Why the Canon XSi/450D?
Now that I figured out that Microsoft Excel (2007) can save in Excel format OR HTML (and still retain editing–it doesn’t just “print” it to HTML), I have put my decision spreadsheet online (see previous post). but this gargantuan spread sheet does not really tell you WHY I am choosing the Canon XSi.
My Specifications
First some background on my needs for a camera.
1. I was a pretty good photographer as a young adult. I own several high-quality cameras, which I used extensively in high school and college. I was the photo editor in HS and the head photographer for the school newspaper my senior year in college. i used, every day, my Canon F-1 SLR and my Leica/Minota rangefinder. I am spoiled by excellent quality.
2. The point-and-shoot camera I have is not very good. It is a Canon PowerShot 450D, 5MP. It takes pictures that are really no better than my wife’s 250D at 3.2 MP.
3. Size matters! Bigger is better! So, it is important to me to get a camera with a large sensor. The APC-C size sensor that is offered on most DSLR’s is an excellent choice. Of course, getting a full-size, 35mm sensor would be great, but the price is prohibitive. And, really, when am I planning to blow up a picture to the size of a gymnasium? Or to crop a gym-sized picture to get a 8×10 out of it? Anyway, the CLEAR QUALITY of the results from the APC-C sensor is ASTOUNDING! Flickr has groups for all the major camera choices–go browse these groups, but be sure to have a hanky availablt to clear the drool from your mouth. For example, the Canon XSi group at Flickr, and the Nikon D60 group, and the Olympus 5xx group.
4. Lenses. The camera I get has to have premium lenses. This review is very interesting–scroll down about half way to see the photo of the side of a house. Mouse over and away and see the difference a really top quality lens makes–Pretty amazing, if you ask me. The “kit” lens for the XSi is pretty fantastic, it seems.
These cameras all offer excellent “prime” lenses, that is, fixed-focal length lenses. This is how I shot pictures in college, and this is fine by me. In particular, the Olympus and the Pentax offer astounding “pancake” lenses, which weigh under 100 grams! The Canon offers an excellent array of auto-focus, light prime lenses. The Nikon also offers these lenses, but (and this is a deal-breaker), they do NOT, in general, autofocus on the D60.
5. Weight. This, along with the price, is the deal-breaker on the ‘Pro DSLR” cameras, especially the full-frame SLR’s. For example, the Canon EOS-1D Mark III is 1205 grams (without lens) and the Nikon D3 is 1240 grams!! that’s like 3 pounds! See the “Pro SLRs” page.
The masses of the cameras I am considering are (with the Kit zoom lens):
- Canon XSI: 651 g
- Nikon D60: 670 g
- Olympus 520: 691 g
- Pentax K2000D: 745 g
Subtract between 100 and 120 grams for the combined mass with a tiny prime lens. You can see this information on my spreadsheet, the “Camera + Lens” tab.
6. Point-and-shoot’ness. My wife is getting really excited about this new camera, too. So it needs to have excellent point-and-shoot capabilities, along with the manual controls I need.
7. Image Stabilization (IS). A great new technology! Canon, Nikon (and Leica) have IS in the lenses. Olympus and Pentax have it in the camera. I am torn on this one: which is better? Clearly, IS in the camera means that EVERY lens is IS. That’s why the Olympus and the Pentax have these fabulous pancake lenses. But, if I were to list the top camera names in the business, the list would be Nikon, Canon and Leica. These folks all feel that IS in the lens is better. Okay, I’m convinced!
A general observation
All of the DSLR’s in the under $1000 category are really outstanding cameras. Any one that you get will be pleasing, I am sure. So the decision comes down to things that are not quite tangible.
The Decision
So, if you please, here are my reasons for the Canon XSi win.
1. Canon Brand Loyalty. I bought a Canon F-1 in 1975. It has been an excellent camera!! I have bought several Canon’s for my wife since then, and they have been excellent. From the start, NOT buying a Canon would have been a big deal.
2. Awards. Every web site that rates DSLR’s has the XSi in their short list of the best cameras out there. (They also usually have the other Canon entry-level DSLR’s there and the Nikon D60 and D40.) But I think the biggest one, in terms of convicing me, were the awards from DigitalCameraInfo.com and from DIWA.
3. Feel. Feel is everything. I handled the D60, XSi and the E-520. The Nikon felt really good, but the Olympus did not. I took some pix with the Nikon, and they were really, really sharp. (I did not get a chance to take pix with the E-520.) The Canon also felt really, really nice. The XSi viewfinder is awesome! The screens on all of these cameras are really wonderful. They convey just the right information. The XSi has a nifty feature that the screen magically turns off when you look through the viewfinder!
But the biggest aspect of the “feel” is that the Canon felt best to my wife. The End.
Why not the other ones?
Why Not the Olympus E-520?
I would be inclined to get the Olympus because it is a little quirky (I like “quirky”) and it has the in-camera IS. It would be a bit less expensive to get a wide array of lenses. It has several really AWESOME pancake lenses. it gets really good reviews.
The negatives for the Olympus are, generally, three things:
- The viewfinder seems small
- The sensor size is a bit smaller than the Canon and the Nikon. The “four-thirds” sensor has a 2.0 “focal length factor”, whereas the Canon is 1.6 and the Nikon and the Pentax are 1.5
- The menus are weird (but powerful). If it was just me, the menu-thing would not matter. But my wife will be using it, and this was a BIG negative for her. The small viewfinder is a bit of a problem, but the real problem there is that there just isn’t as much information conveyed in the Olympus viewfinder as there is in the Nikon or the Canon.
A perfect example of the problem with the menus is autofocus control. There is a switch on the lens in the Canon and the Nikon. It is a menu choice on the Olympus. But this menu choice gives you five (5!!) options, whereas on the Nikon and the Canon, you only get on and off. Powerful, but quirky.
Also, the Flickr E-5xx club pictures did not impress me nearly as much as the Nikon or Canon clubs there.
Why not the Pentax K2000D?
That one is simple. it is not available yet, really. I saw one in a shop window in Vevey, but the shop was closed. (Note, it is called the X-m overseas.) I am a little glad that this one is no available, because I think this would really foul up my decision!
Why not the Nikon D60?
There were two (weak) reasons to reject the D60. (1) The prime lenses do not autofocus on the D60. (2) Joanne did not like the “feel”.
The RIGHT Nikon choice now is the D90. This is an awesome camera. It is fast and accurate. It take HD movies!! It is also has a lot of awards around the internet. But for my needs, there were two problems: (1) It costs a LOT more than the other cameras I am considering; (2) it is a lot bigger and heavier. It is sort of mid-way (in price and mass) between the entry-level cameras and the professional ones.
Some other thoughts
i have some old Canon FD lenses. They won’t really work on any new camera because the lens-to-film distance for the FD’s is 42 mm. This dimension on all other cameras now-a-days is 45 mm. This means that if you can adapt them to mechnically fit, they are too far from the film plane to focus properly. But this extra distance will mean that they can focus very close–a ready-made set of macro lenses! (But they won’t focus to infinity.) One can get an adapter with glass to allow infinity focus, but the ones I have found are total crap, it seems. Also, the FD lenses will not couple to any of the controls on any new camera–not autofocus or aperture.
Stay tuned for photos from our new camera, which I expect to get under the Christmas Tree! 