Canon camera opinion

[Wayne Ek]

My Rebel is now at the National Camera Exchange (cleaning) and I keep thinking I want to upgrade (used upgrade). As most of my photos are fish and wildlife which of the below do you think will work best, just looking to upgrade the body as I have good lenses and mono-pods.

7D

40D

50D

[Steve Foss]

Wayne, in your situation, given the needs you stated, I'd go with the 40D.

[OutlawTorn]

It depends on your budget, really.

I had a 40D and LOVED it - it took phenomenal pictures for the price. In fact, swapped it out for a 5D (original) and I'd say the IQ is not much different between the two - you'd have to zoom to 100% on the computer to tell. The only reason I switched is because I fell in love with Zeiss primes and wanted to use them in their native field of view on a full frame camera. My next lens is either a ZE 100MP or a Canon 100-400 and a 40D.

For me, the 50D doesnt offer enough over the 40D to justify the price. I would LOVE a 7D and if it fits your budget, its the one I'd pick out of that bunch. The AF is great and the IQ is darn good for a camera with that many pixels. Id love to pick one of these up with a 100-400, but thats not in the cards right now, hence the 40D substitute.

[Wayne Ek]

Checking on C-list and E-list there are some pretty good prices for a used 50D and 7D. Steve what is a reasonable shutter acuation count on a used body.

[Dbl]

I have owned or currently own all of those cameras. I agree with Steve and would go with a 40D. The 50D I have never been happy with file quality. The 7D is one of my main cameras but again the file noise from 200-1600 ISO is not what I call super clean. Yes it is a good auto focus camera until you get into low light and then it really struggles.

All in all the 40D continues to be and excellent camera and value for the money. Don't get to hung up on shutter actuation, there is no reliable way of obtaining that unless it is sent to Canon. Most cameras even with a fair amount of use will still have a lot of actuation's left.

There really is no guarantee, I just replaced a shutter on one of my Mark II's with only 50,000 (rated to 200,000).

[Wayne Ek]

Thanks Dan. Based on the information you and Steve provided I will look more closely at the 40D's.

[finnbay]

I've had all three and liked 'em all. In order, the 7D because of it's versatility, 40D (the only one I have left - it's my camping camera when photography isn't the main focus of my trip) and finally the 50D. Was a good camera, but aside from a couple of convenience features, took photos that the 40D equaled in quality.

[IA4PATS]

As I told toughguy, I am in the market for a new camera because my wife is in the midst of planning a trip to Baniff and Jasper. I go back and forth between Nikon and Canon. I kinda had my mind set on a Nikon 300s, but it looks like most of you guys are using Canon. Should I go to Canon or Nikon? Oh, and I am using a Pentax now, so I am going to need all new accesories.

[Steve Foss]

As I told toughguy, I am in the market for a new camera because my wife is in the midst of planning a trip to Baniff and Jasper. I go back and forth between Nikon and Canon. I kinda had my mind set on a Nikon 300s, but it looks like most of you guys are using Canon. Should I go to Canon or Nikon? Oh, and I am using a Pentax now, so I am going to need all new accesories.

While I am a Canon shooter, that's not because I think Canon is better than NIkon or any other good brand per se, but because the Canon controls are more suited to me intuitively, and I like the way the Canon bodies feel in my hands. Also, the Canon owner's manuals are much easier to understand than NIkon, at least for me and the clients I've had who shoot Nikon.

They are all good, and differences in performance of comparable bodies between brands are usually slight and overemphasized in online photo forums. When you read things on such forums like: "The xxxx blows away the yyyy when comparing image quality," you can essentially dismiss that comment as coming from someone inexperienced or prone to exaggeration, as long as it's a comparison of similar lines of bodies between brands. There are always small differences, but as improvements are made, one brand might pull slightly "ahead" of the other until the other catches up and pulls slightly "ahead" again. So buying one brand today because it's supposedly in the lead simply means a different brand will capture the lead tomorrow, and so forth.

So the bottom line is this: Try out the bodies in a camera store if you can get to one. Choose the line that feels best in your hands and has controls that make the most sense to you. Cameras and lenses are just tools to capture a moment. Pick the tools that you like the best, but remember that it's your eye, imagination and heart that make a photograph.

That's the advice I share with folks wondering whether to make a brand switch or who are upgrading from a P&S to a DSLR and lens system.

[IA4PATS]

I feel like I stepped all over Wayne Ek's question by asking a related question. Sorry. I should have started a different thread. Please give him some feedback if you have anymore. My bad

[Steve Foss]

I doubt Wayne will mind. He's a good guy. The off-topic shouldn't stop anyone else from commenting on the main topic.

[Wayne Ek]

Not to worry, I got the information I needed from everyone. Now I'm just waiting for some of them to feel sorry for me as a poor retired public servant and send me some cash to purchase what they suggested I buy.

[Steve Foss]

Wayne, good luck with that!