I picked up a 300D (original Rebel) for $30...

benjilafouine wrote:

I have the 350D. It was a big improvement over the 300D. The 300D was fine too but it had a slower focus and only 6 megapixels if I remember well (I used the 300D extensively as my dad in law had one).

Definitely, back then there were massive jumps in performance. Especially from 300D to 350D as 300D was really the first of the "cheap" consumer DSLRs!

benjilafouine wrote:

wootang wrote:

I just ordered (today) an "Excellent" condition Rebel XT from MPB for $24. They have a bunch for $17. I had one years ago but decided to add this one to my collection. Grabbed an 18-55 STM for $45 more to go with it. $69 shipped. No tax. Hope to have some fun with it. It's great having fun with these old camera bodies.

Mine is in pristine condition with about 7k actuations. However, forget birding at high iso. Even my 40D can’t go auto iso at more than iso 800.

if you can get the battery grip for it. It makes a nice setup.

I recently also picked up a 40D in great conditions (25k actuations) for $60. At that price I couldn't resist. What a solid camera. So ergonomic and a pleasure to shoot with. It's my new street camera

Lepewhi wrote:

I have one too. I forgot about it. Now, I want to get it out and play with it. The only thing is I have to find a card reader for a CF card!!!

Oh yea the card reader situation is annoying! Luckily I had an old USB cable that connects to my computer and I can transfer from camera at 1.5 mbps!!! Woohoo. Just had to set the communication protocol to "PTP" (instead of "Normal") to get it to work.

Nice capture!

My first digital camera was a 300D Rebel.  My first nonkit lens was Canon's 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens.  For wide angle I got a Canon 17-40 f4 L USM lens.  I loved the way the 300D felt when I held it.  After a few shoot sessions I retired my film cameras and never looked back.  I still have my 300D and will never sell it.

zerored wrote:

My first digital camera was a 300D Rebel. My first nonkit lens was Canon's 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens. For wide angle I got a Canon 17-40 f4 L USM lens. I loved the way the 300D felt when I held it. After a few shoot sessions I retired my film cameras and never looked back. I still have my 300D and will never sell it.

17-40 L is a great lens to pair with the 300D! Funny you mention handling because I think Canon got the ergonomics really right with the 300D, I find it more comfortable to hold than a lot of future "entry level" DSLRs. It sits at the intersection of digital and film SLRs

Despite expanded feathers, the size of of Rebel XT, or 350D, disappointed me. It did not feel right so I bought the battery grip. When I gave the Rebel XT to my daughter she did not want the battery grip.  Those early Rebels helped me learn about digital photography.

Get this, I JUST upgraded from the 300D to the SL3 and now my wife uses my old 300D. She's not bothered by it's speed because she doesn't really know what's she's doing yet. I'm sure if she gets more into this hobby, she'll want something better, but for now, the 300D is perfect for her.

Love my SL3 though! I feel stupid for not upgrading sooner. I bought the 300D in 2006 for $600 used!

Just-a-spaz wrote:

Get this, I JUST upgraded from the 300D to the SL3 and now my wife uses my old 300D. She's not bothered by it's speed because she doesn't really know what's she's doing yet. I'm sure if she gets more into this hobby, she'll want something better, but for now, the 300D is perfect for her.

Love my SL3 though! I feel stupid for not upgrading sooner. I bought the 300D in 2006 for $600 used!

Sweet upgrade from the 300D to the SL3! I like those big jumps because literally every feature is an upgrade. And the 300D is a perfect camera to learn on. I think a natural progression would be 300D -> 40D (I picked up a minty used 40D for... $70)

Nick_Andrews wrote:

Just-a-spaz wrote:

Get this, I JUST upgraded from the 300D to the SL3 and now my wife uses my old 300D. She's not bothered by it's speed because she doesn't really know what's she's doing yet. I'm sure if she gets more into this hobby, she'll want something better, but for now, the 300D is perfect for her.

Love my SL3 though! I feel stupid for not upgrading sooner. I bought the 300D in 2006 for $600 used!

Sweet upgrade from the 300D to the SL3! I like those big jumps because literally every feature is an upgrade. And the 300D is a perfect camera to learn on. I think a natural progression would be 300D -> 40D (I picked up a minty used 40D for... $70)

i have been thinking about a 40D, do you think the 40D would be an upgrade to my present T3i?  the ebay prices and others make this camera fairly attractive at the asking prices.

benjilafouine wrote:

bridge cam wrote:

Nick_Andrews wrote:

Just-a-spaz wrote:

Get this, I JUST upgraded from the 300D to the SL3 and now my wife uses my old 300D. She's not bothered by it's speed because she doesn't really know what's she's doing yet. I'm sure if she gets more into this hobby, she'll want something better, but for now, the 300D is perfect for her.

Love my SL3 though! I feel stupid for not upgrading sooner. I bought the 300D in 2006 for $600 used!

Sweet upgrade from the 300D to the SL3! I like those big jumps because literally every feature is an upgrade. And the 300D is a perfect camera to learn on. I think a natural progression would be 300D -> 40D (I picked up a minty used 40D for... $70)

i have been thinking about a 40D, do you think the 40D would be an upgrade to my present T3i? the ebay prices and others make this camera fairly attractive at the asking prices.

40D is definitely a step up over the 350D but the t3i is way more recent. My 40D is still working great but the weakness is the auto ISO limited at iso 800 if I am not mistaking so for birding it is not so great. For the rest, it remains an excellent camera.

thanks. then perhaps the 50D would be an upgrade? those seem to be fairly plentiful used.

the iso on the 50D seems adequate...ISO Range Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (H),6400(H1),12800(H2)

my other camera is a canon xsi, which also is excellent except for the iso. for that reason i use it as a beater camera for when i would rather not risk bringing a better camera. ISO Range 100-1600

Nick_Andrews wrote:

People can't wait to offload these older Rebels on the used market. Picked one up for $30 and took it out for a spin around town... still a lot of fun if you keep expectations low!

A 300D works better with the Wasia firmware hack. Bob Atkins has a good write up about it.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel (300D) Firmware Hack

Note his link to the original Russian site still works.

The hack was updated slightly since Bob's article:

New in this release:

- ISO 3200
- Mirror Lock up
- Selectable pause for mirror lock up see C.Fn. 17
Changes:

- FEC is moved to JUMP button
- 'Left' button selects the autofocus mode:
AF OS - ONEShot
AF SE - AIservo (dosn't work right now)
AF AI - AIfocusAF
- the default button in delete prompt was changed from 'Cancel' to 'OK'. So, be aware.
Now if you want to delete an image, press DEL button and then SET one. To Cancel press any other key.
(Credit: Softpedia)

I used this firmware when I was using a 300D back in the day. I really appreciated mirror-lockup. Being as the original 18-55 kit lens didn't have IS and 300D high ISO was gnarly, I used a tripod a lot. Mirror-lockup helps a lot with slow shutter speeds on a tripod.  As do lenses with IS.

I was experimenting with my 300D the past few days and I really needed Flash Exposure Compensation. I also really appreciated finding the information that FEC is now on the "Jump" button (the release Bob Atkins described had it on the "Set" button.)

Canon's 300D design originally had a lot of features from the 10D but at the last minute Canon removed them (presumably, so as to not rob sales from the 10D). But they only disabled them. The Wasia hack mostly re-enabled features that are already in the firmware.

The hack re-enabled the 10D custom functions. See the 10D manual for an explanation of the custom functions.

Wayne