The new Canon

[Sigbhu]

Well, the XT is surely the best camera (entry level) ever made. And the Nikon D50 is well...underwhelming. Nikon's release of the D50 and D70S is nearly suicidal, as both give the XT a clear feild--the D50 is too crippled, and the 70S too expensive. No wonder Canon is making XTs in large numbers...there simply is no comparison.

Incedentally, Canon is also jumping on the agressive marketing bandwagon, and they're pushing products that should not be...take the image quality on the G6 for example. with seven MP, you expect really top quality--and wow, it's got Canon written on front! But wait--it can't make prints beyond 8x6! and even they look pixelly, even at maximum quality. canon seems to be making cameras for the consumer, and selling them well, while letting image quality take care of itself.

[D70FAN]

Well, the XT is surely the best camera (entry level) ever made. And the Nikon D50 is well...underwhelming. Nikon's release of the D50 and D70S is nearly suicidal, as both give the XT a clear feild--the D50 is too crippled, and the 70S too expensive. No wonder Canon is making XTs in large numbers...there simply is no comparison.

Incedentally, Canon is also jumping on the agressive marketing bandwagon, and they're pushing products that should not be...take the image quality on the G6 for example. with seven MP, you expect really top quality--and wow, it's got Canon written on front! But wait--it can't make prints beyond 8x6! and even they look pixelly, even at maximum quality. canon seems to be making cameras for the consumer, and selling them well, while letting image quality take care of itself.

Spoken like a true expert. Well done. I think those Nikon guys are nuts. Their cameras really suck compared to Canon.

And how is the XT working out for you? Had any luck with the kit lens? How about posting some of your XT pictures.

We are looking forward to it.

[TheObiJuan]

Interesting viewpoints...

The D50 is not targeted at the 350D, but for the 1.5 year old 300D.
The D70 is a fantastic camera, making it any better would be hard. The bigger LCD is my soft spot.
I wish canon would pick up the ball and atleast go 2.0"!!
I dream of the day when I can chimp ( ) on a 2.5" 250k+ LCD screen on a canon DSLR.

[Rex914]

You'd think in a perfectly logical world that the big cameras would get the biggest LCD's and the smallest ones would get the smallest LCD's, but it's all backwards. The ultracompacts get the 2.5's and 3's while the DSLR's are left int he dust with the 1.8's and 2's if you're lucky.

[Sigbhu]

Thank you, Rex914,TheObiJuan, George Riehm for your replies. I bought an XT, found it was terrible, then had it replaced. The new one was awesome, but the kit lens in the new one was awful (it had difficulty behaving like a lens). i tried to exchange it a third time, but my dealer said if i changed again, he would refuse to do so again--i didn't want to risk it, so i gave it back and got my cash back.

The XT is a great camera, but quality varies. I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but in India, apparently the scum of Canon cameras make their way here--i had to try out seven (the entire set of the dealer's) XTs to find one that worked decently (that one had a bad lens!)

While a large LCD would be nice, i'm not too keen on large LCDs--
1. they get damaged more easily
2. they consume a large amount of power--especially when the XT doesn't have a that good battery
3. they coast a lot more!

While a lot of people write that the XT "feels cheap" and "is made of plastic", remmber that Canon has designed the XT so that it won't fall apart, and, no matter how well a camera is designed, (the Olympus E-1 springs to mind), image quality is THE most important factor.

[Sigbhu]

Yes, the Nikon D50 is competing against the EOS 300D and the Pentax *ist DS. But isn't it a bit stupid to compete against a two year old camera?

[sarcazmo]

Yes, the Nikon D50 is competing against the EOS 300D and the Pentax *ist DS. But isn't it a bit stupid to compete against a two year old camera?

Not if you're trying to draw in new users. The D50 is there to introduce people to the Nikon brand at a reasonable price. (Although I personally would have tried to lower the price)

The XT is a fine camera, but the ergonomics IMO need a lot of work. It's just too darned small!

[Sigbhu]

true. but it's a slender margin: the chaps too smart for 8 megapixel "super cameras" that claim to do everything but actually do nothing, and the chaps too dumb for slighlty costlier, awesome cameras like the E-1/EOS-300/350/Nikon D70, etc.

[aparmley]

Wow, Thats amazing... Every 8.5 x 11 photo I printed from my little Canon A95 is of stellar quality, but thats just a 5.0 MP sensor. I'd doubt you could tell the difference between that and a film 8.5 x 11 print of the exact same photo ...

[aparmley]

To quote dpreview.com on their review of the XT (battery life):
"Excellent battery life despite new smaller lower capacity battery."