HELP ME--NEED EXPERT ADVICE---CANON 40D VS. 450D??

I really hope someone out there can help me. I'm in a real dilemma there a several parts to this so i hope i explain myself well enough, this is quite a long post so if you don't want to bother yourself with the trivia best to click out now!!

First of all I am looking for a camera to best service my needs. I want to start into professional photography as a career most of my experience is with film SLR and Studio Photography but I am fully converted to Digital this being my first Digital SLR purchase. However I consider myself some what intelligent so it does not necessarily have to be entry level...Just want more bang for my back!!

The type of Photography: Wedding /Portraits eventuating into Commercial, Event, Model/Fashion and then Studio once the income starts to flow. As a hobby landscapes and Still life.

But for now people intrigue me so thats where I would like to start.


I have 4 EF lenses already from my Film SLR. they are as follows:
55mm /f 1.8
28-80mm
70-210mm /f 4
90-300mm/f 4.5-5.6

Are these lenses going to work well with Digital SLRs. I understand it will take me a lot to learn to use them with a Digital SLR.

Or am I best to get new lenses for the type of photography

i plan to do?

If these lenses I already own are good enough. Which lens suits which type of photography... Yes starting from scratch here


a) 40D vs 450D?
Here is New Zealand the 40D is more expensive than the 450D.

For the money i pay which is going to service my needs in the long term?? The price difference isn't really the issue, however if the 450D is just as good if not better than I 'd go for that simply because of PRICE. And spend the saving on lenses, or a flash unit or extra accessories I'll need.

please help me!!!!

From a recent Luminous Landscape review of the Xsi, written by someone who regularly uses high-end medium format digital equipment:

"...image quality (at least within its ISO range) is on a par with anything else on the market, and better than most in this price range."

If the lenses are FD mount they won't work. If they're EF/AF mount, they should.

I would argue that the XSi would get slightly more out of a studio portrait shoot in terms of raw detail because the images are higher resolution and contain more detail than 40D images. For anything that requires capturing action, the 1D series or the 40D would probably serve much better, because they have bigger buffers, better autofocus systems, and faster burst modes.

You won't see much difference in terms of image quality between the 40D and 450D, either way.
If it's just for portraits, I would say that the 450D is more than enough. I had the 350D before, and if it had just been for portraits, I would have kept it.
I don't know whether you have a flash synchro connector on the 450D. You have one on the 40D and this helps for studio shootings.
Last point : try and hold them in your hands before buying. I hated the size of the 350D / 450D. I love that of the 40D.

You didn't mention this as an alternative, possibly because of the cost. But you're used to shooting film so it may be just the thing you're looking for: the 5D.

Right now it's quite a bargain for what you get. Body only for around $1800, or body plus the excellent 24-105L lens for about $2600 (U.S. dollars. Don't know what they go for in New Zealand). The lens covers a range that your current lenses already cover so you may be best served by just the body alone, but as I said, the 24-105L is quite an excellent lens (and I suppose you could sell it if you decide you don't need it).

The reason I mention the 5D is that it's a full-frame camera, so the lenses you have now will work exactly like they work on your film cameras. On top of that, the 5D's image quality is stellar. And finally, the 5D is best suited precisely for the types of shooting you mentioned you'd be most interested in: weddings, portraits and landscapes.

The thing I'm least sure of is precisely how compatible your lenses will be with the 5D, but that said, I really don't expect you to have any problems as long as they're Canon lenses.

Just food for thought...