Alternative to Canon 10D?

Question

Hello everybody! I just got a used Canon 10D as a gift. This is my first DSLR camera and I have very mixed feelings about it. First of all, I already have a couple of consumer Canons (Powershot A620 and S3is) that I quite like. 10D on the other hand has a great body with excellent controls, but I am not very impressed with its performance. I am using a 50mm 1.8f Canon lens by the way. So, I was thinking about the following options:
1. Keep the camera and just keep on learning :-)
2. Sell it on eBay and get a Nikon D40
3. Sell it and add a little more to buy a Nikon D80
4. Buy something altogether different, that you may suggest.

Thanks a lot in advance to all of you guys!

ok. Here's a little more info. I don't like a slow startup time, a very small LCD and somewhat slow playback speed. The size of the camera doesn't bother me, I actually like it a lot! I'm a little confused with the quality of the shot's I'm getting, compared with my consumer Canons, but this might be due to my lack of experience with DSLRs. Basically, I just need a good DSLR I could learn with and use for a couple of years, before I have an idea what I really need and have enough money to be able to afford it :-)

Answer 1

The Canon 10D is almost 4 years old, but it still beats the crap out of a Nikon D40. That's a semi-pro vs. an economy model. The Nikon D80 is an improvement in a few respects but I doubt if the exchange makes good business sense.
I personally use a Nikon D200, the Nikon D80 is another great camera, and I like nothing better than to see other people get Nikons... but I think you're being a bit harsh to the Canon 10D. Why does it disappoint - what performance issues are you thinking of? I'd hate to see you lose a few hundred dollars in the exchange and wind up with a camera that has the exact same flaws!
So...
For the moment, I'd go with option 1.
Option 2 doesn't make much sense.
And options 3 and 4 kind of depend on why you want to trade / what you're looking for in a camera. We need more info.
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added:
Thanks for the extra info.
With regard to the start-up time, the D80 is instantaneous. Also, the LCD screen is 2.5 inches vs. 1.8 on the 10D, and the review speed is very good (although I don't know if it's better than on the 10D.)
As for the image quality, this is something that grabs a lot of people by surprise when they switch from a point & shoot. Here's the thing - dSLR cameras have default settings that assume the user wants a realistic representation of the scene and that he'll tweak individual shots on the computer. Point & shoot cameras have default setting that make pictures 'pop' straight out of the camera.
If you want your 10D shots to look more like what you're getting with your A620/ S3, simply change the menu settings. Crank up the sharpness, the color saturation, and the contrast. Either that, or leave the settings as they are and learn your way around an editing program.
It took me a while to get used to that on my Nikon, too. I resisted the urge to change the camera settings and after a week not only was I used to the bland, soft look... I actually appreciated it. All of a sudden, all of my pictures from my point & shoot camera looked like they were badly done Technicolor cartoons!
If I were you, I'd stick with the 10D for a while. Buy a good zoom lens for it and give it a real chance. If you're still not happy in a few months, just sell the whole thing/ upgrade/ switch brands/ what ever. You won't lose money on the zoom lens if you buy a used one to begin with. I can highly recommend the Canon 17-85mm zoom to start with. This lens costs around $500 retail.
With regard to the slow start-up time, just turn it on as you reach for it in the camera bag and leave it on until you put it back in the bag. That won't drain the battery like it does on a point & shoot.
As for the small/ slow screen... well, I can't help you there :-)

Answer 2

Other than the fact it's old it should deliver the same quality of not superior pictures.

A D40 or D50 might be faster, but will have much the same quality as all are 6MP

You won't do better until you get to like the Rebel XT EOS which has 8 MP or the D70

Now, generally the sensors are better (usually high quality CMOS instead of CCD) and they usually save in RAW (bit map) format instead of compressed JPEG and the lenses are FAR superior to any consumer camera priced under $500.

There is also more light gathering power and a larger sensor size.

RAW format takes time, are you in RAW format. Maybe going to JPEG format will speed things up.

The Rebel XT doen't have a very big LCD screen either.

Finally you are looking through the lense without battery power, so you get what you see without running the battery down as with an LCD screen.

Try taking a SIDE BY SIDE picture of something with like writing or fine detail and then look at both pictures under a program like Photo Shop.

The D10 should out perform anything in the low end class for lower artficats, sharper images, more detail.

Answer 3

Hi Daniel,
If you do NOT have any other lenses and also not an analoge body (also Canon) you are realy better off by changing to Nikon D80.
I kept the Conon because I have EOS 1n as well and use it for B/W film. The quality and most of of the service of NIKON is to much higher standards, so I bourght a D80 and the lenses are just soooo much better.

Answer 4

The 20D is many years previous now, superceded via the 30D, 40D and 50D. The 40D is the p.c.. of the present bunch, in prepare if no longer on paper. Canon additionally do a greater shopper oriented variety interior the revolt xsi & xs (standard because of the fact the 450D and 1000D in some markets) those could the two be better to the 20D at a fee that may not harm the economic enterprise. in case you choose the greater valuable build high quality, the climate sealing and the quicker physique fee then the 40D is the single to choose for.