Is this worth it?

[komputerguy]

Is this package worth it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-EOS-Digital-Rebel-XTi-XT-i-400D-Camera-3-LENS-NEW_W0QQitemZ140213335568QQihZ004QQcategoryZ147173 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have already checked on the grey market thing so don't need comments on that.

[griptape]

You've posted the same basic thing in every post you've made. Just buy from someone you can go back to if things go wrong, or save $10 and hope to god your camera is 100%. Stop asking us to decide how much of a cheapskate you should be. The accessories are crap in the link you posted, and it reflects in the price. Buy what you need, and pay what it's worth for it, or save a few dollars and get crap that's worth what you pay for.

[komputerguy]

Well thanks for your help. I guess I could have specified that if the LENS are any good or not. SORRY!

[griptape]

The best camera is the one in your hands. Now stop asking questions, go buy something, and come back when you have trouble understanding why your pictures STILL aren't what you saw in your head after you've bought an expensive camera. Just buy something, spend as much or as little as you want, and we'll all be happy to explain how money can't buy talent.

[bauerman]

The best camera is the one in your hands. Now stop asking questions, go buy something, and come back when you have trouble understanding why your pictures STILL aren't what you saw in your head after you've bought an expensive camera. Just buy something, spend as much or as little as you want, and we'll all be happy to explain how money can't buy talent.

Having a bad day?? :rolleyes:

[bauerman]

It is not a horrible deal to be honest - you can pick up the body alone for about $500 from legit retailers so you have about $250 on top of that for what they are giving you in lenses and accessories. The Sigma 70-300mm lens in the package is not the APO version (red stripe) so its not the one that you want. The other Sigma lens is not bad, I have owned it in the past and it was relatively sharp with good color when stopped down a bit.

I would recommend - as I always will - to stay away from packages and just get the items that you need to start taking some photos. A lot of what they list in their 'package' are items that come in the box with the camera - its just marketing fluff to list it separately in the auction.

Go to www.buydig.com and just pick up the body plus the kit lens for $570.00 bucks and go from there would be my recommendation.

[griptape]

Having a bad day?? :rolleyes:

Yes I am, thank you for asking.

[erichlund]

I second what Jared said. Buy the camera (XTi, XSi if you can afford it) and a good lens, or the camera with the manufacturer kit, and learn to use that. Most retailer kits are attempts to rid themselves of stock that just won't leave the shelf any other way. I leave the reason to your imagination.

The problem with such a kit as you posted is that it will have a bunch of junk you pay for but find you never use, or stuff you would like to use, but is of substandard quality. A 28-70 with a wide angle adapter. Give me a break. The manufacturer kit comes with an 18-55 IS. Add to that the new 55-250 IS and you have a very nice starter kit. You'll need an extra battery, memory cards and a polarizer or two (B+W or Hoya HMC or similar quality), and a bag and your done. Go take pictures. If you're shoot a lot of people, you may want to add a flash. I'm a Nikon guy, so I don't know what's recommended as a starter flash for Canon. I'm pretty sure a Nikon SB-600 won't be useful. ;) I do prefer a tilting/rotating head on my flash.

Oh, and do yourself a favor, buy the hoods to go with each of the lenses. IIRC, those cheap Bas....s at Canon don't include them with the lenses. It's cheap insurance when you want to point the camera somewhat toward the source of light.

To be fair, the cheap bas....s at Nikon don't include them with primes, though I've gotten hoods with all the zooms I've bought.

[downtrodden]

Grip: why do you even bother sometimes? I had this whol big long rant typed up itemizing every piece of the 'package deal' with their actual prices to show that the package is more expensive than buying components seperately and thought, you know what, if someone can't search for prices and determine if something is a deal or not, they probably deserve to pay top dollar for penny stock.

But then, i guess i'm just meaner than you :P

[downtrodden]

oh yeah, not to mention that the auction lists items that are included with ALL canon cameras as items included in the package... as if to try to make it seem like a better "deal" than it already isn't.

[bauerman]

downtrodden - do we really want the forum to have the mentality that you describe above? I think one of the reasons for a photo forum is to ask questions similar to what is being asked in this thread.

Or in your opinion would we all be better off for newbies to get lost and quit asking their 'dumb questions' and then we could all sit around and talk non-stop about how good our L and IS lenses are?

[downtrodden]

Bauer, did you bother reading any of the OP's past posts before commentating?

My comments had nothing to do with NOOBS and everything to do with the fact this is the second topic the same person has posted about the same thing. he knew the kit lens was rubbish, probably from some sort of research- yeah? In his last topic everyone politely told him that he should buy from a reputable dealer and the camera should cost about 500 bucks or a little more and despite the OP failing to answer questions about budget or what he'd like to use the lenses for, suggested a few decent and most importantly, affordable lenses for the OP to look at.

Asking questions is great- and everyone here is glad to help, but when you ignore advice given- you're no longer a noob, you're ignorant by your own fault- and at that point, yeah, you do deserve to be taken.

I stand by my original statement.

[griptape]

downtrodden - do we really want the forum to have the mentality that you describe above? I think one of the reasons for a photo forum is to ask questions similar to what is being asked in this thread.

Or in your opinion would we all be better off for newbies to get lost and quit asking their 'dumb questions' and then we could all sit around and talk non-stop about how good our L and IS lenses are?

As downtrodden says, it's not the fact that the question is elementary, as at some point everyone needs even the most basic of questions answered. It's the fact that EVERY post has been "I've found this deal and it seems to save me about 15 cents, now what else should I try and find for a ridiculously cheap price". There are only so many ways to try and convince someone that you get what you pay for.

[bauerman]

Ok - then that makes more sense - I was unaware that questions such as this were being asked over and over again in multiple threads by the same user. Your responses now have more context for me - sorry to have harshly judged.

[DonSchap]

Let's see ... If a train leaves Kenosha, heading southbound at 55 mph ...

Half the fun on this site is: Whos on First, Whats on Second ... I Don't Know ... Third base!

Hey, Abbott! Ah, the challenge of photography. LOL :D

[T06]

yes Don it is tongue in cheek sometimes.:D

[downtrodden]

OMG Don, trains leave Kenosha!? :D

[TenD]

I haven't seen the OP's original posts so this is new to me. Here's my $.02: Buy from a reputable dealer, pay a little more for peace of mind and customer service.

The bottom dollar prices are almost always NOT the lowest prices, these companies usually bait and switch, substitute, only include part of the original equipment and sell needed and originally included equipment at incredibly high prices, package in a bunch of low quality, cheap accessories at high profit, etc, etc. Check out the low level stores complaints at resellerratings.com. All of the horror stories are incredibly similar. If you are looking for bottom dollar pricing, you end up in the same boat. You'll see the same recommended sites show up again and again. That is from experience and research.

I recommend Buydig, B&H, Beach Camera, Adorama. Ebay, packages are usually not worth it, most contain worthless junk that you'll never use or just throw away.

[great_guns]

"My $0.02"... ROTFL, brilliantly said (or typed, rather).

Anyway... I am pretty sceptical of buying things from anything other than top stores myself for the reasons specified above. I was though blown away by this:

I recently saw this on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SANDISK-EXTREME-III-2GB-CARD/dp/B0007QU70U/ref=pd_sbs_ce_title_1


When I had bought the same thing from Curry's with my camera for:
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0817778020.120550795 5@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfjadedieifkiecflgceggdhhmdgmk.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=640888&category_oid=

:eek:
That's atrocious. (<£12 odd + postage) vs. (£55 odd + postage) for the EXACT same thing - brand new, right out of the box.

The flip side is that I saw a seller on e-bay selling Dell vostro laptops for £240 odd which I thought was pretty impressive until I checked on the DELL official store where they were selling it for £179 plus £60 postage!

The bottom line is - be very careful when you are getting deals and it might be worth risking a bad product if its a relatively low-value product like a memory card or a filter etc. but for high value products like a camera or a lens, I would prefer to pay a bit extra and go with the trusted shops.

[michaelb]

Is this package worth it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-EOS-Digital-Rebel-XTi-XT-i-400D-Camera-3-LENS-NEW_W0QQitemZ140213335568QQihZ004QQcategoryZ147173 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have already checked on the grey market thing so don't need comments on that.

1. No.
2. Get the XTi and Canon 18-55 IS lens; much better deal.