Question A Day: Baseline DSLR
Q: countryfair asked:
I have always loved photography but haven’t really gotten into it since high school. Now that I have a little girl, I’ve been taking pictures like crazy. I want to upgrade my camera to a dslr. I am familiar with Canon’s so will go with them, but do think their baseline Rebel XS is a good camera, or should I splurge on the Rebel T1i? I am planning on learning how to really use the camera, but imagine I will mostly use the auto settings.
Thanks for your help. I love both your websites!
A: Thanks! And thank you for the question!
Here’s the thing: the Canon Rebel line is a great line, but there are shortcomings of the XS in particular that I feel are valuable to consider.
The Canon XS is currently retailing for about $580 CAD with a kit lens. The XS came out in 2008 and, as such, doesn’t have any movie capabilities. The T1i, its big brother, does have a movie capability and a higher megapixel count at around 15MP vs. 10MP.
The T1i is currently retailing for around $800 CAD. For that extra few hundred, you’re getting a remarkably better camera that you could most definitely grow into, but if you don’t think you need those extra oomph-factor features, it’s definitely not going to be money well spent.
I know you said you’re familiar with Canon, but maybe consider looking into this other option as well: the Pentax K-x which retails for about $620 with a kit lens, making it just a smidge higher in price than the XS. The thing I like about this camera vs. the Canon XS is that it’s low noise for a high ISO, 12MP, movie capabilities and an image stabilizer mechanism that is quite, quite popular.
Automatic modes are incredibly handy, and if you’re looking for a camera that will take great pics while it does the majority of the math on the settings, this might be a great option for you. Even if you have a separate movie recording device, I know from personal experience it can be really handy having it all in one so maybe consider the Pentax just to see? I just think it might give your pics that extra edge with the increased MP count, image stabilization (never hurts with little ones!) and so on.
That said, I truly believe you buy the best equipment you can afford and you make it work with attention to detail as the user. Trust me: a $10,000 camera is just as capable of taking a bad photo as a $100 one is. After all, my first DSLR is still capable of snapping a great pic if all the settings are in place properly! It’s about practice making perfect just as much as it is about the equipment.
Enjoy, and I hope that helps!
xo, Tamara
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