Sold my 350D / Bought 30D

Not sure how 30D AF is better with 400mm f5.6 than 350D , i read
here that both are about same , if there is difference maybe i will
make same decision as you did , but i am not sure as only thing
that bothers me with 350d is auto focus...
I don't think you'll see any improvement in single shot AF for telephoto lenses. The differences are probably only noticeable when using (i) wide to standard range, fast prime lenses (ii) AF servo. This is the impression I get after discussing people who have done the 'upgrade'. I may end up doing this as I want to convert my XT to an IR cam.

-------------------------------------------
See the colors of my world in:
thw.smugmug.com
 
The main thing that stops me from upgrading would probably surprise most people: the built in remote sensor. I find the RC-1 remote so handy, it is always there, clipped to the strap, ready for use. The LC-5 for the 30D, although a lot better and RF instead of IR, is $370 and involves plugging a receiver into the side of the camera.

Brian A.
 
First of all.. the autofocus is ten times better then on my 350D.
Now i can acually use my 400 F/5.6L plus Tamron 1.4x TC and
autofocus on birds in flight without any problem.. that wasnt to
easy with the 350D.
Very interesting, and I'm happy you like the 30D. Could you say a little more about the AF performance when you use the 400f/5.6 and Tamron TC combo? I'm wondering myself if I should get a 30D because the oscillation problem on the 350D driives me crazy. :) Is there any oscillation or does AF locks pretty quickly. Thanks for your insight.
--
Axel
My galleries: http://www.pbase.com/axelhi
 
.The day after they get their new camera the 350D gets relegated to a "plastic toy" status.

Exactly!! Whatever makes people happy. I'm sure that the 30D is much better in many ways. However, I never knew that my xt had problems with AF or noise. Now I may have to rethink my camera. (I may have to go with a P&S. I keep hearing people say they are better and no need to carry lenses. I didn't realize that was a problem for me either).

Beautiful pictures. Were those with your new 17-70?

--
ErikH
Equipment in Profile
http://www.pbase.com/snapman/350d_xt
 
Be happy with your new camera, then try a 5D. Us poor XT owners willplod along with lousy photos. Nothing like Bragging to make one fell better? Post some of your great photos.
 
.The day after they get their new camera the 350D gets relegated to
a "plastic toy" status.

Exactly!! Whatever makes people happy. I'm sure that the 30D is
much better in many ways. However, I never knew that my xt had
problems with AF or noise. Now I may have to rethink my camera. (I
may have to go with a P&S. I keep hearing people say they are
better and no need to carry lenses. I didn't realize that was a
problem for me either).
I never knew mine had any of these problems either. Maybe some of us got lucky and somehow managed to get a good one aye?
Beautiful pictures. Were those with your new 17-70?
I never took them. I only have a "plastic toy" so If they were mine they would be completely out of focus and so noisy you wouldn't be able to make anything out.

--
Best regards,

Del
  • Canon 350D *
 
I'm sure it's a great camera. Maybe I'll upgrade one day and use my XT as a backup. Now get busy--you have a lot of images to shoot and post! :-)

--
John
Primary goal: To record compelling imagery.
 
That is a fair point. For me the decision is wether strech the
budget $400 to get the 20D or get the 350D. For me personally, the
bigger lcd and spot meeting is worth the $300 in savings.
With 350D about $600 these days, there's a pretty huge savings over 30D.
But if I were spending over double that, I'd probably go for the 30D, not 20D.

--
Sam Kanter, NYC
 
Sad that some of you get it so hard, alsmost like some get offended cos i think 30D is a fantastic camera build´wise while i dont think that 350D is that. I dont mean any harm.. i dont think 350D is a bad camera.. i dont think that 350D can take great pictures (look at Daniella).

What i do say is that i always had a dark cloude over me with the 350D everysince i bought the 400 F5.6L! I never got it to work well.. and will TC it was useless.. a bigbig dissapointment, and now i can finally be happy about it. This is the best thing about my 30D.

I also had very low % keepers cos of OOF, but now with 30D i got that percent raised alot! (after one day testing)

Remember im a noob and just expressing my happiness, Sorry that i offended you..

--
Photos @ http://www.bassel.se/photo
----------------------------------------------

Camera:
Canon 30D

Lens:
Canon 400 F/5.6L
Sigma 17-70 Macro
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter MC4
-----------------------------
Canon 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX
Kitlens

P&S Camera: FinePix F11
 
I didnt expect alot of difference. Remember that i could have had a really bad copy of 350D and a great copy of 30D.

But with 350D and 400 5.6L the combo worked nice, adding a 1.4x TC for me was making the combo MF cos it was impossible to make the shoots cos of all the hunt, OOF result when it finally locked.. But most of the times it never locked.

Adding a 30D.. wow what a difference. I was out in ALOT WORSE lightconditions then i have most of the times with 350D and i keep locking the AF without any sign of hunt. And the AF was megafast compaired to my 350D.

As the weather cos worse.. and i could see how the rain was on its way.. the sun dissaperared in the cloudes and it got pretty dark compared to before.. The it started hunting more and got more unreliable.
In good / very good light conditions its outstaninding now!

Ill give it more testing.
Not sure how 30D AF is better with 400mm f5.6 than 350D , i read
here that both are about same , if there is difference maybe i will
make same decision as you did , but i am not sure as only thing
that bothers me with 350d is auto focus...
I don't think you'll see any improvement in single shot AF for
telephoto lenses. The differences are probably only noticeable when
using (i) wide to standard range, fast prime lenses (ii) AF servo.
This is the impression I get after discussing people who have done
the 'upgrade'. I may end up doing this as I want to convert my XT
to an IR cam.

-------------------------------------------
See the colors of my world in:
thw.smugmug.com
-------------------------------------------
--
Photos @ http://www.bassel.se/photo
----------------------------------------------

Camera:
Canon 30D

Lens:
Canon 400 F/5.6L
Sigma 17-70 Macro
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter MC4
-----------------------------
Canon 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX
Kitlens

P&S Camera: FinePix F11
 
It all depends on the photographer behind the camera!!!
Sad that some of you get it so hard, alsmost like some get offended
cos i think 30D is a fantastic camera build´wise while i dont
think that 350D is that. I dont mean any harm.. i dont think 350D
is a bad camera.. i dont think that 350D can take great pictures
(look at Daniella).

What i do say is that i always had a dark cloude over me with the
350D everysince i bought the 400 F5.6L! I never got it to work
well.. and will TC it was useless.. a bigbig dissapointment, and
now i can finally be happy about it. This is the best thing about
my 30D.
I also had very low % keepers cos of OOF, but now with 30D i got
that percent raised alot! (after one day testing)

Remember im a noob and just expressing my happiness, Sorry that i
offended you..

--
Photos @ http://www.bassel.se/photo
----------------------------------------------

Camera:
Canon 30D

Lens:
Canon 400 F/5.6L
Sigma 17-70 Macro
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter MC4
-----------------------------
Canon 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX
Kitlens

P&S Camera: FinePix F11
--
------------------------------------
English is not my 1st language

Digital Rebel
256MB Ultra II
512MB Kingston
 
I know from other threads that you have the same problem as i did with my 350D/400 F5.6L/1.4X TC combo.

First. I ordered a brand new TC and with that one i got alot better preformance with the AF then on my first copy of the TC. So it might not only be the camera thats the difference.

First of all if i were you i would try to borrow someones XT and try the combo with that body.
Second, i would try a new TC.
Third: The 30D..

Wow dude.. i can guess that you were as exited as me with getting the combo, but then damn dissapointed when it didnt work out!

Thing is, having used the TC makes you understand that 560mm is what you want and need, and 400 alone just dont cut it lol

Having that said.. I tried everything to make it work, and in my case... cant say it will work out for you with the 30D body.. But for me it went from a big dissapointment to EXTREAM HAPPINESS!

The focus is superfast and locks on target RIGHT AWAY! not like before where oscillation was a mad problem and when it almost never got a lock.

In good light.. not superb but still good i dont have problem locking on birds in flight. I even lock birds with bushes and branches around.

Its simply amazing, but as i said.. its alot of money and you should try testing TC and XT body before buying an 30D.

I think im lucky... got a good working TC - 30D - 400mm thats working even above expectations.. And the AF for me is worh every single dollar i had to pay for it!

I really hope it works out for ya.
First of all.. the autofocus is ten times better then on my 350D.
Now i can acually use my 400 F/5.6L plus Tamron 1.4x TC and
autofocus on birds in flight without any problem.. that wasnt to
easy with the 350D.
Very interesting, and I'm happy you like the 30D. Could you say a
little more about the AF performance when you use the 400f/5.6 and
Tamron TC combo? I'm wondering myself if I should get a 30D because
the oscillation problem on the 350D driives me crazy. :) Is there
any oscillation or does AF locks pretty quickly. Thanks for your
insight.
--
Axel
My galleries: http://www.pbase.com/axelhi
--
Photos @ http://www.bassel.se/photo
----------------------------------------------

Camera:
Canon 30D

Lens:
Canon 400 F/5.6L
Sigma 17-70 Macro
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter MC4
-----------------------------
Canon 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX
Kitlens

P&S Camera: FinePix F11
 
I know from other threads that you have the same problem as i did
with my 350D/400 F5.6L/1.4X TC combo.
First. I ordered a brand new TC and with that one i got alot better
preformance with the AF then on my first copy of the TC. So it
might not only be the camera thats the difference.
First of all if i were you i would try to borrow someones XT and
try the combo with that body.
Second, i would try a new TC.
Third: The 30D..

Wow dude.. i can guess that you were as exited as me with getting
the combo, but then damn dissapointed when it didnt work out!
Thing is, having used the TC makes you understand that 560mm is
what you want and need, and 400 alone just dont cut it lol
Having that said.. I tried everything to make it work, and in my
case... cant say it will work out for you with the 30D body.. But
for me it went from a big dissapointment to EXTREAM HAPPINESS!
The focus is superfast and locks on target RIGHT AWAY! not like
before where oscillation was a mad problem and when it almost never
got a lock.
In good light.. not superb but still good i dont have problem
locking on birds in flight. I even lock birds with bushes and
branches around.
Its simply amazing, but as i said.. its alot of money and you
should try testing TC and XT body before buying an 30D.
I think im lucky... got a good working TC - 30D - 400mm thats
working even above expectations.. And the AF for me is worh every
single dollar i had to pay for it!

I really hope it works out for ya.
Thanks for the information, Bassel. Good to know that AF even works with branches in the fore and background. I will go to a local camera store and see if they let me try the 400/TC combo before making up my mind. Enjoy your new equipment.
--
Axel
My galleries: http://www.pbase.com/axelhi
 
All canon SLRs have noise, mirror noise. 20D is notorius for having more of it than for example the 350D.
 
thank you far that info , i can lock the focus with 400mm f5.6+1.4tc but when bg is busy i have truble , too many lost shots becouse of hunting and picking the bg.

one option is to wait untill september , maybe canon will sorprise us with pro 1.6crop camera , hope is only hope :)

all best
kristian
Wow dude.. i can guess that you were as exited as me with getting
the combo, but then damn dissapointed when it didnt work out!
Thing is, having used the TC makes you understand that 560mm is
what you want and need, and 400 alone just dont cut it lol
Having that said.. I tried everything to make it work, and in my
case... cant say it will work out for you with the 30D body.. But
for me it went from a big dissapointment to EXTREAM HAPPINESS!
The focus is superfast and locks on target RIGHT AWAY! not like
before where oscillation was a mad problem and when it almost never
got a lock.
In good light.. not superb but still good i dont have problem
locking on birds in flight. I even lock birds with bushes and
branches around.
Its simply amazing, but as i said.. its alot of money and you
should try testing TC and XT body before buying an 30D.
I think im lucky... got a good working TC - 30D - 400mm thats
working even above expectations.. And the AF for me is worh every
single dollar i had to pay for it!

I really hope it works out for ya.
First of all.. the autofocus is ten times better then on my 350D.
Now i can acually use my 400 F/5.6L plus Tamron 1.4x TC and
autofocus on birds in flight without any problem.. that wasnt to
easy with the 350D.
Very interesting, and I'm happy you like the 30D. Could you say a
little more about the AF performance when you use the 400f/5.6 and
Tamron TC combo? I'm wondering myself if I should get a 30D because
the oscillation problem on the 350D driives me crazy. :) Is there
any oscillation or does AF locks pretty quickly. Thanks for your
insight.
--
Axel
My galleries: http://www.pbase.com/axelhi
--
Photos @ http://www.bassel.se/photo
----------------------------------------------

Camera:
Canon 30D

Lens:
Canon 400 F/5.6L
Sigma 17-70 Macro
Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter MC4
-----------------------------
Canon 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX
Kitlens

P&S Camera: FinePix F11
 
How a camera autofocuses has been somewhat of a mystery to me. I know it has something to do with the amount of contrast in the AF zone. On the XT, I always thought that the focus "spot" was EXACTLY on the LED. Now I understand it's within the square. Thats seems kind of a large area to work with. How does it know where within the square I want to focus to be?

I guess I'm looking for the science behind it. The manual doesn't cover stuff like that.

--
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Nikon CoolPix 995
Nikon CoolPix 4500
Canon Rebel XT / Kit Lens / 50mm f1.8 / Tamron 18-200mm / Sigma 20mm f1/8
 
well as i know center AF point works on vertical and horizontal lines , the AF should pick the closest subject but with xx/xxxD cameras it doesnt alwais work so camera pick the most contrasty part even if its in background.

also there is tolerance in evry AF system , the 1series camera has 1/3 dof , that says more precize focus , less room for mistakes , the 20/30d should have same 1/3dof with lenses f2.8 and fatser not sure that works in practical use.

350d should have 1/1 dof and as i read only very good calibrated onse actualy works in 1/1 dof.

please somebody correct me if i am wrong about something

all best
kristian
How a camera autofocuses has been somewhat of a mystery to me. I
know it has something to do with the amount of contrast in the AF
zone. On the XT, I always thought that the focus "spot" was EXACTLY
on the LED. Now I understand it's within the square. Thats seems
kind of a large area to work with. How does it know where within
the square I want to focus to be?

I guess I'm looking for the science behind it. The manual doesn't
cover stuff like that.

--
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Nikon CoolPix 995
Nikon CoolPix 4500
Canon Rebel XT / Kit Lens / 50mm f1.8 / Tamron 18-200mm / Sigma
20mm f1/8
 
First of all.. the autofocus is ten times better then on my 350D.
Now i can acually use my 400 F/5.6L plus Tamron 1.4x TC and
autofocus on birds in flight without any problem.. that wasnt to
easy with the 350D.

Second.. the LCD is seksi! Its superb compared to 350D LCD.

Third: The build.. having this camera in my hand gives it a more
REAL seriouse feeling while the 350D felt more like a plastic toy.

The way the buttons are placed and functions.. is alot more easy
and user friendly then 350D.

Alot more.. have to think about it and give it a few more days..
But i can tell you that the feeling of owning this camera is great
:)
I'm glad you aren't disapointed with your purchase. I too was seriously considering buying a 30D, however I finally got some people on this website to give me an honsest apprasial of the 30D and the reasoning for buying one. Your reasons are the same as theirs, and so I chose a 350D instead.

(1) I don't own 3rd. party lens, so I don't have auto focus issues.

(2) I never use the LCD when shooting, only to review a photo now and then.

(3) I'm very happy with the way the 350D handles, size and feel. The 30D feels bigger but its heavy too.

Finally, with the $700 I saved I bought some L-Glass! Whoo Hoo!
 

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