Looking for a good, yet inexpensive digital camera

Money pit!

Here's my money pit:
- Canon EOS 30D DSLR w/BG-E2 battery grip and extra batteries
- Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens with Hoya UV0 filter and lens hood
- Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens with Hoya UV0 filter and lens hood
- Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens with Hoya UV0 filter and lens hood
- Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash
- Manfrotto 676B Digi Monopod
- Manfrotto 728B Digi Tripod with Manfrotto 234RC Quick Release Head
- Huge Ass Bag to carry all this crap

More to come for sure...

wprager wrote:Anyone have any thoughts about the Canon EOS Rebel XS? It's on sale at Dell.ca for $480 ($70 off -- that's an even better deal than Amazon.com).

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Digital_SLR/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=A2419956&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=2&~ck=dellSearch

Anyone think there will be better deals on Boxing Day? Maybe I could convince my wife to wrap up a little "Go shopping Now" card instead of a box, and place that under the tree for me.

This one has 3 fps continuous shooting. Is that good for this price range?

I tested that camera at my old job. The picture quality was quite good. It's the baseline model for the XS series. I don't remember testing video though.

Yeah, I was discussing this with a buddy and he mentioned that the XS (and another entry-level dSLR I was looking at) did not have video. Having gone back to check in more detail, that's somewhat common.

I've always been a fan of keeping photo and video on separate devices. I use a Panasonic PV-GS500 camcorder for my video. It's SD, but takes great quality video, is wide-screen, has 3CCDs and it uses the MiniDV format which I prefer.

The new DSLR's that have HD capability are pretty impressive, and it sure is more convenient to have it all in one device.

shabbs wrote:I've always been a fan of keeping photo and video on separate devices. I use a Panasonic PV-GS500 camcorder for my video. It's SD, but takes great quality video, is wide-screen, has 3CCDs and it uses the MiniDV format which I prefer.

The new DSLR's that have HD capability are pretty impressive, and it sure is more convenient to have it all in one device.

Back when we had our first we went out and bought a camcorder. It was pretty decent for the time (nearly 15 years ago) but the battery pack stopped holding a charge about two years later. It was stupid-expensive to replace (my google skills were not yet advanced ) so we never did. And three kids later we haven't replaced it (i.e. the need is not great).

Now, every once in a while, though, I'd like to take a quick, short clip and it's very convenient to have it all in one. I've not been blown away by my old camera's video capabilities (although they were probably not so different from my old cam corder) but the sample clip done by the Fuji was fantastic.

http://img.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_hs10/sample_images/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_01.mov

Yeah. That's pretty good. Does it do auto-focus when filming? That was always an issue with the first set of cameras that did video as well. The auto-focus would not work.

shabbs wrote:Yeah. That's pretty good. Does it do auto-focus when filming? That was always an issue with the first set of cameras that did video as well. The auto-focus would not work.

Isn't that usually while they don't let you zoom while filming? This one lets you zoom, so I can only imagine that they adjust the focus. That said, the zoom is manual (no button) and they have a ring for manual focus as well; perhaps they expect you to adjust the focus as you zoom in? Nah.

I'm not sure this is the camera for me, but the Olympus PEN E-PL1 (mirrorless, interchangeable micro 4/3rds lens) is half off at amazon.ca. The E-P2 is also half off (that's $750 for a $1500 list-price camera). These were previously priced out of my range (assuming I wanted to complement the purchase with a second lens to get me more than 3x) so I did not look into them in great detail.

If someone's been hoping for a price drop, there you go. I see that Amazon.com still has them for less ($420 for the E-PL1, compared with $450), but the E-P2 is actually $50 less. Plus you can't get it from .com directly (won't ship to Canada), anyway, and would have to pay duty if you purchased it in the US some other way.

wprager wrote:I'm not sure this is the camera for me, but the Olympus PEN E-PL1 (mirrorless, interchangeable micro 4/3rds lens) is half off at amazon.ca. The E-P2 is also half off (that's $750 for a $1500 list-price camera). These were previously priced out of my range (assuming I wanted to complement the purchase with a second lens to get me more than 3x) so I did not look into them in great detail.

If someone's been hoping for a price drop, there you go. I see that Amazon.com still has them for less ($420 for the E-PL1, compared with $450), but the E-P2 is actually $50 less. Plus you can't get it from .com directly (won't ship to Canada), anyway, and would have to pay duty if you purchased it in the US some other way.

Another one to look at is the GF-1 from Panasonic - it's much better than the EPL1. The Panny G10 is going for $349 on Costco.com

Not sure if it's the same camera you meant, but the Panasonic DMC-GF1C-K is $850 on Amazon.ca.

yikes!

it's $499 over here

EDIT: it used to be, it's back up now

The Canon XS in a kit that includes two lenses (18-55mm and 75-300) plus a camera bag is $300 off on Boxing Day -- down to $500. Now, can someone tell me more about those two lenses because from strictly a zoom factor p.o.v. one is 3x and the other 4x, isn't it? It doesn't do video so I think I'm still going to go with a super-zoom and not entry-level dSLR.

The 18-55 lens is a basic kit lens (I'm assuming it's the "IS" version). Not a great quality lens, but a good starter lens. The 75-300 zoom lens is also a "cheap" zoom lens. Check the reviews here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/canon-ef-s-18-55mm-f-3.5-5.6-is-lens-review.aspx

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/canon-ef-75-300mm-f-4-5.6-iii-usm-lens-review.aspx

As for the "zoom factor", you're right, the zoom range of those lenses is calculated by dividing the longest focal length by the smallest focal length. So, 55/18 (3x) and 300/75 (4x).

What may be more meaningful is the magnification factor, which takes into account the crop factor of the sensor.

The Canon XS has a crop factor of 1.6x (ie: 1.6 times smaller than standard 35mm). To calculate the magnification factor, multiply the crop factor by the maximum focal length and divide by 50.

So, for the 18-55, that's 1.6x55/50 = 1.76

For the 75-300, that's 1.6x300/50 = 9.6

This is the magnification factor when compared to looking at things with the naked eye.

I don't think this is the camera you want as it does not meet your needs.

Have you guys seen that commercial showing a "hockey Mom" using a Canon DSLR and being amazed at the video/picture quality? I think it's for the new Canon T2i. Anyway, they show her using this camera with a series of different lenses. Total up the cost of all those lenses and you're in to the thousands of dollars territory for the lenses alone. One of those lenses is a Canon "L" series lens, their top of the line glass.

Yes, cuz "soccer Mom" is gonna drop that amount of coin on a DSLR.

Nope.

shabbs wrote:Have you guys seen that commercial showing a "hockey Mom" using a Canon DSLR and being amazed at the video/picture quality? I think it's for the new Canon T2i. Anyway, they show her using this camera with a series of different lenses. Total up the cost of all those lenses and you're in to the thousands of dollars territory for the lenses alone. One of those lenses is a Canon "L" series lens, their top of the line glass.

Yes, cuz "soccer Mom" is gonna drop that amount of coin on a DSLR.

Nope.

Not even after she hears that the commercial was shot entirely with said DSLR?? I don't believe it.

shabbs wrote:Have you guys seen that commercial showing a "hockey Mom" using a Canon DSLR and being amazed at the video/picture quality? I think it's for the new Canon T2i. Anyway, they show her using this camera with a series of different lenses. Total up the cost of all those lenses and you're in to the thousands of dollars territory for the lenses alone. One of those lenses is a Canon "L" series lens, their top of the line glass.

Yes, cuz "soccer Mom" is gonna drop that amount of coin on a DSLR.

Nope.

Which one was it -- soccer mom or hockey mom? Because there are significant differences. Registration, team-fees four tournaments, hotel stay for out-of-town tournaments, skate sharpening and, of course, the equipment can easily pay for a very good extra lens.

shabbs wrote:The 18-55 lens is a basic kit lens (I'm assuming it's the "IS" version). Not a great quality lens, but a good starter lens. The 75-300 zoom lens is also a "cheap" zoom lens. Check the reviews here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/canon-ef-s-18-55mm-f-3.5-5.6-is-lens-review.aspx

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/canon-ef-75-300mm-f-4-5.6-iii-usm-lens-review.aspx

As for the "zoom factor", you're right, the zoom range of those lenses is calculated by dividing the longest focal length by the smallest focal length. So, 55/18 (3x) and 300/75 (4x).

What may be more meaningful is the magnification factor, which takes into account the crop factor of the sensor.

The Canon XS has a crop factor of 1.6x (ie: 1.6 times smaller than standard 35mm). To calculate the magnification factor, multiply the crop factor by the maximum focal length and divide by 50.

So, for the 18-55, that's 1.6x55/50 = 1.76

For the 75-300, that's 1.6x300/50 = 9.6

This is the magnification factor when compared to looking at things with the naked eye.

I don't think this is the camera you want as it does not meet your needs.

I agree it's not the one for me (I *need* the video ability, and I *really want* the tilt LCD). But $500 for an entry-level dSLR with two lenses is a good deal for some.

I guess I'm having second thoughts about the HS10, though. I can get it for $367 at Amazon.ca, and I assuming FS price matches, that 10% of the difference would bring it down $364 (yippee) plus I'd get it right away. Add a 16 GB SDHC card for $35 (I think that's the Boxing Day sale price) and I'm off to the races.

I *know* I'll get better image quality than I'm getting now, so maybe that should be enough -- the feature set is certainly staggeringly good. You can click-hold-pan for a panoramic shot -- no need to "stitch" photos together either in-camera or using post-software; you can shoot at 10 fps in the "best shot" mode where it keeps the last 7 shots (so keep tracking your kid on that breakaway until he scores and then choose the best shot of the last 7); you can take high-speed video at up to 1000 fps (although to be fair, the resolution is good up to 240 fps and gets very jaggy at 480 and up); there is a shooting mode that removes moving objects (obviously it would have to be tripod-mounted for that); excellent HD video (1080p @ 30 fps); and, of course, that 30x zoom.

Heh. Hockey Mom it was.