almost died,but i'm back with a camera question.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

yep,been gone awhile. got t-boned in st. louis this summer with broken legs,collarbone,collapsed lung,broken jaw + a few more cuts than i wanna remember.

anyhow,i gave my rebel to my cousin when i thought i was gonna die,never got to use it!

i'm buying another,but wanted to ask Steve or anyone else for their input-which to buy? [Canon of course!]

are there any older models that do just as well or better than the new stuff? just gonna be takin shots in the woods like most of y'all,thats why i'm asking on here. like,is a older 20d better than a new xti? i want to spend about a grand. our local dealer has new XTI's with the 18-55 canon stocker and also included is a tamron 75-300 for $1000 is this a deal?also,how many mm will i need for the equivelent of a 10-12x point and shoot zoom? 300mm? 400mm?

opinions on these?

10d

20d

300d rebel

rebel xt

rebel xti

30d is too much for this hick.

thanks!

[RobertELee]

Can't help you with a camera, but its good to see that you are alright.

[Steve Foss]

MM, glad to see you're still breathing and back in the game. Stay away from those bar fights next time.

Don't bother with a 10D or original Drebel. Decent sensors, but two generations back, now, and noisier than the newer ones.

If a grand is in your budget, look up a 20D if any are still in stock. Superceded by the 30D, a new 20D is still a great deal. The XTi has 10 Mp to the 20D's 8.2, but that's very little difference in practical print-making terms, and the XTi will have more digital noise from packing all those extra pixels into the same size sensor as the 20D. Also, the 20D is a faster camera with more features than the XTi.

You'll need a 300mm at least, so go for one of those 70-300 or so zooms.

But, if you're really attracted to the easy all-in-one nature of the XTi package with the two lenses for $1,000, by all means go for it. You'll be very happy with that camera. It's a great starter package, and thought it's still called a Rebel, it's so far ahead of the original Drebel that it's in a whole other league.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

thanks much Steve. i will look for a 20d. hope i can still find a new one!