Canon Digital Rebel XT body only $300 - good deal?

Someone is selling the silver body only with cap for $300 obo at work. Is that a good deal? I quickly checked amazon and the cheapest body-only is about $360. Why would I want to get body-only? So I can pick which lense I want? If I will only use one lense, should I go this route or just get the camera with the lense I want? I am not into photography (at least not just yet), but every time I go to JFK I'm jealous of all you guys with my tiny SD200 :) So I guess I am looking for something with 8x-12x zoom so I can take at least half-decent pictures of the birds. How much would a lense like that cost?

Dima

Dima you can pick up a nice starter lens for about 140. Tamron makes a new 70-300mm that has gotten some great reviews. Fred Miller aka Derf has it and has produced some amazing results with it. In all you'd be in for $440 with that lens which is a steal if you ask me. I think you'll be pleased you invested the money. It will give you a taste whether or not you want to continue with SLR photography.

Make sure it's in good condition...The XT is a great buy at that price, but it's an old camera, and it isn't exactly built to last...if it looks like it was taken care of, it'll be fine.

Also, keep in mind that SLR ownership is a disease that causes severe wallet shrinkage...sure now you'll only be spending $450 on the camera and a cheap telephoto zoom lens (which is a huge step up from your current point-and-shoot, quality-wise), but then you'll want a walkaround lens, a better telephoto lens, a tripod, a flash... :)

Other than that, what Tommy said. Here's the lens he was talking about:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... Di_LD.html

Adorama has it used for $110:

http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%2028 ... &item_no=7

I have that lens too and I'm looking to sell it. Dima, if you wind up getting the body, and if you're interested, make an offer through PM.