Body or Lens??

[KTF]

I am looking to buy a new camera and upgrade from the EOS 1000d that I am currently using. I am looking for something with more capabilities although I am not sure whether to invest in a body lens kit or buy a cheaper body and invest in more expensive lens'. Any suggestions?

[RichardTaylor]

How is your existing camera lens combination restricting your photography.

Eg.
You want to shoot low light action?
You want more reach (get close to the action)?
You want to shoot extreeme close ups?

What lenses do you have now?

[inkista]

Also, are you sure it's not an issue of technique? Image sharpness requires a lot of different things, aside from the camera/lens combination. You need to have good handholding technique, know your shutter speed's fast enough, know how to use DoF, and how to stop down for sharpness, as well as getting accurate focus. And knowing how to post-process and sharpen properly.

There could be a lot of technique reasons that will just follow you, even if you get better gear, particularly if this is your first time out with a dSLR.

[KTF]

Well the real reason I am looking for another one in the first place is because the rebel broke not to long ago and I've sent it back to Canon to get it fixed although it just came back with shutter problems... now its costing me more than I want to pay for it and I figured if I am going to get something new I wanna do it right.

I go to NC State and shoot some for the school newspaper and have borrowed their cameras a time or two trying out the XXd series and got hooked. I am not sure what it was that made a big difference though, it was quieter, shot faster, enabled lower f stops, more focal points, etc. Combination of everything i suppose.

The two lens' that I have now were the ones that came with the rebel. The 18-55 mm and the 75-300 mm telephoto.

[RichardTaylor]

I use both 40D and 350D (Rebel Xt), and a 5D

XXD is a good step up.

If your existing camera has problems I would consider replacing it, possibly with a 60D.
Your existing lenses are ok for a lot of good light pics, however I feel tyhe addition an external flash gun (430ex at the minimum) would give you are lot more low light capabilities.

After that your shooting needs (not wants) should guide be a guide for next purchase (Fast, or wide, or long lens?)

I havn't shot for a newspaper, however I have covered events.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by KTF

Well the real reason I am looking for another one in the first place is because the rebel broke not to long ago and I've sent it back to Canon to get it fixed although it just came back with shutter problems...

Ah. Yes, that's how I ended up moving from an XT to a 50D. They didn't offer you the Canon Loyalty Program?

... I go to NC State and shoot some for the school newspaper and have borrowed their cameras a time or two trying out the XXd series and got hooked. I am not sure what it was that made a big difference though, it was quieter, shot faster, enabled lower f stops,

Uh.... you know that this was the lens, not the camera, right?

more focal points, etc. Combination of everything i suppose.

Oh, the XXDs are nicer to use than the dRebels, no question. Dual wheel controls alone make for that. But image-quality, wise, if you pick from the same sensor generation, chances are good there's not much difference. So, depending on your budget and how much you need the better build/shooting features of the XXD, it may or may not be worth your while to go there.

My recommendation would be to look one generation back, used. A used 40D or 50D is likely to cost less than a new dRebel, and will give you that heavier metal body so many people seem to desire (I'm weird. I miss the dRebel's small size and weight), as well as the more advanced shooting features. No video capability, flash-master in the pop-up, or flip-out LCD, though. If you need those, then the 60D is probably a better choice.

The two lens' that I have now were the ones that came with the rebel. The 18-55 mm and the 75-300 mm telephoto.

....and that's why your aperture settings won't go wide. Read up on maximum aperture. Contrary to Richard's advice, I'd actually say you may want to consider getting a fast prime if you crave wider apertures for lower light. A 50/1.8 II is dirt-cheap and plastic and consumer grade, but it'll be nicer than your 18-55. Like your other two lenses, it's probably more of a temporary "training wheels" lens if you stick with photography, but it's a great learning tool, and from there, you can figure out if you want to go wider/longer/faster.

A flash gun is also good, but in my opinion (and many disagree with me on this), a fast prime is a more basic piece of equipment than a flash or a tripod. Because until you have a fast lens, you can't really understand why you'd want a wide max. aperture, and what it gives you in terms of controlling depth of field, exposure, sharpness, CA, and vignetting.

I also think that flash photography is best learned when you've mastered the exposure "triangle", and are comfortable shooting with the camera in full Manual mode, because with flash photography, you're liable to need the camera in M to balance ambient against flash more effectively than the auto modes will let you do.

[KTF]

Originally Posted by inkista

Oh, the XXDs are nicer to use than the dRebels, no question. Dual wheel controls alone make for that. But image-quality, wise, if you pick from the same sensor generation, chances are good there's not much difference. So, depending on your budget and how much you need the better build/shooting features of the XXD, it may or may not be worth your while to go there.

My recommendation would be to look one generation back, used. A used 40D or 50D is likely to cost less than a new dRebel, and will give you that heavier metal body so many people seem to desire (I'm weird. I miss the dRebel's small size and weight), as well as the more advanced shooting features. No video capability, flash-master in the pop-up, or flip-out LCD, though. If you need those, then the 60D is probably a better choice.

Yeah! Thanks for all the great advice from both of you. I have used a couple of lens' that were owned by other students that work at the newspaper and have noticed like yall said that the aperture settings on my lens' just arent low enought to achieve good photos in low light. I have played around with external flash which was also borrowed so I am not exactly certain what exactly im looking for if I were to purchase a flash gun of my own though.

I should check out the Canon Loyalty Program though! I am not familiar with how it works.

My last question is: Because I am already comfortable with shooting in manual, does upgrading to a new body style make that big a difference in photo quality or is it basically just up to your lens?

[RichardTaylor]

Re IQ.

Generally it's lenses lighting and technique.
However if you are shooting at high very ISOs the newer bodies, from all reports, perform much better.
Also some of the newer bodies have far better autofocus performance especially for moving subjects. I would put the Canon 7D in that category.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by KTF

... I have played around with external flash which was also borrowed so I am not exactly certain what exactly im looking for if I were to purchase a flash gun of my own though.

I've described some of the basic flash features to look for here. I did that in Nikon terminology, though, so wherever you see "iTTL", substitute "eTTL II", and wherever you see "CLS" substitute "wireless eTTL" . Same difference, though.

I should check out the Canon Loyalty Program though! I am not familiar with how it works.

Basically, all you need is an out-of-warranty Canon digital camera to trade in for a discount on a refurb, so you might have to go through eBay to find a cheap broken Powershot to trade in. Most of us seem to have an old out-of-date/broken Powershot or dSLR lying around to do the trade in with. And this is a USA-only deal, and you will be charged tax and shipping, just as with a regular refurbish purchase. You also have to do the deal over the phone, and if you do not ship them the trade-in within a certain amount of time, your credit card will get charged for the discounted amount. This link on the Canon-centric POTN board should give you the current details and the phone number to call.

As a rough guide, the CLP discount is around 20% off the refurb price. And like all the Canon factory refurbs, it comes in a white box, and only has a 90-day warranty. While it appears the majority of the units are simply ones that cannot for some reason be sold as new, but to all intents and purposes are new (my 5dii came with 12 clicks on it), some of the units are actually repaired ones with higher click counts. So there are risks.

[KTF]

Originally Posted by inkista

I've described some of the basic flash features to look for here.




As a rough guide, the CLP discount is around 20% off the refurb price. And like all the Canon factory refurbs, it comes in a white box, and only has a 90-day warranty. While it appears the majority of the units are simply ones that cannot for some reason be sold as new, but to all intents and purposes are new (my 5dii came with 12 clicks on it), some of the units are actually repaired ones with higher click counts. So there are risks.

Thanks for all the helpful advice! and what do you mean by clicks?