Canon DSLR for beginners... help pls :(

[thekingb]

Hi Bujji,


I started with a 1000D, quickly got serious about photography, and quickly outgrew it.


But here's the deal: do you see yourself really learning photography? Getting a better lens and learning to control your aperture, shutter and ISO? (BTW, it's super fun when you do!) If so, I would start with the 550D. If not, and you think you will use the camera on its fully automatic settings, the only real reason to get the 550D would be for video. But frankly, doing video on D-SLRs is a different experience, and controlling camera shake and keeping focus are much more difficult than with a traditional camcorder.


Learning photography is fun and satisfying, and I also totally agree that getting high quality lenses first is the best way to learn photography. My first new lens was the EF 50mm f/1.4, which opened up a whole new world of low light pictures w/o a flash and super-sharp outdoor portraits -- neither of which were really possible with the kit lens on the 1000D and 550D. With f/1.4 capability, I had the opportunity to learn how to match the aperture settings to the situation I was trying to photograph -- and more. For example, shooting in low light indoors (use wide aperture) produces white balance issues, which helped me learn how to correct them in post-processing and, better yet, use a white balance card to make that process even easier. And so on, and so on.


So if you want to learn and make incredible pictures, start with a 550D, get some books, and take your time experimenting. But if you want to point and shoot but still, in many cases, outperform the compact point and shoots out there, go for the XS.


Best,


Brian

[darklord]

The 1000D is very cheap right now and the 550D costs almost twice as much. So you would choose 1000D because of price but you'll soon notice the body's price is but a small part of the formula. The price of extra batteries, memory cards, flash and obviously lens will dwarf the price of the body. Like me, after you have spent more than $3000 on lens and accessories, do you want to put them on the 1000D instead of the 550D?


If you don't plan on buying new lens, then the 1000D will be a good P&S replacement. And if you get the 1000D used, you probably won't lose much reselling it later.