I was told to spend less on the camera more on the lenses. I don't wanna spend over 600-700 really for a camera. I've seen the Rebel XT sold w/Telephoto lenses for 700. Pricewice is this a good buy if I don't lean towards the 20d. How is the lag on the shutter? I want to b able to take decent shots at night and at basketball games. check out the XTi When I bought the first Rebel I paid $1000 with one lens. Get the body you feel comfortable with. I have a 80-200 lens and I want to get a longer one. I expect to pay around $500 for it. I also have the 18-55 lens that came with it. On the Rebel XT and XTi, the camera shutter lag won't be an issue at all. The 20D is no longer being made; the current camera is the 30D. Since the XT and 20D are both out of production, you're probably looking at used cameras to save money. Between the 20D and XT, the 20D is the better camera, but the XT would be fine for what you want to accomplish. In fact, you might also consider the Canon 10D (a 6mp camera) if you really need to pinch pennies.
To take decent shots at night and at basketball games, you need not only a good camera but also a very, very good lens. Either the 20D or XT would be fine as a body; the choice of lenses is actually much more critical.
One of the best lenses for your needs would be the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens. However, brand new, they may be out of your price range. You might get lucky and find a used one, but I think you're going to have to go a step down to keep it within budget.
So, that would be the 70-200mm f/4 Canon lens.
Generally, the bundles I've seen for the Canon as you described don't really give you good lenses. In many cases, one of the "lenses" is just a screw on filter to to increase magnification or to give you a wider view, rather than a real dedicated lens. Or the telephoto lens is of a lower quality that doesn't perform well in dim light or for night shooting.
Thus, if I were you, I'd get the Canon body alone and then get the specific lens you need separately. Spend no more than $450 for a used XT and no more than $500 for a used 70-200mm f/4 lens.
You can save some money and still get excellent results: a used Digital Rebel body for about $250 to 300, paired up with the 70-200mm f/4 lens.
If you really get into a money crunch, the last resort lens is the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens, but performance wise, you're taking a big hit. Money-wise, you're saving a lot. You can literally get third-party (tamron) lenses for $150. There's also a few Canon versions. Canon even makes an image-stabilized version, which is quite expensive because of the image-stabilization feature.
Other tips for you: increase your camera's ISO to 800 or better, which will make your camera more sensitive to dim light. Set your lens (via the camera controls) to shoot with a wide open or near wide open aperture to let more light in. Use a monopod or brace the camera in some way to increase camera stability. Trigger the camera at the peak of action. If you can do a custom white balance that will also help the color; otherwise shoot in a format called "RAW" and use a computer afterwards to work on perfecting the images. |
