Digicam for those who waited
Aug. 20th, 2003 11:57 amCanon finally reached out and slapped the consumer digital-camera market; something it badly needed. Today they released a consumer entry-level dSLR called the 300D, also known as the "Digital Rebel".

In the film-based world Canon's lineup is as follows: Rebel (entry level), Elan-II (prosumer), EOS-1v (Pro). The digital side now follows in exactly the same manner: 300D (digital Rebel), 10D, 1D.
It's 6mpix (just like my 10D) but with a slightly reduced feature set. The cool thing? It broke the magic "sub-$1k" barrier. It has an MSRP of $900 which means a street of $750 (or less with some of the agressive sales shops out there). It uses all the EOS lenses and also the new EOS-S (short-focus) wideangles.
Canon Digital Rebel: news story on DPReview
If you wanted a "real" SLR camera but didn't want to spend the $1500/3000/6000 that the 10D, D-30, 1D cost when they came out then this is the one to get. Sure, it's still a lot, but you get all the advantages a dSLR provides: full auto everything with much better focus/exposure systems than the film-based Rebel camera, manual control of all features when you need it, interchangeable high-quality lenses, 'always ready' shooting, high capacity CF card storage... the list goes on.
Instead of getting some fixed-lens consumer beastie, spend the $750 and add a $100 basic lens (18-55 zoom)... or a $100 50mm/2.8 prime. Then, go out and play with photography, not just 'a digicam'. Ooooh yeah.
In the film-based world Canon's lineup is as follows: Rebel (entry level), Elan-II (prosumer), EOS-1v (Pro). The digital side now follows in exactly the same manner: 300D (digital Rebel), 10D, 1D.
It's 6mpix (just like my 10D) but with a slightly reduced feature set. The cool thing? It broke the magic "sub-$1k" barrier. It has an MSRP of $900 which means a street of $750 (or less with some of the agressive sales shops out there). It uses all the EOS lenses and also the new EOS-S (short-focus) wideangles.
Canon Digital Rebel: news story on DPReview
If you wanted a "real" SLR camera but didn't want to spend the $1500/3000/6000 that the 10D, D-30, 1D cost when they came out then this is the one to get. Sure, it's still a lot, but you get all the advantages a dSLR provides: full auto everything with much better focus/exposure systems than the film-based Rebel camera, manual control of all features when you need it, interchangeable high-quality lenses, 'always ready' shooting, high capacity CF card storage... the list goes on.
Instead of getting some fixed-lens consumer beastie, spend the $750 and add a $100 basic lens (18-55 zoom)... or a $100 50mm/2.8 prime. Then, go out and play with photography, not just 'a digicam'. Ooooh yeah.