Canon Xsi vs. Canon 40D?

Icebergster

Current: Canon g9, 430ex flash, wide and tele lens

Budget: $1400 and under:scratch

Now, consider the starting level right now I'm on. Consider the price difference between the two. I like taking potraits, landscapes/outdoors, sports, animals, and one day larger projects like weddings or something. SO I want a camera that I can grow into and still be satisfied with its performance even after I've learned alot more. I have a baby on the way so, alot of pics will be taken of him/her. So please tell me what you think and why.

ziggy53

Icebergster wrote:

Current: Canon g9, 430ex flash, wide and tele lens

Budget: $1400 and under

Now, consider the starting level right now I'm on. Consider the price difference between the two. I like taking potraits, landscapes/outdoors, sports, animals, and one day larger projects like weddings or something. SO I want a camera that I can grow into and still be satisfied with its performance even after I've learned alot more. I have a baby on the way so, alot of pics will be taken of him/her. So please tell me what you think and why.

Icebergster (interesting Florida resident name),

Your budget is too little to really cover all of your wishes. Understand that you are buying into a system. I love that you already have a decent flash.

Please do consider the Canon XT/350D, which I think you can still purchase new, or you can find used. I have 2 XTs and I still like that camera for many casual and serious projects. I use it as a backup camera for weddings and events, so I believe it is perfectly capable for much of what you want to do.

For sports, most of the lenses alone will put you close to or over budget when added to the cost of even a basic camera. I suggest you wait until you have additional funds to consider serious sports photography.

A good basic lens kit that should do much of the remaining tasks might include:

Canon EF 50mm, f1.8
Tamron SP 17-50mm, F/2.8 XR Di-II LD (IF)
Tamron 70-300mm, f/4-5.6 Di LD 1:2 (use this mostly at f5.6 @ 70mm to f8 @ 200mm for best results.)

This should get you started and under budget. Learn how to use this sytem and wait a bit to purchase additional items.

Create a couple of flash modifiers like these:

A scoop type reflector:
http://www.fototime.com/inv/908195739C4C0D3

... and the "Better Bounce Card"
http://abetterbouncecard.com/

davev

I don't know the time table for the baby, but before considering the SXI, I would wait for some of the reviews, and user reviews to come out.

This camera looks promising, but I've been disappointed by specs in the past.

As Ziggy said, your budget is good for the camera, but you need a lens of two also.

The XT is a good camera, but the screen size is now, and always was, way to small to really tell anything about the photo you just shot.

I have the XT, XTi, and a 30D. The info on the screen on the XTi is great, and it's the one thing I really missed after I bought the 30D. Coming from a compact camera, I think that you may like that feature. The XSI has the same thing going on for info. As for the two LCD system that the 30D (and 40D) use, I hate it. Put the camera on a tall tripod, you can't see the top screen. It gets a little dark out, can't see that darn thing, then try to hit the right button to get the light to come on to see it. For me, it's a pain.

If you were to get an SXI with the kit lens (18-55is) and one other good lens, (there are many to chose from) you could be happy for a while.
I've heard that the Canon 55-250is lens does a good job, I heard the same thing about the Tamron 18-250.

You need to do a little research on lenses to see just how far into this photography thing you want to go.

Check out this site for lenses reviews: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

evoryware

davev wrote:

I have the XT, XTi, and a 30D. The info on the screen on the XTi is great, and it's the one thing I really missed after I bought the 30D. Coming from a compact camera, I think that you may like that feature. The XSI has the same thing going on for info. As for the two LCD system that the 30D (and 40D) use, I hate it. Put the camera on a tall tripod, you can't see the top screen. It gets a little dark out, can't see that darn thing, then try to hit the right button to get the light to come on to see it. For me, it's a pain.



Check out this site for lenses reviews: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

All the info from the top screen you can get on the main lcd on the 40D by pushing the info button.

Robinivich

Nice flash!!! clap

I just recently upgraded XT to 40D, mostly for autofocus, but basically everything about the 40d is an upgrade. Having just spent nearly $2000 to get set up with a 40D (battery grip, batteries, CF cards, etc), I would say it's probably outside of your reach at this time, and in general you want to spend on glass first, camera second.

My advice would be to grab an XTi, either the old kit lens or preferably the new 18-55 IS, and then a good portrait/sports prime like the dirt cheap 50f1.8 or (better yet more expensive) the 85f1.8. This should keep you around your budget, both 18-55s will do reasonably well on the wide end, with the newer IS one being preferable, and the f1.8 lenses will give you portraits and close up sports, not to mention control of depth of field like you've never experienced before.

The trouble with long telephoto is that if you're anything like me, it will cost thousands to get the kind of quality and reach you want for sports and wildlife, so save that for later.

The reason I say XTI is that the price will be going down thanks to the XSI, and the anti-dust and autofocus should be big improvements over the XT, the autofocus of which doesn't necessarily let you put good glass to the best use. It's easy to forget that if your camera can't focus that well, the sharpest glass in the world won't help you, and the XTI uses the 20d and 30ds AF module, which I hear is a good one!

Icebergster

So if I purchase an XTI and 2 or 3 goods lens, your saying I will NOT grow out of it too fast? or at all? Like yall said, I'd rather buy a good body now, and continue buying better lenses. I just dont want to wish in 2 years I wouldve gotten something better.

evoryware

I still use the XTi just as much as if I'd never gotten the 40D. I'm gonna use it till it don't work anymore, but I never lose the itch to have something better! Maybe if I had the 1Ds MKIII!

Glenn NK

There are still a few new 30Ds out there (at least one at the camera shop where I deal), and the price is quite reasonable.

Just another option - the 30D didn't become obsolete when the 40D arrived!!

ziggy53

Icebergster wrote:

So if I purchase an XTI and 2 or 3 goods lens, your saying I will NOT grow out of it too fast? or at all? Like yall said, I'd rather buy a good body now, and continue buying better lenses. I just dont want to wish in 2 years I wouldve gotten something better.

The problem is that in 2 years there will probably be a better body, but lenses tend to have much longer design/development and service cycles.

If you can expand your budget to around $3500-$4000, I would suggest:

Canon 40D camera
Canon EF 70-200mm, f2.8L USM (great sports lens) (IS is an option but more costly and I still prefer a monopod or tripod instead)
Canon EF 50mm, f1.4 (great interior and portrait lens)
Tamron SP 17-50mm, F/2.8 XR Di-II LD (IF) (general purpose standard zoom)
Sigma 10-20mm, f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Canon EF 1.4x telextender (for the 70-200mm, not perfect but not bad)
Canon 580EX II flash. Combined with your 430EX it would give you a convenient master-slave combination and off-camera capability.

That could still be a nice system in 2 years and you would not feel as much need to upgrade. I guarantee that in 4 years you will want to upgrade at least the camera. Gone are the days when a camera would have a 20 year life span.

Robinivich

Icebergster wrote:

So if I purchase an XTI and 2 or 3 goods lens, your saying I will NOT grow out of it too fast? or at all? Like yall said, I'd rather buy a good body now, and continue buying better lenses. I just dont want to wish in 2 years I wouldve gotten something better.

Unless there's something seriously limiting about a camera body, glass is where the principal difference is. My lenses will produce about the same level of images whether they're on my XT or my 40d, the 40d just makes some things easier, more convenient, etc. However, no matter how awesome my 40d is, it isn't going to improve the sharpness of my 70-300, or make the wide angle performance of my 17-85 much better. If I had to pick between an XTI and an L lens, or a 40d with a kit lens, I'd go for the XTI+L every time, even though the 40d is nice. And that L lens will go nice with the 40d down the road, or the 50d, or the 5d, etc. You're buying a system, not really a camera, the camera is the part of the system that changes most often, and wears out fastest, so it's the other bits that are better to invest in.

Icebergster

ALright, well I just got myself an XTI with the kit lens for now, I'll start researching some lenses and definately consider each lense brought up, thanks a bunch guys.

ziggy53

Congratulations.

claudermilk

Glenn NK wrote:

There are still a few new 30Ds out there (at least one at the camera shop where I deal), and the price is quite reasonable.

Just another option - the 30D didn't become obsolete when the 40D arrived!!

Well....yes, it did. However, all the 30D's out there continued to function and take as good a picture as before--just like the 20Ds when the 30D came out.

Glenn NK

claudermilk wrote:

Well....yes, it did. However, all the 30D's out there continued to function and take as good a picture as before--just like the 20Ds when the 30D came out.

That's what I thought.

But if one reads too many threads, one could easily get the impression that once a new model is issued, the previous ones are completely useless.

DrDavid

I personally use the XT; it's a great camera. Again, I put money into my lenses.. I wish the XT had the better focus system of the XTi or 20-40D, but, it's a great camera. I've been able to take great photos with it!

It's all about the glass. Good glass = good sharp photos. Crappy glass on a great camera will still look bad. Great glass on a low-end camera will look great.

David