Body or Glass...

L

leezer3

Messages
51
Edit My Images
No
OK, so I've come to the point where at this point I'm trying to decide between a newer body and a replacement lens :)
Input on this would be appreciated:

Current body is a 400D. Nothing fundamentally wrong with it, everything works; There's just a few things I'd like to change:
* Not quite heavy enough.
* No spot metering by default. (I have 400 plus, so it's available just a slight PITA)
* No live view.
The appropriate replacement seems to me to be a second-hand lowish shutter count 50D or a higher shutter count secondhand 60D.

On the other side of the equation, I've had my eye on a Tokina 12-24 for about 6 months. This would replace the kit 18-55 that does wide angle duty currently.
Again, there's nothing wrong with the 18-55 per-se, I'm just constantly finding it's not quite as wide as I'd like in an ideal world.

Other lenses:
Olympus OM 50mm F1.8 & adaptor
(Spare Canon 28-105, lens creep and a nasty wobble)
Canon 28-135mm
Canon 75-300mm (Next on the list, but it's the least used I've got)

As I say, I can't decide between the two.
Live view would be very useful in some tripod work, but on the flip side I could probably add weight with a battery grip.
New glass on the other hand is very tempting, but the 18-55 only really gets used about 20% of the time, and the width isn't a show-stopper....
At a guess, the Tokina would work out about £50 more when getting rid of the old kit is taken into account.
 
If you're generally happy with the 400D, how about a 40D? - addresses all three issues you raise and isn't going to set you back a lot. It would leave you something back towards the lens.
 
wide angles are fun, and ive never not had live view so im used to it.
you can probably get a sigma 10-20 or a tamron 10-24 cheaper than tokina, not quite as good, but wider.
and a second hand 75 to something second hand should be cheap
 
Your current body will benefit far more from new and better lenses than your current lenses will benefit from a new body.

Unless there is something fundamentally wrong with your old body spend money on better glass.
 
+1 I went from a d3100 to a d7000 nikon and there is no noticeable difference in IQ. Ok, I got more functions and a few other things but I'd have done better spending the money on glass
 
Good lenses are usually a far better investment, and will give a much more visible improvement in IQ, unless your camera really can't cope with what you're asking it to do. Two things that spring to mind are high ISO and focus performance.
 
To note, I'm not actually looking for a IQ improvement with either option ;)
Both options are rather trying to resolve persistant niggles with the current gear.

Lens wise, I've considered the Sigma & Canon 10-20 options and discounted both as they leave an 8mm gap in the middle of the lens lineup. IMHO 4mm can be covered by cropping, but I start to get antsy the more I crop.
Don't much like the Tamron 10-24 from the reviews I can find either.

WRT to 40D's, I've considered them too.
There's I think a very slight improvement between the models, and there's a definite advantage to the 50D being a generation newer. Whether it's worth the extra I'm not sure.... Almost tempted to buy a high milage 40D :s
 
Unless a fresh body will solve real problems, your money is almost certainly better spent on lenses. Might be worth thinking whether you have any plans to go FF in the future and maybe making different lens choices if a move might be on the cards. FWIW, the Sigma 12-24 is FF compatible (and extremely wide on FF!) and is very well corrected as far as distortions go, although its width does mean that perspective is exaggerated!
 
If those are your issues with body then no. I had a similar situation a while back, although for me it was noise that was the issue.

Going from a 500D to 6D was well worth it.

But if you're not limited by noise performance then yeah, more glass.

Although a 40D no longer costs loads of money so a 40D and new lenses sounds like a good idea. 450D will easily cover a significant amount of the cost of the 40D.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top