I also bought the EF 28-135 3.5/5.6 USM IS Macro (second hand for US $400) because I like the versatility of a zoom.

And keep your G3, nice camera to take with you for occasions you don't want to carry around the larger Canon 300D

Best regards,
Julian
www.pbase.com/julianht/
Canon EOS 300 Digital / Powershot G3 in Japan