40D vs 50D

I'm not making this thread so people will try to tell me to look up reviews. I've read almost 100% of reputable sites that I could ; so I don't need reviews friends, I need to be told by people who have held and used them.

I'm currently saving for a 50D kit, that comes with the 28-135mm USM. (So around 1200$ from Adorama). I've been lurking in many many threads in which I see more recommendations for the 40D, instead of the 50D; why?

What I would like, if you could please, is make a small list of Pros, and then Cons, and then your own personal final word. I don't care what website said this, and who said that, I would like YOUR OWN personal opinion of which one I should get.

40D
pros: cheaper

50D
cons: no real upgrade besides more pixels ( that i can call useful )

the specs between the two are very similar, in fact, not quite sure why canon would release a 50D

heres my recommendation, id buy the 40D BODY, and take whatever cash you have left and invest in some real glass, check out fredmiranda.com and read reviews on glass, as well as the lenses section here on potn

i believe better glass will have more of an effect on your images than a 50D from a 40D

Better Glass: Yeah, i know, but I'd like to get above super ultra entry level with zero FPS.

Syntaxxor wrote in post #10647482
Better Glass: Yeah, i know, but I'd like to get above super ultra entry level with zero FPS.

hence..

Fureinku wrote in post #10647466
heres my recommendation, id buy the 40D BODY

Well, I got a 50D a few months ago, and so far no complaints. Everything works great. I really REALLY love it actually. In my opinion, shots at high ISOs turn out great. The size on the body itself is not too big, not too small, not too heavy. However, I think it is similar in most regards to the 40D. A friend has the 40D, I think it has two noticeable upgrades in important areas: the 50D performs better at high ISOs than the 40D does, and the 50D has better/faster autofocus.

Fureinku wrote in post #10647466
40D
pros: cheaper

50D
cons: no real upgrade besides more pixels ( that i can call useful )

the specs between the two are very similar, in fact, not quite sure why canon would release a 50D

heres my recommendation, id buy the 40D BODY, and take whatever cash you have left and invest in some real glass, check out fredmiranda.com and read reviews on glass, as well as the lenses section here on potn

i believe better glass will have more of an effect on your images than a 50D from a 40D

While I agree on your basic premise that it would be better for the OP to buy the 40D and get better glass, your comparison misses some advantages of the 50D:

Microadjust focus
Much better LCD

If either of these are important, then you need to consider the 50D. If not, then certainly the 40D is better.

Even though the 40D/50D is only a back-up for me, I upgraded for the microadjust with my 100 F/2. (Plus I was able to make a change for very few $$.

Syntaxxor wrote in post #10647433
I'm not making this thread so people will try to tell me to look up reviews. I've read almost 100% of reputable sites that I could ; so I don't need reviews friends, I need to be told by people who have held and used them.

I'm currently saving for a 50D kit, that comes with the 23-135mm USM. (So around 1200$ from Adorama). I've been lurking in many many threads in which I see more recommendations for the 40D, instead of the 50D; why?

What I would like, if you could please, is make a small list of Pros, and then Cons, and then your own personal final word. I don't care what website said this, and who said that, I would like YOUR OWN personal opinion of which one I should get.

I don't know much about the 40D but here's what I like most about my 50D:

- comfortable to use/hold, great ergonomics.
- superb AF and very customizable.
- lens micro-adjust is critical for making the most of your lens/focus.
- best lcd I've seen on a camera (great for chimping).
- very much enhanced performance with a quality lens (I use 50D + 24-105L and this is a fantastic combo).
- versatile, handles every situation with ease and can be adjusted quickly for changing shooting conditions - helps my confidence as an amateur photographer.

So, my personal opinion is of course to go with the 50D! Why? That's what I did!

Syntaxxor, if you've read all the reviews you know the pros and cons. The trick is to understand which ones matter to you.

I did the research and decided on a 50D because I wanted micro adjust option and a better weather sealed body. After using the 50D for a while I (1) never used it in bad weather and (2) never tried to microadjust a lens. I saw an interesting trade for a 40D and jumped on it.

The 40D is a fine camera. I can't say it takes a different photo vs the 50D in any way (MPs not withstanding). The differences are all about features, not image quality. What I soon found out, however, is the 40D lacked an info screen on the back LCD that I really came to like on the 50D. Not a deal-breaking difference really, but when I saw a great deal on a used 50D I jumped back to it and sold the 40D.

What you need to figure out is what, if any, features might be important to you on the 50 vs the 40. I don't know how to offer that insight. If none of the "upgrades"' seem like a big deal to you then I'd recommend starting with the 40D. I'd also recommend buying used. There are almost always several 40 and 50Ds on here for sale. Wait for a good deal on a 40, use it for six months and determine if it is right for you. If not you can plan an upgrade without taking the depreciation hit on buying new.

If you aren't in love with liveview, just get a 30D and spend the rest on glass. That is what I did last year when I was in the same boat (I had an XS, too). IQ is the same as my XS and everything else is better. It's pretty much an even trade for the XS price wise.

Just for my point of reference I'm upgrading from an XS.

So, between the 40D and the 50D, even if the 40D doesn't have it, it's probably still better than anything on the XS

I have both the 40D and 50D. I'm thinking of selling the 50D. Although it's higher resolution, there doesn't seem to be any more detail in the larger 50D files. It just eats up hard drive space without giving me much benefit.

This is what I like about the 50D over the 40D:
-More choices for RAW sizes like 7mp. Although the file sizes don't shrink down proportionately, they do shrink. Canon puts the full resolution jpeg embedded inside the file I believe.
-AF points visible during live view. This is useful when quick focusing in Live view.
-Lens Microadjustments

That's about it. I don't find the high ISO any better, the LOW ISO is worse than the 40D's, I really don't think the LCD screen is that much better (the problem with the 40D isn't the screen, it's the low res thumbnail canon uses in the 40D for previewing). There's not much in it for me over the 40D, plus I like the 40D RAW files better. So I'm probably going to drop the 50D from my gear list.

Definitely starting to lean towards a refurbed 40D.....


I don't plan on using liveview, almost at all. I'm at work so I can't really grab my photo's, but my "style" or rather shots I've taken can be found here.
xerophaze.deviantart.c​om
(If it helps you make suggestions for me)

Syntaxxor wrote in post #10647686
Definitely starting to lean towards a refurbed 40D.....


I don't plan on using liveview, almost at all. I'm at work so I can't really grab my photo's, but my "style" or rather shots I've taken can be found here.
xerophaze.deviantart.c​om
(If it helps you make suggestions for me)

The 40D is a great camera. I have about 12K shots on mine and I expect to use it for many more.

But, IMHO, my 50D is a better camera and I have about 15K shots on it. I pick it when I need more detail (macro) and for low light situations. I find its noise at high ISOs easier to deal with than that from my 40D. For indoor shooting I have no qualms at using ISO 3200. Also, the AF of my 50D seems to be more accurate than that of my 40D. Contrary to many others' opinions, I found the 50D to be a great upgrade from the 40D.

I've had my 50D for a few months. Never had 40D but this is my hands on pros.
Micro-adjustment, never heard of it, didn't know I had it, made a world of difference once I knew what and how to use it, with the 28-135 kit lens the minor adjustements made it as perfect as possible. LCD, easy to see in bright day light. Didn't plan an using Live view. Well, one family reunion later, set up on a tri-pod, everyone else found it perfect so I could be in the shots, with good results. That's my acutal use on the 50D, I was able to get the camera and the kit 28-135 lens for right around $1000 at a local brick and mortar. I love this camera and don't regret for one minute purchasing it.

I agree with most of what has been posted above. I recently picked up a second body and chose the 40D over getting a 50D. My reasoning was that the 40D had everything that I needed and the ugrade wasn't worth the extra cost for my uses. 10MP is generally enough for me (although I just started birding and wouldn't mind the 15MP for that...) I also think that the LCD is fine, but I've learned not to zoom in on preview because you can't tell if it's sharp. I use the LCD for histogram and to check composition mostly anyway. I think that live view is fine on the 40D, even with the inferior screen. I always use manual on LV, so I don't need the focus points on the screen anyway. I would like to have micro-adjustment because I use Sigma lenses, but I've managed to have my 70-200 calibrated and it works great now without MA.

There is just something that I really like about the files the 40D produces. I haven't had a whole lot of chance to use other bodies, but I'm doubtful that I will get a lot of improvement other than high ISO noise and more limited dof. The files also seem to have a lot of dynamic range for a crop cam and I have found them to have quite a bit of flexibility to bring down highlights in post. The arch nemesis of the body is pushing exposure IMO. Anytime that I try to bring up the shadows at high ISO's it results in a lot of noise. This seems to be a general problem with crop cams anyway, so I doubt the 40D is much worse than anything else.