- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 19 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Very hard to beat - just the kit lens lets it down."
Pros: Superb image quality, very responsive, intuitive to any EOS user, effectively unlimited (nearly) 5fps continuous shooting (in JPEG) with a fast memory card
Cons: The kit lens lets the camera down. Battery life can be a little short - especially in cold weather.
Summary: I have owned an EOS 10D (still got it), a 350D, and now a 30D. Of them all, the 30D is most impressive, especially for the money. The detail and dynamic range available from the sensor are second to none. Even at very high ISO noise is well controlled without the noise filter smudging out too much detail. The body is tough enough to stand up to life's little accidents, and - so far - isn't showing any signs of wear despite a fairly hard life in the last 6 months or so. The larger LCD on the rear is a great improvement over earlier models, and the addition of real spot metering is a bonus too.
Although I had an investment in Canon gear already, before I bought the 30D I took a long hard look at the competition, but still came down on the side of the EOS.
The down side - unless you have no choice, avoid the kit lens & buy some better quality glass. It just about does the job if you were buying a 350D (Rebel XT in the US?), but to get the best from the 30D, better optics are required.
The bottom line? Megapixels aren't everything. There are DSLRs out there now with many more megepixels on their sensors, but unless the sensor size increases in proportion to the number of pixels added, each pixel becomes smaller, so the signal from each point has to be amplified more (as the physical size has got smaller), so you get more noise, and in the worst case, a lower detail image than from a 'just' 8MP sensor.
Go get one - they're great!
- 1 reply to this review
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When your at the counter making this camera the final choice, just keep in mind it's boxed 2 ways.
1. Body Only
2. w/kit lens
I have to admit I chose the kit thinking I was making a wise choice for a road trip that day. I also grabbed a telephoto to go with. I get out of town and attempt to mount the telephoto. It's the wrong one. It won't mount. I at least had the kit lens for back up.
So before you leave the store, make sure everything works.
Don't get too discouraged with all the lens choices. It can take a while to discover your style, and habits.
I just recently purchased the straight telephoto 135 f2L.
The average price of these nationally is $900.
The next will be a straight wide angle fast 14mm or in that range. The RED banded prime lenses are Pro Quality.
For racing events, I will go with the 100-400 IS series.
Going with a straight fast 300 will cost $4000 average.
So taking your time to get what you will use in the end can be an investment. There's no down side to this investment. The resale of RED banded prime lenses even a couple years old will net almost new prices.
A good way to see in advance what lenses are going for is on Ebay and main photo stores on-line sales.
Have Fun
Where to buy
Canon EOS 30D with 18mm-to-55mm lens:
$569.95 - $1,336.00
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$569.95 | Yes |
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