Hello everyone....

[Elson23]

Hey there everyone.... im new to the fourms and i have to say i have searched around the site and have found plenty of information on DSLR's..... i have convensed myself to buy the 350D XT.... i found a package on eBay from Cameta Camera (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7543574143&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fse arch.dll%3Fcgiurl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.co m%252Fws%252F%26fkr%3D1%26from%3DR8%26satitle%3D75 43574143%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1) and i was wondering is this a good package to start off with and has anyone bought from them? also i was wondering how well are the lenes that the kit comes with? thanks in advance....

-Elson

[Skip Souza]

Hi there Elson, welcome to the forum.
ResellerRatings (http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1697.html) seems to give Cameta Cameras a clean bill of health.
The camera is an excellent camera. The extras in the kit (lenses, CF cards, etc.) are not first line quality but a guy needs to start some where.
To check on the value compare each item to someone like B&H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=CDnzYnsMkf!-750870244?O=NavBar&A=FetchChildren&Q=&ci=989)and see if it is worth it.
Good luck.

[mrclark321]

Hi Elson

I have the XT and it is a great camera but the lenses in this package are not that great! Do a little more shopping and maybe get the XT body only and a Tamron 28-75. A great lense and tac sharp!

Dan

[Bob_A]

If the stuff in this kit is what you would pick if you were shopping for each item individually then I would say go for it. However, it seems to be a big collection of things that I would never select, and would have no use for ... especially the camera case.

To me I wouldn't pay more than $100 for the cheap 1 GB CF card, recovery software, memory card wallet, card reader, cleaning kit, battery, camera case and 30 free prints. Frankly I wouldn't want any of it, so it is just a waste of $50 over buying the camera with the two lenses from B&H or buydig.com.

Also, as Dan said, I think you would be much happier with getting the camera with a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 XR Di than the two lenses in this kit. The single 28-75 is more expensive than the two lenses combined ($350 instead of $210), but the difference in image quality would be well worth it.

For CF cards I would use Sandisk Ultra II's ($90 for a 1 GB card) or the equivalent Lexar or Kingston, and get a Sandisk or Lexar card reader ($20). Many on this forum buy spare batteries from www.sterlingtek.com because they work well and are much cheaper than the Canon OEM ones.

Edit:

To get a "quality" kit with the Tamron 28-75 instead of the two lenses in the Cameta kit:

Rebel Xt
Tamron 28-75
Sandisk Ultra II 1 GB CF Card
Sandisk CF Flash I & II reader
Lowepro Micro Trekker 100 backpack (other good bags are available at a similar price)
Lowepro Memory card wallet (if you really need one)

Total of above (B&H Photo) = $1354
SterlingTek spare battery = $15

Total = $1369

[Elson23]

thanks everyone for the feedback on the kit..... i was wondering how much better are the Sigma lenes compared to the Tarmon lenes..... i forgot to mention i will be photograpghing mostly cars and people.....

[Elson23]

i went on BHPhoto and did a little shopping.... i came up with the XT body w/18-55mm kit, 1GB ScanDisk, Canon Bag to carry it around, also i want to pick up the Canon 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM lens all for $1,283.85 shipped..... what does everyone think of this package???

[Skip Souza]

Doesn't look like a bad package. I you can, step up slightly and get the Canon 100-300 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12059&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation). It seems to be the Canon tele zoom of chioce for the price.

[Elson23]

i wouldnt mind bumping up to that but my budget cant going $100 more lol.... well lets say my credit card cant go $100 more lol..... so do u recommed the package i came up with?

[Bob_A]

i went on BHPhoto and did a little shopping.... i came up with the XT body w/18-55mm kit, 1GB ScanDisk, Canon Bag to carry it around, also i want to pick up the Canon 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM lens all for $1,283.85 shipped..... what does everyone think of this package???

I'd really recommend going to a camera shop and checking out a bunch of bags/backpacks before buying one on-line. Lugging camera equipment around can be pretty annoying if the bag you are carrying is too big, too small or just plain uncomfortable. Once you pick one, then buy wherever you can get it for the least $.

[Elson23]

ummm good point Bob_A, i was also looking in the filter kits, and i wanted to know what u guys recommend, i will mostly be shooting cars and people.....

[Bob_A]

ummm good point Bob_A, i was also looking in the filter kits, and i wanted to know what u guys recommend, i will mostly be shooting cars and people.....

I'd hold off on filters and buy them as you need them. Gives you time to do some research regarding what you want. You would be better off buying a lens hood than filters for your initial purchase. If you don't want to use a lens hood (I really recommend you do) then buy a multicoated UV filter to protect the lens. You don't need both a hood and a UV filter, since a UV filter isn't required for a Canon DSLR.

If you are buying the Canon 18-55mm kit lens, then this is the hood you want:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&A=details&Q=&sku=70568&is=REG&addedTroughValue=351554_USA&addedTroughType=accessory

Once you get comfortable with you camera, a great filter to get is a circular polarizing filter (NOTE: a "linear" polarizing filter is not recommended because your AF won't work with it). Again you need a multicoated one such as this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=116779&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

[Elson23]

thats awesome information thank you very much.... would u recommend getting a hood for the 70-300 lens?

[Bob_A]

IMO you should have a hood for all of the lenses you use, both for protection (i.e., use them indoors too) and to prevent flare.

[Elson23]

ok cool thanks for all your help, and thanks to everyone else that has given me information....

[Kristy]

A f riend of mine bought his Nikon D70 on Ebay from Cameta. Quick shipping and great customer service. No problems at all. He was very happy. He bought a package deal too. You might e-mail Cameta and see if they can create the package you want and for what price.

Also check out www.abesofmaine.com Cheapest I've seen although I don't know much about their reputation. I'm looking at buying the Canon 20D there... can't beat the price of $1250 for body only, and $1304 with the kit lens....

Good luck! :)

[Bob_A]

Abe's of maine has a very poor lifetime rating on reselleratings.com, so IMO I would stay away from them.

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2003.html

Cameta has a very good rating ( http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1697.html ), but they only have 47 lifetime reviews, so there is a bit of risk using them even though they could be outstanding. B&H on the other hand has 1086 lifetime reviews with the same rating as cameta, and www.buydig.com has a a decent rating (slightly lower than B&H or Cameta), with a good database of 756 reviews.

Personally I would buy from B&H Photo or BuyDig.com.