But Cannon 30d now or wait?

[bob_flounders]

I have decided to buy the Cannon30d but have heard that there may be a 40d?

Should I wait or look at Nikons?

[rainer_t]

Lifecycle of digital cameras is not overly long, so there will always be the next model coming in foreseeable future ... thats the same thing for Canon as well as for Nikon and all other brands.

 

The real question should be: Do you need/want a camera NOW?

[Michael R Freeman]

If you have already "decided" that a 30D meets your needs NOW, then buy it. Waiting for the next "latest and greatest" camera is a never ending cycle.

 

Sure there will be a 40D. I'll wager that it will probably be followed by a 50D, followed by ...

[steven_moseley1]

...wait for a 60D...

[graybrick]

Buy now. Don't wait. Look at Nikons. If you want a camera, the 30D is a good one. If you want it now, you won't wait. As soon as the 40D comes out everyone will want to know if they should wait for the 40Ds or the MkII, or buy now... just suck it up and hit the 'order' button!

[nolefan32]

The Canon 30D is a very nice camera. So is the 20D. As was the 10D. When a 40D is eventually released, the niceness of the 30D won't change. Price might, but the camera will still be as good as it ever was, so if it fits your needs, go for it.

 

Regarding Nikon, by all means look. The D80 is a nice camera, one that I think is pretty equal overall to the 30D. The D200 is a *very* nice camera, as well, only a little more expensive than the D80 or 30D, but not nearly as pricey as the 5D (and in my mind, a better camera).

 

If you've not handled the 30D or any Nikons, I highly recommend heading to the nearest camera store and fondling every body they've got. There's a lot to be said for how the camera feels in your hands, how intuitive the controls seem to you ... once you've handled the Nikons, you might not be as impressed as you are now with the 30D. Or you might be even more impressed. But you won't know until you've handled them for yourself.

 

Oh, regarding the release of the 40D ... yes, there more than likely is one on the horizon. However, only Canon knows when that day will come. Anybody else is just guessing, and considering a lot of us thought the 40D would have been announced at PMA last month, you could end up waiting on a camera that's still a year or more away.

[tim_miller7]

I have an XTI I got last fall, took a couple of K worth of pictures, then just bought the 30D.

 

I am not a professional but after about 5 minutes of fooling around with the 30D, I then took the attached picture as my first shot just to see how it would handle low light. Others may have a different opinion, but I wish I had bought the camera sooner.

 

Spend the money; you can wait the rest of your life for the next best "thing"; but some things never happen again.

 

Tim Miller

[bob_flounders]

Hey thanks for all your help-makes great sense not to wait-now what lens do you reco?

[nolefan32]

"now what lens do you reco?"

 

What type of shooting do you want to do? That's the bigger question that needs to be answered.

 

Actually, from the main photo.net home page, there's links regarding building a good dSLR kit, one for a Nikon kit and one for a Canon kit. I'd highly recommend checking them out, as there is a lot of really good information there.

[brian robinson]

Depends upon a whole lot of factorts - what type of shooting - budget etc. How about

getting a 30/1.4 for starters, walk around with that for a few weeks (zoom with you feet)

and then decide what you really need.

[mark u]

If you are in Europe or Canada where rebate/cashback offers have just started on the 30D it makes good sense to go ahead and buy now. If you are in the US, it might make equally good sense to wait and see if Canon USA will announce a rebate program that covers the 30D (and possibly also some lenses that might be of interest) in the next few weeks.

[james_sawle]

Not yet made your mind up then yet Bob?

[25asa]

Keep in mind the soonest the 30D might be replaced is late this year like September or later. Thats a long time to wait. And being so many models are due for replacement now, the 30D is not guaranteed to go this September.

[ekoppel]

Go for a 20D instead. You can still find new ones out there.

 

The only major difference between the two is the bigger screen (just use the histogram) and the 30D has the ISO displayed in the viewfinder. You'll end up saving $300 or so, which you can put towards a nice lens.

[nolefan32]

Eric's got good advice, if it's the 30D that has you most interested, definitely check out the 20D, it's nearly identical and a lot cheaper. Even cheaper is the 10D, though you won't find it new, just refurbished. The 20D was a major step up from the 10D, but the 10D is still a fine camera; I've got one and it hasn't ever let me down.

[jim_doty]

If the 30D does the job that you want a digital camera to do, why wait? If it doesn't, there is no point in getting it anyway.

 

The 20D came out a few months after I got my second 10D. That's just how things work sometimes.

 

Sooner or later a replacement for the 30D will be announced. My wild guess is early fall to next winter, but that is just a wild guess. There will be a delay between the announcement and availability. Once it hits dealer's shelves, it is another two or three months before any "initial release bugs" have been taken care of.

 

Your "look at Nikons" question is another whole issue. Different manufacturers will one-up each other (and themselves) on a regular basis. A choice of camera brands should have more to do with which system (lenses and accessories) best meets your particular photo needs. Don't choose simply because a camera is the latest "body of the moment".

[jimmy_song]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you wait 2 more weeks. Why? Canon comes out with spring rebates around 4/15. I'm going to guess that they're going to have sort of rebate on the 30d and you can save yourself about $200 that way.