Here is a proposal that the technical aspects of digital photography peaked with the EOS 350D from Canon coupled with the 24-85mm Canon zoom. In this case, the user is presumed to be common....those wishing to take good/excellent pictures in a variety of situations at reasonable cost, weight, risk of loss, without much education.

Reasons supporting this proposal.

1. EOS 350D was (and remains) a cost effective purchase. I paid $450 for the body in 2007.

2. Canon's long time offer of the 24-85mm lens was a reasonable range pairing for a cropped camera (38mm-136). Not much different than millions of users had with 35mm cameras.

3. EOS 350D .jpg output with Large and Fine is around 4 MB. Easy to save thousands of pictures without spending thousands of dollars on mirrored storage.

4. EOS 350D raw output is about 8MB. Easy to save thousands of raw files without spending thousands of dollars on mirrored storage.

5. EOS 350D raw output, at 1600 ISO, is stunningly noise free relative to film with the same speed.

6. EOS 350D with 24-85 lens produces SHARP images. (see photozone for the MTF). Or just take some pics to see it yourself.

7. 24-85 lens is CHEAP. I paid $159 for mine off of eBay.

8. EOS 350D with 24-85mm has ZERO vignetting at wide angle, wide open.

9. The 24-85mm is f3.5 to 4.5 giving better light input than any of the current crop of EFS lenses.

10. The package (350D + 24-85) is small and light for all day carry.

11. Because my overall expenditure to get into a good digital camera was around $610, (real money to me but not my life savings), I don't burst into tears when the autofocus fails, which, it does regularly. I have learned when these failures will occur and how to avoid them for the most part.

12. I got a scratch on the camera once and did not start crying because I had emptied my bank account on the equivalent of a down payment on a house.

13. 24-85mm has essentially ZERO chromatic aberration.

14. Everyone asks me what camera I have when I send them pictures. They think I have a Hasselblad or something. I never answer these questions preferring to stay cloaked in expensive mystique while actually living a paltry life. So, the EOS 350D enables me to live a life of mystery!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Probably add more later.

:-) Just thought this might be timely.