black v. silver

cyclendo

I'm wondering about the seemingly larger than necessary price difference between black and silver models. I just purchased the new Digital Rebel XTi from B+H (super excited about it), and I ended up going with the silver model simply because it was so much cheaper. Black would have been my preference, but in the end I couldn't justify it price-wise....Does anyone have an answer for why this is so?

thanks

jsedlak

I was wondering this last night... I bought the black just because I wouldn't be able to stand the ugliness of the silver...

cyclendo

Yeah, I much prefer the black, it looks WAY more professional and all...but in the end it came down to the fiscal situation (i'm a college student).

MarkR

cyclendo wrote:

I'm wondering about the seemingly larger than necessary price difference between black and silver models. I just purchased the new Digital Rebel XTi from B+H (super excited about it), and I ended up going with the silver model simply because it was so much cheaper. Black would have been my preference, but in the end I couldn't justify it price-wise....Does anyone have an answer for why this is so?

thanks

Because

Black would have been my preference ...

Supply and demand. :shrug

Seefutlung

Welllll ... the good thing about silver is that it reflects light & heat. And heat can/will cause noise. So in a hot environment ... silver is better. Now whether or not a XTi black body absorbs enough heat to create noise is a matter of which I haven't any knowledge (or at what temp. you cook the card et cetera).

Gary

jcl

RE: black vs silver
Complete newb here as you can see this is my first post. Recently purchased a black XTI myself. I was told (by B&H) the finish wears off the silver eventually as it is just painted plastic. Based on a previous silver painted camera I had I decided on the black as that one started to show after a year or so where I had placed my fingers and such. Other than that, they are identical.

jcl

Awais Yaqub

I think you can see Silver camera in reflection Black is not visbile
like yesterday i was shooting a reflective black surface front filter is silver it was visible in reflection but black hood was not visible
i hope you understand what i am saying
Dont know about price difference may be black comes with some extra things ?

evoryware

The Hobbyist wrote:

Because
Supply and demand. :shrug

I would agree. More people buy the black and it looks more professional. When I was shopping for camera's I would ask other photographers what they were using. The Silver XT stood out like a Canon A40 even if you had a 70-200 f2.8 IS on it. Made me think ... that's base model.... The Black XT looked like a 20 or 5D to me from a distance ...and if they had a battery grip on it...

cyclendo

Yeah, it makes sense I suppose. Most people would prefer the black, and Canon is simply taking advantage...

Thanks for some good insight.

Mongrel

Think of it this way...
If you are out and about you are much less likely to have someone get *too* interested in your camera. I mean after all, "it must be a piece of junk because it's silver..."

Sometimes I miss the piece of mind that came from shooting my old Digital Rebel. It was a great camera to take to the city. Light weight, un-assuming, little camera. And the natives and tourist hardly take a second look at it.

The best part is that you and I *both know* the quality of shots it's capable of. And that's what it's all about isn't it?

Take heart man, you got a great camera at a great price-now go out and enjoy it!

cyclendo

Mongrel wrote:

Take heart man, you got a great camera at a great price-now go out and enjoy it!

Thanks dude, i'm planning to enjoy the h*** out of it!

Shima

jcl wrote:

Complete newb here as you can see this is my first post. Recently purchased a black XTI myself. I was told (by B&H) the finish wears off the silver eventually as it is just painted plastic. Based on a previous silver painted camera I had I decided on the black as that one started to show after a year or so where I had placed my fingers and such. Other than that, they are identical.

jcl

I have the black xti also hope you're enjoying it, I just got mine about a week ago. I don't like the look of silver cameras because it makes me think of cheap point and shoots.

Carbon Based

Its all marketing, Black makes me "look" professional, silver makes me look amaturish. Hence the price difference. I have a silver reblext, saved $150.00 at the time and put the saving toward another lens.

Then again what do I can what other people think, proof is in the images.

cyclendo

Carbon Based wrote:

Then again what do I can what other people think, proof is in the images.

It's all about the photographer!

sknijap

Black vs silver
According to a rep and JandK Cameras (who does a ton of E-Bay selling), there IS a difference in cameras. The silver one is supposedly newer, and has faster shutter reset time. The black version supposedly has some cutsie picture features like borders on pictures capability.

I have just ordered a silver version (not arrived yet), so I don't know this to be fact. But the guy sounded like he knew his stuff.

timnosenzo

sknijap wrote:

According to a rep and JandK Cameras (who does a ton of E-Bay selling), there IS a difference in cameras. The silver one is supposedly newer, and has faster shutter reset time. The black version supposedly has some cutsie picture features like borders on pictures capability.

Sorry sknijap, but you were misinformed. They're totally identical operationally.

This thread made me curious though, so I sought to check B&H's prices...

Silver XTi body is $662.95
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/457530-REG/Canon_1239B002_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XTi.html

Black XTi body is 674.95
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/457506-REG/Canon_1236B002_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XTi.html

$12.00 difference, strange but not terrible.

I thought this was weird, though

Silver XTi KIT is $733.95
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/457539-REG/Canon_1239B001_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XTi.html

Black XTi KIT is $729.95
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/457541-REG/Canon_1236B001_EOS_Digital_Rebel_XTi.html

In this case, the black is the cheaper model.

Who knows, maybe they just offer a better price on the model they have more stock of?

pathfinder

It has been that way for over 30 years.

The black SLRs were almost always ~$50 more than silver. I think this was true for the Olympus OM-2 or OM-4.

I bought a silver OM-2 because it was cheaper

Black looks more pro, silver is cooler in the sun, but the finish wears off faster.

Doug G.

The Black Wears Off, Too.
I own an XT that I've shot 18,000 frames with. The surface finish is also painted on the XT. The good news is that under the black matte finish is black plastic. If I had purchased a silver body, it would be about 1/3 black now.

www.ashcreekimages.com

evoryware

Should be correct that it's more than likely the third party retailer that marks them up. The black and silver probably cost the same for B&H to buy. Many years as I worked at CUSA I know that.

wmstumme

It's hard to refute that black seems more "pro" than silver. However, as a real newbie, I've found it pretty interesting to watch some of the "pro's." I'm mostly around my kids' sports events--and freqeuntly see some guy come up with a couple of black bodies with (even more pro cool) white lenses attached--along with a full "pro attitude." Since they invariably pass out their cards to all, I love to take a look at what they can do.

I ended up looking at the website of one guy we ran across recently who really had the "pro" attitude (hard to describe exactly--but you'll know it when you're around it). It was a non-Smugmug site (not that it really matters--just thought I'd mention it). Not only did it take him over three weeks to post the pictures from the game, the site wsa a mess, had a really poor opening collage, and the game photos basically looked like average point/shoot photos. The guy was "pro" looking--just not "pro" in practice.

I wish I could say I was totally immune to wanting to look "pro" or "cool." I'm not, but I also realize I feel the most "pro" when I have someone really excited by one of my shots rather than when they get excited by the equipment I'm carrying.

Looking at work that's posted here on Dgrin all the time--I've got a lot of work/practice to do in order to feel like a pro--and when/if I do, probably none of you guys/gals are going to notice or care if I'm shooting with black or silver...

claudermilk

wmstumme wrote:

Looking at work that's posted here on Dgrin all the time--I've got a lot of work/practice to do in order to feel like a pro--and when/if I do, probably none of you guys/gals are going to notice or care if I'm shooting with black or silver...

Isn't that the most "pro" attitude? Or at least the one we aspire to? What matters is your images, not what you use to obtain them. The fancy tools often just make it easier (ok, some cases the expensive fancy tools are needed--that's why they're there).