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

Donnie Fisher · 15 Mar 2025 at 12:29

Its a minefield. When you're taking your pictures, is the camera reporting its locked its focus ? If so, It might be worth looking at the lens. is it sharp? although the camera may lock focus, if the lens isn't sharp, then no photo will be sharp so to speak.

I have an old 75-300 cheap lens and a 24-105 f4 L ... whilst the L lens is shorter in reach, its much much sharper, and when cropped in, is still very decent ... there is a marked better quality to the image overall.

The best lens I used to use for moving stuff was a 70-200 f4 L ... the base one, I now regret selling it. it was tack sharp, very quick to focus, and very good ... even on older bodies.

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.

Scuzi · 20 Mar 2025 at 09:38

Regarding autofocus performance, when considering the whole range, recent Sony cameras are just on another level. If you have the budget to support it and the desire to dramatically improve your hit rate, that’s a route worth considering.

If you want to stick to Canon and keep your lenses, then yes you may see an improvement. The 450D was released 17 years ago and whilst pretty decent in its time, newer generation AF is definitely better. Newer sensors will also have better high ISO performance which will enable to you stop down for greater DoF which should increase your hit rate.
With a new body I’d also recommend upgrading your telephoto lens.

For straight out of camera (sooc) jpegs, I personally rate Canon second to Fuji, very closely followed by Nikon. Any modern camera will give you a good deal of flexibility for optimising your output. It’s entirely personal preference though. Whilst I rate Fuji sooc highest, it wouldn’t be the right tool for the job if you rely on high performing AF.

Have you considered renting a newer body for a weekend to see how you get on with 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.