Advise on an upgrade that limits the need for editing.

Hank_Marvin · 14 Mar 2025 at 12:54

Hello.

I've always found it frustrating that a lot of photos need work on sharpening etc to get a decent photo, and also and probably more so, the amount of missed focus on shots, when doing aviation/airshow photography.

I have a Canon 450d, EF 50mm f1.8, and an old 300mm Canon L 4.0.

Am I being too hopeful that a newer camera would dramatically improve my in focus success rate, and also, out of the camera provide better images, without the need to touch them?

I take a lot of phone photos, and enjoy the hassle free nature of it, but the photos aren't great when viewed larger of course, did start thinking about a decent compact, but i'd miss the flexibility with lenses I think, but would be great to carry around on an outing and get vastly better photos than a phone camera.

But I have also been look at Canon 80D's, £350-450 ish s/h, they get a good write up and have much better AF then mine i'm sure.

I don't mind editing images, if its to change the look considerably, but I don't really want to sit and edit a whole stack with subtle changes to get a good image, though I did set some templates up to sort of auto apply, in DarkTable, but it was a bit faffy.

Long rambling post, any thoughts, ideas would be great. Thanks a lot

Hank_Marvin · 18 Mar 2025 at 22:23

It can take a sharp photo, but not as often as I'd like.

It's not slow to lock on, but I guess its not quick enough to keep up and stay in focus. I think i'll have to spend some extra time with it and see what I can get out of it.

Hank_Marvin · 20 Mar 2025 at 08:51

I went through some recent outings like airshows and holidays etc, and did some general editing via a couple of DarkTable style templates depending on the lens used, and there are some decent photos but a lot of waste. I think I will just keep a look out for another body, and other lenses. Would quite like to hire a good telephoto prime and see how it compares to my older 300mm L, which I'm pretty sure I got off here.

One thing is did find with the 50mm when used with landscapes is haze, in summer, luckily darktable can edit it out quite well, but its balance to not over do it.

Hank_Marvin · 20 Mar 2025 at 15:04

I had heard Sony's were good re AF but didn't really want to shift, but worth considering, anything worthwhile at £400-£500 including a 50mm to get me going?

Yeah hiring a body is a good idea too, hadn't considered that option, I have a local WEX so can check there. Thanks for your thoughts!

Hank_Marvin · 31 Mar 2025 at 22:35

Really quite tempted by the Fujifilm X-T2, plus a lens, both second hand, for travel and normal use, and keep my current setup for aviation and maybe try an 80d and some point.