Hey techy peeps. I'm headed out on a trip oversees and wanted to look into upgrading my camera hardware. So I was wondering what you all liked? I'm going to Israel for my trip so on this instance I'm guessing there will be a lot of desert shooting. However in general my shooting would be the the car world(bright colors and at times fast motion shots) and hockey(shooting with an ice background, fast action, sometimes shooting through glass and nets). So I want a camera that can do all of that sort of shooting really well.
Penn camera was having a sale so I went to look there. I was primarily looking at the Canon 40D and the Rebel XTi. The 40D is on sale for $1K and the XTi is normally priced at $570. So the sales guy was very knowledgable about the camera and explained about digital SLRs and what sets them apart from other cameras. But when it came down to the difference between these two cameras he said the primary difference is durability. The XTi is meant for the once or twice a month shooter. While the 40D is targeted toward the several times a week shooter. While I myself would fall into the couple times a month catagory my girlfriend is an avid shooter(without the funds to afford a nice digital SLR). I wouldn't mind buying the more expensive camera, but I'd like to know that I'm getting more than just a more rugged case.
Are there other cameras I should be looking at? Your advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

well you should PM thepaintballguy (AKA Josh) to be certain but what you also get with the 40D over the XTi is more options, better ISOs, different sync speeds, faster sensors, etc. So the 40D will have the ability to produce professional level shots mch more easily but the Xti will also do these shots if you want them to. I just picked up a Nikon D60 (which is about 700 new) and so far I love it. I shoot with it about once or twice a week so far and it is a very comfortable camera along with being in the same competitive range as the Xti (entry Level DSLRs) the 40D is more of an advanced to expert level SLR (or that is how I understand it)

hopefully this will help a bit, but seriously PM josh, he knows a ton about this stuff and helped me pick my new setup which I love and is perfect for my ability level