Your Questions About Canon Digital Slr

rob answers:

It depends how much you want to spend. The 20D is a great camera. It will be the cheapest that has the 8MP sensor. The 30D will be a bit more than the 20D, but really isn’t much different. If you want to spend a bit more money, I would get the 40D. It has a 10MP sensor and a faster burst rate (6.5 frames per second vs 5fps on the 20 and 30D). The 20D on eBay will run you about $350-$400 for the body. I wouldn’t even worry about the 30D, and the 40D will run you about $700-800. The 20D is an excellent camera and will leave you more money for lenses and such. I also wouldn’t consider the Rebels. They are appealing because you can get a new one for a low price, but they don’t compare to the D series cameras. For your first camera I would recommend the 20D because it is the most camera for the least money. Unless you just have lots of money to blow, then go for the 40D or hell, the 50D or 5D Mark II.

rob answers:

You might also want to consider Pentax’s recently unveiled K-7 DSLR which can take video

rob answers:

No you don’t need a special tripod any tripod will work and if your gonna do copy work and yes you do need a tripod. I don’t know what that other guy was talking about?

You will need to put your camera so that it is parallel to the pic and make sure the picture is perfectly flat. Taping it to the wall or tacking it to the wall like someone else mentioned is a good idea.

If your gonna use lights (and you don’t really need a copy stand). They should be at 45 degree angles pointed at the pic obviously. You can get fairly cheap tungsten lights at any good camera store and just use a blue filter so that you pic doesnt come out with that yellow tone from tungsten lights the people at the camera store will have those too. I posted a link that has a diagram and more in depth description. But this is the gist of it.

rob answers:

For less than $100 you can upgrade to the Canon XSi and pick up some added features and benefits.

The kit you show would be fine for outdoor photography with the 75-300mm lens but indoors you’ll need a lot of room to maneuver that big lens – and 70mm is not wide enough for indoor group pictures in an average room. Plus, the 70-300mm lens apparently does not have Image Stabilization (IS) which a big long lens needs – unless you plan on always using a tripod.

The XS and the XSi comes with the standard 18-55mm IS lens which I believe will be more useful for you, especially indoors. Later on you can add another lens, perhaps the EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM or the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM.

Although you didn’t specify where you saw the kit you listed, if you’re buying on-line I suggest first checking the seller at http://www.resellerratings.com Unfortunately there are as many (if not more) on-line scam artists as there are reputable sellers. One favorite trick is to sell you what’s known as a “gray market” camera and lens. Sure its cheaper but if you need warranty service you’ll have to ship it off to its country of origin since it wasn’t imported by an authorized Canon importer.

Here are some well-known, trusted on-line sellers:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

http://www.adorama.com

http://www.keh.com

http://www.uniquephoto.com

http://www.beachcamera.com

http://www.ritzcamera.com

Good luck and Merry Christmas.

rob answers:

Yes – the first 2 responses are great in term of focal length.

Just remember that there are EF & EF-S lenses.
EF will fit any digital SLR while the EF-S will only fit the DSLR that are not full frame (it will have a white square on the lens mount)
EF : Red Dot
EF-S : White Square