New (used) camera and photos

Way back in October, about six months ago, I wrote about my good camera no longer working. Last week I finally was able to find enough room in our budget to finance a replacement body. For weeks and months I agonized over whether to go with a 40D, a Rebel XT, the Rebel XTi, or the new upcoming Rebel XSi.

I think I would have really liked the XSi except that the release date is expected at the end of this month -- not early enough for our trip down to the Lower 48.

I would have really liked the 40D also, except for the cost. The differences between this and the XTi are significant, but weren't enough to justify the price difference for my needs.

The XT is a decent camera, and even though it is some three years (an eternity in the digital camera universe) old now, I consider it better than the 10D which I was seeking to replace. However, in this case the differences between the XT and the XTi were significant and the price between the two IMO was justified.

I'd check B&H Photo daily, just to consider all the specifications once again on the different models, check the prices to see if they'd gone down, look at the accessories (extra battery, bigger memory card, remote shutter release) I'd need and want, etc. Last Sunday as I went to the site I noticed that there was a decent used XTi unit available for purchase. That clinched the deal. I could purchase that and a few accessories and still be under what I was expecting to pay.

The unit arrived last Friday, after the good weather went away. Even so, on a walk yesterday afternoon I snapped a few photos. I generally use RAW capture, so the image sizes now are huge: 10MB per image. It turns into 50MB or so inside Photoshop, before any layers are used. I'm going to have to be more critical about images I keep vs. throwing out so that my storage space doesn't get overwhelmed.

I was afraid that not having the status LCD on top of the camera would be a problem, but I needn't have worried. It turns out the the back LCD and the way it handles both status and image review is implemented quite well. Probably the only complaint is that even for my relatively small hands, the camera feels a little cramped. On the other hand, I do like the small size in that it packs well. It is much easier to carry around than a larger body. The controls are quite intuitive and I was able to figure out probably 95% of access to features without having to look in the manual.