T1i upgrade

[wvsports]

I know the forums have been buring up with upgrade questions. But here comes another one.

First, I mainly shoot Action/Sports (football, basketball, baseball, ect) for my son's school to use in their yearbook and on their website. I also provide for some of the parents I have become friends with over the last few years. I am by no means a pro or trying to be. I just have ALWAYS loved taking picutres.

I currently have a T1i and looking to upgrade both my body and lens. I was wanting to really get the 7D body, but my husband seems to be pushing me towards a 40D or 50D. What are the differences I will see from each compared to what I am currently shooting with?

As for a lens, I have recently rented the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 USM IS and shot pictures at this past Fridays playoff football game and basketball classic and I liked it, but it was very heavy. I am renting the f/4 IS for this weekends football playoff game to check out any differences (I currently only own the kit lenses - EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS and EF-S 18-55).

[OsmosisStudios]

No new body: new lenses maybe. The T1i is still a very capable camera: theres no need to upgrade. And, frankly, a 40D or 50D would likely be a step DOWN. You'd want at least a 60D if you want an upgrade, and frankly it's not worth it.

Get better technically with your shooting, improve composition, exposure, etc. A new lens may help, but if your results so far are good, then they'll only get better

[inkista]

I disagree with OS about the 60D and the body upgrade, if you can easily afford that and a glass upgrade, too. For sports and fast-action, getting the dual wheel controls, higher burst rates, and a more sophisticated autofocus system can definitely help you out. The 7D is likely to be the better tool in this case, because of the huge range of options for controlling the AF system.

All the XXD bodies, and the 7D, in comparison to a digital rebel will offer you a larger, heavier body, dual wheel controls (i.e., you have a thumbwheel on the back, and a wheel under your forefinger, so you have separate controls for aperture and shutter speed in full Manual mode, or your main setting and exposure compensation in the Av and Tv modes), and a higher burst rate (40D/50D: 6fps, 60D: 5fps, 7D: 8fps vs. the dRebel 3fps). The 50D and 7D offer you autofocus microadjust so you don't have to send your body/lenses to Canon for finetuning autofocus calibration. The 7D and 60D offer you mastering of remote flashes with the built-in pop-up flash. All of them also offer you a more sophisticated AF system than the one you have in the dRebel. They all also offer a second LCD on the top of the camera, and quick-access buttons so that you can easily access the main settings of the camera without having to look through the viewfinder or use the back LCD.

In the dRebels, only the center AF point is cross-type. On all the other bodies, the AF sensors are all cross-type. The 7D has the most AF points, and more ways to configure them. But if you can't afford the 7D, an XXD body is still a sizable step up from a dRebel, ergonomics-wise.

I do agree with OS, however, that a dRebel is a very capable camera, and there's nothing there that is stopping you from getting good photos. All the improvements on the higher-end models are for usability enhancements, and are not about image quality at all. If you can't afford to upgrade both body and lens, then going for the lens first is the wiser course, simply because the glass will last you longer and depreciate more slowly. There's always going to be another shinier, newer body with more gee-whiz features every year or so. Glass can last you decades.

One technique you might want to learn that can make a difference for fast-action shooting, and it can be used on all the Canon dSLRs, is back-button autofocus.

Glass-wise, you definitely want to be looking at USM lenses, and the faster the better, as I'm sure you've figured out. If you are more budget-limited, you may want to consider some of the longer prime lenses. Not being able to zoom is going to be a PITA if you can't move, but if you never have enough reach, it might not be so bad. For indoor gym sports, the EF 85mm f/1.8 USM has been nicknamed "Mr. Basketball" on DPS. There's also the 100/2 USM, and the EF 200mm f/2.8L USM--which is a darn sight smaller, lighter, and cheaper than a 70-200 f/2.8L, and it's black, not white.

[wvsports]

Thank you for the advice. It is very much appreciated. I will be mulling over this for a while before making the purchase.