five years ago tomorrow (August 20th, 2003), canon announced the 300D, with an initial price of $900.

quite a bit has changed since the first DSLR-for-the-masses was released unto this earth, and i just wanted to mark the occasion.

i'm very curious as to what the next 5 years will bring -- i can't wait.

Canon has done some impressive things for the consumer. The 300D with its price point and relative quality for the price is what pulled me into the world of DSLRs. Canon did it again with the 5D bringing FF goodness to the masses. I hope they are able to do similar things in the next 5 years.

Hopefully they will bring out a pro camera that works as well as the MkIIn but with clean ISO's of 6400+.

Ahah yes ! 300D was my very first camera, as I was thinking about photography but wanting high quality digital camera (I'm in digital imaging for more than 15years !). The price of 300D made me jumped, and it allways delivered. I changed it only at the beginning of this year for a used 1DsII, to do some serious work and large fine art print. But apart for that specifically, 300D is still a damn good camera, even with poor build, AF, measure !

Nico

yea 300D is also my first camera, my first digital and DSLR. With its hacked available all over the internet, it made my purchased even more worthed. It helped me learn a lot about photography and i have lots of memory taken with it.

Five years of EOSfun for all of us! The 300D was the first. The next thing will be more choice for all of us. Until recently there have been three lines in Canon's setup: x00D-x50D, x0D and the 1D(s) line. Expect another 5 years with a more differentiated product line like x000D, X00D, XXD and XD models. The market will be more crowded with Canon being present in more closely neighbouring price classes. The 5D (full frame DSLR amateur line) is the next segment to be split, just like the 300D segment (affordable entry level DSLR) has been split into different segments since it's introduction the last 5years. Next Photokina will already show the direction Canon will be heading to the next 5 years

Yep, the 300D let me dip my toes into the digital waters too. I still can't believe how good the image quality was -- and not just for the price.

I owe the 300D a huge debt of gratitude for getting me back into serious photography and ultimately, via several other camera models, into full-time freelance commercial work as of earlier this year.

Here's one of my 300D shots,
had many cameras and lenses since
but I had as much fun with the 300D and its kit lens as any since:

Beautiful image Jack! I don't think I ever got any shots that nice out of my 300D.

IQ wise the 300D is very good, feature wise, control wise and VF wise it sucks big time.

I too started my venture into the DSLR world with a 300D, and have lost lots of money since then I actually purchased it to shoot weddings for two of my friends and it did an excellent job. It also had decent high iso performance for its time...



The next five years will definitaly be interesting

I bought my 300D just as the 350D came in. I had shot on film SLR and processed in a darkroom in high school and owned many a digital camera but the combination of full manual control, affordable price and wide selection of system components like lenses and flashes allowed me to seriously get into photography again.

I "borrowed" my own 300D again this past week (it had been at a friend's on loan for almost half a year) and realized just what a good balance of features, price and image quality it had. (The 300mm f2.8L and 70-200mm f2.8 attached to it (: also helped)

Happy Birthday 300D.

I dearly loved mine. It was my first foray into photography (film having entirely passed me by). Cost me £250 on ebay. Used it for 6 months and then sold it for £225.

The 300D Was my first d/SLR and it was a good camera! I've still got mine and I was playing around with it the other day.

Just bought a D60 and use that as my primary camera. I can't believe the people that discard cameras after a few yrs. My other camera was a SPeed Graphic from the 50's and was working just fine and sold it to a gent in the Channel Islands. He couldn't believe how big it was! The "old" D60 feels great in the hands unlike the new amateur cameras that feel so tiny like the Rebel XT1. I paid $225 on amazon.com for it.

I sold mine to fund it's replacement otherwise I would still have (and use) it.

Yup, the 300D was also my first SLR of any type. Great camera, and it did me well for over two years.

I grabbed a 300D as soon as they came out, paid 850.00 for it and installed the firmware hack when that came out. I still have it and don't think I'll ever sell it, the IQ is still good enough to have as a backup.
My previous camera was an Olympus C2020, which was the highest rated non-SLR when I bought it. You can imagine the leap in IQ to the 300.

The 300D got me to jump into the DSLR fray. Upgraded from a Sony PS and Pentax film. I kept it after upgrading to my 30D for my daughter, when she gets a little older. My neighbor borrows it on occasion and it's still putting out good pics, almost 5 years later.

Beautifull images..! Looking forward to the next 5 years with Canon... expecting alot more great things from them.

The 300D took from SLR (Minolta x370) to DSLR and AF all in one step, I have had since then the 1DS, 1D, 10D, 20D and for last few years the 5D and no AF lenses at all.

The picture below I believe was from the 28-135 IS, and still is one of my all time favs that I have taken.