Hi Lizard,

You virtually see nothing on the LCD.  You need to look through the viewfinder at all times to take a picture.  You may think this is a bad thing, but really it is not.  The viewfinder is much more accurate than most LCD screens, if not all.  The only problem is that your face has to be in the camera. 

That being said, I have a 350D and its fantastic.  I have the kit lens and its a piece of crap, but you have to understand that the camera can be the cheapest part of the deal.  The best lenses cost boatloads of money, which makes me sad since I'm a student and photography isn't my profession ( hopefully my profession will make me money so that I can afford the little photorgraphay things I want).  I don't want to discourage you, but I'd like to make sure that you know the camera isn't the end of the line.

About the 350D, I would suggest it highly.  Its compact (some say too small, but I don't mind), its easy to use and its got a GREAT censor.  8MP is more than enough for many people and with Photoshop CS2 interpolation techniques, you can get the photo to be quite large without much quality loss.  2 things about the camera, its got a small viewfinder and I find, personally, that its hard to tell if the pictures that you take have good exposure with the LCD screen.  Other than that, its a great piece of equipment.

I hope that helps. 

Thank you people

I have been saving for better camera quite time , and first plain was 30D ( my buget is somewhere about that range now ) , but after some cunsulting i will probably go with 350D and spend the rest of the cash on better lenses. I plain to get 350D 18/55 kit , and EF 70-200mm f/4 L for start  and then start saving to replace 18/55 with something better , cause if i get 30D now it will take quite long to save for better lenses.

I was even recomended to get 50mm f/1.8 rather than 18/55 , cause is much better and the price is very reasonable.

Sigma , is not an option for me now , because there is only one distributer over here and the support and prices are bad and high , much more than in other countries , you wait for months when you order a product and  you pay about twice of the regular price. I don have a credit card yet so ordering  from web is unfortunately not an option now.



It would be more than helpfull if  someone has any suggestions on 18/55 alternatives , cause i heard nothing good about that lens.



Thanks again people

yeah wise choses lizard.

i agree that the 50mm is a great lens.  If you can find the 350D without the lens, and buy the 50mm instead, I would do that.  I am sure you will love the L lens.

Generally, this is correct.  To shoot architecture and landscapes, you typically go wide.  That being said, some of my best landscapes have been done with the 70-200 f4L.  It is dead sharp, and the bokeh is the best I've ever seen.

Where a wide angle is a must is when you're shooting interiors.  At a minimum, you'll need a 24 mm lens; ideally, you want wider (on a camera with an APS-C or similar sensor, that is).  Also, you might find that you can get less expensive wide-aperture lenses if you buy a wide-angle zoom (but not always--just take a look at the Canon 24-70 f2.8L!).

When all is said and done, a quality 50 mm lens is a great thing to have; on a Rebel XT, I would think it would make a nice portrait lens.  My 70-200 turns out fabulous portraits, but it's useless for more than one person in the frame.

I'm not used to DSRL lenses (I don't own a DSLR yet), but doesn't a 50mm lens actually equivalent a 80mm lens of a SLR?  If so, then it is very limited in use, I think.  It may be great for portrait, but not generally good for landscape and architecture.  Am I wrong?

Regards,
Adelaide

It depends different cameras have different multiplying factors.  A canon 30D, 350D has a 1.6 factor, Nikon's have a 1.5x factor.  A canon 1Ds is full frame and the 1D has a 1.3x factor.  So for a 350D a 50mm lens will be a 80mm equivalent as you suggested.  Many of us are so used to zooms or have never used a prime lens so the ideas seems crazy.  But prime lens aren't so bad, they require a little more work but they are usually a lot faster and have higher quality optics.  Having said that I don't have any primes anymore but they aren't as bad to work with as you would think.

Mark

I'll have to disagree with the 'factor' comments made by Mark.  A 50mm lens is not 80mm on an APS-C.  Its just 50mm cropped so that its 1.6x smaller than what you would see (uncropped) on a 35mm negative.  People get the idea that they are getting a better zoom.  That really isn't the case at all.  Its just that your image is cropped a bit more so you are only seeing the middle of the picture.  In effect, you won't be able to put as many people in a portrait or get as much landscape, but the focal distances never change.

I thought I'd clear that up just in case.

It depends what you are shooting if the crop factor is beneficial. It isn't a bad thing in all cases. For example if you are shooting interior architecture the crop factor hurts because you usually want a wide angle shot.  If you are shooting sports or wildlife the crop factor is great because now you can get a greater reach.

You're contradicting yourself here. You're right when you say it's a crop but then go on to say you get greater reach. You don't get any greater "reach", the FOV is just the same as if you used a lens that was, in the case of the 30D, 1.6x bigger.

How about you guys check out this site:

http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dslr-mag.shtml

Thank you people , i decided to buy a 350D 18/55 kit and extra EF 70-200mm f/4 L fort now  . The funny part is that you get a 350D +18/55+2Gb memory card  30$ cheaper than only 350D body in the same store,  i just cant understand those marketing tricks.

The bad part is that im few bucks short so i will have to wait shutterstock check for this month ,  and then a month to get the cash from the bank.  I culd buy only the kit now and then wait for EF 70-200mm f/4 L , but if i buy  all together i will pay 20% less. So ill have my new "weapon" in mid summer.


By the way , nice link ichiro17.


Thanks again people