Hi All,


thought I'd share some notes that might be helpful to other prospective (D)SLR owners. I myself only just got a 500D about a month ago after spending the past years with a PowerShot G1 and later G7. Then I got sick of the bad low-light quality of the G7 and got a Panasonic LX3, which is a stop faster. Then I tried a DSLR, and finally understood that even a good compact with full manual control can't replace an SLR...


...for many reasons, the most important to me being image quality (but not resolution, I'm shooting mostly in 8M with my 500D and will change to RAW once its worth it), AF speed, and selective DOF.


Both the 50D and 500D were in range, and the 500D won mainly because of video (which I use on occasion for short clips, not enough to warrant a dedicated video camera). If you want to spend more, or less, you will face similar limited choices (within one manufacturers product line).


Then there are two first lenses,


- the EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS because it only cost EUR 50,- in the kit and didn't know yet which zoom range would fit my shooting style because that still needs to be developed, and


- the EF 50 f/1.8 II because every review said that the opticial quality is much better than its very low price, and it can give me a first experience working with a (reasonably fast) prime.


That said, I really like shooting with my third lens, the EF 85 f/1.8 USM, which perfectly fits the first thing that got my interest: shooting indoor available light face/head/shoulder portraits. However, on a crop body it's a bit awkward to find the space to shoot whole-body portraits indoors, so finances permitting I might get the EF 24-70 f/2.8 L USM next for greater flexibility. But keep the 85 for really tight portraits, or outdoor available light shooting.


Speaking of which, shooting with the EF 85 f/1.8 USM at (nearly) maximum aperture, with the accompanying shallow DOF, it is much harder than with my compact camera to get the intended subject in focus. Still, can't get enough of it, now that I finally can shoot with a shallow DOF ;-)


I've been having a self-inflicted hard time choosing lenses, spending many evenings reading Bryan's excellent reviews (and a couple of others) and pouring over specifications in order to find a set of lenses that "cover everything". At first I was eyeing the EF 70-200 f/4 L (IS) USM, the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, and the EF 100 f/2.8 USM Macro. But once I actually started shooting, and noticed that I enjoyed doing portraits most, the aforementioned 24-70 became the next in line, and who knows whether I will ever need a 70-200?


Time and experience will tell, however I'm already quite sure on not wanting anything with a maximum minimum aperture greater than f/4, i.e. I won't get any other consumer zooms with a f/X-5.6 aperture, unless I need an 18-200 or whatnot as one-size-fits-all-light-weight-holiday solution.


(The first time I took the 18-55 outside, in bright sunshine, there was a waterfall under some dense foliage, and f/5.6 was just about useless...unless I cranked up the ISO really high, but then I can also use the LX3 at f/2.8.)


I find it annoying, that the "Av" button (next to the display) only reacts while the viewfinder shows its status line, i.e. shortly after using the shutter button, unlike the "ISO" button (next to the shutter button) which always reacts.


I find it annoying, that the menus don't scroll vertically, i.e. menu items that are related are split over several pages, and I have to remember which of the pages an item is on. It also limits the single custom menu to one page worth of items.


The 500D doesn't have an "automatic ISO, but the maximum is X", with a configurable X, like the Panasonic LX3 has. It's not a big deal, but I don't like losing a feature in an upgrade...


On the other hand, switching from "display only" shooting with the the LX3 to "viewfinder only" was no problem (yes, there's live view, but my gut feeling tells me that it's strange to use it outside of special situations, and so I ignore that feature).


All around I really like the experience of shooting with a DSLR, it just feels more professional ;-)


Cheers, Colin