I am looking into getting a new camera and have found a 20d for about $200 more than a rebelxt is it worth it?
Depends on what kind of shooting you intend it for. I think the main advantage of the 20D is it's faster frames per second burst rate. That's very useful for shooting action sports, and some wildlife like birds in flight. If that's not your cup of tea it might be best for you to get the 350 XT and put the saved $200 into purchasing lenses.
Also, keep in mind that although the 350 XT is a rung below the 20D on Canon's ladder of DSLR models, it is considerably newer technology than the 20D which came out in Sept of 04 and has recently been replaced by the 30D.
Personally, I'd go with the XT and an extra lens. But I don't do any professional photography yet or anything, so the XT is more than powerful enough for everything I want to do. :)
There are a handful of benefits. One that sticks out for me is also the thumbwheel. I have one-button-press ISO changing on my S2 IS and I would want that on my DSLR too. It's already wayyyy too easy to forget to change that.
I am in the market for a 20D/30D. If I can find a 20D for a VERY good price, I will do that. If not, I will be saving up for the 30D in May/June.
Another big one for me is the Autofocus accuracy. I'm pretty bad with manual focus and have pretty near zero confidence with this, so that's a big issue for me.
The fact that I already have a constant aperture f/2.8 telephoto makes the higher model significantly more attractive to me.
Yes! I couldn't live without the thumbwheel. I've been using it since '93 on my Elan. It makes it very easy to adjust settings in manual mode without taking your eye off of the eyepiece.
I've held the 350 before, and it is tiny! It didn't feel right in my hands, as I've been told I have large hands. ;-) Try both out and really hold them and see which one is more comfortable for you. Making sure it "fits right" is important too.
I'd go with the 20D, especially now that it's a little cheaper since the 30D is out. I chose to get the XT back in November because it would put me $400 closer to getting the lenses I wanted too, but now I'm kind of wishing I had waited a while and got the 20D, since it has a PC sync port, slightly faster burst rate, better construction and it's a little bigger (plus ISO 3200 for those times when shutter speed matters a little more than image quality).
That's one of my biggest complaints with the 350D actually, especially doing night photography, the viewfinder is really poor. I guess shooting medium format view cameras would eliminate that problem... haha
'Every dslr currently available has a better VF than the 350D.'
Damn - only got my 350D recently - didn't realise it was such a waste of money :-)
I've got both. I don't feel it was a waste of money. It's a great camera. It does feel smaller after using the 20d and yes, I miss the thumbwheel, but it does a fine job!
