EOS 40d and Lens

[jhu2]

Hey guys,

I've always been interested in photography and whatnot and i love taking portraits, landscapes, and macros (flowers/close-ups etc). I noticed that canon is having a rebate deal starting on the 18th so I would like to finally pick up a DSLR. I love photography but I am no means a professional.

I was wondering if the 40d will be too much for me. If it is do you guys think the rebel xsi or the nikon d80 would be better. Also I will need a lot of help picking lens. I want to be able to have 2 lens for everything and obviously the cheaper the better but I wouldn't want to skip on quality because of cost.

Thanks guys so much in advance.

-James

oh yea heres the link to the promotion if any of you guys were interested.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/162/springrebatesan0.jpg

 

[jbernie]

Lets ask the magic question: What is your budget? (short & long term)

The 40D is a great camera (biased as I have one) but we don't all need the functionality. However if you don't have lots of $$$ handy then you may want something like an XTi so you can get a better lens selection.

2 lenses to do everything? Nikon has two lenses that cover 18-75/75-200mm (?)(I don't know Nikon too well). But to be honest with you, an extra lens or two might be a better choice.

Just looking at Canon:
10-22mm - ultra wide angle, US$700 great for landscapes
50mm f/1.4 ($350) or 1.8II ($85) - fixed prime portraint lenses

2 lenses, US$1000 and you haven't gone beyond 50mm, or even looked at Macro.


Another question to consider, what will you do with the images? Sell, post online, email friends, make posters for home/friends? This will help us figure out how much camera you might need.

 

[jhu2]

Lets ask the magic question: What is your budget? (short & long term)

The 40D is a great camera (biased as I have one) but we don't all need the functionality. However if you don't have lots of $$$ handy then you may want something like an XTi so you can get a better lens selection.

2 lenses to do everything? Nikon has two lenses that cover 18-75/75-200mm (?)(I don't know Nikon too well). But to be honest with you, an extra lens or two might be a better choice.

Just looking at Canon:
10-22mm - ultra wide angle, US$700 great for landscapes
50mm f/1.4 ($350) or 1.8II ($85) - fixed prime portraint lenses

2 lenses, US$1000 and you haven't gone beyond 50mm, or even looked at Macro.


Another question to consider, what will you do with the images? Sell, post online, email friends, make posters for home/friends? This will help us figure out how much camera you might need.

Heh, I guess I was ambiguous. I want to try to keep everything under $2000 initially. I mean, right now I just want the body and an all-purpose lens (if there is a such thing) or two. I hear Nikons 18-200mm (I think) covers a wide band of styles, nothing too specialized. Later, I will have a larger budget for more lens so I want a body for at least 3-4 years if thats possible. I don't know much about photography so I want something to begin with and learn so I want something that will last a while without breaking my budget. Right now I just want to take picture of my family, and architecture, vacation pictures too. I was looking at the 28-135mm kit with the 40d for about $1300, is that a decent lens?

Overall, I just want to share with my family and make prints large or small. Thanks guys so much. Hope to get it this summer and take beautiful images.

 

[bonafide]

I recently bought a 40D and 17-85mm IS USM lens and I love it. It would stay within your budget and give you plenty of zoom length to figure out what your next step will be (lens wise).

The 40D is an excellent camera but be forewarned you may not need a camera this powerful. An XSi is a great camera too and is about $400.00 cheaper.

Food for thought.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Agree with Bonafide on this one. I would buy a XSi, and use it for three years or so, then sell it and upgrade. I have been using a Rebel XT for around four years now, and by next year (or two) plan to upgrade to a 50D, although the 5D is creating conflicts in my mind. The lenses I have now are as follows:

Tokina 12-24mm (around $600.00)
Tamron 17-50mm (about the same)
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L (a little over $700.00)

I still could use the Tokina and Tamron with a 5D, but these two lenses are designed for cropped sensors (XT, 10D-40D series). The 200mm L prime listed above, works fine on cropped sensors, or on full-size ones. The 5D is an older camera now, but has a full-size sensor. At Amazon, B&H, Adorama, etc., a 5D body costs around $2,100. You may want to decide at a later date if you want to stick with cropped sensors and lenses for it, or to move toward full sensors and lenses for it.

 

[Mustard Chops]

17-55mm f/2.8 IS is a fantastic lens, it's on my 40D 90% of the time. If you married that up with an UWA such as the Sigma 10-20mm you're covered for landscapes also.

Last one to get would be the 70-200 f/4L...

 

[erickj]

Hey guys,

I've always been interested in photography and whatnot and i love taking portraits, landscapes, and macros (flowers/close-ups etc). I noticed that canon is having a rebate deal starting on the 18th so I would like to finally pick up a DSLR. I love photography but I am no means a professional.

I was wondering if the 40d will be too much for me. If it is do you guys think the rebel xsi or the nikon d80 would be better. Also I will need a lot of help picking lens. I want to be able to have 2 lens for everything and obviously the cheaper the better but I wouldn't want to skip on quality because of cost.

Thanks guys so much in advance.

-James

oh yea heres the link to the promotion if any of you guys were interested.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/162/springrebatesan0.jpg

There are no details of this promotion in the link you gave. Do you know where you found it? I've been waiting for a promotion to buy the 40D but this doesn't even say if it is for the USA.

 

[nburwell]

I personally would start with either the XSi or the 20/30D. Then I would invest the rest of your money in lenses. Do you have experience using DSLR's? Or are you coming from using p&s cameras? If you don't have any experience with DSLR cameras, then I would still recommend the above cameras, but purchase the 18-55 IS lens or 17-85 IS lens to get you started. The big thing with a lot of people is that they make a purchase that intimidates them. You want to start out with a kit that you can grow with. When you realize or learn that your existing equipment is holding you back per se, then upgrade your lenses and/or body.

 

[nburwell]

There are no details of this promotion in the link you gave. Do you know where you found it? I've been waiting for a promotion to buy the 40D but this doesn't even say if it is for the USA.

Here you go...

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=NewsDesk_Internal&article_num=051208-3

40D is included. Most of the rebates are instant (although it might depend on the retailer).

 

[jhu2]

I personally would start with either the XSi or the 20/30D. Then I would invest the rest of your money in lenses. Do you have experience using DSLR's? Or are you coming from using p&s cameras? If you don't have any experience with DSLR cameras, then I would still recommend the above cameras, but purchase the 18-55 IS lens or 17-85 IS lens to get you started. The big thing with a lot of people is that they make a purchase that intimidates them. You want to start out with a kit that you can grow with. When you realize or learn that your existing equipment is holding you back per se, then upgrade your lenses and/or body.

Ive had some experience with DSLRs and I understand basic photograph, shutter speed, aperture size, iso, etc. Right now the difference between an XSi and the 40D is around $200-300 and I think the 40D is worth it if not more.

 

[Roy Hobbs]

Ive had some experience with DSLRs and I understand basic photograph, shutter speed, aperture size, iso, etc. Right now the difference between an XSi and the 40D is around $200-300 and I think the 40D is worth it if not more.

I would agree
Go with the 40D

 

[leighonigar]

I can't comment specifically on costs and the market in the US. I live in the UK. For three years I've had a D70 with the kit lens. In that time I've used a sigma 50mm f/2.8 DG macro, sigma 70-300mm cheapo zoom, the (now replaced) Nikon 70-300mm ED, old 300mm, 50mm and 28mm Nikkor MF primes and possibly other things that I forget. Essentially, glass matters. Whatever you get, get good lenses. Photos from my D70 look a million times better out of the 50mm Sigma Macro (or the old 50mm MF for that matter) than they do out of the Sigma zoom at 70mm. No comparison.

I'm quite fond of Nikon, but when I bought my camera the only canon I could afford was the 300D. That thing had a tiny viewfinder and the build of a, well, fragile thing (I'm sure they're fine, but the D70 felt a lot better, not to mention the kit lens...).

I'd rather have a Nikon D40 with good lenses than D300 with a mediocre zoom. Go into a shop and feel all these cameras. It's surprising the difference a bit of touching can make! Of course in theory you're supposed to choose the 'system' you like. As you're unlikely to dump a load of lenses and accessories when you want to move body.

 

[johnsy]

Photos might look the best from 50mm lens. However I find it is quite annoying to use my feet as zoom (go back and forward), so there is always trade off.

Xti is not fragile, it just look that because of shiny plastic vs Nikon's some industrial color plastic which looks more rugged. Sony also uses similar shiny plastic, it is just marketing.

Nikon has somehow better lens- they are smaller, lighter, most of the times cheaper than Canon and have better all around zooms (even a choice of them). Canon has big selection of lenses, but it seems all of them build by film standard. Even lenses dedicated just for APS size sensor are quite clunky.

 

[johnsy]

I am thinking to switch to Nikon.

*Nikon offers (Adorama rounded USA warranty prices):
18mm - 70mm $330
18mm - 135mm $330
18mm - 200mm $680

Canon offers:
17mm - 85mm $400 equals to 27-136mm for rebels
28-135mm $410 ---''--- 45-215mm --"--

Sony offers (B&H & amazon rounded prices(adorama doesn't list)):
16mm-80mm $690
16-105mm $580 Amazon
18-70mm $190
18-200mm $500 Amazon
18-250mm $480

Now Canon does offer many other lenses, but I am looking for all around lens, because I just want to attach and forget about it. So your mileage probably will be different than mine.
The only choice for me is Canon's 28-135mm. As I tend to shoot more telephoto than wide angle it is not that bad, but it is quite heavy for what it does./QUOTE]

this is my quote from another post. Just to clarify I am the last guy to use prime lenses, might be the only exception would be 50mm, but I had it with Minolta 35mm and mostly used zoom anyway.

 

[compuwar]

Xti is not fragile, it just look that because of shiny plastic vs Nikon's some industrial color plastic which looks more rugged. Sony also uses similar shiny plastic, it is just marketing.

I believe the plastics are actually different, it's not just surface pattern. Press on a D40 and a 350D and you'll see that thickness and/or resin differences seem to be in play, not just the surface or color.

There's a wide variety of formulations and resins (most of the formulaions are closely guarded-) the stuff you use for furniture in a chip fab plant is very, very different than the stuff you use to make a cutting board- even though both can be extruded the same way. Same with injection molded plastics, there's a wide variety even within a single plastic family.

I'm not a plastics expert, but I know quite a few of them- including one next door, and I've spent a lot of time in plastics manufacturing facilities- from what I can tell, the entry-level Nikon bodies have better plastic than the Canon ones. Not sure if it's germain to most people, but there's definitely a difference, and it's more than cosmetic.

 

[jhu2]

hey guys

thanks for all of your advice. I decided to buy the 40d kit with a 28-135 lens. I got an amazing deal at b&h photo for everything just over $1100. so thanks and i'll be back with more questions about lens and other gear heh.

-james

 

[AlaskaMoose]

hey guys

thanks for all of your advice. I decided to buy the 40d kit with a 28-135 lens. I got an amazing deal at b&h photo for everything just over $1100. so thanks and i'll be back with more questions about lens and other gear heh.

-james

Now all you need (want?) is a Tokina 12-24mm for landscapes and cityscapes, architectural (as inside a chapel or something), or just taking pictures of a crowd on a sidewalk next to you, etc. An excellent walk-around lens, instead of a 18-50mm kit lens, is Tamron's 17-50mm f/2.8. Its sharp like the Tokina, and fast-focusing, although it will take you a few tries to get used to the noise it makes. I have both lenses, and love them.

 

[kitmos]

hey guys

thanks for all of your advice. I decided to buy the 40d kit with a 28-135 lens. I got an amazing deal at b&h photo for everything just over $1100. so thanks and i'll be back with more questions about lens and other gear heh.

-james

I know you'll be really happy with the 40d and can add lenses as the $$$ permit.

 

[OreoCookie]

hey guys

thanks for all of your advice. I decided to buy the 40d kit with a 28-135 lens. I got an amazing deal at b&h photo for everything just over $1100. so thanks and i'll be back with more questions about lens and other gear heh.

That lens doesn't really make sense on crop sensors. You pretty much have a 45-200 mm tele zoom now.

 

[Santabean2000]

hey guys

thanks for all of your advice. I decided to buy the 40d kit...
-james

Good choice.

The XSi feels rubbish in the hands, (platsic body... + too small...). And, how durable is it gonna be?

40D, giddy up!

 

[jhu2]

Yeah, the 40d is a beast compared to the D40x I was playing with.

I haven't played with the 40D much yet since I'm still waiting for the cf to come in. It should come tomorrow and then I'm off taking pictures of the magnificent architecture in Chicago. I'm going to try it with my kit lens and go from there. Lots to learn... so much to learn...