Used Canon D30 is 330 EUR and new Canon 20D is about 1130 EUR. The price difference is 800 EUR and with that you can get for example 17-40/4L and 420EX or something...
What would you do, if you'd have to decide?
Old D30 with good lens about 1000 EUR or new 20D with good lens about 1700 EUR or new 20D with some cheap lens?
I would split the difference and get a Rebel XT/350D. Same sensor/resolution and noise characteristics of the 20D. The low resolution and hight ISO noise on the D30 would not enable printing at sizes large enough for me.
Also used 300D would not be much more than D30, and twice the resolution. I still like mine!
As an owner of a D60, I would have to vote for a D60 - the D60 gives twice the resolution of the D30 and it is still pretty cheap these days...
The 20D is DEFINATELY a better camera but the price difference is pretty big too
rudiger wrote:
As an owner of a D60, I would have to vote for a D60 - the D60 gives twice the resolution of the D30 and it is still pretty cheap these days...
I can second that. I still love my D60, I am currently looking to upgrade to another camera but only to get lower noise levels when at ISO 800 or above.
A lot of landscape photographers will tell you that the D60 is still a great camera for its beautiful color output.
These well-taken comments on the D60 compel me to amend my earlier post. If you are a fairly careful, deliberate shooter, I think you can hardly do better than a D60, which I consider to be a classic...
I'll put in a vote for the 10d. They are selling at excellent prices right now. The AF is better than the D60 and at ISO 400 and below the noise is as good as or better then the 20d/XT. It also has usable ISO 800 and 1600 (IMO) The shutter is not a noisy as the 20d and the ergonomics are better than the XT (again IMO). It may be difficult to find a low usage D30 or D60, but so many 10d's were sold that low usage cameras are not that hard to find. This is not to put down the D30 and D60 (I started with a D30, and it's a great camera), but the 10d is an excellent value at it's current price point.
If the budget is a real priority, I agree that the D60 probably gives you the best buy for your money. While I usually try to be careful about telling others to spend more money than they can afford, if you can come up with the money, I'd suggest, though, going for the 20D. When you go through the progression from the D30 to the D60 to the 10D to the 20D, while each body had improvements over the body it replaced, I consider the 20D to be the first
"mature" body in this line. By that I mean that, while great pictures could be taken with any of them, the 20D is body that doesn't force you to have to live with little annoyances. Things like instant start up, instant review, virtually instantaneous writing of the files, an improved AF system, 5 fps, great high ISO performance, and improved dynamic range all make the camera a pleasure to use. I'm guessing that the Canon rebates that just started in the US don't have a parallel in Europe. If that assumption is correct, it's too bad because, with a couple of relatively inexpensive lenses, here, you could use the triple rebates to buy a 20D for less than $1000. Even without the rebates, though, if the budget allows, the 20D is still about as good a bargain in a new DSLR as you can get today.
Les
Another vote for the 10D. Great prices on these in good condition right now.
I think the D60 would be my second choice since you mention the big hands and not liking the 300D. The 17-40 with 420EX or even a 550
EX plus either of these cameras would make a good set-up.
# 41 wrote:
20D without a doubt, I started with the D60, had the 10D and now the 20D. There are so many used 20Ds popping up and they're right around $1000
I started with the D30, had the D60 and then 10D.. but sold because of military(do you say it like that?.