My oldest is a freshman Fashion Design BFA student but takes a lot of photos for classes it seems. Looking for a good lower cost dSLR with a lens, a kit most likely. Don't know much about the 1.6 crop cameras. Maybe a used one with a decent lens...? She does not really want to be photographer, but needs to take some decent images often for class.

I know this gets talked about a lot but not something I'm familiar with. Budget, maybe $500-800 for the whole bit. 20D, 30D..?

Any suggestions?

You'd probably want to start off with a nice combo like the Canon Rebel XSi with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. Great starter combo, with great features, portability, and superb image quality. You can usually find the two for the range of $850.

You can find some really cheap Canon 20D's on craigslist. I got mine for $210 w/ kit lens and it works great. However, I see most going for ~$400. Then perhaps get the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 w/ it or the 17-85mm for flexibility of composition and a 50mm f/1.8 so that she can play w/ DOF.

Thanks guys...and is craigslist a valid place to buy stuff? Never checked it out before, but I'm through with eBay.

Deeper, the Rebel does like nice...will check out that package.

MSC wrote:
My oldest is a freshman Fashion Design BFA student but takes a lot of photos for classes it seems. Looking for a good lower cost dSLR with a lens, a kit most likely. Don't know much about the 1.6 crop cameras. Maybe a used one with a decent lens...? She does not really want to be photographer, but needs to take some decent images often for class.

I know this gets talked about a lot but not something I'm familiar with. Budget, maybe $500-800 for the whole bit. 20D, 30D..?

Any suggestions?

For a college student doing this sort of work (and my oldest son was a design major) the XSi with the IS kit lens should be a fine starting point. It can produce excellent images for her purposes, is a great learning setup, and better lenses can be added later if necessary.

Dan

MSC wrote:
My oldest is a freshman Fashion Design BFA student but takes a lot of photos for classes it seems. Looking for a good lower cost dSLR with a lens, a kit most likely. Don't know much about the 1.6 crop cameras. Maybe a used one with a decent lens...? She does not really want to be photographer, but needs to take some decent images often for class.

I know this gets talked about a lot but not something I'm familiar with. Budget, maybe $500-800 for the whole bit. 20D, 30D..?

Any suggestions?

maybe a tamron 17-50 2.8 and canon 50 1.8?

she might be able to make use of IS but the 17-55 IS is expensive.

For fashion do you might need speed and the ability to use lights so the 20d or 30d might be a v better choice.
The rebels are very good though but they are not as fast and dont shoot so many shots on the buffer

Does she need a Canon? If not, then consider the Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens for $446.95 brand NEW from Amazon.com

My vote is for the 20D. I have kept mine since it came out. The on-board flash is very good and the IQ is also very good.
Use FM B&S to get a good deal and quality eqpt.
Dan

Thanks all! The 20D does look like a bargin out there. A decent lens is good but not a hign end one. But the XTi looks like it made for this kind of situation...decisions, decisions, The darn thing likey to be stolen or broken or lost or who knows what. Time to hit the B&S forum this weekend.

Oh, I think Canon. That was if ever need be...she can borrow a lens or some other part of my kit.

Don't forget about the buy/sell forum here. Things might be a little bit more expensive, but I'd trust buying from here a lot more than from craigslist.

Not to self promote, but I'm selling a nearly new 30D and it's on eBay right now.

Craigslist, is a valid place to buy and sell from. I have never had a problem, because I was careful. If you are buying, just make sure you email then and ask for a phone number to call them at, then over the phone ask a few questions, and if they seem honest enough, go and check out the camera in person, check it all over and make sure it's what you want. I am not saying the buy and sell is bad, it's probably better, but I have lots of luck with craigslist, and have yet to find a reason not to use it.

I have the XTi. I'm a senior who does a lot of shooting for web publishing and some work for local papers (campus and community circulars). I love the XTi, but I'm afraid I'm outgrowing it a bit. If she's looking at shooting mostly still, in good light, I don't see why the XTi isn't the perfect fit. But, if she's doing action/motion, I find that the fps is a big advantage on the higher models. Only she really knows how she needs to use it, so get her opinion on what features are more valuable to her. Price makes no difference if she doesn't know how to use it... its supposed to be a tool for her trade. The ease of use on the XTi made all the difference in the world as my first dSLR.

get a used 20D ($400)
a 50mm f/1.8 II ($100)
a spare battery or 2, get the delkin ones ($15)
a flash card, a sandisk extreme III 4 GB ($40)

enough to get her started.
the 50mm lens is great for learning photography and it's got a wide enough aperture to play around with.

options,
a used 580ex flash ($300) or some alienbees for studio stuff (good gift ideas for later)
more lenses (infinite combinations here, depends on what kind of shooting she'll do)

The Rebel XS is an option you might want to think about, sure it's entry level and the lens isn't the greatest but the IQ is better than a lot of the other kits out there (I'm looking at you D40) and it's cheap. Not to mention that being a non-photonut she may appreciate the live-view, no matter how much it may be the bane of the rest of our existences...

Shane, whatever camera you get, and i suggest a used 20D, make sure to get a 17-50 Tamron 2.8 lens, it is a perfect starter lens with no need for an upgrade. while a 50 1.8 is a terrific lens, i am sure she will find it frustrating having only a moderate telephoto lens (80mm equiv on 20D). I know i was when i started out on a 20D and a Sigma 50mm Macro. Also, skip the IS kit lens, it is just WAY TOO SLOW even with the IS.

I would say for the money a new(er) 30D or XSi. If you go with a new XSi kit then the 18-55IS kit lens is a real winner!

When I started digital photography a little over a year ago as a senior in high school, my dad bought me an xti and the 18-55 kit lens. Not long after, I bought the 28-135mm IS USM and the 50mm f1.8. That lasted me about 3-5 months until I starting using my equipment for photojournalism work. Then the kit started to fall behind and not meet my demands. I've since then switched to a 40D with L glass because of my interests.

If she's just starting out and testing the water. My vote goes for the above suggestions of Xti/XT/20D with the 50mm f1.8 and the Tammy 17-50. That should be a reasonable kit to try it out and if she decides she really enjoys photography and askes for better stuff, then we can consider upgrades.

Hope that helped

Another college freshman

The XSI + 17-50 looks a good starter kit.
I am not sure a crop body + only a 50mm would really work well. On a crop body, 50mm is not wide enough for many things, really.

I had nothing but a 50mm prime on my 30D for a while. For portraits it was fine but it was too long for everyday use IMO.

Oh ya second the 20 or 30D they are killer cams and will outclass any Nikon in the same price range.
Doug

Is there a big diff in quality between the 30D and 20D? Based on what I'm reading, looks like the 20D is pretty close and could save a few bucks. Or between the 20D and Rebel?

Same body, same AF and same sensor (20D and 30D)

Spot metering and the bigger LCD turned it for me though. Us newbies chimp like crazy!

the 20D is a considerable step up over a rebel in terms of AF, frame rate, the PC sync socket for studio flash, and the fact that it's magnesium/plastic instead of just plastic

the 30D is basically a 20D with a larger monitor and different software, if you can get a good deal on one then ok, but don't bother if it's a big price difference over a 20D

the 40D is a minor step up over the 20/30D but not a quantum leap; plus they tend to be out of your price range

the sigma / tamron 17-55 f/2.8 lenses are good, either one would be a good first lens. the 50 f/1.8 is however good for learning photography, because you get the wide maximum aperture to work with, plus having the prime lens makes you work more on position, composition, etc... the up side is you can probably fit both into your budget