Thinking of upgrading to a 40D

[Rufus12]

But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646439861/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647280344/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647361742/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646596543/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646629299/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647457366/

 

[xchangx]

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

What's wrong with your current body? what do you normally shoot the most?

 

[Rufus12]

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

What's wrong with your current body? what do you normally shoot the most?

I don't own the body, and I'm heading to college in the fall, so I won't have access to it.

 

[xchangx]

Originally posted by: Rufus12

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

What's wrong with your current body? what do you normally shoot the most?

I don't own the body, and I'm heading to college in the fall, so I won't have access to it.

Look on Adorama.com they have some package deals for a Rebel XS <$700.

 

[Rufus12]

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

What's wrong with your current body? what do you normally shoot the most?

I don't own the body, and I'm heading to college in the fall, so I won't have access to it.

Look on Adorama.com they have some package deals for a Rebel XS <$700.

I can already afford the 40D. I just set aside $700 to spend entirely on glass.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Rufus12

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12

Originally posted by: xchangx

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

What's wrong with your current body? what do you normally shoot the most?

I don't own the body, and I'm heading to college in the fall, so I won't have access to it.

Look on Adorama.com they have some package deals for a Rebel XS <$700.

I can already afford the 40D. I just set aside $700 to spend entirely on glass.

The 18-55 is a good lens but cheaply built and limited in aperture. If you accept those negatives it will serve you well.

The 60mm is another good lens with its downsides being that it only works on APS-C cameras and the focal length may be too short for pictures of insects/easily scared away subjects.

 

[Maximus96]

i vote for 18-55 IS, 50 1.8, and 70-200 F4. should barely make it at $700.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: Rufus12
But if I did that I'd be left without any lenses. Fortunately I have $700 to spend. At this point I'm thinking an 18-55mm IS and a 60mm macro lense. Do those lenses perform well on the 40D?

I had the 40D/18-55 IS combination. Not very useful IMO except for landscape shots due to the slow aperture. It's not an ideal lens for people shots or portraiture. Even in low light the 18-55 IS is limited because IS does NOT freeze motion.

I suggest instead getting the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and a 100mm f/2.0. You can always get a 70-200mm down the road if you really need it, but the Tamron and 100mm should serve you well for general purpose use and for portraiture and close-range sports use.

Consider how much you will use your camera while in college and what you will be using it for. If you're not going to be shooting sports with your camera, or if you are going to be using your camera infrequenty (like once or twice a week) then I suggest getting an XSi or even XTi along with the aforementioned lenses. The 40D is a great body, but if you aren't using it a lot then I think you'd be served just as well by an XTi or XSi. Image-quality wise, the 40D doesn't really offer much of an advantage over the Digital Rebel bodies. It's got a definite advantage in speed, but you won't really be affected by this unless you're shooting fast action with your camera.

 

[randomlinh]

better yet, save even more and find a used 30D. Then the tamron 17-50, and either the canon 60 macro or sigma 70 macro, assuming you specifically want macro.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
better yet, save even more and find a used 30D. Then the tamron 17-50, and either the canon 60 macro or sigma 70 macro, assuming you specifically want macro.

If he wants macro it would be better to go with a longer macro lens that would also serve double duty for portraits, such as the Sigma 105mm, Tamron 90mm, or Canon 100mm USM. Also, the longer working distance is helpful for not scaring away insects and little creatures.

The shorter 60mm EF-S macro isn't really long enough to blur out the background on some portrait shots.

 

[extra]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
I had the 40D/18-55 IS combination. Not very useful IMO except for landscape shots due to the slow aperture. It's not an ideal lens for people shots or portraiture. Even in low light the 18-55 IS is limited because IS does NOT freeze motion.
Image-quality wise, the 40D doesn't really offer much of an advantage over the Digital Rebel bodies..

Hmmm... Image quality wise the 40d is actually worse than the rebel xsi. (Not that it matters, they are so close that I doubt you'd ever notice).

And the 18-55IS is great! You can find them for about $100 used, what in that price range is a better deal? Sure it is slow aperture wise but the IQ is great and so is the IS.

Pick up a nifty 50 for like $50, and yay, you win.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: extra

Originally posted by: 996GT2
I had the 40D/18-55 IS combination. Not very useful IMO except for landscape shots due to the slow aperture. It's not an ideal lens for people shots or portraiture. Even in low light the 18-55 IS is limited because IS does NOT freeze motion.
Image-quality wise, the 40D doesn't really offer much of an advantage over the Digital Rebel bodies..

Hmmm... Image quality wise the 40d is actually worse than the rebel xsi. (Not that it matters, they are so close that I doubt you'd ever notice).

And the 18-55IS is great! You can find them for about $100 used, what in that price range is a better deal? Sure it is slow aperture wise but the IQ is great and so is the IS.

Pick up a nifty 50 for like $50, and yay, you win.

OP said he had $700 set aside specifically for lenses though. Given that budget, I find the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 to be preferable to the 18-55mm IS. Add a macro or fast prime in the ~100mm range and he's pretty much set. A 70-200 f/4 or 55-250 IS is always something he can grab down the road should he find that he needs to shoot at telephoto a lot.

Good combinations for ~$700:

Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 + 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 + Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro or Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 + Canon 55-250mm IS + Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro

And seriously, the nifty fifty is overrated. Yes it's a great deal for $80-100 (which is the average used selling price on POTN), but AF is wonky (very wonky in low light) and it's soft until stopped down to f/2.8 or so. The 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2 are much better lenses for portraiture.

 

[Rufus12]

I finally decided to get it when I found out a friend of my parents was selling their brand new 40D with 28-135mm kit for $950, and I had to jump on it. Should be getting it later tonight.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: Rufus12
I finally decided to get it when I found out a friend of my parents was selling their brand new 40D with 28-135mm kit for $950, and I had to jump on it. Should be getting it later tonight.

Decent deal...

Now sell the 28-135 for $250 or so and put in some cash to buy a decent f/2.8 lens.

 

[Rufus12]

Had to wait til today to get it, but from what I've seen it blows the rebel I was using out of the water. I'll post some pics up soon.

 

[Rufus12]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646439861/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647280344/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647361742/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646596543/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3646629299/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27793167@N03/3647457366/

 

[Madwand1]

Have you tried the 28-135?

 

[Rufus12]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Have you tried the 28-135?

Yea. I like it from what little I've seen it do, but it does macro pretty well. Good combination with the live view. Here are some examples.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com...63296_e3aa4a8035_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com...63872_b9b5e56e1b_b.jpg