who knows...

POOR quality photos.

HORRIBLE customer service.

I have waited three years to purchase this camera. When I finally saved enough I was sooooo excited to get this camera, almost like a kid at Christmas! Imagine my disappointment when after FIVE months and two trips back to the factory repair center I am STILL unable to get a clear photo!! I am sooooo disappointed not only in the camera, but also in the customer service I have recieved from the Canon company. Prior to purchasing this camera I read alot of reviews. I am totally disgusted and unimpressed with the whole experience. If I knew then what I know now I would NOT buy this product again. And if asked...I will encourage others to not purchase it either. Customer service is basically non-exisitent.

Customer Service

Ha ha ha...this has probably been the biggest disappointment. AFter the camera returned from the first return, and I realized it was not repaired I thought Canon, being the reputable company they profess to be, they would replace my defective camera with a new one. After all I had only owned the camera two months and had yet to shoot a clear picture. Needless to say, that did not occur. I sent not just he camera body for repair buy also the two lenses. AFter three weeks the camera and one lens returned and then a month later and three or four calls later, I got the second lens. I have taken over 140 pictures in the last week, mostly during the Christmas holidays...and not one was clear. What a disappointment. And the lack of concern by Canon leads me to think that they really are not the reputable company I had once believed they were. I will call first thing Tuesday morning and start the whole nightmare again....

Good Luck!

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Minolta Dimage
Olympus
Canon 35mm

3 frames per second.
Awesome ISO 1600.
Canon EF + EF-S lens compatability.
Solid feel despite size.

Pressing the ISO, WB, AF, Metering mode buttons makes you go into a menu?? Stupid.
A bit small.
Kit lens has bad manual focusing, and bad low light performance. Also, noticable barrel distortion at 18mm, and noticable pincushion distortion at 55mm.
Battery life is not too good.

Basically a great step up for me... I loved the convienience of my digital point and shoot (Canon A520), and I loved the control and build of my Manual film SLR (Pentax P3). I needed something with a Canon or Nikon mount, with 6 MP or more, 3fps, black color, with good high ISO capability, all for under $900. I found it in the form of the Canon Rebel XT... I don't understand why the Nikon D70s kit STILL costs $1K. Probably just for the build quality. But that was my second choice.
However I chose the Canon for better high ISO performance (and low ISOs too - the D70s STARTS at ISO 200), as well as the fact that my friend has a good deal of Canon lenses and experience with Canon.
SUCH an amazing step up... firstly in terms of speed... 0.2 sec startup time, and 3fps shooting, and when combined with my Sandisk Extreme III 1 GB card, despite having a smaller buffer than the D70s, still shoots fast and for a long time.
the camera's performance at ISO 1600 is stunning, especially for the low cost. I use ISO 1600 and 800 maybe half the time I shoot now. I can't wait to see the low-light performance one i have my 50mm f1.8.
I do have a few complaints. The size... is a bit small, although it does fit in my camera bag nicely that way. Pressing the ISO, WB, AF, Metering mode buttons makes you go into a menu, when you should just be able to hold down the button, twirl the command dial, and be done with it.
However, overall, this is an EXCELLENT value, as well as a very solidly built, very well performing camera.

Customer Service

I haven't found any serious problems yet... so I haven't need customer service.

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This is my first DSLR.

The overall value of this camera is excellent. Image quality is also excellent. The kit lens (18-55 EF-S) has enough range to be a good walk-around lens and even has reasonable close-up capability. I've taken pictures of bees in my back yard and they are very sharp with excellent detail.

LCD is small and when you set the display mode to show the histogram the picture review is even smaller. The kit lens is very good, but not excellent.

Very solid entry level DSLR for any level of user. Easy enough for a beginner to learn on, yet has plenty of features for more advanced photographers.

size, weight, speed, image quality, price

kit lens

Small, fast, excellent image quality. I take it on MTB and ski trips and all these things are important.

Customer Service

Never had to deal with it

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Nikon D50

Size / Weight
Speed (Starts up instantly)
Battery life
Fits all newer Canon EOS accessories

You do need to read the manual to get the very best out of it.
Price

This camera was bought after a long search as a digital replacment for my much loved EOS 50 E which I have dragged all over the world.

At first I was worried that the small physical size would not fit in my large hands (the EOS50 is a larger camera), but it fits great. Out of the box it was quick and easy to use and produced some bright and punchy pictures very quickly. Handles well menus and buttons easy to use. On close viewing I was unhappy with the sharpness of more critical images (macro shots, wild life, close portraits). A quick read of the manual led to turning on parameter 1 (sharpening) in camera - bingo I now have very bright very punchy sharp images. I rarely use the pre programmed modes and leave it in program most of the time.

I've seen complaints about the 5 buttons instead of a control dial, but they work fine

Menus are easy to use and mostly intuitive.

The kit lens has had some bad reviews, but mine is fine for my work, although it is audibly noisier than my old 28 - 80 USM II. The biggest plus for me is it works with all my current kit so I don't need any new lenses.

Focusing takes some getting used to after my eye directed EOS50, but generally works well, even in quite low light. After that use the flash for focus illumintation. I'm going to let my 5 year old have a go and see how well it works for the absolute beginer.

Battery life is fantastic.

All in all an excellent buy if a little more expensive than my father in laws Nikon-D50. The extra cost is worth it if only as I don't have to upgrade my speedlite flash.

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Nikon D50
Canon EOS 50
Canon EOS 20D

Biggest Bang for your Buck!!!

If you have larger hands your fingers could get a little cramped. Suggest getting the battery pack(bg-e3) and hand strap(e1).

I love this camera. A nice step up from my rebel 2000. Has everything you could want for the price and more. This is a great camera for beginners and students. Bracketing is a breeze and a lot less expensive than having to do it with a 35 mm slr. This would be a great camera to learn on. Plus, in the info review option with histogram, overexposed parts of the picture are highlighted.

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Rebel 2000

Fast write speeds, frames per second, and bigger buffer than the 300D - 0k, its not superfast, but for the money... Picture quality, which in the end is what it is all about.

Build quality - Extravagant prices that Canon charge for lenses in Australia! (mongrels)

Purchased the 350D mainly because the slow write speeds and small buffer of the 300D drove me mad. That problem has been solved with this camera. Coupled with good quality lenses, this camera gives fantastic results for the money. My only complaint is the build quality. In comparison to the 300D this feels like its made from cheap plastic. It feels lighter than the 300D, which is an advantage.

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70-200mm f2.8L, 17-40mm f4L

Excellent picture quality(8x10's look good)
Fast
Feature rich for a "cheap" D-SLR
Lightweight(also a weekness. There is a definite trade-off here)
Excellent customer service and warranty support.
EOS lens capability

Lightweight
A little too small
Warranty repair required within 1 month of purchase is not inspiring.

I bought this camera in a kit with the EF-s 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS USM lens. I have waited to buy digital until the SLR's came down in price and went up in perofrmance. This is probably WAY more camera than I will ever use, but I am hoping to get more serious in the hobby. I bought it mainly to replace an old Maxxum 3xi and wanted the digital capability for online sharing of photos with relatives since I just completed a cross country move with my children.
I have used it for a various things including outdoor/nature, people, snapshots, and property records. I love the camera and lense despite a malfunction in each taht required repair. The lens AF quit functioning after about 1 month of light use and the body shutter release quite functioning properly after about the same time. Both were repaired quickly under warranty by Canon (less the 14 days including shipping to and from). The camera never ceased to function completely but I lost a TON of shots and there was a bunch frustration involved. Especially sincethe problem occurred just before Christmas.
The body is a little small for my hand(I am 6'6" witha correspndingly large frame) but it is manageable. I hope to add the battery grip and imnprove this. Iwould actually prefer a slightly heavier body. The extra weigh would make it easier to hold steady and someone my size doesn't notice another 6 ounces or so.
I have not used it enough due to the problems to really give a thourough evaluation but I have liked it when I have been able to use it. There may not be enough pixels for truly big enlargments but I probably will not be doing that. The picture quality has been more than expected and I am happy with that.
I would purchase this camera again, although I would certainly consider stepping up to the 20D.

Customer Service

Fantastic. They responded to my initial email about my problems within 12 hours of my sending it. The response included a lengthy trouble-shooting procedure to help pinpoint the problem. While it didn't actually solve the problem, this did indicate it was not "operator error" and was the camera. I wanted the camera in hand for the holidays so I didn't send it back for over one month after the problem began. I called Canon and waited less than 2 minutes on hold. The tech rep was sympathetic and apologetic and off the camera went for repair. Less than two weeks later and the camera and lens were back better than new. They had both been defective and were both repaired. My only complaint is that I had to pay to ship a defective product back to the manufacturer for repair. It may be a standard thing, but it is still irritating.

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No other digital SLR's.
Canon PowerShot attached to a microscope.
Ditto for some of the older Nikkon P&S cameras.
Maxxum 3xi 35mmSLR

Decent Image quality Low price Takes ALL Canon EOS lenses

Not enough rez to make BIG enlargements with full detail

I still use film for most of my photography, but this camera gets some use for not so important work or when I just feel like using it. This camera is easy to use and produces some pretty good images. I use mine with RAW mode, so I'm able to fine tune the image before processing. The quality of the image is quite good and is cleaner then scans off film. I made an 11x14 once off of the full rez image, but I also uprezzed it and did some USM. I probably won't use this for serious work, not that it won't produce results. I have plans to get the 5D replacement, so when that happens I'll finally start to not use film. 8 megapixels at this time is just not good enough for the 16x20s I like that I produce off of medium format 6x7 film. Digital is clean, but the fine detail is not there compared to medium format.

Customer Service

Never needed on this camera

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Canon 300D Canon EOS Elan 7 Pentax 6x7 Pentax 645 Canon AE-1 Kodak 5 megapixel digicam

Small, fast, easy to use, nice package.

Small, I'm sure I'll find more, but it might take a little while.

I like this camera. This is my first DSLR and I can tell you, I don't know how I did it before. This camera is amazing. I can enlarge the photos to 24"x36" with no problem! Its a wonderful camera. $1000 WITH A 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 LENS IS THE BEST I COULD FIND AND FEEL GOOD WTIH THE COMPANY.

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Nikon D70s is about the same but the Canon was less expensive.