Question for people that have both the XT and the 20D

[OceanView]

Now that you have both cameras, which one do you use more often and for which occasion?

For example,
Do you find yourself carrying one more frequently due to size, weight, etc.?

When you are using one of the cameras, do you think you should be using the other instead?

Just wondering as I am having a hard time deciding on one of these.

[jtg]

I still use the 20D more.....because my wife won't let go of the Rebel XT!

[Camo 757]

Had the XT returned it and got the 20D

[felix21685]

ocean view- make sure you go to a store and play with both.
if you can afford the 20D go for it..

[OceanView]

ocean view- make sure you go to a store and play with both.
if you can afford the 20D go for it..

I tried that and the 20D sure felt more solid.
Leaning toward getting the 20D.
Now I just have 1 more hurdle.
Someone mentioned that they felt there would be a new model 30D? because there is a rebate on the 20D now till July 15th.
This makes me want to wait till August-September timeframe for any news of a new model coming out.

It's only a few months, I can wait.

[GPR1]

The new model will likely be in the $1,500 price range to begin with, so it's a matter of whether you want to spend that much more for a replacement.

Greg

[muscleflex]

ocean view- make sure you go to a store and play with both.
if you can afford the 20D go for it..

I did...i went to Dixons (electrical store in england) and had a play with both. i'm only a 5'2 gymnast and my hands are short but i'm used to holding the eos 30 so the 350 felt small to me...kinda like holding a fuji s5000 point and shoot digital camera.. the 20d felt more secure tho big in my hands!
i probably couldn't afford the 20d..but what the hell! if we all wait and save up...we'll never get what we want coz there's always something new coming! that's my excuse anyway!
now i got my eyes on a nice sigma 150 macro!! i'm drooling already!

[tim]

I've held and played with the XT for only a few minutes, but to me it seemed too small, especially if you use large lenses. I would say my hands are on the smaller side of average, i'm not so tall.

[James Yeung]

I just held both today.

The 20D definately feels a lot more solid and is quite comfortable and grippy. 5FPS vs 3FPS would definately be an advantage for sports. The 20D has more features compared to the XT, but being a newbie, I can't identify them nor can I benefit from them for the time being. :-) I was quite happy with my DRebel (RIP - got stolen) and the only extra feature I wanted was mirror lock up which I got anyway with the firmware hack.


As for the XT, eventhough I have relatively small hands, I can still get my pinky on the grip, but it's awkward. Either way, pinky on or off grip, it doesn't feel quite right for me when it comes to SLR cameras.

Also, the 20D feels super solid compared to the XT and my DRebel. Cosmetically speaking, the 20D camera feels and looks professional compared to the XT. Maybe it'll make some people think they can take better pictures, like myself. :-) Yeah, right! heeheh

If you can afford it, go for the 20D... It's sturdy and fits in your hands like a glove. If you want light weight, smallest DSLR to date, less features (but still more than adequate for most of us), plastic feel, and can live with the slight awkwardness of holding the camera for people with big hands, the XT maybe for you. Of course, using a big lens would defeat the light weight factor.

It looks like I'll be going for the 20D in the near future.

James

[Rob612]

I actually own and use both of them, mainly because I hate swapping lenses and prefer to swap camera. Quicker and less dangerous in severe conditions (being these due to weather, no place to accommodate for changing, or in difficult/dusty environments). Same monopod/tripod mounting plate on both, so no problem from that point of view.

I cannot really say that I feel more one or the other. I have different uses for them. In general, if I use a long lens, like the 70-200 2.8 or the 35-350 it goes on the 20D. There is a reason for this, and its that the 20D is faster in all ways, and if I have a long lens mounted is because I am shhoting birds, animals and other stuff that moves. Another reason for this, but maybe its just me, that having very often the camera hanging from my neck while shooting with the other one, I feel that the sturdier built of the 20D will hold better the mechanical stresses that big whites put on the body.

I rarely use a short "normal" lens. So the lens that most of the time sits on my 350D is the 10-22. Even here, there is a reason: the 10-22 is a lovely lens, much lighter than the long ones, but usually what you shoot with it is nothing that really need blazinf fast camera reactions (not that the 350 is slow, but the 20 is faster). So it can live in perfect harmony with the 350D.

Image output is comparable, if you shoot RAW as I do, so I do not have any problem with this setup.

Other thing I like of this combination of cameras/lenses is the fact that I can put a lighter lens (either the 18-55, the 28-105 or the 90-300) on the 350, set it on one of the auto modes and hand it to my wife. She takes good shots but she does not like to have to mess around with controls. And she hates my big, white lenses because these are heavy and bulky (and that's why I love them :D)

Edit to add: due to different uses, and to the fact that large CFs here are awfully expensive, I usually keep a 2 GB Hitachi microdrive on the 350 and 1 GB CFs (I have 5 or 6 of them) in the 20D. This allows me to know always - at least until I dwnload to PC - what camera took the pics that are in he device. If its CF, its the 20D. If its a MD, its the 350.