Help me decide - PLEASE!!!!!

[~AJ~]

Ok all you canon people out there, I need help.

I want to upgrade my camera - I currently have the 1000D, which I have had for over a year now. I did have a 50mm f/2.8 lens, but I dropped my camera a few weeks back and busted the lens - I was devastated! So I'm back to just the twin lens kit & it's driving me INSANE!

I have started at TAFE this year to work towards getting my Cert IV in Photoimaging and have also started to build my own photography business. If I weren't going into business, then I'd just upgrade to a 550D - very simple decision...

BUT - seeing as I AM going into business, I figure I should upgrade to at least the next level. I don't want the 60D, as 2 camera store people (from different stores) have told me that the 50D is better, as it's stronger (& will hold the heavier lenses better). So... it's either the 50D (which a store near me still has oone BRAND NEW with a 18-55mm IS lens), a 7D or a 5D Mark II. Ideally I'd loooooooove the 5D, but they're not cheap

Now. The store I mentioned above, as the 50D with a 18-55mm IS lens for just $1,000. Should I go for that one? Or should I just put up with my little 1000D and crappy lenses for now while I save up for either the 7D or 5D? Is the 50D a decent enough step up from the 1000D to warrant buying it and using it for the next couple of years until I can upgrade again?

Sorry - all of this is probably so confusing & all over the place.... but it's where my brain is at the moment LOL! Hence why I posted in here asking for help hehe........

But, if you did manage to understand all of that, and can offer any advice, I'd GLADLY listen!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance!

[oldwolf]

First ask yourself what you don't like about the camera you currently have. What are its shortcomings?

Second, remember that it's the photographer not the camera that sees the image. Give a great photographer a cheap disposable camera and they'll probably take pretty good pictures. Give someone that doesn't know anything about photography a $5,000 camera and they probably will take snapshots. I've seen amazing images from point and shoots and even cell phones because the photographers knew how to see the light.

Third, glass > camera in most cases. Why not invest in the glass that you'll need before upgrading to another body? Just make sure that the glass will work on a full frame so you're not wasting money in case you upgrade to a full frame later on.

With all that being said, I love my 7D and my wife loves her 5D MkII. We both like our cameras for different reasons though. *shrug* We both started out with just XTi and migrated to the 40D then to our current bodies.

[graciousness]

Man, somewhere down the track (and that's not far away from now, either) you are going to want that full-frame camera. So I would save up for the 5D.

I just saw a sale at JB Hi-Fi on the 5D Mark II with the 24-70mm L series f/2.8 for $4000. I think that's a damn great price and if I had it in me to sell my grandma or bust a heist at the nearest bank I'd do it just to get that.

I know, it's not cheap regardless of the sale, however, I think it's just better down the track to just save up for what you're really going to want in the end. Especially you are serious with photography - you will always end up going down the full frame path.

Go spend $150 on a new 50mm f/1.8 and then get yourself in debt with the 5d/24-70mm You're young and passionate - go invest in yourself.

[~AJ~]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Man, somewhere down the track (and that's not far away from now, either) you are going to want that full-frame camera. So I would save up for the 5D.

Yeah, see this is what I keep thinking too...... But I wanna new camera noooooow daddy! (said in true Varuka Salt style) LOL!

Wow - that's a pretty good price too that JB had it for..... Do you think they'd let me layby it for 5yrs??????

Originally Posted by oldwolf

Second, remember that it's the photographer not the camera that sees the image.

Oh my gosh - TOTALLY agree with you here. And I am getting increasingly frustrated by people going and buying a $3,000 camera just coz they have the money to spend and then ONLY use it on auto coz they have no idea how to use any of the other functions! I actually jsut missed out on getting a BRAND new 5D Mark II for $1400 because it was 3 days before pay day and we honestly just didn't have the money to get it. Person who bought it paid $2,000 for it (the lower offer was only open to my hubby & I) and has no freaking idea of how to use it!

Basically my camera is now over a year old. No idea where the shutter release count is up to (or how to find out for that matter), but now that I'm at TAFE, I am starting to really think about the future a bit more and wanting to upgrade while I have people around me who can help show me how to use a more powerful camera if that makes sense?

When I dropped my camera a few weeks back, I'm not sure if I did anything to the actual camera or not - it works fine... but I'm not happy with the focus on it. BUT, that could also be because I'm used to the nice crisp sharpness the 50mm gave to my images and now I'm just back to using the crappy 18-55mm kit lens hehehe......

Thanks for your replies guys! I really appreciate it - even though you're basically telling me not to get a new camera right now hehehe..........

[graciousness]

Well, then I would say why not look at buying a second hand one on ebay? I would think that even if you just get a 40D, that will be heaps better than what you have now. You'll get a really good price on the 40D, too. I have it and I'm happy with it (even though I am drooling for a full frame.......arrrrrrrrrrrrrr). You can get a used one for under or around $400AUD. Just look at ebay.com.au now.....

[OsmosisStudios]

Just a sidenote, a bit of a personal tip: Dont go back to the store you mentioned in the first post. The 60D is a huge leap in image quality over the 50D, though the build is different it's not such a massive change. That salesman is an idiot.

[~AJ~]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Well, then I would say why not look at buying a second hand one on ebay? I would think that even if you just get a 40D, that will be heaps better than what you have now. You'll get a really good price on the 40D, too. I have it and I'm happy with it (even though I am drooling for a full frame.......arrrrrrrrrrrrrr). You can get a used one for under or around $400AUD. Just look at ebay.com.au now.....

Yeah, I have thought about that... but when this store is selling the 50D, brand new (which you can't buy brand new many places these days) for $1000 then I kinda think that's better than buying one 2nd hand.... but don't worry - I have been looking hehe..... My main thing is wondering if a 40D or 50D is actually a decent step up from what I'm using now. The 1000D is only 10.1MP and goes to 1600 ISO, where as the 50D is 14MP (from memory) and obviously goes up to a higher ISO.... But is that really the only advantage to going to the 50D?

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Just a sidenote, a bit of a personal tip: Dont go back to the store you mentioned in the first post. The 60D is a huge leap in image quality over the 50D, though the build is different it's not such a massive change. That salesman is an idiot.

Oh, it was actually 2 different sales people from 2 different stores that said that. They said that for people who were getting into photography properly (i.e. buying the heavier lenses etc...), the 50D is still better than the 60D - and they weren't selling the 50D either, so telling me this they were basically missing out on a sale... hence why I tended to believe them if that makes sense. Basically they said the camera is lighter than the other models, and can't cope with the heavier lenses as well as other models. Basically it would be like using an L-series lens constantly on my little 1000D - the mounts just aren't strong enough.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by ~AJ~

... Basically they said the camera is lighter than the other models, and can't cope with the heavier lenses as well as other models. Basically it would be like using an L-series lens constantly on my little 1000D - the mounts just aren't strong enough.

I'm with OS. This is crap advice. I put Ls on my little old XT/350D, which is much smaller and lighter than a 60D, and it handled them just fine--including my EF 400mm f/5.6L USM. To me, this is simple "bigger/heavier = better" thinking. If you can't take care of your equipment and you smash it up all the time, then, yes, maybe a magnesium alloy body is better. But note that you broke your lens, not your little light plastic body when you dropped the combo.

The 60D is considered a "downgrade" from a 50D for a number of reasons (PC port, AF MA, etc), but it has a better sensor, a flip-out screen, a flash master in the pop-up, the ability to use the same memory cards and remote/cable release that your 1000D does. The 50D can do none of those things. And, most importantly, it has the dual-wheel controls, top LCD, and fast-access buttons that separate the XXDs from the dRebels.

The 50D is good, but it's not better than a 60D across the board. And that 50D+18-55 kit for $1k? Screw that. If you go factory refurb, you can get a 60D with the 18-135 IS for that amount. And you can get the 50D+28-135 IS USM for $830. Right. Losing a sale. Pfft. And I got a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you. Find yourself a busted Powershot to trade in, and the Canon Loyalty Program can probably get you even more off those prices.

[jojonac]

I would just like to point out that there is some truth to the statement "its the photographer not the camera" but if that were the real case then this thread would not exist cause you wouldn't need a better camera. Give a great photographer a point and shoot and you will probably get nicely composed well lit pictures, that are better then what an amateur would produce. But give a great photographer a great camera and watch out!

There is a reason that Pro Photographers use pro bodies and lenses and its not because they are expensive. They produce better images....better by a ways. So if you really want to go pro then I suggest you wait and save up the money and get some pro kit...that is provided you have already reached the limits of what your current camera can provide.

A step up is still a step up but it could end up being a waist of money if in one to two years or month you are limited by your gear and have to upgrade again. I know its tough to wait especially when you have the money to buy the next level up, but in the long run it will pay off to wait for the big guns. Im not a Cannon guy so I cant speak directly to it, but I imagine that the 7d and 5d mark II are leaps ahead of the 50 and 60d. In the Nikon world not only is the image quality better, but there are also a lot of pro level functions available that get left out of the consumer cameras. More focus points, bracketing, better ISO, better build....the list goes on.

Good luck with whatever you decide

[~AJ~]

Thanks again everyone. Hubby bought me a new 50mm f/1.8 for mothers day, so I guess that will just have to do me for now - until we can get me a 5D MkII. A 7D would be nice, but like a few of you have said, if I get the money for the 7D, I may aswell save a little bit more to get the full frame.

I've had a look on the Australian Canon website & can't find any refurbished cameras either..... but thanks for showing me that they do do it....