I was wondering about experiences from people who have used both the 10D and 300D. What, if anything, are you missing on the 300D?
The main thing I miss is being able to set the focusing mode independently of the metering mode. If you want to select AI Servo for moving objects, you can do that in any of the creative modes on the 10D (or D60/D30) with a couple of button presses. On the Digital Rebel, you HAVE to select the Sports (running man) mode, which rather dumbly assumes you want to freeze action ... what if you want to pan on a moving subject?
But that really is a nit... for the kind of shooting I do (motorsports) it's fairly easy to just use AF to focus on a place where you KNOW the subject is going to be, and turn AF off. I haven't found the slightly lower framing rate or the smaller buffer to be a problem, but I don't "spray" with sequences.
I have found that if you do shoot sequences, the mirror slap past the first shot to be pretty barfucious, especially if you are using slower shutter speeds to pan. Attaching the battery grip to increase the mass of the camera may help some, it certainly does on the 10D.
The back dial missing is an annoyance, but I think if I hadn't shot the 10D/D60/D30 before, I wouldn't miss it. It is handled the same way it is on the film Rebels, you press a button and use the front dial for the other parameter you need to adjust. Somewhat klunky, but you do get used to it. It is cheezoid and plasticky, but I never had a problem with the ruggedness of film Rebels... the jury's still out on that, as the D-R considerably more complex internally.
What are the plusses?
This sounds nuts, but I have found the Digital Rebel to focus FASTER than the 10D. The images from the D-R are indistinguishable from the 10D output, color and sharpness-wise. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between shots from the two cameras of stationary subjects using the same lens.
I think being able to mount the 18-55 SBF lens is also a big plus, since you just about have 28mm coverage at the wide end. If they make more/faster wide lenses with short back focus, I'd consider getting *another* Digital Rebel. (If an evolution of the 10D came out that took SBF lenses, that might warrant a look, too.) If you wind up getting a D-R, and don't have an L-wide, I'd recommend the lens, since it really doesn't add that much to the price and you can't presently buy it separately from the camera.
The battery grip is cheaper also, but I haven't gotten it yet, I think it kind of goes against the innate tininess of the camera.
I have (and love) the 10D, but I'm considering adding the 300D in the future for underwater photography. Ikelite already has a housing for it, plus it's much cheaper to replace than the 10D if something should go wrong. And above water I'd have a backup body.
I think if you like the 10D you will like the Digital Rebel for quite a bit less money. If you can afford one, buy one!
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