40D or...full frame?

Hello,

I am new to this forum and am about to pick up my old hobby again after allmost 15 years.....last camera was an EOS 600.

I have read up alot about the digital slrs, including software and post image editing and it's quite interesting to say the least!

I am thinking of getting a 40D, but I am still in doubt about getting a full frame camera. I would like to ask what the real practical advantages are of a full frame camera?

If I should get a full frame then would it be best to wait for the successor of the 5D?
I want to start with the 24-105mm f4.0 L IS USM lens which will cover most of the kind of shooting I will do. Thanks.

If you take oic's of people go 5d if you do anything moving quickly 40d And that's just an opion

Soon this will not even be a valid question.

Dooku wrote in post #4825009
I would like to ask what the real practical advantages are of a full frame camera?

If I should get a full frame then would it be best to wait for the successor of the 5D?

The main full frame advantages are:

- Larger, better seperated pixels for any given Mp amount, this gives better image quality, lower noise etc.

- Better depth of field control. Larger sensors have inherently shallower DOF, so are ideal for separating subject from distracting backgrounds, picking one point of the image out to be the focus of attention etc.

- Wide angles are truly wide, so a 10-20mm is a real ultrawide, not the equivalent of 16-32mm. If you are starting with a 24-105L, this will be very noticeable as 24mm is much wider than 38.5mm equivalent.

- Larger brighter viewfinder, making composition, manual focusing, DOF preview, etc., easier.

This all makes the 5D a pleasure to use and it is a fantastic camera for most situations and easily superior to a crop camera for portraits, landscapes etc.

On the other hand, the 40D will be a better fast action camera, with it's much higher frames per second capability. It also has the advantage in bird photography etc., where the higher pixel density becomes an advantage as more pixels cover the subject, thus giving more 'reach' when the subject only fills a part of the frame, effectively giving you a longer lens.

I can't recommend one over the other, as you haven't said what you actually intend to shoot with your new camera and that is critical. You should decide what features are important to you and see which fills those needs most closely. Many photographers on here have both a full frame and a crop body, using whichever is best for the job in hand. I am one of these, having a 20D and a 5D. I aim to replace the 20D with a 40D, when it eventually dies (it's got about 80,000 on the clock so will probably fall off it's perch sometime this year).

As for waiting for a new 5D, you need to decide if (a) you really want full frame, but the current 5D just doesn't meet your needs (b) you think the new 5D will meet them (higher fps rate for example) and (c) you are prepared to wait the best part of a year before you actually buy the camera (and it will cost a lot more than the current one). The next new camera announcement is due in september and they will then take a little while to get into the stores and there will be a very long waiting list for one, so if you don't have it pre-ordered well in advance .....

If you want to get back into it for this summer, you will need to buy a current 5D if you want full frame, or a crop camera if that is what you choose. I don't know how your budget is, but if you decide you want to wait for the new 5D, but shoot now, you could buy a 40D to use until then, either selling it or keeping it as a second body when the 5DII is released (which would give the best of both worlds). Alternatively, you could get up and running cheaply with a used 20D / 30D body for this year, which would then get most of it's money back if you sell it at the end of the year, or be a cheap second body.

There isn't a lot of difference between a 20D and a 30D, but the 40D is a definite step up in terms of specification. My old 20D is still capable of turning in excellent quality results however.

I hope some of this rambling helps your decision making process in some way.

Oh, and welcome to POTN

Please don't take this the wrong way, but maybe I wasn't very clear with my post, or I have just become a member of the wrong forum? Who know's?

I just wonder why one would take the time to reply with a few words that are totaly not helpfull...then why bother at all?

Or my post is just to drab for most members. Anyway, I want to thank you for the reply.

...ok, I will eat my words from my previous post, THANK YOU SANDPIPER!!

Dooku wrote in post #4825502
...ok, I will eat my words from my previous post, THANK YOU SANDPIPER!!

No problem.

You have definitely found the right forum, it is (usually!) pretty friendly around here and, although you might get a couple of pointless replies to questions sometimes, you will generally also get some real help too.

After readig your post Sandpiper, I defnitely want a full frame. But I simply do not want to wait that long and will buy the 40D........and the get the new "5DmarkII" or whatever it will be called when it get's out.
I am making a list now for everything I need from lens to filter, monopod, bag etc...etc... and compare at several webshops....

For landscapes, portraits and snapshots etc. I prefer the 5D. The larger sensor offers better IQ (even over the 2.5 year newer 40D) for these types of things.

I'd really only go for the 40D if you are inclined to shoot a lot of the following:
Wildlife at a distance
Fast action sports
Macro (for the live view).

One nice thing coming in fresh for going to the 5D is that you can arrange your lens line from the start for the larger sensor. Later if an updated 5D is announced you can take it or leave it for the features without having to include the effort of buying and selling a number of lenses at the same time.

It's pretty much an exercise in frustration to create a lens set that will be FF compatible in the future while being anywhere close to optimal on a 40D now.

Are you in Canada by any chance? If you DEFINITELY want full frame, then you can get a 5D new for about C$1740 after rebates, which isn't too much of a stretch above a 40D.

Good choice

Dooku wrote in post #4825598
After readig your post Sandpiper, I defnitely want a full frame. But I simply do not want to wait that long and will buy the 40D........and the get the new "5DmarkII" or whatever it will be called when it get's out.
I am making a list now for everything I need from lens to filter, monopod, bag etc...etc... and compare at several webshops....

Yeah, it can cost a bit to get the gear together. The bright side is that once you have your kit you can shoot very cheaply, no film to buy, so you are likely to get out and shoot far more often with digital.

I was in your situation, lapsed photographer who hadn't done much for a number of years. Primarily because I was doing a shoot, maybe spending the thick end of a hundred quid on film and processing for one days shooting, then looking at the results weeding out the rubbish etc., then they just got stuck in a drawer and nobody saw them. It all got to seem quite pointless, for the money it was costing. Now, I can shoot all day for pennies, put the results onto internet sites where they can be seen and commented on by many other photographers and my hobby has soared to new heights. The cameras come out very frequently now and get heavily used. My old film cameras (the old FD Canon system, pre EOS) just sit in a corner feeling unloved.

Digital editing is a double-edged sword as it can take up quite a lot of time if you really get into it, but can also transform your results in a way that couldn't be done with film. Of course, you can just shoot jpeg and use the results straight from the camera, if you don't have much time for editing, but that doesn't get the best from the images (although still perfectly acceptable for many people, of course).

Anyway, I am sure that the digital revolution will revitalise your photography, just as it did mine.

Coming from 20+ years of film, I found ff more natural feeling in that it reproduces more true to what I expected. That's not terribly 'logical' as your question requires, but it's true for me. (I did have the XT and a 30D and sold it to fund the 5D). Now I don't shoot sports so that's a consideration--in that I don't need the rapid, continual bursts. 5D may be 2 years old or whatever, but it is still a wonderful piece of equipment. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the 5D now rather than waiting for a successor. The 24-105 would be excellent on the 5D. I like primes myself but if I were to choose a zoom, this is the one I'd go with again.

Anyway--what I'm trying to say is that I hesitated going digital. When I did, I went with the XT a number of years ago and thought it was very exciting--lots of new things to do with a camera etc. Took me awhile to just shoot and not hold back (film costs and processing for non B&W which I did myself). Then when I knew I was staying with digital, I bought the 30D. Had it for about 6 weeks then tried a 5D and it was like goin' home Quickly sold the 30D on this forum and didn't lose much (that's a consideration if you make a choice then change your mind).

Welcome to the forums and best of luck in your digital choices

Nan

I definitely want to get into FF (for many of the reasons stated above).

Even so I see my next camera body being a 1D Classic (1.3x vs FF's 1.0) because I just love the crispness of the CCD sensor (vs today's CMOS sensors) and everyones raves about its 'tankness'. Can't beat the weather sealing and 8fps (when you want it) either!

I'm looking to mate it with a 24-70L f2.8 (to start).


I mention this only because we still don't know your target capture-wise and thought it could be an option for you.




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If you are sure that you want full frame, the current 5D is still well worth considering (as many above are pointing out). It may be a two and a half year old design (which seems pretty prehistoric in digital turnaround terms) but it is still selling by the boatload, despite the prospect of a new one towards the end of the year.

The reason it hasn't been updated is because it is still a damn good camera and that means it is still the prime choice for many buyers. It won't start taking poor pictures just because a new one comes out in the future. As Canon have covered all the development costs long since, it is now available at a bargain price and the new one will be much more expensive.

I haven't been worrying about when a new 5D will be released, because I am so happy with the current one I have no desire to upgrade it.

There is another thread started on here today, discussing the merits of buying the current one today rather than waiting. It may be of interest to you, so here is the link:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=445818