My Decision to Purchase a Digital SLR

Visitors to this website are well aware of the fact that I love my Nikon 5700 prosumer digital camera and have seriously resisted the move to a digital SLR for years.  However, early in 2006 I decided that I needed a bit more resolution than my 5700 had to offer.  I fully intended to replace my 5700 with the latest and greatest digital camera from Nikon.  I anxiously awaited the results of the annual PMA International Convention and Trade Show in February of 2006. This is one of the largest trade shows in the photo imaging industry, a place where all the major camera manufacturers announce their new products. Like many other prosumer-class digital camera users, I was excited with the prospect of seeing some new high-end prosumer cameras from major camera manufacturers. I was secretly hoping for a larger sensor size too, which results in reduced noise.  I couldn’t wait to see what Nikon had to offer.

To make a long story short, not only did Nikon not release a new high-end prosumer camera, they completely abandoned the market by dropping all of their current models! In its place came a new line of cute little point & shoot cameras. Canon released a slightly modified version of its current prosumer camera, but with no increase in resolution. To sum up, I was screwed.

Therefore, you can see that my decision to purchase a digital SLR was 100% based on the abandonment of the high-end digital camera market by Nikon & Canon.   Once I realized that I was being forced to "go over to the dark side", I started doing my homework.

My Canon Rebel XT & Nikon 5700

Things that I particularly love about my Nikon 5700 are…

• Compact Size - I do a lot of hiking and exploring.  A small camera is essential if I want to carry it with me at all times.
• Electronic Viewfinder - Although many people detest electronic viewfinders, I actually love them.  Many of the advantages of digital photography, such as instant critical review of photographs (magnification, histogram, etc), are essential for capturing those transient moments with unusual lighting that are so frequent in southern Utah.  An LCD Monitor slapped on the back of any camera is virtually invisible in bright sunlight, thus negating many of the advantages of digital photography.  The EVF on the 5700 is perfectly visible in any light.  I love it.
• Good Lens Quality - The 5700 has top-notch glass

Things that I was looking for, that my 5700 could not deliver…

• Good low light focusing ability
• Higher resolution than 5 megapixels
• Lower noise, particularly at high ISO's
• Faster power-up and between shot performance

With those criteria in mind I set out to research cameras.  To make a long story short, I narrowed my decision down to the Canon Digital Rebel XT or the Nikon D50, both of which were within my budget.  Resolution test results from several online review samples gave a slight edge to the XT, so that made up my mind.  Both are good cameras.

Out of the Box

I bought the silver version of the XT.  One of my frustrations with desert hiking in the summer is how hot a black camera can get in the sun.  In southern Utah my black Nikon 5700 can get incredibly hot to the touch after just a few minutes out of the case.  Also, while a black SLR may look more professional to some folks, I feel that a black *plastic* camera does not.   Once you get a few scratches on a black plastic body it looks pretty cheap - I've owned one in the past.  Silver bodies seem to hide the scratches and age much better.

I was quite surprised when I took my silver XT out of the box.  I have had numerous silver film SLR's in the past, however the finish of the XT is quite a bit nicer.  Not only does it have a wonderful texture, but the color has a slightly platinum look to it.  It didn't really appear like that in any of the photographs that I had seen.  I almost gasped when I took it out of the box - I'm weird that way.

First Photographs

When I first received my XT decided to try some test shots using the default settings.  Whenever I get a new camera I feel that it is safest to try things at their factory defaults.  I went outside and tried several shots in my front yard.  My first impression upon seeing them on the computer screen was that they looked great.  However, after a more detailed review my impression was that while the resolution was good, noticeably better than my 5700, it still was not as good as I had expected.  Additionally the images seemed oversaturated and somehow lacked the extra detail that I was expecting.  The key, it turned out, was the "Parameter" setting.

One of the most important options in the XT is what's called the Parameter Setting.  The parameter settings allow custom setting of 4 individual parameters; contrast, saturation, sharpness, and hue.  The default settings are

Contrast: +1
saturation: +1
sharpness: +1
hue: 0

It seems that these settings were selected as default because they provide the most eye-popping photos, similar to those from a point-and-shoot camera.  However, I quickly learned that proper adjustment of these settings was essential to get the level of quality that I was expecting.  The big culprits with my initial photos were the saturation and contrast settings.  I set them both to 0 and my results were much better.  Setting the contrast to anything above 0 results in a serious loss of shadow detail.   Once I adjusted the parameters my photos exceeded my expectations for this camera.

Popular Myths

OK, now on to some things I have heard about the XT that have turned out to be myths….

Myth # 1: The Rebel XT is too small.
 
Just about all of the reviews of the XT that I have read mentioned that it is a very small camera, almost too small for comfortable use.  I could not possibly disagree more!  I have average sized hands and the XT fits perfectly.  My fingers fall naturally on the controls, and it feels totally comfortable in my hands.  This is as large of a camera as I would ever want to use.  Professional wrestlers may want to look around, but the rest of the world should be satisfied with the size of the XT.  I just had no idea that professional wrestlers wrote some many camera reviews!  ;-)

Myth # 2: The kit lens sucks.

The 18-55 "kit lens" that comes with this camera does a great job.  It is not a top-of-the-line lens, but it provides amazing performance for such a low price lens.  I dare say that when this lens is stopped down a couple of stops it can perform as well as lenses costing many times as much.  This lens has been raked over the coals by many photographers, but the fact of the matter is that for 90% of the photography you do, you will not be able to tell the difference between this lens and those costing much more.  What a bargain!  If that extra 10% is worth spending an extra $500, go for it.  Not me.  I'd rather save my money for a fast telephoto. This a great, lightweight, walk-around lens.  If you can't get good images out of this lens buy a photography book, not another lens.

Myth # 3: All SLR images need post processing.

I hate post processing.  For those not familiar with post processing, it is the image processing that is done after an image leaves your camera.  Point & shoot cameras usually don't need any post processing because the images are sharpened and adjusted to a pleasing level right in the camera.  The downside of that is you are stuck with whatever sharpening algorithm your camera employs, which may not be so great in an inexpensive camera.  Many people feel that the sharpening in Photoshop will do a better job and in general they are correct, at least for inexpensive cameras.  Because of the super high quality images produced by digital SLRs, post processing is definitely a good option for some of your best shots.  However, the "Digic II" processor in the XT goes far beyond the processors in cheap cameras.  It actually does a great job at sharpening, as good as Photoshop in most situations. Since I don't want to spend all of my days post processing images, I usually set the sharpening to +1 and the images look perfect right out of the camera.

Things That I Love about the XT

• Speed - This camera is a rocket.  I can start shooting as soon as I pick it up and turn it on.  I'm sure there is an exact power-on time listed somewhere but I don't care - it is a lot faster than me.  It's ready to go in much less than a second   I have never missed a shot waiting for the camera to power up.  Plus, once it is powered up, 3 frames per second is way fast enough for a landscape photographer like myself.  The final icing on the cake is the fast focusing speed.  The XT is faster than any other camera I have ever owned.  I've captured all kinds of wildlife that I would have missed with my other cameras. 
• Image Quality - The images produced by this camera are top notch.  Skies are silky smooth, shadows retain an amazing amount of detail, and the sensor resolution seems to be limited only by the lens you put in front of it.  It was looking at actual images from an XT that convinced me to buy one in the first place, so the superb image quality came as no surprise. 
• Excellent Low Light Focusing Ability - I can't emphasize this one enough.  The XT can focus is almost complete darkness.  This is a real weak point with my Nikon 5700.  After 3 years with the 5700 I almost cried tears of joy when the XT focused perfectly in dim moonlight. 
• LCD Panel - Since the LCD Monitor is useless in bright light, at least the LCD Panel provides a lot of useful information such as shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, image quality, metering mode, drive mode, AF mode, white balance, and more. 

 

 

• Low Image Noise - Noise is almost nonexistent at ISO 100 & 200, barely perceptible at ISO 400, and still a very minor issue at 800.  Even ISO 1600 pictures are totally useable, and far less noisy than images taken at ISO 400 with my Nikon 5700. 
• Size and Weight - As I mentioned before, this camera feels great in my hands - just the right size and weight. 
• Perfect Layout of Controls - It took me 10 minutes to figure out this camera's controls.  It is a very conventional SLR design, with the digital extras in the perfect location.
• Battery Life - The lithium Ion battery lasts so long that I decided not to buy a second one as a backup.  I have shot 500 pictures and not even come close to exhausting the battery.   It usually charges in less than an hour.
• RAW Mode - Every once in a while, for my really special images, I use the super high quality RAW mode on the XT.  The camera still shoots at 3 fps in RAW mode, but the buffer will fill up a bit faster with RAW's 6-7 megabyte file size.  The RAW mode in my Nikon 5700 was unusable because it would take up to 30 seconds to save the file after each shot.  It's great to finally experiment with RAW.

Things That I Don't Like About the XT

• Visibility of the LCD Monitor in Sunlight - Well, as I have mentioned on this website many times, external LCD screens on the back of cameras are pretty much useless in bright light, especially in the desert where I live.    The LCD Monitor on the XT is no exception.  On a bright sunny day absolutely nothing is visible on this screen.  Nothing! You won't even know that the display is on.  The camera setup allows you boost the brightness of the LCD Monitor, which makes it barely visible, and I mean barely.  A high quality electronic viewfinder would be much better, but the past few years have taught me that such a thing is many many many years away in a "serious camera".  We will probably have flying cars before any camera manufacturer can make a good EVF to satisfy today's SLR users.  Luckily, the 30 year old Single Lens Reflex design still works adequately.  Who needs all those fancy menus and features that digital photography offers?!  At least photography has advanced a little since wet plates, although I'll bet photographers were resistant to roll film when it first came out.  It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. OK, this is a pet peeve.   I mean, can I really complain since this is a Single Lens Reflex camera???  I guess I still look at the old mechanical technology of an SLR as a step backward, but the market isn't quite ready for any truly radical changes in camera design.  It's as familiar as a VHS tape, so why change?  With that in mind, I will move forward.
• Physical Noise - This shutter is a noisy bugger.  After years of a nearly silent digital camera, having that ol' clank from the mirror and shutter initially was pretty cool.  However, it soon got old.  The XT can be too noisy in some situations.  There is no sneaking a shot with this puppy!  I can live with it though.

Conclusion

I love my Digital Rebel XT, absolutely love it.  It brings out all of my weak points as a photographer - if I get bad images out of this camera it is only because of me, not the camera.  It is fast, compact, and handles like a dream.  The images are bounded only by my skill as a photographer.  This is a camera that I can really grow with.  I don't even look at other cameras now - it's a great feeling. I would have never thought that I would purchase yet another SLR, but right now (July 2006) I really feel that this is the best camera available in the sub $1000 price range. This camera also perfectly coexists with my Nikon 5700, which is a wonderful, compact, all-in-one camera that is the ideal companion for long hikes where space is an issue.