• 09-24-2008, 09:33 AM
    WilliamYoung
    Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Hello,

    I am looking to buy a begginer dslr for my girlfriend as a gift as she is really interested in photography but does not want a fancy, expensive camera until she has learned more about it.

    I have seen a used Canon Digital Rebel 300D with the following extras for $300:

    - Good condition, fully functioning Canon 300D Digital Rebel 6.3MP DSLR camera body
    - Sigma 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 DC lens
    - Soligor 135mm f2.8 t-mount lens
    - t-mount/EOS adapter (this adapter can also be used to mate the camera to a telescope)
    - 2 batteries
    - 2 battery chargers
    - 1GB SanDisk memory card
    - i-rocks USB 2.0 card reader CF/SD/MS/SM
    - USB cable

    This seemed ideal to me (especially since it uses sd cards, which doesn't seem to be all that common) except that the camera came out 5 or so years ago and is used. Is this a good price/good begginer camera/lens' to learn on?

    Thank you for your time and help.

    William Young
  • 09-24-2008, 09:51 AM
    mjs1973
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Welcome to the the Forum William.

    First a correction. The 300D does not use SD cards. It uses compact flash (CF) cards.

    I purchased the 300D new back in 2004 and paid about $1000 for it. It treated me very well until I purchased the 40D this spring. I learned a great deal about photography with this camera and have made many images with it that I sell. It is a quite capable camera.

    I loved my DRebel, but it was by no means perfect. I felt that shooting at ISO 200 was as high as I could go without the images getting too noisy for my tastes. The kit lens was pretty good but not spectacular. Again, it treated me great when I was learning, and I'm still learning.

    I know nothing about the Soligor lens. Since it uses a T-mount, it must be a fully manual lens. This could be a good learning tool for your GF, or it could be a paperweight...

    Do you know how many photos were taken with this camera? I don't think there is a way to check on the DRebel, but the owner should be able to give you a ballpark number.

    I think $300 is a fair price and I think the camera is great for a beginner.
  • 09-24-2008, 10:06 AM
    WilliamYoung
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Thank you for the reply, and especially for pointing out that it does not use SD cards, which immediately makes this offer untrustworthy.
  • 09-24-2008, 10:27 AM
    mjs1973
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by WilliamYoung
    Thank you for the reply, and especially for pointing out that it does not use SD cards, which immediately makes this offer untrustworthy.

    Why does it make this add untrustworthy? I don't see anywhere in the add that says anything about this coming with an SD card? It comes with a 1gig Sandisk card. Sandisk is a brand name. SD is not short for Sandisk if that is what you're thinking. The card reader is a multi-format card reader. It reads CF cards (compact flash) that the DRebel uses as well as SD, MS and SM cards.
  • 09-24-2008, 10:31 AM
    WilliamYoung
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    My mistake, thank you very much. As you can tell, I'm not the one who is very into photography:)
  • 09-24-2008, 10:37 AM
    mjs1973
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    No problem. If you are looking for a used camera, you should check out www.keh.com. They have a great reputation for selling used gear. I took a quick look and found some DRebels for around $310, but I don't think they had a lens with them.

    Both B&H and Adorama have good used departments as well. Craigslist may be a good place to look as well to find something local.
  • 09-24-2008, 10:48 AM
    WilliamYoung
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Are used camera's generally a good idea? How well do bodies stand up over the years?
  • 10-08-2008, 07:43 AM
    franciax
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    I think it is pretty good start up camera, and the price is reasonable depending on condition and history.

    franciax
  • 10-08-2008, 09:05 AM
    poker
    Re: Canon Digital Rebel 300D for Begginer
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by WilliamYoung
    Are used camera's generally a good idea? How well do bodies stand up over the years?

    I bought my DRebel used about 3+ years ago. I've had no problems with it. It's a great starter DSLR but you could always consider saving up a little more and get the XT with a better sensor among other things.