How to choose your first digital SLR camera

Price: $94.88. Ships from and sold by J&R Music and Computer World.

* 50mm standard lens with f/1.8 maximum aperture
* Traditional Gauss-type optical design is extremely sharp
* Focuses as close as 18 inches for extreme close-ups
* Ideal for natural-looking shots; excellent color balance
* Measures 2.7 inches in diameter; 1-year warranty

It's exactly eight years ago this month that Phil posted his review of the Canon D30. The camera was Canon's first 'developed in house' DSLR and therefore a milestone in digital photography. But it was also the first model in the popular line of cameras of which the EOS 50D is the latest descendant. Technology has moved on at the speed of light since the year 2000 but each generation of x0D cameras left its mark in the marketplace and the photographic community alike and there is no reason to believe to 50D would be any different. Or is there?

* 15.1 Megapixel
* 6.3 fps Continuous Shooting
* Uses Canon EF & EF-S Lenses
* 3.0" Clear View VGA LCD
* Live View Mode
* Integrated Cleaning System
* ISO 3200 - Expandable to 12800
* 9-point Wide-area AF
* Face Detection Live AF
* HDMI Output

In order to do this reliably, though, you need a big memory card, and you want to make sure that the card can record files quickly so you can capture more pictures in quick succession. In my experience, the SanDisk Extreme IV cards are very very fast – and they have been coming down in price as well!

In addition, this filter kit includes a circular polarizer, which is a great accessory to have with any camera. You can use this to make blue skies look darker, enhance or remove reflections or glare on water and other translucent surfaces. You can even use this filter in some advanced flash applications when you get more adventurous with your flash. Some circular polarizers cost $60 by themselves, so you’re really getting two filters along with a nice filter pouch, for $54.95 – it’s quite a bargain. Oh, and they throw in a “warming filter” which is basically useless. Don’t worry about this, you can feel comfortable never using that filter, you’re still getting a great deal with the UV filter and the circular polarizer.

For 35mm film cameras and for digital cameras with full-frame sensors (like the Canon 5D), this is often called a “normal” lens, as it produces about the same perspective on the sensor as what your eye sees. However, the Digital Rebel XT (along with most entry-level cameras) has a smaller sensor – which means that there’s an effective magnification of about 1.6x that occurs when you put any lens onto the camera. So, that makes this inexpensive 50mm lens into about a 90mm f1.4 lens – which is a wonderful portrait lens.

What’s funny is that most people who are deciding on what to buy think the priorities are exactly the opposite. They think that by getting the most megapixels or by buying the camera that the pros use, they’ll get great pictures. Don’t believe this. The camera companies are just trying to brainwash you into buying more camera than you need, and you’ll end up puzzled as to why your photographs end up looking, well, mediocre.