My First SLR

[Caladin2]

You haven't listed what you need to shoot, which is understandable as you are just now starting. What are your interests? Portraits, landscapes, Macro, Astor-photography, photo journalism, wildlife, sports?

Landscape, wildlife, portraits for the most part

 

[Sp12]

I choose that camera because I work with some people who recommend it as they use it. I looked over the 60D, the 50D, and the TI2/3 but I was always under the impression that a camera should be about shooting pics and not not shooting pics and vid. Keep it simple I guess. Maybe my approach is wrong. I am open to suggestions.

Well, IMO the 60D is expensive for what you get compared to the 50D, so unless you have need for video I'd pick the 50D.

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_50D-vs-Canon_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XSi

I would say the 50D justifies the higher cost over the Xsi in just about every way. It's a better built body with a larger viewfinder, better AF, better screen/live view, better FPS/IQ, more megapixels, larger battery. It's a different series of camera compared to the Xs and Rebel series, and likely worth the price difference over the Xsi.

I don't know where you're purchasing your Xsi from, but you can use the Canon Loyalty Program (get a broken point and shoot for 10$ off of ebay), and get the 50D for http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_10051_211654_-1 562$ (CLP gets you 20% off refurbed cameras). If you don't think you need the better viewfinder/AF/build of the XXD series, the Rebel T2i can be had for around 450$ via CLP.

If it's less than a ~200$ difference between the Xsi and 50D, I'd almost definitely get it. The improved AF/viewfinder mean you're going to be getting more keepers, ignoring the image quality and feature benefits. If it's significant, it may make more sense to put that money into better lenses.

 

[996GT2]

Why XSi? That's a pretty old camera these days.

Also, 15-30 and 28-135 are bad choices for crop. Try Canon 10-22 (or Sigma 10-20) and Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 instead.

 

[Caladin2]

Well, IMO the 60D is expensive for what you get compared to the 50D, so unless you have need for video I'd pick the 50D.

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EOS_50D-vs-Canon_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XSi

I would say the 50D justifies the higher cost over the Xsi in just about every way. It's a better built body with a larger viewfinder, better AF, better screen/live view, better FPS/IQ, more megapixels, larger battery. It's a different series of camera compared to the Xs and Rebel series, and likely worth the price difference over the Xsi.

I don't know where you're purchasing your Xsi from, but you can use the Canon Loyalty Program (get a broken point and shoot for 10$ off of ebay), and get the 50D for http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_10051_211654_-1 562$ (CLP gets you 20% off refurbed cameras). If you don't think you need the better viewfinder/AF/build of the XXD series, the Rebel T2i can be had for around 450$ via CLP.

If it's less than a ~200$ difference between the Xsi and 50D, I'd almost definitely get it. The improved AF/viewfinder mean you're going to be getting more keepers, ignoring the image quality and feature benefits. If it's significant, it may make more sense to put that money into better lenses.

Holy cow.. so the refurbs are alright? Cause at that price I am very tempted?

 

[996GT2]

Holy cow.. so the refurbs are alright? Cause at that price I am very tempted?

I would take the T2i over the 50D unless you have special build quality/speed requirements. Image quality is definitely better on the latter despite higher MP count.

 

[Sp12]

I'd argue otherwise -- take the 50D over the T2i unless you had video/ISO 6400 requirements.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yeah, I'd definitely get one of the cameras with a 920k display at least. While the Xsi has the same 3" display, the 220k resolution or whatever it has is terribad. You can't tell if your pictures are sharp or not. It's like night and day difference.

It's going from non retina iPhone to Retina iPhone... lol.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

If you are going telephoto, you should consider a better tripod. And on your budget, possibly a remote for the camera.

 

[996GT2]

Yeah, I'd definitely get one of the cameras with a 920k display at least. While the Xsi has the same 3" display, the 220k resolution or whatever it has is terribad. You can't tell if your pictures are sharp or not. It's like night and day difference.

It's going from non retina iPhone to Retina iPhone... lol.

My 5D has a 230k dot screen. I live with it just fine cuz of the pictures it produces

 

[elitejp]

I would first start off with a medium length lens such as the Tamron 28-75mm. Its neithor wide nor long but has the same image quality (some argue better) as the $1000+ Canon 24-70L. Start shooting with that for a month or two and then begin to analyze if you like shooting wide or if you like shooting long. Then spend some money on a really good wide angle lens or a really good telephoto. I would skip primes for the moment. They are awesome to have but most people who seriously shoot will tell you that they bought primes for a specific purpose. I have a 85 1.8 that gives some absolutely beautiful pics but I rarely use it in preference to the zooms I have.

As for buying a dslr be sure to look into the canon buyers loyalty program. I think that even a p&s can be used to upgrade to a dslr for a very good price. From what ive seen any newer xxxd model will match the picture quality of an older xxd model but it might not have all the other bells and whistles that come with the xxd model.