50D to 80D - Philosophical question

Hey guys

I was wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation.

I've been using the 50D exclusively for the last 9 years and never felt the camera to be limiting in any way. There was never a case where I thought "oh I wish my camera had this x feature".

So my question is, what's the point of upgrading? Has anybody else been in a similar situation and ended up upgrading anyways to find an ah-ha moment where you're like "Ohhh this camera is so much better than previous one".


Edit: I looked in the 1DX Mk ii thread which is a $6000 camera. The 50D can do the exact same thing....what gives?

mikehookipa wrote in post #18598747
Hey guys

Edit: I looked in the 1DX Mk ii thread which is a $6000 camera. The 50D can do the exact same thing....what gives?

Really? I am not sure if you are trolling or not, but I will bite.

I have never owned a 50d, but I doubt very seriously it could have captured the following 2 images at 10,000 and 8,000 ISO.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/22Zw​Qcs

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/24Ew​uP1

We all know the 50d can't pull off 16fps. The keeper rate on the 1dx2 is also top notch, it doesn't miss.

mikehookipa wrote in post #18598747
Hey guys

I was wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation.

I've been using the 50D exclusively for the last 9 years and never felt the camera to be limiting in any way. There was never a case where I thought "oh I wish my camera had this x feature".

So my question is, what's the point of upgrading? Has anybody else been in a similar situation and ended up upgrading anyways to find an ah-ha moment where you're like "Ohhh this camera is so much better than previous one".


Edit: I looked in the 1DX Mk ii thread which is a $6000 camera. The 50D can do the exact same thing....what gives?

It's funny that you use the 50D as your example.

I, too, used a 50D as my primary body for a few years. . When I upgraded to a 1D Mark 4, I was suddenly able to get so many more photos than I ever got with the 50D!

The 1D4 has given me a huge crapton of real-life advantages over what the 50D gave me - advantages that result in getting a lot of photos that I didn't get with the 50D.

The 10 frames per second means that I get more quality frames of running deer and flying birds - more frames with the legs or wings in favorable positions. . It also minimizes my odds of getting the "perfect pose" at a moment when the bird's eye membrane closes, or when the deer's tongue flicks out for an instant.

With the 1D4, I can shoot at 1600 ISO and get even less grain that I got with the 50D at just 400 ISO. . So I can get many more quality photos of animals in motion on heavily overcast days with very low amounts of light.

The autofocus on the 1D4 is much more capable and allows me to lock into perfect focus at times when the 50D would just fail to lock in. . Plus, the autofocus points cover a much greater area of the frame, and I often have an AF point exactly where I want one, so that I don't have to miss shots because I wasted time focusing and recomposing.

The batteries on the 1D4 last all day, whereas with the 50D I would have to keep a spare battery or two in my pants pocket because they would go dead on me in the middle of shooting on a regular basis.

The 1D4 has roughly 30% more pixels, which really makes a difference in quality when I print big, at sizes of 24 by 36 or 40 by 28 or thereabouts.

If you never find your 50D limiting in any way, then it is the right camera for whatever types of photography you do. . But for what I do, the 50D was very limiting. . Heck, even my 1D4 is quite limiting, and I really look forward to replacing it with something more capable in the near future.

By the way, there are many, many things that the 1Dx Mark 2 can do that the 50D cannot do. . Your claim to the contrary seems ludicrous to me. . Perhaps you can further explain what you mean by your statement.

.

mikehookipa wrote in post #18598747
Hey guys

I was wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation.

I've been using the 50D exclusively for the last 9 years and never felt the camera to be limiting in any way. There was never a case where I thought "oh I wish my camera had this x feature".

So my question is, what's the point of upgrading? Has anybody else been in a similar situation and ended up upgrading anyways to find an ah-ha moment where you're like "Ohhh this camera is so much better than previous one".


Edit: I looked in the 1DX Mk ii thread which is a $6000 camera. The 50D can do the exact same thing....what gives?

Just use your phone camera.

mikehookipa wrote in post #18598747
Edit: I looked in the 1DX Mk ii thread which is a $6000 camera. The 50D can do the exact same thing....what gives?

Compared to the 1DXII, the 50D is literally a potato

kmilo wrote in post #18598789
Compared to the 1DXII, the 50D is literally a potato

Literally? You either don't know what a potato is or you don't know what "literally" means.

Archibald wrote in post #18598791
Literally? You either don't know what a potato is or you don't know what "literally" means.

hyperbole

Let's take it easy. When I got my first SLR years ago, and it was a Rebel XSi (450D), I thought that I would never need anything better than that. I learned a lot from POTN members over the years, everybody was so nice to me even when I was asking stupid questions. Let's give the OP the benefits of the doubt, assume that the questions are sincere and not just trolling, and help the guy.

Lbsimon wrote in post #18598814
Let's take it easy. When I got my first SLR years ago, and it was a Rebel XSi (450D), I thought that I would never need anything better than that. I learned a lot from POTN members over the years, everybody was so nice to me even when I was asking stupid questions. Let's give the OP the benefits of the doubt, assume that the questions are sincere and not just trolling, and help the guy.

So true. The kitting forum I'm part of gets many inquiries such as these. Same old thing from some people, they're just sticks. Sure it makes me cringe some days. Try to do gusset stitches or a Kitchener Stitch with a cheap pair of Walmart sticks and we'll see what you're really made of. **Insert Mic drop here** BOOM!

Oh awesome thanks for the responses. Those football photos look great.

Tim & Tom offered some real insight. Basically ISO and FPS. Makes a lot of sense now.

I don't do sports or high-motion photography so I guess that's why the 50D isn't limiting. My photo style is more art/creative as opposed to technical/accurate.

Should I upgrade to the 80D? What am I getting exactly? I don't need ISO performance or higher FPS.

It all depends on your needs. Why buy an 80D or whatever and not use its features?

As others have pointed out, we all start as beginners. We should respect the needs of beginners and be helpful to them.

But the beginner asking the question should at least provide some info on what his requirements are. It all goes back to requirements.

So thanks for the tip that you don't do sport. Maybe your 50D isn't limiting you. It's been said here often that many of us have way more camera than we need. We buy an expensive full frame camera and only post the photos to social media. Your monitor is most likely around 2 megapixels. Why buy a 20 megapixel camera to display pics on a 2 mp screen?

Early on in my digital camera adventure I had a Canon XT. A short time later I bought the 40D. The 40D was more expensive and a way more solid camera and felt better in the hand, but really, the two cameras took pictures that looked the same. Occasionally I would hear comments like "of course the 40D is a way better camera." I knew that, it cost more, but I really did not know why.

The reason is that I had not learned about the features of the 40D yet, and was using it the same as the XT. I didn't really need the additional features either, at that time.

Today I shoot a 7D2 and could never go back to those older cameras. That is because I developed needs that came from the kind of shooting I did, and have learned a ton about how to use the camera to advantage. I shoot a lot of birds, including birds in flight. For that, you need a topflight autofocus system and a high frame rate. That's what the 7D2 offers, and I use those features all the time.

So consider what you need in a camera. Consider what you might need now and in the near future, what you might want to shoot and learn about. Everybody is different. If all you need is the features that the 50D has, you are done.

On the othe hand, maybe the OP asks these questions to try to justify a new camera. Who knows? My take on it is that if you want a new camera, and can afford it - just go ahead, get it, and enjoy your new toy!

Lbsimon wrote in post #18599070
On the othe hand, maybe the OP asks these questions to try to justify a new camera. Who knows? My take on it is that if you want a new camera, and can afford it - just go ahead, get it, and enjoy your new toy!

Getting a new camera is exciting, it is fun to talk about it, and it is fun to talk about it on a forum. Maybe you're right about the OP. Everybody is different, we all have different reasons for buying new stuff. And some of us don't want a new camera and just marvel at others who load up with unnecessary gadgetry.

You shouldn't upgrade just for the sake of it, I'd put money into better lenses first, if you haven't tried any L ones yet.

You can literally buy another 50D for the price of replacing the shutter, so when yours wears out go for another one.

That said, a refurb 80D from canon would be a very nice upgrade, and you might start using features you never had before.. never know.