Which Body

[coverism]

As I mentioned in the new starter section I am moving from film to digital and need help on choosing a body.

I am already leaning towards the 40d but im open to any sugestions.
I need something thats going to last me a while and is a camera I can grow into whilst learning.

Before I go any further I thought I should give you an idea of my photography style.

- I only a hobby photographer but picture quality and camera build quality is very important to me ( sometimes (rarely) I shoot at events or wedding etc but never as the "main" photographer)
- I mainly shoot landscape and portraits ( night and day ) but I shoot everything in between so im looking for a good all-rounder
- I rarely use zooms as my style of shooting is quite slow and good primes for manual film bodies are pretty cheep now.
- Autofocus would be handy but is not a must.

Im afraid Canon is a completely alien system to me so if anybody has good links to review sights or general information pages I would be gratefull.

Here is a rough idea of lens which never leave my bag.

54mm f1.4
24mm f2.8 ( I understand that wides are not actually wide on a non FF sensor )
135mm f2.8
70-210mm f3.5

Im sure these lens's can be matched on the Canon system but I just dont know where to start.

Sorry for the long post.
Thanks in advance.

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: Which Body

Hi, and welcome to the forum...

Body first; The 40D is a cracking body; you won't be disappointed - IF you can still get one! (It was replaced by the 50D last year, and rumour has it that the 60D is not long away from announcement...) That said, as is generally the case with any 'improvement' , there are two schools for the 50D - lovers & haters! Some say that IQ is not as good as the 40D, others live with it for the added functionality. Only way to tell is to test in your own environment and see which suits... There is no doubt in my mind (since I have one!) that the 40D is a superb body, and will certainly last you a very long time...

Lenses; there are a number of 'lists' out there; just Google 'Canon Lens List' or 'Canon Lens Reviews' and you'll get a ton of hits.

[As an aside - Andrew - would it be a good idea to have a similar list on the EOS forum of bodies & lenses perhaps, similar to the annual review you print?????]

DPReview.com posts excellent reviews of most major stuff and is a very good source for independant information...

There are other good forum sites out there for Canon as well! Just Google away!

[Millie]

Re: Which Body

Nikon and Canon are the leading brands.
Since you're changing systems, I'd give both of them consideration before committing to lenses to fit any particular brand

Millie

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: Which Body

Nikon

Aaaaggghhh - What sacrilege is this on a Canon forum! (Makes sign of the cross :-))

[collywobbles]

Re: Which Body

Coverism,- As to your list of lenses;It is the crop sensor which is less wide (in effect) but if wide is what you want there are plenty of lenses around the 10-12mm area - 10mm on a crop sensor -( as the 40D is ) would give same results as 16mm on F/F sensor.

[Millie]

Re: Which Body

Hi coverism,

Do you have budget in mind. ?

What sacrilege is this on a Canon forum!

LOL sorry, I meant to say, "Canon is the best".

Millie

[coverism]

Re: Which Body

Hi coverism,

Do you have budget in mind. ?


LOL sorry, I meant to say, "Canon is the best".

Millie

Hi Millie

I have taken both Canon and Nikon into consideration.
If I could afford a d300 I would buy Nikon.

I have been thinking about d90, d200, 40d and 50d
d90 just feels to small in my hands and is too plasticy/toy-like although I do like the features on it.

So its either the d200 ( sorry guys :D ) or the 40d/50d and having never had an LCD screen before im not to bothered about the pixel increase in the 50d ( I know there is other differences too )

I much prefer the Canon cameras, how they fit in my hand, menu lay out and just how they look.
I dont really have a budget in mind because I never stick to them anyway... but I think a 40d and a 50mm 1.4 USM will be my limit for now.

[Millie]

Re: Which Body

but I think a 40d and a 50mm 1.4 USM will be my limit for now.

I'd say that's an intelligent choice.

Millie

[colin C]

Re: Which Body

Well done Millie, I think you recovered the situation rather well there. Not too many people noticed you used the "N" word.

Colin

[djguk47]

Re: Which Body

Coverism,
Have a look at this link http://photonotes.org/about/ and the Article and Reviews tabs. A bit "long winded" in some ways but full of what I have found to be useful info for a beginner like me.

[colin C]

Re: Which Body

As a beginner, "you don't know what you don't know" and that article goes a long way to bringing you up to speed. As you say, a bit long winded at times but nevertheless, very useful.

Colin

[Nathaniel]

Re: Which Body

Talking about bodies that are not the human variety, I can only recommend Canon bodies. I have used a Pentax MX/ME Super for very many years- excellent cameras, and then the Canon EOS film cameras and now the digitals SLR's I'd choose Canon any day. They feel so "right" for the hands- mine atleast and controls well laid.So whatever body you choose select a Canon- you will not regret it.

[briansquibb]

Re: Which Body

I loved my Spotmatic SP500 so much that I used it for about 15 years until I bought my EOS 100 which I used for another 10 years or so. I also bought and EOS IX as a general purpose camera - and you could get the APS photos straight onto CD.

I can see no reason to move away from Canon