DSLR n00b advice: Canon 300D w/ 18-55 IS lens or 350D w/ non-IS lens?
 

So I've been looking for a cheap beginner DSLR, and have these two on the plate:

$320: Digital Rebel 300D, 9000 actuations, 18-55 Image-Stabilization lens.
$300: Digital Rebel xT 350D, ? actuations, 18-55 no IS.

Is IS a big deal for DSLRs? I know they are with Point & Shoots.

Reviews say the kit lens on the xT 350D is pretty crappy. But it does have more MP (not a big deal, more a stickler for image quality), instant power-on and Digic II processor compared to the 300D.

Thanks!

I'd say go with the newer camera for the MP. If you're seriously considering getting into it, you'll be replacing that lens soon anyway.

+1

Get the XT, throw away the kit lens and buy a 15-85 or 18-200.

He's trying to decide between a $300 and a $320 camera, and your telling him to drop a grand on a 15-85? wtf jason, I think your loosing touch of reality

lol yeah thanks guys but my budget is around that price. It's either a cheap DSLR around $350 TOPS, or a newer superzoom bridge camera. I understand that even older DSLRs will outperform newer P&S cameras due to bigger sensors.

I'm going more for image quality than megapixels.

Go for the newer camera. I used to have the XT, and used the non-IS version of that kit lens as well and it was just fine. Like you said, you're just getting into it, so this is more than you'll need for now. Later on you can start upgrading your lenses (as Jason jokingly mentioned ;)) and at the end, you can get a better body.

The XT takes nice shots and has some good feature points over the DRebel, but it also has one signficant difference: it's really small and a lot of people with bigger hands complained about it when it came out.

This may or may not be a deal breaker for you, but to my mind, the most important thing for ANY camera is that YOU enjoy using it. If the thing is too small and uncomfortable to hold and operate, there's a much greater chance it will end up sitting on a shelf, where all the technical differences in the world mean absolutely squat.

So yeah... hope for the 350D for a "better" all-around camera... but try one out first and make sure the undersized body isn't going to drive you nuts. No point in getting it if using it will frustrate you in the long run.

He never specifically mentioned a lens budget, did he? I suppose I should have added 'if you can' in my sentence. No need to bite my head off...and no, I'm not 'loosing' touch of reality. :p

In his defense, the prices quoted were for the camera AND lens...

Like I wrote earlier, I should have added "if you can" to my sentence. My apologies for misreading your post in the first place.