I bought a d40 and am very happy with it.

 

What tripod? It might not be able to hold the weight of an SLR.

It'll vary. Some Canon lenses are better than third party, some third party are better than Canon. Generally speaking, the Canon L series will be superior. Most of the L lenses will be weather sealed when mated to a 1D series body (some older L lenses aren't), they all come with USM (faster, quieter AF mechanism), and come with higher quality glass. This results in sharper images, excellent color replication, smooth bokeh, etc.

Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina make several good low/mid end lenses. Examples would be Tamron 17 50, Tokina 12 24, Sigma 105 macro, to name a few.

You'll have to research each type of lens since there is such a wide variety - ultra wide angle, primes, telephoto, telephoto zoom, macro, wide angle zoom, etc.

As far as a previous comment that the 400D is superior to a 30D, I disagree. Mate a 3 lb lens to a 400D, hold it for 6 hours and take 300+ shots in one day and tell me how your right hand will feel afterwords. 400D ergonomics = poor. People that shoot in low light will appreciate the larger viewfinder on the 30D, plus the 2nd wheel makes for adjustments much easier. For the basic beginner that won't use the more advanced functions of photography, the 400D is fine but for those who are constantly tweaking the exposures on every shot, they will find the limitations of the 400D quickly.

The ability to adjust ISO stops in one-third increments alone is worth the money over a 400D. Add in the other things I mentioned and it's worth buying. 30Ds are selling for $700-800 on fredmiranda.com now and should drop ~ $100 over the next several weeks as the new 40D makes it way into consumer's hands.

 

the tripod I have will hold any SLR. It holds my Nikon film SLR with a 80-400mm lens just fine. I think I'm going to wait till the 40D comes out so see in what prices the 30d drops too. When is the 40D supposed to come out?

 

If you have a Nikon SLR, why not stick with NIKON? If you have experience with film SLRs, then pretty much most of the rules transfer over.

 

I'm not one of those that if I have Nikon, I will stick with Nikon. But when you have a film camera is different from a digi slr. I have to consider noise/resolution. Reason why I ask. I hardly ever use my film camera nor am I a pro with it. I have it because I gave it to my wife as a gift like 8 years ago. Most of my experience when shooting is more by trial and error, reason why I like my digi camera.

 

Yep, that's what's good about digital. But the reason you MIGHT want to stick with Nikon, is that you can use whatever lenses you might already have bought.

 

I just have the one that came with the camera. Since I don't use it that often, I just rented the lens I wanted. I don't think I can use the lens for my 8 year old film camera on a new camera or can I?

 

Retailers should've received their stock late last week or at the beginning of this week. Orders should begin shipping after the holiday and retailers will be able to sell it next week.

 

thanks a mucho

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about the 30D and rebels, I'm sure the 30D is the superior camera, with a metal body, more adjustments, etc., no doubt about it. For those who know they are going to invest in high-end lenses that can easily cost as much as the camera body, the choice is obvious. 30D. And if you can get one in decent condition in the XTi's price range, get the 30D!

The rebel, on the other hand, is much more compact and lighter, with less technical features, but it will produce just as good a picture or very close to the 30D. And if all you're planning to use your camera for is casual family shots, your car on the weekend, planes, etc., and know you won't spend a lot of money on high-end lenses, you don't need a 30D. It is a decently bulky/heavy camera. I recommend going to Bestbuy or similar places and hold both and see how you like them. For me, I love the feel of the 30D, but I also have a big lens, so I need a big camera for weight balance.

Here is the Canon lens system that can be used with these cameras:

Everything that has the "EF" and "EF-S" name.

-- Pro L-series Lenses: Good glass, good focus motor, big, expensive. $600-$2000

-- EF-S lenses: new generation lens designed for these digital cams. Good glass, good focus motor, compact size/light weight. $400-1000. These go well with the XT/XTi because of their compact size and good image quality. Pick these if you're not a pro, but you want good quality images and don't want to spend a fortune. Note that these are only for the rebel/20-30-40D cameras.

-- Regular EF lenses: most designed back in the film generations, some have been updated. Some have good quality, others are not; it depends on price. Most are $100-600. Aftermarket manufacturers make better lenses in this price range than canon.

 

Well I just sold my Canon S3 so I have a bit more money to play with.