Upgrade - But how :P

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Mp4

Mp4

Mp4

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Hi all,

I have a 400D with 3 lens

Kit lens
50mm
Sigma agp 70-300

I've been going to college for over a year now and still going (doing photoshop course next/ self teaching myself lightroom 3) And feel that i've learnt all i can from my camera that i have and for sure take 80% better photos than i have before hand. (see link in sig).

I want to try and upgrade to a semi-decent kit & mainly looking at 5DMK2 as a massive leap.

But 2k i don't have! :D So are their any options anywhere pay monthly 0% interest and all that? or a 2k loan :o
 
Rather then jumping straight to a 5dMk2, why dont you look at 60D or a 7D

these are both cheaper and still present a decent upgrade,

if your planning to spend 2k, then you can get a 60D for £700, and spend £1300 on glass, which is the way you should be thinking.

I would advise against spending 2k on a 5d, and very little on glass.

my suggestion would be

60D body - £700
Canon 17-40mm F4 L - £600

there you have a very decent body, and a great lens, for £1300.
 
A 2nd hand 40D with Tamron 17-50 / Sigma 18-50 f2.8 would be a huge step up from your 400D.

Should be do-able for the £550 - £600 region then minus the re-sale value of your 400D.

A full frame 5Dmk2 will also require some very decent (and expensive.!) glass to maximize its potential and if you don't have the finances up front then I wouldn't invest at all.

I definitely would not advise getting something on credit when you can't afford to buy it in the 1st place.

Its of course up to you but there is my 2p anyway :D
 
i started with a 400D i went to a 50D before getting a 5DII , along that way i had to think about the lenses. the XXD bodies out resolve the 400D sensor that meant that i had to upgrade my lenses at the same time at each step. If you wanting to spend 2k on a body then you will need to budget 4k on top to get the lens assortment and accessories you may want. judging by what you got, if you went with the 5DII that would be a 24-70mm £1k and a 70-200 £2K and maybe the 50mm 1.4 £300. I would honestly say that lenses are a better upgrade than a body.
 
Mp4 said:
Hi all,

I have a 400D with 3 lens

Kit lens
50mm
Sigma agp 70-300

I've been going to college for over a year now and still going (doing photoshop course next/ self teaching myself lightroom 3) And feel that i've learnt all i can from my camera that i have and for sure take 80% better photos than i have before hand. (see link in sig).

I want to try and upgrade to a semi-decent kit & mainly looking at 5DMK2 as a massive leap.

But 2k i don't have! :D So are their any options anywhere pay monthly 0% interest and all that? or a 2k loan :o
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In answer to your question specifically, Calumet does interest free deferred payment but I would agree with ManCuBuS on the general principle that if you can't hand over cash, don't buy it.

As a general answer, whether it's a good move or not depends on your reason for buying. If it's to learn more, a 5dMkII won't teach you much more than the gear you have already. If you want to improve the quality of the images in the sense of reproduction quality then money can be more wisely spent on glass, monitor, calibration hardware, etc.

If you want to improve aesthetic quality, as a personal choice i'd spend half that amount of money on a decent second-hand large format and medium-format combination. That'll force you to give a lot more consideration to composition in different ratios and also help to make sure you get all the other technical stuff right first time. No bracketing or spray and pray without it costing you a fortune ;)

Not quite as exciting as shiny new dslr I know, but it can be more rewarding in the long term. Since you save a grand that way, other options for spending your hard-earned wisely can include spending a few days with some great tutors @ light and land or some days spent learning the intricacies of your new purchases in the Peak or Lake District.
 
enfer said:
If you want to improve aesthetic quality, as a personal choice i'd spend half that amount of money on a decent second-hand large format and medium-format combination. That'll force you to give a lot more consideration to composition in different ratios and also help to make sure you get all the other technical stuff right first time. No bracketing or spray and pray without it costing you a fortune ;)
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that would be an epic waste of money for the OP. It would end up being unused, and sat in a cupboard, when all his mates are pulling out DSLR at college hewill be getting his bellows out. plus hes doing photoshop and light room shortly, and a DSLR is more suited for that.

good idea but wrong person to suggest it to.
 
How olds the op? Collette makes me think sub 18 but I could be wrong, if so finance won't be an option and if it is I would be wary about taking it.
5d seems a bit overkill and I agree a mid range with decent glad would be better
 
30 :)

ill keep the 5DMK2 at a distance for now, 60D seems to have what i feel would be a decent upgrade etc. & with this i take it i can still use my current gear etc?
 
The kit lens is rubbish. I think you'd be astonished what your current camera is capable of with a decent lens on it.
 
All your lenses will work however. You may are the quality the lenses not being up to scratch. All the lenses you have are not the best optically. The 400d Is still a good camera to learn on.. what do you find difficult wither this camera.
 
Keep the cam, buy better lenses (if you are still thinking full frame for the long turn, forget about EF-S). The already suggested 17-40 would be a good standard zoom, the 24-70 is great as well. Plus, if you buy used gear, you can save quite a lot - I got my 24-70 from a press photographer for €700 (in really good condition!)
 
Given the choice, I would upgrade the glass first. This is what I would do -

- I'd replace the kit lens with 17-40L. This will give you a pretty decent walkaround zoom.

- I would keep the 50mm.

- Get a 70-200mm f/4 in place of the Sigma, although the Sigma would be handy to keep around for macro work.

That should be more than enough to keep you busy for the next 12 months and see a dramatic improvement in the image quality of your photos. Some people might prefer faster lenses, but you can't have everything.

The best bit is, while you're playing with your new L lenses over the coming months we'll probably have some news on the 5DIII and/or the 7DII, and guess what? You have 3 EF fit lenses so you're free to choose whichever body you think suits you best (although I'd probably think about upgrading the 50 at this point!)

That's my 2p anyway.
 
Don't bother upgrading the body unless you feel it's getting in the way of your shooting - there's nothing wrong with the one you've got.

I would recommend getting new glass to sit in front of it, however, as that will make the biggest difference - there would be nothing more depressing for you than splashing out on an expensive body and using rubbish lenses which results in photos that are just as poorly resolved and coloured, but bigger.

Keep the body, and buy yourself:

- 17-55mm f2.8
- 70-200mm f4L
- 430ex

Or, my personal preference:

- 35mm f2
- 100mm f2
- 200mm f2.8L

With either, you'll be amazed at the difference in photos coming out of your camera...
 
olv said:
The kit lens is rubbish. I think you'd be astonished what your current camera is capable of with a decent lens on it.
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The kit lens is one of my main lens as its the widest I have atm and my 50 is always on the 400D. The sigma i hardly ever use but find it good for nature (birds etc)

33L said:
All your lenses will work however. You may are the quality the lenses not being up to scratch. All the lenses you have are not the best optically. The 400d Is still a good camera to learn on.. what do you find difficult wither this camera.
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Nothing difficult what so ever ive had it since 2006 and just want something new to explore (id like to be able to connect to a laptop/tether) and have more functions like liveview etc.

mrthingyx said:
Don't bother upgrading the body unless you feel it's getting in the way of your shooting - there's nothing wrong with the one you've got.

I would recommend getting new glass to sit in front of it, however, as that will make the biggest difference - there would be nothing more depressing for you than splashing out on an expensive body and using rubbish lenses which results in photos that are just as poorly resolved and coloured, but bigger.

Keep the body, and buy yourself:

- 17-55mm f2.8
- 70-200mm f4L
- 430ex

Or, my personal preference:

- 35mm f2
- 100mm f2
- 200mm f2.8L

With either, you'll be amazed at the difference in photos coming out of your camera...
Click to expand...

Thanks all for comments

Since ive had the 50 i like prime lens so want to get 85mm 1.8 asap :)
 
Mp4 said:
Nothing difficult what so ever ive had it since 2006 and just want something new to explore (id like to be able to connect to a laptop/tether) and have more functions like liveview etc.
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Liveview and abeing able to connect to a pc is not a valid reason to upgrade the body :)

spend the money on glass,a s described above. :)
 
mangobreeder said:
Liveview and abeing able to connect to a pc is not a valid reason to upgrade the body :)

spend the money on glass,a s described above. :)
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is for me , pain in the ass not being able to direct connect to pc when out and about.

and i like the whole idea of live view (ofc its a gimmic) but trying to get on the ground and not looking like a gimp trying to look through the 400D viewfinder is arkward :)
 
The only time I use live view is when I want to set cutom White balance. Or shoot the very rare video (forced to use the screen), as for directly connect to the PC...I have never used that port other than set the internal clock via canon software.
 
mangobreeder said:
that would be an epic waste of money for the OP. It would end up being unused, and sat in a cupboard, when all his mates are pulling out DSLR at college hewill be getting his bellows out. plus hes doing photoshop and light room shortly, and a DSLR is more suited for that.

good idea but wrong person to suggest it to.
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Whether it's a waste of money, epic or otherwise, would depend on what the reason for upgrading was, which is why I gave a number of alternatives and suggested it as a personal opinion if the intent was to learn more about photography. Additionally, there would be no need to get rid of the 400d since trade-in value would be minimal and absorbed within the savings.

If the intent was to learn more about photoshop or lightroom, then I think any upgrade, be it glass or body would be of negligible benefit and I would stick to my recommendation of money being more wisely spent on a decent monitor and calibration (I'd even throw a decent tablet into the mix too come to that). Learning the difference between post-processing a 5d raw file to a 400d raw file isn't worth £2000 imho, nor indeed, the difference between that and processing a scanned negative from full format or medium format. To quote a friend: "Gear is good but vision is better"
 
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Thanks for comments everyone,

Decided to invest in glass for the time being.

Going to start with the 85mm 1.8 Just got to find a decent price :)
 
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