would going from 330d to 550d .worth it?

The 550d is a much more capable camera than the 300d, and you might well find it offers a lot more than any lens upgrade would, however it depends on what your problems with your current setup are, and what lenses you have.
 
hmm you shouldn't be needing to go above ISO 1600 too much even indoors, though I guess the 300D would be awful at ISO 1600.

My first recommendation would be to get a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 but it depends when you want the improvement in IQ.


Also, you might find the 550d a bit small as I'm pretty sure after the 300D the xxxD line became really small. It might be worth getting something like a 40D instead. Image quality and screen aren't as good but handling is much better.

If you have the budget I'd both replace the body and get a 30 1.4, if it had to be just one... personally I'd get the 30 1.4 and accept the 300D's limitations so that you get great images at low ISO rather than decent images for everything like you'd get if you changed just the body.
 
thanks Ksanti,would the fact I'm using auto be anything to do with it,should i set the camera manually to get the best shots?
Im happy to make both changes if it will be an improvement
thanks
 
Whilst I agree with Ksanti about the size issue, I don't when it comes to the quality of the 40D. There's nothing wrong with the quality of the images produced by the 40D. The 10mp resolution may seem a bit low these days and will limit the ability to crop heavily but the images produced are still fantastic and in some cases better than those from the 18mp sensor in the more recent models, especially when it comes to noise.
 
Vertigo1 said:
Whilst I agree with Ksanti about the size issue,
I don't when it comes to the quality of the 40D. There's nothing wrong with the quality of the images produced by the 40D. The 10mp resolution may seem a bit low these days and will limit the ability to crop heavily but the images produced are still fantastic and in some cases better than those from the 18mp sensor in the more recent models, especially when it comes to noise.
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I can't personally give any experience of either the 550D or 40D's image quality, I'm just going off the experience of seeing lots of people posting on forums wanting to move on from the 40D because of the high-ISO performance. That said I just looked up the dxomark data and there's not that much in it between the 40D's 10MP sensor and the 550d/600d/60d/7d's 18MP sensors, but then there aren't any better Canon crop cameras (just yet, that'll change soon) in terms of sensors than the 18MP ones, short of the 1D ASP-H crop ones.

NUDDZ.jpg


THC_SsSsSnake said:
thanks Ksanti,would the fact I'm using auto be anything to do with it,should i set the camera manually to get the best shots?
Im happy to make both changes if it will be an improvement
thanks
Click to expand...

Generally yes, I'd definitely start shooting in aperture priority (Av on the mode select wheel) instead of Auto, particularly on the 50mm. You might find it doesn't actually make that much of a difference when shooting on your zooms as they're pretty slow lenses so the camera would probably always make the same decision as you on Auto.

If you got a 30mm f/1.4 (still my recommendation) I would definitely say start shooting in aperture priority instead of auto; if you're feeling lazy you can basically just stick it at f/1.4 and shoot away as if it were auto.

If you're finding your images are underexposed, you might want to check your ISO settings. I'm not entirely sure if the 300D has auto-ISO settings, I'm fairly sure even my 5D doesn't, so you might have been trying to shoot indoors at ISO 200 or something like that, which would explain the underexposed images.
 
If you post up some problem images then we might be able to explain what went wrong. I however think the best first step is to do a bit of reading and practising. It'll give you a better idea why you're not getting the results you hoped for and make sure you're squeezing the best out of the 300D. Get you're self comfortable with aperture priority and exposure compensation.

Another thing to consider is that there is a point where the simply isn't a enough light. You're only option is to either put the camera away or use flash.

EDIT: Watch this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQw28-3LEU4
 
Ksanti said:
I can't personally give any experience of either the 550D or 40D's image quality, I'm just going off the experience of seeing lots of people posting on forums wanting to move on from the 40D because of the high-ISO performance. That said I just looked up the dxomark data and there's not that much in it between the 40D's 10MP sensor and the 550d/600d/60d/7d's 18MP sensors, but then there aren't any better Canon crop cameras (just yet, that'll change soon) in terms of sensors than the 18MP ones, short of the 1D ASP-H crop ones.
Click to expand...

Well I have both the 7D and 40D. Whilst the high-ISO performance of the 7D is better, in the mid-range (say 400-1600), I actually think the 40D produces cleaner, less noisy images.

Even with the improvements in sensor technology, an 18mp sensor is always going to produce more 'raw' noise than a 10mp one, IMHO. The noise reduction hardware/software obviously does a good job but I don't think it can quite compensate in the mid-range.

Just my opinion of course :)
 
I'd sell all my lenses except the 501.8 and 300d, and get a 5d mki
It would be like having a 35mm F1.1 on your 300D, ISO will be much better as well...
 
An Exception said:
I'd sell all my lenses except the 501.8 and 300d, and get a 5d mki
It would be like having a 35mm F1.1 on your 300D, ISO will be much better as well...
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Depends if he uses anything other than the midrange of his 18-55 tbh, as a 5D and a 50, while a lovely setup (I shot nothing but a 50 1.4 for the first few months of having a 5D), leaves a lot of gaps to fill that can be quite expensive.
 
would it be noticeably different on a 27 IMac or is it only when you print larger sizes?

A local camera store has a second hand excellent con 5d mark1 for £700
 
I see you guys only use primes.i must admit the 50mm is on for the majority of time, so tomorrow i will buy either the 5D mk1 S/H or a new 550D? so what should i do ?:)
 
Ksanti said:
Depends if he uses anything other than the midrange of his 18-55 tbh, as a 5D and a 50, while a lovely setup (I shot nothing but a 50 1.4 for the first few months of having a 5D), leaves a lot of gaps to fill that can be quite expensive.
Click to expand...

Tbh, I think it's better to start out with just a few bit's of high quality gear, and gradually add to your collection, rather than getting kitted out with loads of lowend/mediocre gear...
 
THC_SsSsSnake said:
I see you guys only use primes.i must admit the 50mm is on for the majority of time, so tomorrow i will buy either the 5D mk1 S/H or a new 550D? so what should i do ?:)
Click to expand...

If you like your 50mm now, you'l love it on a 5d.
I'v owned a 550D for about a year, it's a good cam, but as I began to learn more about photography, I began to kick myself more and more for not getting a 5D classic instead as I was naively blinded because the 550D had more MP's and a better screen.
 
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