Which to purchase Rebel XT or 20D? And which lens/equipments to buy?

FScott wrote:
Don't buy that kit off of ebay! For $1800 you can do better. How about this:

1. 20D + kit lens (Get the kit lens. It hardly costs anything and will cover the very wide end if you need it. Stop it down a little and it can produce fine pics): $1370

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

2. Sigma 24-70 2.8: $399:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

3. Sandisk Ultra II 1 GB: $87

http://www.newegg.com …-046&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

4. 2nd battery (3rd party replacement): $12

http://shop.store.yaho​o.com …-canon-bp-511-dlc511.html

Total: $1868+shipping
rebate: $100 for 20D

If you want to save money then the XT with kit lens is $500 cheaper and in either case you save about $80 ditching the kit lens.

All of these purchases however are from reputable companies unlike the link you posted above.

-- Scott.

Great work Scott.

Thank you all for of the tips and suggestions. I have chose two vendor to purchase my camera and some accessories. The first is Abe's of Maine and the second one is B&H. The price difference is about $100 or so. I don't know if anyone has any experience with any of these. Any suggestion will be great.

Link to the pricegrabber.com's price comparision. Abe's is the second one and B&H is 20th down.

http://www.pricegrabbe​r.com …=3789775/search​=canon+20D

Abe's site

http://www.abesofmaine​.com …os20d1855k&l=Pr​icegrabber

B&H site

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …48317&srccode=c​ii_5784816

Thank you all again for all of the help and resources. Thank you.

watchcaddy wrote:
Thank you all for of the tips and suggestions. I have chose two vendor to purchase my camera and some accessories. The first is Abe's of Maine and the second one is B&H. The price difference is about $100 or so. I don't know if anyone has any experience with any of these. Any suggestion will be great.

Link to the pricegrabber.com's price comparision. Abe's is the second one and B&H is 20th down.

http://www.pricegrabbe​r.com …=3789775/search​=canon+20D

Abe's site

http://www.abesofmaine​.com …os20d1855k&l=Pr​icegrabber

B&H site

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …48317&srccode=c​ii_5784816

Thank you all again for all of the help and resources. Thank you.

Well "Buyer Beware". To me it is worth the $100 to buy from a reputable dealer. Here is a picture of the Abe's storefront by a guy who runs around NY city taking pictures of some of the dumps that run web sites. It is really a great public service:

http://donwiss.com …/BrooklynStores​/h0002.htm

and it has a low reseller rating:

http://www.resellerrat​ings.com/seller2003.ht​ml

Scoring a 2 out of 10 on returns and replacements. Ouch!

In contrast here is the store front of the massive B&H store in NY city:

http://donwiss.com …ManhattanStores​/h0002.htm

and here is the almost perfect reseller rating:

http://www.resellerrat​ings.com/seller1914.ht​ml

You are now armed with sufficient information to decide how you want to proceed. Take on as much risk as you feel you can handle. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out...

-- Scott.

p.s. Thanks grego!

WOOOW!!! That opened my eyes. I did not know ABE had that low of rating on resellersratings.com. Ok, I think $100 is worth the peace of mind and knows that my camera will arrive in one piece. Thank you so much for that information. Thank you!!

Buy it at costco. Buy the membership if you need to, but nothing beats a one-year return policy.

hey watchcaddie...

newbie here but I've been lurking for a while...
just thought I'd speak on Abe's... I bought two
cameras from them: an S1 a few months ago,
and a Rebel XT (which I just got) In both cases,
I thought their prices were better than what I'd
seen on ebay (who are not all authorized Canon
resellers BTW). They did take two days to ship but
they sent me an automated email with tracking
and the cameras were double boxed with all the
proper accessories, software etc...

BTW: I was VERY happy with my rebel XT deal
silver body + the 75-300 lens that was eligible for
the double rebate ($919-$160 rebate=$759 delivered)
The Abe's salesman did not highly recommend that
lens but he didn't hassle me as I was on a budget
and needed something a little more powerful than the
18-55 (my hobby is shooting minor league baseball...)
Because of the rebate, I also picked up the Canon
pixma 6600 printer at my local best buy for $189
which after the triple rebate kicked in (another $155)
cost me only 32 bucks, I can't complain...

hope this helps... Dave

Thank you for all of the suggestionss. I have decided to go with the 20D and purchase it from B&H where my friends and co workers purchased their stuff from. I will let you all know when it arrives. Can't wait....

I just finished using a Rebel XT tonight for a few hours and I personally don't like it.
It is too small (even though I have small hands it still feels too small).
It was very hard to shoot with my 75-300 Lens since the body was so small and light that it felt unbalanced and hard to keep a stable hand held shot at 300mm even with the IS turned on, with the kit lens it felt ok.
It also feels very cheap..

I'd personally spring for the 20D since it has the rotating wheel on the back instead of the little 4 way button pad.

EDIT: maybe I should have read the last page first.

Depends how much money you want to spend. The 18-55 lens kit is junk but it is good to have a zoom lens. I have the 24-85 and I am happy with it. I have 6 lenses. If I could only take 3 with me somewhere (which happens) for just general shooting, it would be: 50mm 1.8, 24-85mm and 100mm f2. If I could take one lens, it would be the zoom or the 50mm. The 50mm cost like $100 and it is a fast lens so no one should be without it.