Which Canon dSLR..rebelXT, 20d, 30d

Hello all...I am new to the canon digital forums...I am a intermediate photographer...I am looking to take studio type photos of Custom Knives..using a photobox, lights and tripod and camera..I need your help..I can easily afford the rebelXT...but the 20d and 30d is not out of the question..but it would be a little harder coming up with the money but not out of the question...then to figure out which lense...should I go with the kit lense? 18-55, or go with a normal lense..? Macro? I have read that you should buy your last camera first..spend the money on the camera you think you might grow into.... I don't know enough about the differences in the camera models...I don't understand what most of the specs mean......90% of my photos will be taken indoors in the photobox..10% of the time I might use the camera for family photos and some outdoor shots.....what should I do? HELP

Welcome to POTN.

For static studio product shots, the Rebel XT will be more then enough camera. If it were me, I'd take the money I saved and spend it on lenses, lighting and a good tripod (which I did ).

The major problems I have with the XT which are driving my desire for the 30D are AF accuracy and speed, AF point layout not condusive to rule of thirds, and the relative difficulty of changing exposure settings. These are all frustrating when trying to photograph children and sports. My static shots, OTOH, are tack sharp and consistent as I can use a lower ISO and stop down or take several shots to pick the best focus.

As you get more professional and branch out into other forms of photography, you can always upgrade and keep the XT as a capable and necessary backup body.

Good luck.

I'd say the same thing. Get the XT and spend your extra cash on a lens.

well... id have to agree with both of them cause i did have the rebel xt ONCE... b4 i upgraded to the 30D which i thankfully an luckilly did thanks to a REALLY great friend of mine.. but yeah getting the xt is good an having the extra cash to get the nice lenses would be on your agenda...

I'm not too sure what you are planning to do with the knife photos, so if you're making professional brochures or such, what I am about to say may not apply. My wife and I have an antique shop and I use my 30D to take pictures of antique furniture and glassware. I have made up photo albums (4x6) of items we have in inventory and also keep a copy of the pictures on a computer at our store for our customers to view (and zoom in up to 100% crops for detail reviews, ie scrutiny). I take all of my pictures handheld with available light (indoors - flourescent or incadescent) and I'm able to get extremely sharp and color accurate (with custom white balance) images that I feel confident showing my customers. Just some more information to help make your decision even more difficult.

If thats all you want it for the 350D will serve all your needs and more but I would go for a quality prime 35 or 50 for top notch images...

Thanks Guys! Here is an example of the type of photographs I want to take..I used my old Hp photosmart camera to take this its 3.3 megapixels ..I used microsoft digital image to correct and manipulate the photo...
What lense or lenses should I get for this type of photography?

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Any macro lens will be more than enough. Very sharp and allow you to take pictures up to 1:1 size (ie fill the sensor with an object the size of the sensor). This is probably closer than you need for knives, but its nice to have the extra ability.

As dedicated macro lenses are primes, they all have excellent image quality. Examples are the Canon 60mm E-FS (for 350d, 20d, 30d only), canon 100mm, sigma 50mm, sigma 105mm, sigma 150mm, tamron 90mm. All good!

why buy a new camera? Your HP seem to handle it quite well.

I use my EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro for product shots. Canon 350D or 20D - doesn't make a difference, I find both to be equally capable cameras when taking pictures on my workbench. The 60 macro will allow you to do closeup shots and highlight extremely fine details of your craft. I have the 50mm f/1.8 lens and the 60 macro completely blows it away. (it had better, it costs at least 5X more! )

Get proper lighting, perhaps a couple of 430EX flashes, ST-E2 wireless transmitter to control both flashes. Get a light tent, position the two flashes to fire through the sides of the light tent. Mount the ST-E2 on top of the camera, it will send the signal to the flashes to fire.

The 60 macro is a tremendously sharp lens, more than sharp enough for almost any imaginable purpose and often, too sharp especially for portraits where it brings out every little speck and flaw

I use both the 350D and 20D interchangeably, and I don't notice a difference in quality. As far as I can see, both cameras are capable of delivering exceptionally good images. I find that proper lighting makes a big difference, too.

delhi wrote:
why buy a new camera? Your HP seem to handle it quite well.

That's what I thought when I saw the photo of the knife. The other thing I thought of was wootz - is that knife really made of wootz?

If you can afford the 20D/30D and still get a nice lens, I'd go with whichever you can afford. If getting one of them is going to cause you to get a cheaper lens, get the XT and a nicer lens.

First thanks for the compliments on my photo you guys really made my day ..the reason I want to get a better camera is to produce larger photo's...and have a better depth of field (Preview)...it took quite alot of shots to get this photo...I know I could do a better job with a dslr..but I did'nt know which type of lense to go with...can I ask why will the canon 60mm macro lense only fits on the 350xt and 20d or 30d and the others lenses mentioned will work on all others? it's this type of infomation I have no clue about..I truly appreciate any and all help you all have given me...

Oh yeah..this is a damascus blade knife..it's not wootz but similar...

Yep, go for the Rebel and a nice lens. The EF-S 60mm f/2.8 lens would be a good one for your work. A tripod and proper lighting will complete the setup.

The lenses have different mounts. EF-S is only available on the bodies you mentioned. The regular EF mount will work on ANY moden Canon, film or digital.

Whatever you end up with, take a pass on the kit lens.

Any lens that is ef-s instead of ef will only fit on the 300D, 350D, 20D and 30D. They have a smaller sensor (aps-c I think) and the mirror is designed to flip out of the way. If you put an ef-s lens on another camera; when the mirror flips up to expose the sensor (or film) it will hit the mirror and probably break it.

This means you have an advantage when you are using a zoom (200mm lens is now 200mm * 1.6); but this hurts if you're wanting a wide angle. This is the reason for the ef-s 10-22 (Specially designed to be a wide angle lens on camera's with the smaller sensor)

Search the forum for 1.6 and crop factor and you will have more info than you need.