A big, big dilemma... Digital or lenses?

Well, I am right in the middle of a dilemma... I own a Canon EOS 500N with the kit lens (EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II) inside a Lowepro Nova Mini...

The question is... Should I buy a 75-300 and a 50mm f/1.8 or wait untill I have the money for a 350D? (My budget is 240U$D, just what I need for this two lenses)

Now, If I go for the lenses, shall I go USM for the tele or no USM?

Thanks in advance...

PS: Some pictures of my setup...

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well 1st off, welcome to POTN

Second, this is a digital forum, so I'd imagine the responses will more than likely be for you to get the Digital Rebel

USM always

As a 350D owner..save your money and get one. I had to sell my ATV to afford mine, but it was well worth it.

agree ^^

digital...film IS good, but digital is easier for most people (no darkrooms, computer editing)

USM means much faster and accurate focusing! So USM is the way to go

Can you get a Rebel XT for that much these days? Depereciation is fast on these cameras.. I've only had mine for a year..

I would get the 350D, this way you can start saving money by not having to buy or process the film. Welcome to POTN!

digital as well. is more cost effective in the mid run. i have taken more photos since i got my dslr then i ever did with my fslr. then again, i didn't spend a lot of time with film.

oh, and don't get the ef 75-300mm please. trust me on this.

My opinion, go digital.

I was a film user and was always waiting for digital SLR's to drop in price and get better - I always thought that film would never die etc.

I gave in to temptation when i got a sharesave cheque through - I got myself a 20D and some new lenses about 18 months ago and have never looked back!

There is a 'learning curve', particularly with post-processing but in the long term you will be rewarded.

I kept my old Nikon F100 and a couple of nice prime lenses and I did start to use my old film gear a few months ago, but found that if I took anything important I always used the 20D, and it took me about a month to get through one 36 exp film. When i got the results back (scanned from the film) I was quite disapointed, not to mention the fact that it cost me nearly £10 to get the film developed and scanned!

get the 350D and save a heap of cash on film. You will soon be able to buy the lenses with the money saved on processing and printing. In the meantime you can adjust to the learning curve that digital throws at you and improve your shooting with instant feedback.

I will have to think about this... I have a person travelling to NY who can buy stuff from B&H without paying the taxes and shipping, so this is the chance and I only have money for the two lenes (no USM) and a Lowepro MiniTrekker 100 (actually the bag will be a gift)...

Regarding the money spent on film, "I" spend 40U$D a month... And I say "I" because I don't pay neither the rolls nor the processing (the same person that will pay for my bag pays for my photos)...

Livinthalife wrote in post #2037503
USM means much faster and accurate focusing! So USM is the way to go

Actually, another aviation photographer who owned the common one, the USM version and the USM IS version told me that the faster to focus was the common one. Although, he recommended me to try to save for the 70-200 L...

Jaetie wrote in post #2039192
oh, and don't get the ef 75-300mm please. trust me on this.

Why not?

Hey Niky! Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest you, as everybody here, to start with the 350D. Buy the 18-55 and 55-200, and then later sell them, and get 17-40 f/4L and 70-200 f/4L.

Your waaaaaaaay behind the curve now baby! (my best Kramer voice)
... go Digital as soon as possible!

If you are broke, witch it sounds like you are, check the spec's on a 300D or 10D, Used both can be found for less than $500. I bet they would match up closely with your film camera so you wouldnt be missing anything. As far as the 75-300 canons go, normal, USM and IS USM, they all have the same crappy optics and they are the lowest rated of the cheap consumer zooms from canon, sigma and tamron.

We're probably as biased as h*ll
I too would say definitely go digital -even if that means going for a used 300D body .
I owned only a 300D right up until last week.It's an excellent camera with great image quality.The only faults i had with it were it's irritating start up times (etc),and i wanted a bigger rear screen

That said -if you are really not sure wether you want to go digital or not then perhaps make thae most of it-grab the lenses ! You Can't miss what you don't know about

ron chappel wrote in post #2041787
That said -if you are really not sure wether you want to go digital or not then perhaps make thae most of it-grab the lenses ! You Can't miss what you don't know about

I think I'll go for the glass... In the summer (South Hemisphere) I'll be working and hopefully I can buy the DSLR...

PS: I do have a digital camera, but it is a point n shoot... Therefore I know, unfortunately, the advantages of digital...