Considering a New Camera?

[NMarti]

If so, you might want to hold off and check out this one. I sure wish I would have seen this a week ago - I just got the XTi but would have held out for this.
http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedat...80123_xsi.html

[lowbone]

Nothing earth shaking here. It has a larger lcd, a couple more megapixels which may or may not add more noise ( nobody knows yet ) and live view. I don't think anything has been added in the way of cross type sensors etc. There are a few factors of importance in your choice of cameras that are not mentioned here. Is live view important to you? Bear in mind that this is different then the live view on a point and shoot. It has to be turned on, it is essentially manual focus ( although it can be used for AF ) and if left on too long it will overheat the sensor. The lcd on the XTi is pretty big, the lcd on the XTs is slightly larger. Another item not mentioned in your post is the size of your hands. If you have large hands you probably won't be very happy with an XT series camera. Another factor not mentioned here is money. The XTi camera price has been dropped quite a bit with the introduction of the XTs. If money is not a factor and you want the latest and greatest I suppose I would recommend the XTs. If you are strapped for money then the XTi will work well. If you have a little more money and you like the Canon brand I would have you look into the 40D. It is bigger, has a much better focusing system, ( all cross type sensors ), has a much better build quality and better controls.( You will not have to dig around in the menu as much for functions) These are all good cameras, its just a question of what you want to do and how much money you have to do it with. Good luck on whatever camera you choose.

[NMarti]

The est. retail price will be $799 which is what I paid for my XT when it first came out. It comes with an IS kit lens which is presumably better than the kit lens on the XT.

I was looking a little closer after initially posting and see that it uses a differnt battery grip than the XT's. I had an XT that was damaged by my dog - she got hung up in the strap and pulled it off the table because some nitwit let the strap hang off the edge (no names here but her initials are NM) Not only did it crash onto a hardwood floor but the sound scared her and she bolted and smacked it against a table leg before freeing herself. Fortunately it had no lens on it as I had taken it off for cleaning. Well - when faced with the cost of repair or replacement and the XTi having come down in price it didn't make much sense to repair. I ordered the XTi because all my accessories will fit it.

I noticed the new XS uses a different battery grip so that is one accessory that would be useless. Next, it uses SD cards instead of CF - so my 5 CF cards would be wasted. Finally, it uses a different battery, so the 3 batteries would also be useless. I am now glad I went ahead with the XTi.

If someone is considering upgrading though, this looks pretty attractive if you don't already own an XT and all the accessories.

I have to say though, I have had my XTi for 3 days now and absolutely LOVE it!

[lexcell]

The XTi is a great camera. Camera companies are hoping that most people get excited enough about a new camera to upgrade.

But, as lowbone suggests, unless the new camera has features that you really need/want that your existing camera doesn't have, you don't need to upgrade or feel bad about purchasing the "old" model just before the release of a new camera.

Enjoy the camera you have and when the "XYZ" model comes out that really has the features you think are worth the upgrade, go for it.

As Nancy mentions, sometimes upgrading cameras means all new accessories to go with it.

More important than a new camera is getting out and shooting with what you have creating beautiful images and enjoying photography!

[JulieM]

I don't get why Canon changed the card format on this new camera. Just pick one and stick with it! I like the CF card - it is more substantial than the others and not so easy to drop or misplace. When I'm ready to upgrade my XTi in a few years, I hope Canon hasn't switched all their offerings to the dinky little cards...

[lowbone]

Originally Posted by JulieM

I don't get why Canon changed the card format on this new camera. Just pick one and stick with it! I like the CF card - it is more substantial than the others and not so easy to drop or misplace. When I'm ready to upgrade my XTi in a few years, I hope Canon hasn't switched all their offerings to the dinky little cards...

The XT series is the camera that allot of P&S people step up to when they buy a DSLR. I believe that Canon's thinking was that an upgrader would'nt have to buy new cards as allot of the current P&S cameras use the SD cards.

[NMarti]

Julie
I'm with you on that. The main reason I didn't upgrade to a D40 in the first place when my XT got destroyed was the cost. I considered a D30 but the cost of replacing all my accessories was too high given the D30 and XTi are not that dissimilar. I just got really frustrated when I first saw that because I had just ordered the XTi and thought to myself they must be getting ready to release a new model because the price dropped. I looked around and didn't see anything so I went for it. Then just two days after I get my XTi I see the post. My first thought was crap - why didn't I wait another week. Now I'm glad I didn't for the reasons stated before.

[Chuck S.]

Originally Posted by JulieM

I don't get why Canon changed the card format on this new camera. Just pick one and stick with it! I like the CF card - it is more substantial than the others and not so easy to drop or misplace. When I'm ready to upgrade my XTi in a few years, I hope Canon hasn't switched all their offerings to the dinky little cards...

Julie, it appears that Canon is shifting over to SD on all but the pro and prosumer DSLR's. My Canon G2, G6 and Pro-1 all used CF, but the G7 and G9 use SD. For the P&S cameras and probably the compact DSLR's, it's probably a size issue.

If you want to see a memory card that's unbelievably small, look at the MicroSD. I had to get one for my GPS, and it's so small I had trouble handling it with my arthritic fingers. Miniaturization went a step too far when they came up with that design....

[JulieM]

Originally Posted by Chuck S.

Julie, it appears that Canon is shifting over to SD on all but the pro and prosumer DSLR's. My Canon G2, G6 and Pro-1 all used CF, but the G7 and G9 use SD. For the P&S cameras and probably the compact DSLR's, it's probably a size issue.

If you want to see a memory card that's unbelievably small, look at the MicroSD. I had to get one for my GPS, and it's so small I had trouble handling it with my arthritic fingers. Miniaturization went a step too far when they came up with that design....

[RonH]

The Micro SD is so small they use a SD as a convertor and it sits inside the SD chip.