EOS 350D owner in major need of upgrade :-D

Looking for advice with purchasing a new dSLR. My current, is a well aged...ancient (in dSLR years) 350D. It has served me well for my past needs, but I now have a new need. I've been out of the loop for so long, that I am not sure what is the smart move for me on the upgrade.

Primary Need: I need to now photograph larger artwork (oil paintings) that my current camera is no longer good enough for (I don't want to stitch). The artwork is currently up to 30" wide and has lots of fine detail, and quite vivid colors spanning ProPhoto RGB color gammut and even exceeding it at times (I only know this from someone who has much more capable equipment).


Secondary Need: Outdoor scene and still life. Only about 10% of secondary need will have (fast) moving objects.

I don't think I'll have much need for state of the art video stuff or GPS or wifi, though I may find I like them :P


Timeliness: I need a camera by April, so new releases is a gamble that I can entertain until April :P


Price: I think 2K is about as high as I can go without getting killed by my wife. Maybe something much less will do well for me, maybe not.

Using current pricing and rebates available and currently available cameras (not sure what is soon to release), these are what I find to be remarkably better than what I currently have :P


6D $2,099.00 (this is pushing it)
7D $1,599.00
5D MII 2,199.00 -400 rebate = $1799
60D $999
4Ti(kit) $1149.00-150 rebate=$999

(prices are from canon website. I recall Canon regulating prices pretty well with authorized dealers, which as far as I recall is importan for warranty)

Current lenses are
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Thinking of maybe getting
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM or ...?

Welcome your thoughts and suggestions

Your prices are a bit high. Are you willing to sell your 17-85? Also, I don't really understand the "larger artwork" comment. The XT certainly can photograph items larger then 30". Also, the new cameras will get you 2 additional bits of color info which results in lots more gradations, but the DR and color gamut is pretty much the same.

Of the cameras you list the 7D is the best of the croppers and the 6D the best of the FFs. The 60D would work just as well but is a bit more limited in it's feature set.

Thanks. The prices were just what was listed on Canon's site. Happy to pay less! :P

I'd sell the 17-85 if it works out favorably in the end. I'm not hugely attached to it.

the 350D is 8MP with max resolution of 3456*2304.
Using the full frame on 30" results in printing maximum of 115 PPI which isn't that great.

To print at say 230ppi for a 30" painting you are going to need double the pixels on each axis which means you would be looking for a 45MP sensor!!! It is going to be expensive so I would recommend either the 5d2 which has a 21 MP sensor or the 6D which is 20MP

If 2k is your max budget a 6D doesn't leave any room for a standard lens as your 17-85 will not be compatible with it. I would suggest a 5D MK II with the savings going to a lens or a 60D/7D with the 60D saving you money and the 7D offering better AF.

Personally I would go with the 7D or the 5D MK II. I like the ergonomics of the larger bodies vs. a 60D even if it is a lot cheaper.

You can find a good 5D mark 2 with decent shutter actuations for a reasonable price, the 5D2 is a great camera.

7D via CLP is $1024
5D2 was about 1500 or so
Assuming you don't mind refurbs.

I recently upgraded from a Canon 30D to a Canon 60D. Never had a chance to open the 60D because my friend sold me his Canon 7D. Big difference from 30D to 7D or 60D.

The 6D by itself is only 1860$ at the moment from B&H (as good to buy from here as it is from the Canon site, with warranty and all, they are an authorized Canon dealer, plus you get some extra goodies), and the 6D+24-105L lens is 2399$. They don't charge you tax unless you live in New York. If you buy the kit, thats pretty much getting a 300-400$ discount off of either the lens or the camera, so a good deal. You could even turn around and sell the lens if you don't want/like it.
And still, the 6D body only is 240$ cheaper from BnH than it is on the Canon site, much more so if the Canon site would charge you tax.
Hope that helps

Any crop canon 18mp will give similar results here as would the 5d2 or 3 or 6d teach other (ff). Would you consider something like the Sony alpha 24mp cameras and required lens such as a77. If you need super res it seems the Nikon d800 is your best option this side of 5000 dollars but its still out of your budget

Thanks all for the feedback. Let me digest it and see what my brain spits out.

Crops have poorer colour differentiation and accuracy/range. Check out DXO mark.

I shot a 350d for several years, then a 7d for 3 now on a 5d2 , I've shot a 6d a lot too (amongst others).

For this work I would suggest a 5d2 and a ef 50mmf2.5 compact macro which is designed for copy work like this.

Using posts here, kenrockwell.com, DPreview, and DxOmark, I have come to the following general conclusion (ignoring video since that isn't important to me).

• The 6D will produce (have the capability to produce) a measurably better picture than all the APS-C censors by a fair margin.
  
• All the APS-C sensor cameras should produce about the same image quality for still life, though a notch down from the FF sensor.
  
• 7D if you shoot fast stuff and desire a touch screen.
  
• T4i if you don't need the durability or all the little convenience features
  
• 60D if you want the T4i with some more features, but not quite all the 7D features nor the magnesium body.
  

Gomer wrote in post #15650079

• The 6D will produce (have the capability to produce) a measurably better picture than all the APS-C censors by a fair margin.
  *** Well, not between ISO 100 and say 1600/3200 unless you dig down to the pixel level. In print the difference is even harder to see until you start to print really big.
  
• All the APS-C sensor cameras should produce about the same image quality for still life, though a notch down from the FF sensor.
  *** again, it depends. The 7D and the 5DII images can be pretty much indistinguishable until you get into the extremes.
  
• 7D if you shoot fast stuff and desire a touch screen.
  ***7D does not have a touch screen. What it does offer over the rest is a world calss AF.
  
• T4i if you don't need the durability or all the little convenience features
  
• 60D if you want the T4i with some more features, but not quite all the 7D features nor the magnesium body.
  

...

Added a few notes.

(sorta talking to myself ....)

Well, I thought my decision was made, but things took a little turn.

More research (a good thing) strongly pointed towards using a macro lens for copy work due to their very flat field/sharp focus/minimal distortion edge-to-edge. I have a 100mm macro, but on a 1.6 crop, the working distance on 30"+ subjects is a bit unwieldy.

So, that leaves me with the conundrum of
1) 7D + DXO Standard ($169)+ EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro = 1884
2) 6D + DXO Elite ($299 grrr) and use already owed EF 100mm f/2.8 USM = $2160

7D option also lets me use my EF-S 18-85, while the 6D leaves me with only the 100 mm and 50 mm (F/1.8) till I save up for another zoom.

Must think more....