I have the opportunity to purchase an XT with a few extras for $300 from a friend.. I'll keep it simple:

XT Body
Basic Kit Lens
Basic Telescopic Lens (75mm-300mm)
8gb Memory Card
1gb High Speed Memory
Case

I know nothing about DSLRs, would this be good to learn on?

 

Pretty decent camera. Only downsides:

- little bit plasticky
- not quite direct access to all functions, have to dive thru menus as you learn new things you can do
- no spot meter (only d-Rebels with this are XSi and T1i)
- screen is only 1.8"

 

I have shot it before, just for fun. I don't mind the size or feel of it it much. I noticed the pictures were generally grainy (they never had that 'HD' look).. possibly cause I suck? If I buy it, I don't want to have to spend another few hundred in lenses for a decent picture.

 

I started out the the XT and it's more than enough for most uses. The only reason pictures would be grainy would be if they were shot in low light at a high ISO setting.

I could take pictures with both my XT and the 40D and you wouldnt be able to tell which picture came from which body. It's a decent deal cause of the 75-300 (kinda slow focusing and pretty useless in low light and without a monopod at full zoom) but the XT is VERY capable.

I'd give him 250 considering you can get a refurb from Canon for 275 now. Spend the 80 bucks to get the EF 50 f1.8 II and you'll love the camera.

 

These were taken with the XT

 

I wish I could have bought that car...:hs:

 

You should have considering the deal I was offering it to you for. :fawk:

 

Thanks for the insight Jay I will probably pick this up, but I don't particularly care for the telescopic lens.. perhaps I can sell that and get a good wide angle. What is EF 50 f1.8 II thing you speak of? Also, the fire department has an XT as well, but it's grey and doesn't and seems older than this one.. did they make different XT's?

 

I believe the XT was available in two different colors but they're otherwise identical.

50mm lenses are generally very good optically and some are reasonably cheap, including the 50/1.8. On a DSLR with an APS-C size sensor their field of view is good for portraits and such but not wide enough for a walkaround lens. 28mm is a good focal length for a "normal" lens since it's the diagonal of the sensor size.

Btw if you want a good cheap 28mm lens for Canon that even comes with a free film camera attached I saw this ebay auction the other day: http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-Elan-II-e-...item3ca9294549

(I've been looking for an equivalent lens for Pentax)

 

Then don't get a dslr at all. Its not the camera that makes the picture, its the lens and the photographer.