Your logic sounds perfectly sound to me. Get her a canon and you eventually will be able to borrow her lenses!.

Jerryhttp://jchoate.zenfolio.com/..

Davepw wrote:.

My h.s. sophomore daughter is enrolled in a high school photographyclass, and having a dSLR is encouraged. I recently bought a Canon 30Dto get into dSLR photography, but am still a relative beginner, hencecoming here for advice for what to buy her (not comfortable with my30D in a high school locker)..

I am looking at buying her a Canon XTi, Nikon D40, or Pentax K10D. Iwent with the Canon 30D for myself for sports shooting, but for her,I might have picked the Nikon. However, since I already have 5Canon-compatible lenses, seems like Canon is the logical choice. Mysense it that these cameras are not different enough to make this atough choice given that she can just use my lenses..

Is my logic sound? Is there something about these other camera thatwould warrant buying into another lens family? Is there a particularCanon you recommend?.

Any feedback/suggestions very appreciated!.

They are all good...and if you want you can buy me the Pentax....but since you have those lenses it makes sense. Either that or let her have a play with them all and get the one SHE like...shes the one gunna use it after all.....and if you did look at the Pentax another idea would be a K100d with a better lens..

Neil..

Davepw wrote:.

(not comfortable with my 30D in a high school locker)..

A Rebel XT (350D) or Rebel XTi (400D) might be a good choice, given that you have a 30D..

But are you comfortable with the prospect of the good lenses from your 30D in that same high school locker?  ..

A Canon 300D and a kit lens would make a good beginners camera, and 'relatively cheap' for throwing in a school locker. The body seems to be going for $300ish on the used market...

Davepw wrote:.

I'd get a used 10D or 20D..

Http://www.highsee3.smugmug.com.

'A camera maker that simply copies others' idea has no right to call itself an originalmaker in the first place.' -Mr. Maitani, creator of the OM photographic system...

My vote would be for the Pentax, but my reasons might be worth more than my choice.  .

In my high school, the FILM-based Pentax K-series ruled the earth. They were the camera of choice for decades - brutally durable (perfect for students), CHEAP to replace (also perfect for students), and not valuable enough in their condition to be worth stealing (again, pefect for students)..

My school had a pool of bodies, and a pool of lenses. Students simply grabbed any body and picked a lens of their choice for their day of shooting. From macro to fisheye to ultra-telephoto, and everything in between, they had a lens..

If I was in my high school now, picking a DIGITAL camera, I would get the Pentax no questions asked- simply to take advantage of this lens opportunity..

You might want to call the school, and see what kind of equipment they have. It would be a real shame if your daughter was the only one with her brand, and couldn't try the lenses her friends/classmates were using..

- David..

The canon is the clear logical choice for me if you want to share lenses....

The 400D is very good with a very good 10MP sensor (with more or less same ISO/noise performance as the 30D...) , good AF (from the 20D) and so on....

Only the lack of in body IS may be considered as a weakness but Nikon does not have it either and it's likely that canon introduce more and more IS in it's lenses....

Mmiikkee..

Davepw wrote:.

Your logic is absolutely sound. Go ahead and buy her the entry-level Canon DSLR (maybe even look into a used Rebel or 10 or 20D from a reputable place like KEH)..

Though I admit I haven't read any of the other posts, I'm not sure what argument for you to switch camera suppliers would be common sense..

There is one other argument to consider if can find any kind of comfort level with her taking the 30D to school, you could spend the money or a 40D for yourself..

'Nice pen, bet you write good stories with it.'..

If you're not comfortable with a 30D in her locker, why would you be comfortable with a different body and one of your lenses, especially an expensive one?.

Seems like Canon is the logical choice if you already have Canon glass.Tim'Be the change you wish to see in the world.' -Mahatma Gandhihttp://www.flickr.com/photos/timskis6/..

Thanks very much for all the replies and feedback. Currently leaning towards a Canon 400/XTi...appreciated the suggestions to give her my 30D so I can upgrade  Also thinking she can use my A700 PowerShot for a while as a way to ease into setting aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc...

If you were starting from scratch, I would say go for the Pentax K100D or K100D special. For entry level, these have the fewest compromises. I have been shooting a bottom of the line Pentax for over 2 years, with some great glass. I get beautiful large prints, even at high ISO..

Having a Canon and some glass does give some weight to going 350D or 400D...

No brainer. Keep the system in the family, share lenses, share flash, etc..

BAK..

Yeah Iwould also say Canon if you have one allready. It is a lot cheaper and really comfortable to play with. An used 5D from Canon would be really nice  .

I vote the 350/400D..

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BAK wrote:.

No brainer. Keep the system in the family, share lenses, share flash,etc..

I agree with this one! If you already have equipment, stay in the same family. I would also look for a local place that you can buy used equipment from. I bought a 20D used and it works great...

Upgrade to the new 40D and give her your 30D. I'm not really a Canon fan, but since you are already committed to it I would certainly stay with Canoon for her...

Really liking these unprompted upgrade suggestions....I'll need to show the family finance boss all these posts ..

LOL! Good luck with that! I know exactly what you're talking about. It sucks but.... happy wife = happy life...

My daughter is sticking with the class, and is even getting more excited about it. She rarely wants anything new involving lots of money, but she is excited about a dSLR, so I've decided to get the XTi...based on feedback here, her familiarity with Canon, the reviews I've read, the price point, and my existing small but growing lens collection (Canon, 28-135 IS, Canon 85mm 1.8, Canon 50mm 1.8, Tamron 17-50) and flash (Canon Speedlite 430 EX), it really is an easy decision..

Now I just need to decide on a few things:.

1) Get her an extra battery in case she forgets to recharge one uh, 15 year old, yup, also an easy decision..

2) Memory card(s) - part of me thinks I should get her a few smaller ones (1GB) so she learns how to change them and is forced to save her pics often, but the 4GB/8GB ones are also tempting also brand/speed would appreciate advice here..

3) Let her use my Tamron and Canon 28-135 walk-around lenses or get the kit lens again, 15 year old high school student...uh, I think kit lens! Thoughts on this?.

Anything other suggestions before I pull the trigger?..

I'm only 2 years older than your daughter so I feel like I can relate to what she might want or need..

1) An extra battery sounds good, but the XTi battery only takes an hour to charge. That's pretty fast! I usually keep the charger in my little camera bag too and I've never forgotten it. I have no experience but I've heard that Sterlingtek's batteries are very cheap and work great, so I would get some there..

2) I wouldn't get anything less than 4GB in size. If she's shooting RAW, she'll be only able to get around 400 shots (or less) even on a 4GB. I've had times where I've had RAW pictures approach 20mb each, and if she was in a situation like this, she would run out of space very quickly. I've had success with Ridata and Adata memory, so I would invest in them. Adata has a 266X card, both 4GB and 8GB, but I don't think it would really lives up to that speed. You can buy both from NewEgg..

3) The 28-135 is my walkaround, but if you really like it, don't let her have it! If she doesn't really need the extra reach, I think she'll be able to do without it...

Very helpful input and perspective good point about the RAW capacity...I have not started shooting RAW so I did not consider that thanks! On the 28-135, I do like it as a walk-around, but part of the reason I bought it is that the price was reasonable, so not too worried about it getting damaged or stolen (versus an L lens for example)...I think a more impirtant issue for my daughter may be it's size, and I thought the kit lens was a little smaller...