Canon Digital Rebel XT EOS?

Question

I've heard a lot of good things about this camera; what are its downfalls? I know it had a viewfinder but it also has an LCD screen.. can they both be used for shooting pictures or can you only see through the viewfinder to shoot?

What about compared to the Canon 1100 SD IS?

Answer 1

No, using the viewfinder on a SLR or DSLR is how composing and choosing exposure is done.

There are just a few DSLR's that have the live-view feature and unless you are using a telescope, microscope or shooting table tops (small product advertising) live view is not really necessary.  If your idea is to use live-view the same way P&S cameras owners do, composing photos while holding the camera at arm's length, it is a bad ideal  This always introduces camera movement and after a few hours of doing this with a two pound plus camera and lens, you will see why this is not a recommended technique.

There is another little quirk with the live view equipped cameras.  Most of them will not auto-focus in the live view mode, although the Nikon D3 and D300 cameras will in two modes ... tripod and hand held.  I use the live view to wow my inexperienced clients ... sort of like how we used to use Polaroid adapters on our cameras in the days of shooting film ...  to prove to them we really knew how to use our cameras to get perfect exposures ... expensive photo schools aside.

Other than the fact the XT has interchangeable lenses, has been used by many beginning pros successfully for years and has a sensor that is over 15 times larger than the 1100 SD only you can decide which will fit your style of shooting.  Go into a store and hold both in your hands and see which you like the best

Answer 2

You can only shoot through the viewfinder, but you'll get used  to it really fast.

The second camera you're referring to is a point and shoot camera, so it's really different from the XT. The XT is an SLR and you can change lenses on SLR cameras, but with point and shoot, you can't. However, they're very easy to handle and use. SLR cameras are what some people would call "professional" cameras, seeing that they cost a lot of money, but your pictures are much better.