Canon A40 upgrades

[mycanon]

Hi, I'm new in this forum. I have a Canon a40 (too old huh!, they take nice pictures though). I was thinking of upgrading by buying telephoto and wide angle lenses. My question is, how good are the lenses being sold at eBay compared to the original Canon. Are there good brands out there that are not as expensive as Canon's. Thanks a lot.

[Conk]

Hi, I'm new in this forum. I have a Canon a40 (too old huh!, they take nice pictures though). I was thinking of upgrading by buying telephoto and wide angle lenses. My question is, how good are the lenses being sold at eBay compared to the original Canon. Are there good brands out there that are not as expensive as Canon's. Thanks a lot.

Yes there are aftermarket. They are still more money than it's worth sticking into the A40. I have an A40 and after buying an adapter for filters and lenses I bout a polarizer and vowed not to spend another cent on the camera. My advice to you, upgrade your camera.

[Moppie]

I agree with Conk, there are limits to what you can do with an A40.
I went from an A40 to an A80 after my A40 was stolen.
I wish now I had saved a little more then (when I was able to) and got an S1 or preferably a 300D.

The extra lens' should only be considered if after careful consideration you really have no need for an SLR, but it would be nice to have a little more telephoto, and you arn't sersous enough about photography to wants prints larger than 5x7.
If your serous enough about photograpghy to want extra lens then you will also want to make prints, I thought many months ago I would never want to print any of my photos, after reading to many posts here I did and I now wish I had done it earlier, and that I had more pixels to play with earlier. There is something about the quality of a print that you can't replicate with a computer monitor.
While the A40 takes similar quality photos to my A80, they won't look as good printed at 8x12 or larger.

Also be aware that all the extra lens are not perfect, the telephoto suffers from vigenitting at wide angle, and the wide angle suffers from distortion. But they are after thoughts, and all of them interfer with the use of the viewfinder, flash and AF assist lamp.

The lens might be a cheap way of getting more use out of your camera, but ultimatly I believe you would get better value out of putting the money aside for a 300D or at least the replacement for the S1 (I personaly don't like the S1, it looks to much like an after thought by canon, cobbled together from what ever they could find to fill an empty spot in the market).

The A40 is a fine camera, and very capable, but its showing its age and I don't think some extra lens will over come its inheriant limitions.

[mycanon]

Thanks Conk and Moppie for your responses. They are really helpful. Actually I was thinking whether to upgrade to a better camera or buy these other lenses for the A40. I'm really a novice and trying to be comfortable with digital photography. So I have a bit of hesitation of immediately jumping into buying a really good camera (like the G3 or G5) without having some degree of confidence. However, I get frustrated sometimes about the 2MP and limited optical zoom of the A40. I definitely want to have bigger prints than a 5x7.

So Moppie, how is your A80? I like the swivel LCD feature. How do you think the A80 compare to G3 or the A95?

Thanks again!

[Moppie]

I love the A80, its almost indentical to the A40 in functionality, but has the swivle LCD and 2 more MP. The A95 is the same, with just an extra 1MP over the A80.

Having gone from the A40 to the A80 I can say that there is no differnce in creative control, you get the same range of apature sizes and shutter speeds etc, only the lower ISO figure is useful when shooting in bright sunlight (ISO50, vs the A40s ISO100).
The swivle LCD is a great feature! Iv got some great shots putting the camera in places I would not have thought possible before, it opens up a whole new world of perspectives, but its not enough of a reason to get an A80/A95 over an A40.

Personaly I would go and find a G5, think of it as your A40 with an even bigger, sharper lens, even more creative control, and the ablity to use an external flash. IMO its the only proffesional compact camera on the market and will let you take great photos.
However its similar enough to the A series cameras that you will have no trouble picking it up and getting used it, the functionality is very similar, and you don't have to use its more advanced features untill you are ready.
If your aim is to get a really good camera of G series quality then don't be afraid to jump right in, I wish now I had got the used G3 at the store I got my A80 from, instead of the A80.
Like you I was worried about getting in over my head, knowing what I know now, I know I would have been steping into familar waters with a G series while having a lot more room to dive at the deep end when I wanted to.

If you can afford it, and you are a really serious don't be afraid to look at a DSLR like the 300D or a used 10D, they are of course a lot more expensive to buy and use and have other limitions like size and weight, but they are a many many times more capable cameras, and if your willing to learn nothing to be scared of.

[mycanon]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info/advice Moppie.

I guess I should start upgrading soon. But the DSLRs are just to expensive for me. Maybe a G3 or G5 because, aside from good reviews on picture quality, they have more optical zoom than A95. Or if there is a 8x optical zoom that will be perfect.

Thanks again.