Growing pains / buyers remorse or just

needing to givemyself time to adjust?

I've shot with my XTi for over a year and love it. Just recently upgraded to a new (to me) 40D. Now I need to sell my XTi to recoup some of the money spent. I can hardly stand to. Perhaps because the 40D is bigger and newer, but I just don't care for it as much, the XTi just seems to fit better in my hands (although it doesn't balance out my zooms as well) but it also seems that in some ways the controls are more of a pain to adjust.

Is that the normal learning curve that comes with a new camera body? I love the capabilities of the 40d, like focus lock, more fps, and higher ISO, but it just doesn't seem as user-intuitive (easy!) as my old rebel.

Anyone else feel this way? I'm not going back b/c I need the fps and ISO, but if it wasn't for sports I don't think I would upgrade, just as a personal preference.

Hey let's swap with my XTi

ashleynaugust wrote in post #6679615
needing to givemyself time to adjust?

I've shot with my XTi for over a year and love it. Just recently upgraded to a new (to me) 40D. Now I need to sell my XTi to recoup some of the money spent. I can hardly stand to. Perhaps because the 40D is bigger and newer, but I just don't care for it as much, the XTi just seems to fit better in my hands (although it doesn't balance out my zooms as well) but it also seems that in some ways the controls are more of a pain to adjust.

Is that the normal learning curve that comes with a new camera body? I love the capabilities of the 40d, like focus lock, more fps, and higher ISO, but it just doesn't seem as user-intuitive (easy!) as my old rebel.

Anyone else feel this way? I'm not going back b/c I need the fps and ISO, but if it wasn't for sports I don't think I would upgrade, just as a personal preference.

yes, the control scheme will take a while to adjust to. If the size/weight is an issue, maybe the rebel is the right body for you, but you have to weight that -vs- the FPS ISO, etc... Menus/controls you'll learn in a week or so I'd guess. And if you think the 40D is bad, don't ever try a 1 series.

ashleynaugust wrote in post #6679615
...
Anyone else feel this way? I'm not going back b/c I need the fps and ISO, but if it wasn't for sports I don't think I would upgrade, just as a personal preference.

Yup. The XTi to 40D was a very disappointing upgrade path. The feel/ergonomics of the 40D and the live view feature, but I was expecting to see some improvement in image quality. THe bump in IQ was so slight that it could only be noticed when pixel peeping %200 or more. But hand in there. As a total package it is a better camera and once you become acustom to the new feel it wont seem so strange.

1. Sell the XTi
2. With the funds you get buy a grip
3. Shoot with the grip for 60-90 days.
4. Resell the grip. At this point the camera will feel much smaller in your hands.

Seriously though, I love the size and convenience of my P&S. If it did everything I needed then I wouldn't have to carry a backpack full of gear.

Such is the nature of the beast.

I went from film slr to 40D in one step. I hardly noticed the change even though the 40d was much heavier than my olympus kit. with far more buttons and whistles.

All cameras, in reality, have few real adjustments. So moving from one to another is just a matter of finding your way around. After 9 months 40D presents the need for very little special thought.

I upgraded from the XTi to 40D, 5D mkII is next in a few months I personally like the feel of the bigger body, but it looks to me like you really like the XTi. My suggestion would be to learn how to make the XTi work for you if you like the size. Get all you can out of that then upgrade when the new model comes out (XSi isnt much upgrade)

Even with sports, you can make the 3 fps work for you. You def cant do the spray and pray method, but you shouldnt shoot like that anyways imo. Time your shots, try to predict where the action is going to take place and get your shots. You have a fast lens, so capturing the action shouldnt be an issue.

I never thought I would give advice to "downgrade" from a 40D to XTi, but it might just be a better camera for you...

When I went up to a 30D from a 350D, I never looked back. Maybe you n eed to stay with the XTi?

I think you just need to get used to it. But it's your call, of course.

Why did you need to upgrade the Xti to the 40D? What were the limits you hit?

I have the feeling the OP upgraded because it was a "newer" and "cooler" body other than it was a limitation problem.

Scott McLoud wrote in post #6680297
Why did you need to upgrade the Xti to the 40D? What were the limits you hit?

I have the feeling the OP upgraded because it was a "newer" and "cooler" body other than it was a limitation problem.

Says it in the OP, FPS and ISO.

gjl711 wrote in post #6680301
Says it in the OP, FPS and ISO.

:o missed that part, old age is really kicking in now lol

I upgraded from an XTi to the 50d like 2 weeks ago. I didn t like the feel of the 50d at 1st beause I was so use to the smaller camera. Now that I know where everything is with out looking at the camera and got use to the bigger body, I love it!

I think you need to learn the camera better and get a feel for it, and you will love the camera because it's a nice step up from the XTi. Don't get me wrong the XTi is still a great camera just not as fast as the 40d/50d, and the ISO above 400 on the XTi sucks IMO.

Huh. I could barely stand to use the XTi anymore after using the 40D for a couple of weeks. Granted I used grips with both, so the size issue didn't really concern me. But I feel relatively lost now when I try to use the XTi and don't have the multi-controller for selecting focus points, etc.

I felt the exact same way when I upgraded from my XTi to a 50D. I was disappointed, felt like I had made a mistake spending so much $$ when my XTi felt better and performed as good (so I thought). I then had two photoshoots where I used my XTi as backup. After shooting both cameras side by side I noticed how much better the 50D was. I wrote a little about it here (my personal site). Give it time, I am confident you will end up LOVING your 40D.