What would you do?

[sincere]

Rather buy a beginner Digi SLR and save for a Pro or buy a semi pro and save forever for a Pro? I mean eventually everyone is looking forward to move up the ladder,right?

 

[Azuth]

Most of your investment will probably be in lenses depending on the type of shooting you do.

I know plenty of 'pro's who shoot with 20D's, or 5D's. You don't need a 1DSII or whatever your brand preference equivalent is. Being professional means photography is your profession, and generally that you have been trained or have trained yourself to the necessary level to shoot like a pro, this isn't necessarily all about the shot. A professional wedding photographer might be crap at landscapes, or perhaps just not very creative. It wouldn't stop them being a professional.

You can shoot landscapes as a profession and never concern yourself with which (D)SLR to buy. Or portraits for that matter. The tool should be suited to the job, a camera is a tool, just a hammer, nothing more. A panel beater wouldn't try to shape a new fender with a carpenter's claw hammer.

 

[markc]

I mean eventually everyone is looking forward to move up the ladder,right?

Sort of. I might daydream about it like I do the lottery, but when I was shooting film, I was perfectly happy with my "semi-pro" EOS-5 and had no plans to upgrade. It did everything I needed it to do. I didn't need an unholy fast shutter speed or frame advance or a water tight seal.

With digital, I went with the 10D. At the time it was that or the 1D, which made it an easy choice. If the Rebel had been available, I still would have gone with the 10D, as it was closest to what I was already using. If I could, I'd upgrade to the 5D to get the full-frame sensor, but that's not much of a reason to spend that kind of money right now.