Camera Choice

[vertigo]

I've been wanting to get into still photography for a while now, and I think it's time that I buy a decent camera. I was looking at these in the $1000 range:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT with 18-55 mm Lens

Nikon D70s

I'm guessing this will be mostly based on opinion, but which one do you recommend? Or if you wish to recommend another, please do so.

[Don Tucci]

The Nikon d70s great camera i have both d70 and d70 s .Oh i also have the canon didital rebel both canon and Nikon are top cameras just like the Nikon both good.Don

[Rasquachemedia]

I have 2 d70's and love them. I would stop buy your local store and hold them. IMO the d70 is feels sturdier. The XT still has that cheap feel, better than its predecessor but still doesn't feel as sturdy as the nikon.

the canon has 8 mp i believe, whereas the nikon has 6, but it is really not much of a difference.

Olympus has one that was built from the bottom up, but I'm not a big fan of thier slr lenses.

So nikon over canon for sure, but if you were willing to spend more and go for the canon 20D than I might have to say the Canon 20D. This might be especially true if you are doing sports photography.

But I wuv my D70, it costs less, i don't think you'd miss that extra 2 mp.

Oh the other advantage to the 20D, I have to admit, is that you can do time lapse. There's a guy on this forum who has some cool clips, you should check them out.

Apparenlty you could do the same with the D70 but I don't know how and I think it might be more complicated. I could totally be wrong about this. I don't know if the XT can do this. You might want to do some more research if this is important to you.

Some of the time lapse stuff I've seen is so dam cool!

UPDATE: check the kit lens with that comes with Canon. If its the same one they were selling a few months back, it sucks compared to the kit lens that comes with the Nikon. In fact I wouldn't even call the 18-70 mm nikon lens a kit lens. Its really really good.

For more research and reviews go to www.dpreview.com. More information on digital cameras that you will ever want.

[Drew599]

Thanks Rasquachemedia for the indirect compliment about my time-lapse stuff. My 2 cents, the 20D is well worth the extra money. But I really can't compair the two because I've only used Canon digital SLRs. BTW, if you want to see my time-lapse stuff just go to my website.

[Rasquachemedia]

shit drew, i just checked you clips. you made me jealous as hell!!!!

[Drew599]

Thanks man. The 20D is really ideal to do time-lapse with, not to mention photography. If I had my choice I would get the 1D Mark II. That camera has a kickass 8.5fps.

You might be able to do time-lapse with a Rebel XT. I was able to do some with my 300D Rebel...it was just a pain in the ass.

The only problem with doing a lot of time-lapse with any of these cameras is that you wear out the shutter much faster. I'm willing to except that for the footage I get. I think it costs around $200 to get the shutter replaced. But you might not even have to replace until around 100,000 shutter cycles.

[vertigo]

Thanks for the assistance. I think I'm going to go with the D70s...at a later date I might upgrade to a 20D, etc., but for now a good entry level SLR like the D70s is perfect for me. Once again, thank you.

[Rasquachemedia]

Thanks for the assistance. I think I'm going to go with the D70s...at a later date I might upgrade to a 20D, etc., but for now a good entry level SLR like the D70s is perfect for me. Once again, thank you.

Vertigo you might want to check this out:

http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=13129502

its the D70, previous model before the D70s. If you buy here and use bill me later you don't have to pay a penny for three months.

The difference between D70 and D70s is really minimal. There is an update for the D70 that can be downloaded.

[vertigo]

Actually...I think Drew's timelapse footage might have pushed me over into getting a 20D. I would have gotten away cheaper if it wasn't for you pesky kids!

[Luke]

I was once trying to decide between the D70s and the 20D. I pulled my hair out trying to decide. I could afford both but when it came down to it, I was hard pressed to see the difference between the images they produced and I just couldn't justify spending the extra cash. As far as the time lapse stuff goes, you can do it just as well. I'll have to post up some of my time lapse stuff. Here is my niece, taken with the D70s the first day i got it. Click maxamize to see them better.

http://www.modelmayhem.com/pics/20050730/2/42ebea428871d.jpg

Friends
http://www.modelmayhem.com/pics/20050730/2/42ebdf277eae2.jpg

Girlfriend
http://www.modelmayhem.com/pics/20050730/2/42ebec2e9bf9e.jpg

[vertigo]

Hmm...well, do Canon EOS Rebel XT lenses fit the Canon 20D as well? Because my sister in law has the XT with a bunch of lenses...so if that's the case, I think I will go with the 20D.

edit: Looks like they do. I'll be going for the 20D then...once again, thanks for all the help.

[Drew599]

That was a good decision vertigo. I'm happy I pushed you a little in the right direction. Also just to give you a info about what the camera has done for me. I have sold a couple time-lapse clips and that will buy me a couple new shutters...when they wear out. Maybe a new camera if I can sell enough. Good luck with the camera.