Any one here own or have any experience with a T1i? I have been thinking about getting one and right now B&H is offering it with the same lens kit on the Canon website for about $100 cheaper. It would be my first DSLR but I have talked to Chris G about the camera and he said it's better to grow into a camera then to buy one you'll quickly out grow. So if you've used one, would you recommend it? Good points, bad points? Recommended accessories maybe? Any advice would be welcome.

 

I have one, it's a great camera, but depending on your skill level or experience with photography, you could outgrow it fairly quickly. The kit lens is very basic, so you'll end up replacing it fairly quickly. Personally I wish I'd spent a bit more and purchased the Nikon D90.

The 1080p/720p video feature is nice, but lack of tracking auto-focus and a noisy focus motor in the kit lens makes it more of a gimmick than something I'd use out of the box (except maybe a quick movie at a race track or something).

 

my two cents....

I dont know much about the T1i, but I was in the market for a DSLR a few months ago, and it seems that the general consensus on the board is that (in the under ~1k range) your best bang for your buck would be the Nikon D90. I love the camera. Its a bit overkill for me, because I probably dont know 90% of the features/settings that it has, but hopefully my photography expertise will grow.

If your budget is tighter, always cut from the body budget, and not the lens budget. If you stay with a particular brand, be it canon or nikon etc. you can almost always use the same lenses when/if you decide to upgrade the body later on.

 

Hey, glad to see you getting into this whole photography thing.

I would HIGHLY advise you to look on BH under the "Used" equipment section. I WISH I did this when I just picked up my latest lens. I would have easily saved at least a grand.

Used Digital Imaging | B&H Photo Video

Up until recently, I didn't even realize BH had a used gear section and I've spent $15,000++ on that website. It could have saved me a ton of money in the long run.

Regardless, I would definitely check out something along the lines of a 40D / 50D.

Used canon 50d

I have a 50D myself and I really like it a lot. I bought mine immediately when they first came out and spent a fat chunk of change. They have dropped A TON since then.

Also, it's a flexible enough of a camera that you could definitely grow into it. I don't know how much experience or knowledge you have with photography but it may be intimidating at first but you'll definitely get the hang of it because you'll constantly be tinkering with whatever camera you buy. If you're like me when I started, I brought my camera with me everywhere, tested the settings, different controls, and how varying them would affect the photos.

In the end, set yourself a budget on what you want to spend and I'll be more than happy to help you from there.

It becomes addicting really really quickly. Just go to your first Le Mans race with the new camera and take some photos and you'll see what I mean. Once you start to see your improvements you will be blown away and want to pursue it that much more.

I look back on my very first photos from when I just started photography (Sebring 12 Hours - 2 yrs ago) and am almost embarrassed to be honest. I actually don't even allow those photos to be publicly viewed on my website if that gives you an idea.

Regardless, if you have any questions, please post them up. We will all be more than happy to help out and give you a start in the right direction.

- Chris