Money to spend! *Help Needed*

[Zeke]

Ok...

I've finally got some cash together, and I'm desperate to jump into the world fo D/SLR...

I'm looking at either a 350D or a 20D - advice? Can someone give me some definitive and practical reasons why the 20D's higher price is justified?

Glass... I would love a EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS - but it's out of my range at the moment. What's my best options for something similar? I'll be doing a lot of shooting at bands/concerts where available light is minimal.

I think I'll buy a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II by default. :cool:

Anything else I should know/consider/remember?

[pyterps]

The 20D would be my choice due to the low noise.

Dave

[gastroboy]

20D feels better and should last longer than the 350D. depends on how big your hands are as well. if you are a little person then a 350D should feel right. If you are a big person, the 350D may feel a little small. you have to try them out.

Lens's I can't help you cos I only have the EFS 17-85mm (which is a nice lens btw)

[tim]

Dave, the 350D and 20D have the same amount of high ISO noise - ie not much.

I had a 20D, and i've held the 350D and played with it a little. The 20D is faster to operate, as it has a bunch of buttons that change things that you need to use menus for on the 350D. The 350 is also a lot smaller, too small for me.

I sold me 50mm F1.8, the focus accuracy wasn't good enough. The 50mm F1.4 is much better. The lens I use 90% of the time is the Tamron 28-75, it's a bit hard to get right now, there's a new sigma lens that's about the same range which i've seen good things written about.

[colourstorm]

Grrr! I wish I'd seen this post earlier. I can help you here (cough cough):
read this:

Things that are the same



The sensor, though actually different, is very similar in physical size and pixel count
Both have mirror lockup (enabled via a custom function)
Both have flash exposure compensation
Both have exposure compensation
Both can set shutter speed and compensation in 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments
Both have manually selectable evaluative, partial and center weighted metering modes
Both have manually selectable one-shot, AI servo and AI focus autofocus modes (plus manual focus)
Both have user selectable second curtain flash sync
Both have the same white balance options
Both have a monochrome (B&W) shooting mode
Both have the same RAW and JPEG size and quality modes
Both have the same 1.8" rear color LCD, with the same 5 brightness settings
Both have the same selectable histogram display
Both can print directly to compatible printers
Both have a USB 2.0 interface
Both are effectively "instant on". Startup time is 0.2s
Both have the same white balance bracketing and correction
Both have buffer which holds 6 RAW files
Both use the .CR2 RAW file format
Things that are different, but not better or worse



The EOS 20D uses BP-511/512 batteries, while the Digital Rebel XT uses the NB-2LH.
The EOS 20D uses the RS-80N3 wired remote, the Digital Rebel uses the RS-60E3 wired remote.
Whether these are advantages or disadvantages depends on what other equipment you own and which accessories and batteries they are compatible with. It's nice not to have to carry two different sets of batteries and chargers and two different remote releases.

The Digital Rebel XT is smaller than the EOS 20D. Whether this is good or bad depends a bit on the size of your hands. Some may find the Digital Rebel too small, some may find the EOS 20D too big.
The Digital Rebel XT is available in a silver finish. Some like it, some don't.
The Digital Rebel LCD information display is on the back of the camera. The EOS 20D LCD information display is on the top of the camera.
The layout of the menus for the two cameras is different. The layout on the EOS 20D is similar to that used on the EOS 10D and EOS 1D series cameras. They layout of the Digital Rebel XT is similar to the original Digital Rebel and the Poweshot series of digicams.
Things that are different where the EOS 20D is better



The EOS 20D has a rear QCD (Quick Control Dial) which can be used to set exposure compensation, flash compensation, shutter speed or aperture in manual mode and has several other functions. The same functions are available in the Digital Rebel XT, but require the pushing of buttons. The advantage of the QCD is you can do things faster and without taking your eye from the viewfinder.
The EOS 20D can shoot at 5 frames/second, the Digital Rebel XT can shoot at 3 frames/sec
The EOS 20D can shoot a burst of 23 high resolution JPEG frames before the buffer fills, The Digital Rebel XT can shoot 14 frames
The EOS 20D has 9 autofocus zones, the Digital Rebel XT has 7
The EOS 20D provides full cross-type performance with maximum apertures as small as f5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8. The autofocus system of the Digital Rebel XT is inherited from the film Rebel XT body and has normal precision f5.6 sensors.
The EOS 20D autofocus is specified to operate in 1 stop lower light than the Digital Rebel autofocus (-0.5 EV vs +0/5 EV)
The EOS 20D autofocus is faster than the autofocus on the Digital Rebel XT
The EOS 20D has a top shutter speed of 1/8000s, the Digital Rebel XT has a top shutter speed of 1/4000s
The EOS 20D has a flash x-sync speed of 1/250s, the Digital Rebel x-sync speed is 1/200s
The EOS 20D has a pentaprism with a 0.9x viewfinder magnification, the Digital Rebel XT has a pentamirror with 0.8x magnification.
The EOS 20D has a highest ISO setting of 3200, the Digital Rebel XT has a high ISO setting of 1600.
The EOS 20D is good for 1000 shots (no flash) on a single battery charge, the Digital Rebel XT is good for 600.
The EOS 20D has a PC terminal for use with an external flash or strobe, the Digital Rebel XT does not.
The EOS 20D maximum flash sync voltage is 250v (for both the hotshoe and PC terminal), the Digital Rebel XT maximum sync voltage is also 250v, not 6v as I had earlier reported. Canon have recently stated that the Digital Rebel XT does in fact share the 250v sync voltage with the 20D and other high end Canon EOS bodies. Sorry for any confusion on this point.
The EOS 20D has a high performance shutter designed for increased reliability (100,000 cycles), the Digital Rebel XT has the normal Canon shutter (about 50,000 cycles).
The shutter lag time of the EOS 20D is 65ms, the shutter lag time of the Digital Rebel XT is 100ms.
The high-speed mirror drive give the EOS 20D a shortened viewfinder blackout time (115ms) compared to the Digital Rebel XT (170ms)
The EOS 20D sensor (8.2MP, 22.5 x 15mm) is very slightly larger and has slightly more pixels than the Digital Rebel XT sensor (8.0MP, 22.2 x 14.8mm).
The EOS 20D has a multi-controller on the back of the camera can be pushed in eight directions, as well as down in the center, to simplify selection of the AF point, correction of white balance, trimming of images during direct printing, scrolling of magnified images etc. The Digital Rebel XT uses push buttons for the same functions.
The EOS 20D has top, front and rear covers made of a magnesium alloy for added strength and rigidity. The top, front and rear covers of the Rebel XT are plastic.
The EOS 20D has 18 custom functions, the Digital Rebel XT has 9 (List of XT custom functions (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/eos_digital_rebel_xt_cf.html))
The EOS 20D ships with Adobe PhotoShop Elements 2, the Digital Rebel XT ships with ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5. Adobe have an upgrade offer from Elements to full Photoshop CS for $299 (http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catCanon). This offer applies to copies of Elements which were supplied bundled with Canon products. Since Photoshop retails for up to $599 ($649 list), this can be a significant saving.
Things that are different where the Digital Rebel XT is better



Price - a no-brainer. The Digital Rebel XT is around $500 cheaper!
The Digital Rebel can use the low cost ($25) RC-1 and RC-5 infrared remotes. The EOS 20D can't.
The Digital Rebel XT is lighter than the EOS 20D (17.1oz vs. 24.2oz)
© Copyright Bob Atkins All Rights Reserved
www.bobatkins.com (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/)

just in case you didn't know - 350D is rebel XT...

[Zeke]

Thanks for that! Very comprehensive!

[jfrancho]

Grrr! I wish I'd seen this post earlier. I can help you here (cough cough):
read this: BLAH, BLAH, Plaguerized material, BLAH.....


www.bobatkins.com (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/)

just in case you didn't know - 350D is rebel XT...
Wouldn't have been easier to just give the link?

[Michaelmjc]

The EOS 20D can shoot a burst of 23 high resolution JPEG frames before the buffer fills, The Digital Rebel XT can shoot 14 frames



I've shot 250 consecutive shots in burst mode with my rebel, so that is not true.

[AjP]

he is talking about buffer, and it is true, with Large resolution 20D hold about 20-24 images, while XT(350D) twice less.
There is no way you buffer can store 250 images

[Salleke]

I've shot 250 consecutive shots in burst mode with my rebel, so that is not true.

250 consecutive shots in burst mode with a Rebel 350 XT? ... :confused:
That's impossible IMHO.

[prime80]

250 consecutive shots in burst mode with a Rebel 350 XT? ... :confused:
That's impossible IMHO.

I don't know about 250, but I've shot in the 50s with no slowdown. If you use a high-speed CF card, the buffer flushes fast enough to keep up with the shooting for quite a while. Exactly how long, I don't know, but much longer than 14 shots.

[Gary_E]

I don't know about 250, but I've shot in the 50s with no slowdown. If you use a high-speed CF card, the buffer flushes fast enough to keep up with the shooting for quite a while. Exactly how long, I don't know, but much longer than 14 shots.
is that with large format or small... small i can see

[Gary_E]

as far as the digital rebel xt vs 20 i chose the xt because the resolution is very similar and in 3 years who knows what will replace the 20 and i will want one
the advantages i see to the 20 are the 13 fps
higher iso
different controls
but i have done 1500 shots w/the xt and i love it, it seems to beat the old nikon stuff i used in college. i still have kodachrome slides and i love the pictures off the xt more than the kodachromes. unfortunatley all my nikon stuff was stolen while in the military years back..