Up until this past Spring I was using a Rebel XTi and then I moved up to the 40D. Over the past 8 months I have been extremely impressed with the 40D's speed and reliability when it comes to wildlife. But, I have one concern, is the 10mp going to hamper me when it comes to selling photos? I have a very important photo op planned for this summer in northern Australia and possibly New Guinea and I want to make sure my camera is technically up to par. Now, I had heard that the 50D, despite being 15mp, was not as good as the 40D when it came to handling noise and that speed was identical. Is it worth it to upgrade for the extra 5mp...or do you think I should stick with my 40D and spend the money on something else? I'm trying to really move into a professional realm with this but the Mark 3 is just too damn expensive and the 5D's are all full frame and also a bit pricey. Thus far I am happy with the 40D, but will publishers feel the same? Thanks in advance- Brandon.
Brandon, I upgraded from the 40D to a 50D when the 50D first came out. Although the extra pixels were nice, I did not find much improvement in image quality. In fact, in my opinion the ISO performance was better on the 40D. I have since upgraded to the 7D. It is a 1.6 crop sensor and I have found it to be awesome. Great ISO performance, great overall image quality and the auto focus far exceeds both the 40D and 50D in speed and accuracy.
Posted by Ed Cordes on January 10, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Here's another vote to go with the 7D. The file size is large enough and the new features well worth it. I find the IQ to be great when the images is well exposed.
I am not sure why some agencies insist that high MP count makes a better image! In the old 35 mm slide days the IQ was not as good as your 40D and the editors still bought images.
Skip the 50D. I had happily been using the 40D until I needed to send it to Canon due to major salt water damage. Canon made me a very good offer on a 50D, instead of fixing my "outdated" and broken camera, so I took the deal. Ever since, I have been very unhappy with the output, and even somewhat turned off from photography, because I know the quality of files are not up to my standards once you go above ISO 400. Sure, the 50D has a little more cropping ability, and fancy features, but the image quality leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. Save your money until you can get a 7D, or maybe a used 1D series.
Posted by Kent Staubus on January 11, 2010 at 6:28 PM
What lenses do you have?
As for publishers, I'll tell you a little story. Last summer I met with the editor of one of the magazines I submit to in Chicago. I had with me 15 pretty solid photos. Five of them were shot with my old D80. Five were shot with my current D300. Five were shot with a borowed D700. All were very similar photos (of choo choos) and I used the same lenses/tripod/lights for each camera. I asked the guy to pick out the ones he liked. He picked two from the D80, two from the D300, and one from the D700. I told him I had used several different cameras to take the shots and asked if he could guess which 8x10 was shot with what camera. He looked through them again and said he could not.
Discussion
8 repliesI am not sure why some agencies insist that high MP count makes a better image! In the old 35 mm slide days the IQ was not as good as your 40D and the editors still bought images.
As for publishers, I'll tell you a little story. Last summer I met with the editor of one of the magazines I submit to in Chicago. I had with me 15 pretty solid photos. Five of them were shot with my old D80. Five were shot with my current D300. Five were shot with a borowed D700. All were very similar photos (of choo choos) and I used the same lenses/tripod/lights for each camera. I asked the guy to pick out the ones he liked. He picked two from the D80, two from the D300, and one from the D700. I told him I had used several different cameras to take the shots and asked if he could guess which 8x10 was shot with what camera. He looked through them again and said he could not.
Again I ask, what lenses do you have?
Kent in SD
Kent in SD