Another what should i buy post...

fdrotary

TPF Noob!
Joined
Mar 26, 2009
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I know you guys get this all the time as to i have been reading other peoples posts to see if i could figure it out without asking.

right now i have a Canon G10 because i didn't think a DSLR would be practical seeing how i am currently in Afghanistan. I am about to go on R&R and want a DSLR, i love the G10 but i want something better.

I shoot alot of mountains, helicopters, jets, and people so i was thinking a Canon 40d, from what i have read the 50d isn't worth the extra money, and i don't have a use for the 5extra mp. I figure the burst would be good for catching the movment, magnesium body because its not exactly nice out here. Now i want to know i am budgeting roughly $1500, around 800 for the camera, and i was thiking 50mm f/1.4 lense as well because the aperture would be grat when i shoot at night, which is alot.

so now my question is does that sound good? should i get body only or is the kit lens worth it? and what else should i get?

i hope i did enough homework to not be asking the annoying question.

ps. My G10 stays in Manual...at very least aperture priority. when i get home on R&R i will post some stuff with it.
 
I have the 40D and I love mine. I would agree from all the stuff that I have read that the 50D isn't all that much better for the price. I think getting the 40 with a 50 1.4 is a good option.
 
First of all, THANK YOU :thumbup:




Now the camera body is a good choice. Instead of the 50mm f/1.4, I suggest you grab the 50mm f/1.8. Dollar for dollar its the best deal. That will also leave you a little room from your budget to get a second lens. I would suggest maybe a 17-85 IS USM zoom, or one of the Tamron / Sigma equavialents. As the 50mm is a nice general lens that is quick. Your still gonna want different focal lengths to capture other scenes. Maybe even consider some of the 18-200mm jack of all trades lenses. Yes they are not perfect, they have some issues, but for a good all around lens for someone who says they don't need the highest resolution body. I think may be a good fit.

Either way you go, you will want something wider than the 50mm, and longer than the 50mm.
 
The 1.4 is 2/3 stops better than the 1.8. That is nothing to sneeze at. You would be surprised what kind of light 1.4 can soak up versus the 1.8. However, if the OP isn't in too many situations where he would need that extra 2/3rds stop, then yes the 1.8 is a better (cheaper) option.

As for the camera, the 50D may not be "worth" the upgrade for someone who currently HAS a 40D, however the 50D may well be more ruggedly built and weather-sealed than the 40D, which might be pretty critical for someone serving in Afghanistan.

Personally I would look at getting a cheap wide to slightly telephoto 24-70 F/2.8 lens before picking up the limited 50MM F/1.8. 50MM closely resembles what we see natively, but if you want to see wider or longer than that - you are stuck.
 
My 50mm 1.8 arrives tomorrow, and I'm picking up my 40D on monday. I too don't need the extra functions the 50D has to offer.

From what i've read the 50mm 1.8 is quite a fast lens and gives really sharp image quality in low light situations. I bought mine for $90 brand new. So it will give you more money to concentrate on other things like memory cards, flashes etc.
 
what is the price range difference from a f/1.8 and f/1.4, i hate to ask but i have limited time on computer and these arent fast so i dont have time to look it up, also everyone says lenses are more of a one time buy the bodies so are those lenses you guys suggested same or near the quality of the Canon lenses?

Thanks, out of time.
 
Roughly, the 50mm 1.8 is about $115, the 50mm 1.4 is about $400
 
I would also say a good zoom might serve you better since you might not have a lot of time to get a shot and dont have time to back up and such. Though if you want a 50mm too, For your uses I would no doubt go for the 1.4. The better build could serve you well in Afghanistan. I could see the 1.8 failing with the dust and knocking around and such.
 
If you plan on having more than one or two lenses, the 50D is a very big upgrade from the 40D. Of my lenses, not a single one of them is perfectly calibrated to my bodies right out out of the box. Every single one of them is slightly front/back focusing. Actually, this is a common problem among all DSLR's and lenses.

When you read someone post "the 24-70 is a great lens if you get a good copy", what they mean is that their body and the lens they bought are slightly out of alignment. Due to manufacturing tolerances this occurs more often than not. There rarely is a "bad copy" of a lens. All you need to do is calibrate it.

With a 40D you can't make this calibration yourself. You have to box it up, ship it to Canon with your lens and wait for them to align things and send it back. Shipping these days isn't cheap, especially when properly insured and who wants to be without their camera for a week or so? Not me.

That's the greatest feature of the 50D, "micro-adjustment". Within a few minutes you can calibrate your lenses to your body and you won't have those soft images you see all too often posted on these forums. The eyes will be tack sharp vs. blurry and all will be good.

If you're not a stickler for tack sharp focus, then this isn't a major issue.

If you want to check focus on the picture you just took without moving your images to a computer first, the 50D's vastly superior LCD screen and high-res JPG preview make the 40D look horrible by comparison. You can't check focus with a 40D's LCD screen, you need to check it on a computer before deleting it. The 50D is like looking at a high quality monitor by comparison (920,000 pixels vs. 230,000).

The 50D also has user customizable settings for noise reduction (4 levels) vs. the simple "on/off" settings of the 40D. This is also true of the lighting optimizer settings (4 vs. on/off).

The 50D can also hit ISO 6400 which can be quite useful (it can go to 12800 but that's pushing things). The images are very usable at this ISO setting. The 40D is limited to ISO 3200.

I started with a 40D and it's a good camera. I then sold it and went to a 50D after shooting with one. I would never go back to the 40D after having shot the 50D.

The difference is $200 to $250 between the 50D and the 40D. To me the the 50D is very much worth the price difference just for the micro-adjustment feature alone. I'll never own another camera that doesn't have it, it makes a huge difference in image quality.
 
Last edited:
The 50mm f/1.8 is an "ok" lens at best. It's very cheaply built, often misses focus and is a bit noisy. I would invest in a more robust lens if you're going to be shooting with it in an environment like Afghanistan.

This was posted over on the Canon forums. I wish I could take credit for it, it's quite funny and quite true.

Originally Posted by JeffreyG
50/1.8 evolution for newbies:

Holy crap! I can shoot in the dark.

Holy crap! Look at this super thin DOF

Wow! If I stop it down some it is really sharp

Boy! This thing sure misses focus frequently

Whoops! I dropped it and it broke in two

Question? Should I get the 50/1.4 or save up for the 50/1.2L?
 
LOL thats funny. I own the 50 f/1.8, but sad to say that I cannot recommend it unless someone is on a tight budget.
 
i was so set on the 40d but now you have me thinking maybe i should up my budget and go for the 50d... my budget isn't really limited, i have nothing else to spend money on...21 in Afghanistan with no kids or bills back home, i just want the money to be justifiable and stuff i will use, i would rather spend the money once on stuff that i will not be upgrading anytime soon then buy something and think i need a upgrade in 6months.

does the 40d do anything the 50d doesn't? if i remember correctly the 40d has a slightly higher fps and from some reviews i read people argue as to which is better at high iso.
 
oh and whichever one i choose should i go body only or are any of the multiple kits worth it?
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top