I am often asked about the differences between the 3 popular categories of DSLRs from Canon namely the xD, xxD and xxxD as I like to call them. People often wonder which one should they buy.
The simple answer is: If you must ask then you should go for the latest in the xxxD series and it happens to be 400D at this point and 450 from mid-April.
Over the years the difference between the xxD and xxxD has been reducing sharply. Generally, the xxD comes out with evolutionary technical enhancements and within 6 months of so -- an xxxD follows catching up almost all of the features. The real difference between xxD and xxxD is mostly ergonomic.
The 5D is in a different league. It is a full-frame versus the other two that are cropped sensors. If you do not know what that means then you should probably not worry about 5D considering that it costs about twice as much as an xxD (40D as of now.) Also, rumor has it that 5D is up for replacement with the next evolutionary version sometime later this year.
Canon also has the 1D series which is in its third evolution 1D mkIII. This is full-frame, giant, about 3-5 times more expensive and if you are reading this post then clearly not for you.
The simple answer is: If you must ask then you should go for the latest in the xxxD series and it happens to be 400D at this point and 450 from mid-April.
Over the years the difference between the xxD and xxxD has been reducing sharply. Generally, the xxD comes out with evolutionary technical enhancements and within 6 months of so -- an xxxD follows catching up almost all of the features. The real difference between xxD and xxxD is mostly ergonomic.
The 5D is in a different league. It is a full-frame versus the other two that are cropped sensors. If you do not know what that means then you should probably not worry about 5D considering that it costs about twice as much as an xxD (40D as of now.) Also, rumor has it that 5D is up for replacement with the next evolutionary version sometime later this year.
Canon also has the 1D series which is in its third evolution 1D mkIII. This is full-frame, giant, about 3-5 times more expensive and if you are reading this post then clearly not for you.