Canon Guru's, What should I do?

[memento]

I've managed to save about $1,600.
I was all about getting a 30D when I started saving.
Then they released the 40D, which I became ALL about getting.(the kit)
Naturally, now that I have the money, nobody has the 40D in stock.

Well, just last week I got the chance to play with a 20D, which I loved.
From what I've read, the 20D and 30D are pretty similar.
Now I'm starting to think maybe I should get a used 20D and spend the rest on a lens.

so... Should I wait on a 40D OR find a cheap 20D?

 

[cowboyfranko]

I really would try to stretch the 40d.

 

[alexblackwelder]

I love my 30D but I wish I had saved up for a better camera. I would save up if I were you. Good lenses can always be added later, but buying a whole new body is a PAIN.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

20D and lenses. camera bodies are disposable, lenses are not. You'll go through bodies faster than lenses.

 

[alexblackwelder]

Hey, the opposite of exactly what I said.

 

[Sideburns]

Sw1tch has it right in a sense. You don't go through lenses as often as you go through bodies.

I would recommend however going for the 40D. It's nice to invest when you have the money into a good body. Then you can just buy the nicest lens you can with the extra money.

 

[Mike Jordan]

With the money you have saved you can get a 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L, 100-400 4.5/5.6L, or other fast "L" lens and know you are set for any Canon body you get. If you do your part, you can get a better image with a great lens and a cheap body than you can with a great body and cheap lens.

If you don't have the money to get "L" glass, don't ever shoot with one... you will be spoiled for life if you do.

Mike

 

[usayit]

I love my 30D but I wish I had saved up for a better camera. I would save up if I were you. Good lenses can always be added later, but buying a whole new body is a PAIN.

Hmmm.. I usually recommend the exact opposite. The same advice I gave to years of friends and customers.

Lenses are a longer term investment. They will be used from camera body to camera body... You should place more of your investment in lens or lenses rather than in the camera body. In the times of film, the lenses were a bigger factor in terms image quality than the camera itself (a lightbox with shutter). Even in digital SLR times, there is still a lot of truth in that.

Besides.. I'd say any of those cameras mentioned (20D, 30D, and 40D) will out perform most of the hobbiest, amateurs, even weekend professionals. The 20D is very competitent camera body that is more than capable to mee the expectations of almost anyone.

If you can't shoot and learn with a 20D (or even a rebel), then you're not going to do much better with a 40D.

 

[Peanuts]

Ditto what usayit and Sw1tfx said

 

[oldnavy170]

Well this is just my thought but if you wanted the 30D to begin with then stepping down just might not make you happy. You'll buy the 20D and decide a month or so that you wish you would of bought the 30D and then you would have to start saving all over again. Anyways, I think you should go with the 30D. Good luck!

 

[S2K1]

There isn't much difference between the 30D and 20D, so you might as well go with the 20D or 40D, but as said before, you can get much better glass with the 20D.

 

[Battou]

Make the lens's the priority, It's easier to get a body to fit a lens than it is to get a lens to fit the body.

In other words go 20D and lens's upgrade to to an improved body later.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Yeah, get a great lens or two, and a sensible body. Upgrade the body next year. I recommend the 24-70mm f/2.8 L and the 50mm f/ 1.4. They overlap, but are so different that you'd never use them the same way.

 

[Milhouse]

If you look it from a dollar perspective, camera bodies drop in price much faster than lenses do. I can't get over how little camera lenses depreciate in value. Why am I mentioning this. If you are going to buy one temp equipment and one permanent equipment, make the permanent piece the lens. If you have 600$ to spend, the lens you buy today and the one in 5 years will be about the same. You will get much more body for 600$ in 5 years from now than you will today.

 

[nossie]

Memento what camera do you have now and what do you intend to use it for?
You could always drop another notch on the camera body from the 20/30/40 editions and get the 350d/400d leaving even more budget for the lens. You can make nice sharp A3 pictures from the 8mp 350d if you have the conditions right which include a sharp lens, typically the "L" class. More pixels doesn't automatically mean better pictures so think about what you attend to acheive with the camera first. If you're 90% enthusiast first then I suggest the 350 since it will do all that you want when firing off one shot at a time (or 3 shots per second). When you have purchased all the lenses that you want (5 grand later) then you'll have nothing else to do but to upgrade your camera and by that time you'll know if you really need to or not, and of course the technology will have stepped up yet again in the camera bodies.

Ray.

P.S. Canon USA usually do 2 rebates per year, one in June/July and the other at Christmas time, that'll save you more money.
P.S.S. There's only about $40 between the 20d and 30d