New to site, some pictures and questions.

Tyler Durden · Jul 10, 2009

I have been interested in photography for over 3 years now. I studied abroad in Rome and my roommate had a canon 20D or 30D (whatever was top of the line at the time). Whenever we traveled around Europe he always had his camera and I realized the importance of taking pictures of your travels and taking pictures in general. For the rest of my college career I dabbled with point and click cameras and even signed up for a class at my university only to drop it after finding out it concentrated on only film cameras (for some reason I do NOT want a film camera). After I graduated I bought a van and drove around with my husky for a month. I knew this was a perfect opportunity to buy a nice camera and bought a used cannon XS with the 18-55mm lens I found on craigslist for $400 (only 100 clicks). Now the trip is over and I’m teaching English in South America taking pictures every day. In a nutshell this is how I ended up posting in this forum with a great appreciation for the art of photography and wanting to learn how to truly take great pictures.

The question I have is would it be advisable to upgrade? I have my eyes set on the 40D. Being that I am in South America right now I could easily get $400 USD out of my camera that now has 2000+ clicks. I have been checking out ebay and found a couple nice 40D's in the $850 range with its stock lens. I plan on traveling a couple of years before I head back to grad school and I need a camera that can handle itself both physically and photo wise. Any suggestions? I will post a couple of pics and C+C will always be welcome. Also, I love pictures with the saturation bumped way up, may be a newbie thing???

Thanks for checking out my post and I hope to learn alot here!

Edit- being a typical newb....

Chris

Samanax · Jul 10, 2009

No one here is gonna want to look at the pictures in your link and give C&C on all of them. Pick a few (2-4) and imbed them in your post. How to post pictures and use forum functions: A pictoral guide to using TPF

Bad Andy · Jul 10, 2009

Hello Tyler,

Welcome to the Forum. I am also very much a newbie, so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I like picture #3 the best.

As far as upgrading the camera, I wonder why you are looking for an upgrade? Are there features that your camera doesn't have that you are looking for? From the looks of things, you are taking some great photos! Instead of spending money on a camera body, I would spend it on different types of lenses or upgrades to your current lenses. It will be more usefull for you in the long run, and give you more versatility.

I am not sure what type of photography you are interested in, but you may want to consider a wide angle lens, or a telephoto lens. Maybe a very fast lens or a macro lens. There are so many possibilities to open up your photographic eye.

Welcome to the forum and keep shooting.

-Andy

Big Mike · Jul 10, 2009

Welcome aboard.

Upgrading your camera from the Rebel line to something like the 40D will probably not improve your photos but it might still be a worthwhile upgrade. The XXD line of bodies is bigger and more robust. The controls are easier to access and use. The AF is better and it shoots consecutive shots faster.

You might also consider upgrading the lens. The 18-55mm 'kit' lens is OK but it's near the bottom of the barrel when you are talking about Canon lenses.

Tyler Durden · Jul 10, 2009

One of the reasons I want to upgrade is the lens itself. I have been checking out Ebay and found the 28-135mm IS Lens goes for around $250 used. From my research it is a very solid lens both physically and functionally. So if I sell my camera for $400 I could buy a used 40D (less than 10k clicks) with that lens for around $800. When you do the math it comes out as follows. (All prices with used equipment)

Rebel XS + 28-135 lens = 650 investment
40D with lens = 800-850 investment

It just makes since to me to spend the extra $150 and upgrade to the better more capable body. I know buying a better body will not automatically make my pictures better. I just hope as I progress I wont be let down by my camera.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Big Mike · Jul 10, 2009

The 28-135mm IS, is a good lens. My only concern is that you would loose the wide angle view that you have with your 18-55mm (unless you keep that lens of course).

I have the EF-S 17-85mm IS lens. It's basically the same lens as the 28-135mm but with a shorter focal length.