Any camera gurus on here?

[cbr900racer77]

I'm planning on surprising my wife with a better digital camera. We have a fairly cheap one and are getting tired of it. I've narrowed my choice down to either Canon xsi or a Canon Rebel xs. The xsi is 12 megapixel and rebel is 8 or 10. Does the average guy really need all those pixels? We never print anything bigger than a 5x7. I just want something fast. Difference in speed is only .5 frames/second. Rebel goes for about 440 and xsi goes for around 550. I don't mind spending the extra money on her, just don't want to spend on something I'll never need. Any input would be appreciated. Jawhn, after I get some answers, I'd like this thread deleted. She comes in and looks over my shoulder sometimes.

[07BladeRider]

I recently made the jump from am 8mp Olympus E-Volt E-500 to a 12mp Nikon D90 and the difference in the photos it takes is night and day.

The Nikon takes almost HD-like images. It also takes high-speed photos faster than the Olympus and much more of them in a single session. I can take 30 successive photos of bikes at the track and immediately start shooting another succession of photos, as it writes to the SD card and internally at the same time.

However, the greatest improvement is not the pixels, it's the glass. Professional glass cost so much for a reason.

I picked up the D90 with 2 kit lenses (18-105mm and 70-300mm) for $1500 from B&H photo in August and they have it for $1399 right now. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_Camera.html

I posted a sample. Of course, the forum reduces image size and quality, but you can sort of see the almost HD-like quality of the photo.

[cbr900racer77]

WOW, that is a great shot. Looks like I don't need to be cheap I'll look into the 12mpx then.

[speedextreme]

I got my girl a new digi cam one year for Xmas. I think it was Xmas 08? So the camera isn't that old. You aren't going to believe this but it is a Luminex!!! It was just UNDER 300 bucks. I got it at Best Buy. It has 10 mpixel, 10x or 12x optical zoom, 4x digi zoom. Memory card for whatever size you want. The damn thing does video too. One of the best camera purchases I ever made!!!

just a thought

[cbr900racer77]

How fast was it Speed? One of main things we are looking for is speed and pic quality. I want at least 3 frames/second.

[speedextreme]

I don't know the actual speed of the camera. But I do know that was one of the things the ex was looking for in a camera was fast shutter/pic taking ability. And it does have that...

[cbr900racer77]

Well crap, now I'm even more confused. I think I'll just spring for the xsi. It runs about 540 bucks on ebay new. It is 12megapix, 3" screen, does video, cleans itself if dust gets inside it....all kinds of crap. The next model up does video in high def!! But it runs around a grand with lense and that would cut into bike money...can't do that

[jawhn]

Just tell me when you want the thread removed...

I'm an Olympus guy, I swear by them. But if you're looking at a higher end camera, I recommend the Rebels, they are a phenomenal value when you move up to "The real thing" and you can fit regular Canon lenses to them, I believe...

[cbr900racer77]

The xsi is definitely upper end. There are only 2 models above it (as far as I know). The reason for starting this thread was to see if we really needed all the stuff it does. I just want crystal clear pics and a camera that takes a pic the instant I hit the button, and be hellaciously fast. There are 2 models below this one that are fast but pixel count is less. One is 10, other is 8. If the 8 is going to be crystal clear I'd buy that one.

[cbr900racer77]

There is a T1i with 23 hours left on auction. I bid a max of 300 bucks. I'd shit my pants if it got overlooked by everyone else and I won it for that That baby shoots video in high def and you can hook it directly to your tv and watch videos and still pics. It's 15 megapix too!

[07BladeRider]

The newer generation Nikon dSLRs will also to video.

[cbr900racer77]

Originally Posted by 07BladeRider

The newer generation Nikon dSLRs will also to video.

In high definition? I never really looked at Nikons. Maybe I had tunnel vision and need to scope out competition.

[jawhn]

To answer your question about megapixels - yeah, if you aren't going bigger than 5x7, you'll be fine. Hell, a 2 megapixel image will print 5x7 just fine. But bigger is generally better, you can always scale them down, but can never scale them up...

[07BladeRider]

Originally Posted by cbr900racer77

In high definition? I never really looked at Nikons. Maybe I had tunnel vision and need to scope out competition.

Actually, its highest setting records at 1280x720 at 24fps.

So, it is NOT an HD recorder.

[cbr900racer77]

Okay, Nikons are out. You can't touch a decent one for less than 700.

[cbr900racer77]

Game over. I won an xsi for 533.99 on ebay. Not a steal, but about 300 bucks cheaper than retail stores around here. Luckily I still have enough left over to pay for Erion head, too.

[cbr900racer77]

Okay, a little update. Camera was a HUGE success!! She absolutely loves it. I scored major brownie points today. The picture quality is absolutely amazing and haven't even started using some of the more advanced features. Now all I gotta do is come up with money for rings, rod bolts, etc. that I was supposed to buy with money I spent on camera