Thinking about new camera, wondering if old lenses will fit?

[lucyanna girl]

I am considering (maybe) upgrading Sarah to a Canon EOS 50D. She has a Rebel XSI. Photography is very important to her. I'll bet I have one of the only kids who has done her own senior pictures as well as those of her boyfriend. (For hers she set the shot up, showed me what to do, posed while I snapped the shot and then did the editing). They turned out really well.

The lenses she has are the kit lens that came with her XSI, a Canon 50mm, and a Canon EF 70 - 200mm. Will these fit the 50D? What else would she need to start off? The camera I'm looking at comes with an EF 28 - 135 mm.

Is this a good next step? I really don't want to invest any more than this right now but is there enough of an upgrade to be worthwhile? If not I think I'll wait.

Thanks,

Penny

 

[disneyboy2003]

Sarah's a lucky girl!

Yes, all the lenses that she has with her Canon Rebel XSi will work with the Canon 50D.

If she already has a kit lens with her camera, she may not need the 28 - 135 mm lens that comes with the 50D. You can actually buy the Canon 50D body by itself without any lens. That should save you some money.

Yes, it's a worthwhile upgrade. The Canon 50D is substantially more rugged-feeling, and it's lots easier to change both the shutter speed and aperture at the same time (there's a big wheel / dial on the back of the camera).

The other camera you might want to consider (but would be a few hundred dollars more) is the Canon 7D, which just came out a month ago and is the successor to the 50D. They made a zillion improvements & added a bunch of bells & whistles. Just a thought.

Or, if she herself is not clamoring for a new camera (after all, her camera's only 1 year old!), she & her photography would probably benefit from other accessories instead, for the same amount of money.

Perhaps a different lens that has a larger aperture, which would allow her to take better pictures in low-light situations, such as the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 for slightly less than $1000. This lens would replace her current kit lens.

Or an external flash, such as the Canon Speedlite 580 EX II for about $400. An external flash is TONS more powerful and LOTS more versatile than the little pop-up flash she currently has on her camera.

Don't mean to confuse the situation. Hope that helps!

 

[ukcatfan]

The other camera you might want to consider (but would be a few hundred dollars more) is the Canon 7D, which just came out a month ago and is the successor to the 50D. They made a zillion improvements & added a bunch of bells & whistles. Just a thought.

Agree with the improvements comment, but it is not the successor to the 50D. It is on a completely different level. The 50D successor will more than likely be a 60D and should have a similar price to the 50D's list price. I am personally surprised that the 60D has not been announced yet. If you wait to buy the 50D until the 60D is announced, you might save some $$$. The current model usually drops in price a little when the new one comes out.

 

[boBQuincy]

I am considering (maybe) upgrading Sarah to a Canon EOS 50D. She has a Rebel XSI. Photography is very important to her. I'll bet I have one of the only kids who has done her own senior pictures as well as those of her boyfriend. (For hers she set the shot up, showed me what to do, posed while I snapped the shot and then did the editing). They turned out really well.

The lenses she has are the kit lens that came with her XSI, a Canon 50mm, and a Canon EF 70 - 200mm. Will these fit the 50D? What else would she need to start off? The camera I'm looking at comes with an EF 28 - 135 mm.

Is this a good next step? I really don't want to invest any more than this right now but is there enough of an upgrade to be worthwhile? If not I think I'll wait.

Thanks,

Penny

It depends on what we consider an upgrade. The difference in image quality between the Xsi and 50D is completely insignificant. The 50D is considerably larger and heavier, giving the impression of a more rugged camera, although there is no data to support such a conclusion. The handling of the cameras is somewhat different and a very slight edge would go to the 50D with it's wheel on the back.

The 50D uses a different battery and memory card but all your lenses will fit. To me this is not an upgrade and will show no improvement for the $$$ spent. Putting the $$$ into lenses, a good tripod, and external flash would show far more gain. Canon's 10-22 would be a good start.

My findings are based on experience since this is the path I took, upgrading from a 30D to a Xsi instead of a 50D. Take a look at our WDW photos from Feb and Sep 2009, all taken with a Xsi. My images do not appear to have suffered any due to the Xsi!

 

[jann1033]

the 50d is faster as well which was what made me go with the 40d instead of another xs
i'd skip the 28-135 lens and just get the body. the lens really isn't on the same caliper as the rest of her equipment.
i have a tamron 17-50 i love, it's about 1/2 the price of the canon mine has very good image quality, the build is a little cheaper than the canon and no is but there is a new one with is and the warranty with the tamron is 6yrs vs canon's 1

 

[WillowBelle]

Last Christmas DH upgraded me from the original Rebel to the 50D! Like everyone said, my lenses upgraded with the camera. I don't know that they will upgrade with the 7D. My batteries also upgraded. What a lucky girl your daughter is - this is a great gift!

 

[C&B Young]

One other consideration is how much more does the 50D w/28-135 cost vs. the body only? I know that new 28-135's that people have parted out from kits routinely sell for around $300 online, so you could always try and resell the lens and end up with $100 or so in your pocket.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Thanks for all the good advice. I am still not sure if ole Santa will bring this now or wait for her high school graduation in May. Part of me wants her to have it for all the special events between now and then and part says it would make a great graduation gift. Glad to hear I could buy the body only and be good. Hum, maybe camera now and a good lens then?

Thanks,

Penny

 

[VVFF]

It depends on what we consider an upgrade. The difference in image quality between the Xsi and 50D is completely insignificant. The 50D is considerably larger and heavier, giving the impression of a more rugged camera, although there is no data to support such a conclusion. The handling of the cameras is somewhat different and a very slight edge would go to the 50D with it's wheel on the back.

The 50D uses a different battery and memory card but all your lenses will fit. To me this is not an upgrade and will show no improvement for the $$$ spent. Putting the $$$ into lenses, a good tripod, and external flash would show far more gain. Canon's 10-22 would be a good start.

My findings are based on experience since this is the path I took, upgrading from a 30D to a Xsi instead of a 50D. Take a look at our WDW photos from Feb and Sep 2009, all taken with a Xsi. My images do not appear to have suffered any due to the Xsi!

I think you might be downplaying the differences a bit here. While I agree, for the most part, that image quality will be similar, there are a number of differences that are important.

First of all, build quality. There is the obvious improvement from the plastic frame of the rebel to the magesium frame of the 50D. In addition, the 50D gains a top-view LCD which I predominantly use and also saves battery vs. using the 3" LCD. The second scroll wheel is not a minor addition as well. It allows for much quicker control through menus and in manual mode/exp. compensation. I personally wouldn't say the handling of the two cameras is only slightly different...but I suppose this comes down to the user.

Then you got a lot of "nice to have" additions. The 50D has microfocus adjustment which is a fantastic feature for really "dialing" in your lenses to get the best focus accuracy out of them. It gains ISO 3200 and above...which I WILL use ISO 3200 on occasion. The value of ISO 6400 and ISO 12800 can be debated. All focus points on the 50D are cross type with extra sensitivity center point enabled with F2.8 or faster lenses. Faster continuous shooting can come in handy on occasion. The viewfinder is significantly better being a pentaprism instead of pentamirror and has .95x magnification. The 3" 920K LCD is obviously a nice addition for previewing photos as well.

So, I agree that either of these cameras is more than capable of taking wonderful pictures. However, the 50D is a significant step up from the XSi in both features and build quality/handling. I initially was going to buy the XSi actually and stepped up to the 50D because of the value I put in many of these additional features.

I also agree that lenses are very important. The user needs to consider what he needs to improve more at this point. Are the lenses holding you back in any way? If not perhaps the body doesn't have some features you want? You have to personally decide what is going to make you want to use your camera more.