Canon new Rebel XTi

I am close to buying the newest Canon XTi. Does this mean flash or focusing
and can this not be done manually with the camera? Anything negative or
positive about this camera would be a great help. Thanks Kathy

"Tass" wrote in message
news:Ygi1h.218464$5R2.193869@pd7urf3no...
I am close to buying the newest Canon XTi. Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera? Anything
negative or positive about this camera would be a great help. Thanks
Kathy




It's a D-SLR mate, perhaps you had better look at www.dpreview.com and in
your local camera shop before you get one. Have a play in the shop and see
if you like the handling, some do, some don't, they will take a good photo
if you are up to it.

I left out the most important part. I meant I know it lacks spot
metering...Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera? I have been to
www.dpreview.com and also Steve's digicam. I have held it and the Nikon D50
or D80 and find it really like the weight as I have small hands. What do
you mean by...they will take a good photo if you are up to it? Thanks for
the reply. Kathy

"Pete D" wrote in message
...

"Tass" wrote in message
news:Ygi1h.218464$5R2.193869@pd7urf3no...
I am close to buying the newest Canon XTi. Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera? Anything
negative or positive about this camera would be a great help. Thanks
Kathy




It's a D-SLR mate, perhaps you had better look at www.dpreview.com and in
your local camera shop before you get one. Have a play in the shop and see
if you like the handling, some do, some don't, they will take a good photo
if you are up to it.

"Tass" wrote:
I left out the most important part. I meant I know it lacks spot
metering...Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera?

No. Spot metering is an advanced technique that's worth learning, useful,
interesting, neat, and all that, but doesn't have anything to do with flash
or focusing or doing those manually or not.

The partial metering it does have can be used like a spot meter, except
being larger than a spot, it's a tad irritating.

The low-end dSLRs do have some limitations compared to the high-end models
(e.g. Nikon D200, Canon 5D), but there's nothing major missing.

Also, spot metering isn't all that desperately important for a dSLR. I
prefer using a separate spot meter for shooting slide film in my film
cameras, but just use matrix metering and then check the historgram with my
dSLRs. Snotty Zone System afficionados, such as myself, let themselves get
bent out of shape that Canon low end cameras (and until recently, mid-range
cameras as well) don't have a spot meter, but in real life, it's not a big
deal.

I have been to www.dpreview.com and also Steve's digicam. I have held it
and the Nikon D50 or D80 and find it really like the weight as I have
small hands.

Yep. It's designed to be a compact camera for small hands.

What do you mean by...they will take a good photo if you are up to it?
Thanks for the reply. Kathy

That was either a kind warning that dSLRs provide a lot of flexibility and
take some learning, or else a snotty comment from someone who thinks they're
smarter than you. You can take it either way depending on how grumpy/snappy
you're feelingg.

I'd recommend taking it as a kind warning, and plan on learning about
photography; the neat thing about digital cameras is that they let you
experiment at no cost and see the results quickly.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

"Tass" wrote in message
news:Ygi1h.218464$5R2.193869@pd7urf3no...
I am close to buying the newest Canon XTi. Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera?

Yes, you can have full control over the flash and manual focusing if
you with. It's the same as any other digital or film SLR camera.

Anything negative or positive about this camera would be a great
help. Thanks Kathy

The only negative thing is the size, I find the body is too small for
my hands. The ergonomics are not very good as I find myself twisting
my fingers to use the controls, and my little finger hangs off the
bottom of the camera.

I recently bought a new DSLR and I looked at every model over the last
couple of months, including the Rebel XTi, Canon 20D, 30D, Nikon D80,
Sony Alpha, etc. I bought the Nikon D80 because it was the most
comfortable to use. The ergonomics and control layout are clearly the
best for my hands. Some people may prefer one of the others, so it's
always a good idea to handle the cameras before making a decision.

Personally, I think the Nikon D80 is the best 10 megapixel camera
available right now with the best price/performance ratio. The Canon
and Sony have gimmick features like a vibrating unit to "clean" the
sensor, but they don't really do anything so it's not a benefit. I
found the Nikon to be faster and more responsive than the other 10mp
units, with lots of direct controls and features. The Nikon costs a
bit more than the others, but the difference is well worth the money.

The only other camera that could match or best the Nikon in
performance was the Canon 30D. It performs on par with the Nikon D80,
but it costs over $350 CDN more, only has an 8 megapixel sensor, the
viewfinder isn't quite as good, and it doesn't feel as good in my
hands.

In the end, the Nikon handled better and performed as good or better,
so I couldn't justify the price difference. The Nikon won and now it
sits happily in my camera bag.

:-)

"David J. Littleboy" wrote in message
...

"Tass" wrote:
I left out the most important part. I meant I know it lacks spot
metering...Does this mean flash or
focusing and can this not be done manually with the camera?

No. Spot metering is an advanced technique that's worth learning, useful,
interesting, neat, and all that, but doesn't have anything to do with
flash or focusing or doing those manually or not.

The partial metering it does have can be used like a spot meter, except
being larger than a spot, it's a tad irritating.

The low-end dSLRs do have some limitations compared to the high-end models
(e.g. Nikon D200, Canon 5D), but there's nothing major missing.

Also, spot metering isn't all that desperately important for a dSLR. I
prefer using a separate spot meter for shooting slide film in my film
cameras, but just use matrix metering and then check the historgram with
my dSLRs. Snotty Zone System afficionados, such as myself, let themselves
get bent out of shape that Canon low end cameras (and until recently,
mid-range cameras as well) don't have a spot meter, but in real life, it's
not a big deal.

I have been to www.dpreview.com and also Steve's digicam. I have held
it and the Nikon D50 or D80 and find it really like the weight as I have
small hands.

Yep. It's designed to be a compact camera for small hands.

What do you mean by...they will take a good photo if you are up to it?
Thanks for the reply. Kathy

That was either a kind warning that dSLRs provide a lot of flexibility and
take some learning, or else a snotty comment from someone who thinks
they're smarter than you. You can take it either way depending on how
grumpy/snappy you're feelingg.

I'd recommend taking it as a kind warning, and plan on learning about
photography; the neat thing about digital cameras is that they let you
experiment at no cost and see the results quickly.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

David,

You know very well that I only make snotty comments to RichA because he
thinks I am a Canon lover.

It certainly was a warning that D-SLR's in general can be a handfull to get
the best from.

Seriously though I don't believe this small hands theory, a mate at work is
a really big guy and has a D50 and loves the handling, a friend in another
group has both a 10D and a 20D and she is not large but loves the handling
of both cameras, I personally like most of the D-SLR's except for the
cheaper Canons, I have used some only lightly but have used S2Pro's
extensively for some work among others and it is a decision you must make
for yourself as to what is important in the handling. I have watched small
women doing shoots with D2X/H's and they would not trade for a smaller
camera. I like compact but have a K10D on order.

"Bill" wrote in
:

Anything negative or positive about this camera would be a great
help. Thanks Kathy

The only negative thing is the size, I find the body is too small for
my hands. The ergonomics are not very good as I find myself twisting
my fingers to use the controls, and my little finger hangs off the
bottom of the camera.

I've got the Rebel XT and find it's size to be a positive. The camera
becomes an extension of my hand instead of hanging awkwardly off it.

Seriously though I don't believe this small hands theory,

I agree. The only way to tell if you are going to feel comfortable with
a camera is to pick up and play with it. My opinion of what a camera feels
like is worthless to anyone else even someone my same size.

The only general thing that I can suggest is that the very old and the
very young usually do best with larger controls than smaller.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

"Joseph Meehan" wrote:

Seriously though I don't believe this small hands theory,

I agree. The only way to tell if you are going to feel comfortable
with a camera is to pick up and play with it. My opinion of what a camera
feels like is worthless to anyone else even someone my same size.

Good thing the OP in this thread has already handled the beast and finds it
comfortable to useg.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

"Tony Rice" wrote in message
...
"Bill" wrote in
:

Anything negative or positive about this camera would be a great

The only negative thing is the size, I find the body is too small
for
my hands. The ergonomics are not very good as I find myself
twisting
my fingers to use the controls, and my little finger hangs off the
bottom of the camera.

I've got the Rebel XT and find it's size to be a positive. The
camera
becomes an extension of my hand instead of hanging awkwardly off it.


If that works for you, fine.

But I had the Rebel XT until last week. I originally bought it 1.5
years ago for price and performance over the 20D, and hoped the small
size and weight would be an advantage when traveling. At first it was
nice to have a compact camera, even if it was a little awkward to hold
(little finger dangled off the bottom and a battery grip got in the
way twisting my little finger even worse). But now I'd rather have a
camera that is comfortable to use all day without making my fingers
ache from poor ergonomic layout, and tolerate the slight increase in
size and weight. This all started when I borrowed a friends Nikon D70s
with a couple of nice lenses and realized the difference a good
handling camera makes.

I slowly grew to dislike the small size of the XT and when the
opportunity arose, I sold the XT and lenses, and switched to a Nikon
D80 just this past week. Handling wasn't the only reason of course,
but my little finger is very grateful.

:-)