New DSLR - Questions

[GDUL]

I am looking to upgrade to a DSLR. My first digital camera was a Fuji 2400 Zoom. Within a few years, I upgraded to the Fuji S7000 and was happy with the pictures that I took. Later, I bought my wife a Fuji F31fd PNS which fit her needs. Again, we've been happy with our pictures.

I started to think of upgrading to a DSLR when we booked an Alaskan cruise for next summer. Though I've been happy with my S7000 overall, I want a camera / lens system that would work better in low light conditions and had some more control to decrease blur in some of my shots. My biggest concern was that the S7000 wouldn't perform as well as I would hope during our cruise.

I've taken everyone's advice here and went to several camera shops and held many of the cameras suggested / used here. I've come down to 2 cameras, the Canon 40D or 50D though I haven't decided between the 2 yet. Both of them feel "right" in my hands when I hold them.

Both cameras are on sale at Best Buy (not that I'll buy from them ultimately) and they include the 28 - 135 mm IS lens. The 40D goes for just under $1250and the 50D comes in at just under $1500 with this lens. For an additional $650, you can also get the 70 - 300 mm IS lens. For our cruise, I want to have a lens that can possibly reach the shoreline as we cruise by. Would the kit lens work for this or should I be thinking about getting both lenses? Should I just buy the body and get a different / better lens for the cruise? I have already decided to buy a 50 mm lens for the camera too - any suggestions here?

I want to buy the camera before Christmas so that I can learn how to use it befiore the cruise. I have a couple other trips scheduled before then where I'll get a lot of use out of it (WDW in February and a Key West wedding in June). My gut feeling is to start with one lens, see how it works and how I use it and then see if I need another lens - I would hate to buy something that I didn't use! I jst don't know which lens or lenses that I might need. Again, my primary concern right now is to have the right equipment for Alaska.

Any opinions and suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

Gary

 

[jfinke]

Couple of things. You can probably find much better prices online. However, stay with the reputable camera stores such as B&H and Adorama. For most of the others, I would check resellerratings.com. There are a lot of bait and switch places out there.

The 50d is considered a moderate upgrade to the 40d. I think that right now, the 40d is the best bargain out there in Canon's line. However, if you have the money, you can't go wrong with the 50d.

If you are seriously looking at the canon line, I would recommend doing some research on http://www.the-digital-picture.com/. He provides quite a bit of information on Canon's lineup vs. looking at Nikon, Pentax, Sony, etc.

 

[jfinke]

Oh, again, if you want to look at Canon specific information, here is a good forum with very helpful members.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php

I am debating between a 40d and 50d myself. What makes it even more complicated is that there are plenty of used 40d out there as people are upgrading to the 50d or 5d.

 

[GDUL]

Thanks for the replies and websites! Does anyone have an opinion about the lens questions?

 

[jfinke]

Well, my only cruises have been in the Caribbean and not Alaska. But, I would suspect that you would want to get as wide as possible to see as many glaciers / mountains in a shot. Maybe someone else could weigh in on that.

I just bought one of the holy grail lenses (70-200 f/4L IS) for $900 used from B&H. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to get outside with it yet.

Bryan states "If you are looking for a good value 28mm-something zoom lens and your budget limits you to the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens' price range, look no farther. The Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens provides a great focal length range, reasonably sharp images and IS at a decent price point and in a relatively small package. This is a very popular lens - and for good reasons. "

It looks like there are a couple of 70-300 out there. Both with IS. I think that this one is the one you are talking about.

Again "I prefer the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens over the 55-250, but my personal preference in this price range is for the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM Lens over the 70-300. There are a lot of happy Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens owners out there, so as always, you need to make the decision for yourself. "

And it has an instant rebate of $50 bring the price of it at B&H to $495. Which is quite a bit cheaper than that bundle you were looking at.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'm not part of the Canon family, but I can say that Amazon.com seems to have GREAT deals on Canon stuff right now. It's advertised on their front page. You can get the 40D body for $864, the 70-300mm IS lens for $495. The 28-135mm IS lens is $395...so for the package you mentioned above, it would be about $1700.

If you want a wide lens for landscape pictures, they have the 10-20mm USM for $667. If you want a good walk around lens, you can get the 18-200mm IS for $575 instead of the 28-135.

We will be going on a trip to Alaska in 2010 (although not a cruise, just a self-guided tour) and it was recommended to me to rent a really nice telephoto lens for the trip.

If you don't think you will have much use for 70-300mm in your everyday life, maybe you would consider buying the 10-20, a good walk around lens like the 18-200 or 28-135 and then a lens that is good in low light (i.e. the nifty fifty which is $85 new for Canons), and just renting a nice telephoto lens like the 100-400mm or 30mm f/4.

I don't know anything about these lenses...haven't read any reviews, but it seems like you could put together a nice little kit for much less money than at Best Buy if you buy from Amazon.com, plus they usually have free shipping which is always nice

Good luck and happy shopping!