Help buying a new camera

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lucyloopy

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michelle
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I currently have a canon 350D which I love it was my first digital camera which I've now had for several years. I have now decided to upgrade it and had set my heart on a canon 50d but am now wondering if I'd do better pushing the budget a little more and going for the 7d, questions are which will give me the best results? I am still very much an amateur but hoping to get better, I am also going to get a software programme like adobe photoshop to start playing more with my photos. I mainly take photos of horses, would like to take photos of birds at the bird table, planes taking off at gatwick and arty type photos of the landscape. I dont have to sell the 350d which I have 2 lenses for, the standard one it came with which I think is an 18 - 75mm and a 75mm to 300mm which I know will fit on the 50d but not sure if they fit on the 7D (need to check that) so which camera would you go for and why? Which lenses would you have as a must have? Any other accessories?

Thank you in advance for you help, as you will see I am new to this site and so far have learnt so much so am looking forward to the help and advice on this and learning more.
 
As both the 50D & 7D have lots of pixels on a cropped sensor they show up any short comings that a lens may have, both you're lens will fit on either camera as both are EFS mounts but the images they produce may be disappointing, you may see a bigger IQ improvement by getting some new glass for your 350D.
 
Michelle, welcome.
My general rule about any upgrade is it go up as far as the budget will allow! Hopefully that will mean the next upgrade is a long way off. I'm sure that most here will tell you (correctly) that the 350D is a very capable camera and you may be better off spending your budget on better quality lenses. However, sometimes you just wanna get a better body and that's that! Both your existing lenses, I assume you mean 18-55 or have you got the 17-85 and the 75-300? will fit either the 50 or 7D's.
Either camera will do all you outline, obviously the 7 has quite a few extra features which I don't intend to list here. Remember that generally the more pixel power you have it's wise to use good quality glass. Your budget will probably be the limiting factor here. Lenses, it's a minefield. I'd recommend the 50mm 1.8 or 1.4. Good for shooting horses indoors! Use what you already have for the rest of your pictures until you can work out just where their limits are. You may find you need more length for bird and planes, or more width in the form of a UWA (ultra wide angle) for landscapes. Be prepared to never be satisfied with what you have! particularly on the lens front. High resolution cameras like the 50D and 7D will quickly show up any weakness in lens sharpness. Remember, PhotoShop is good, but if the image is soft to start with it's unlikely to make it sharp for you.
 
I will agree that you'd better spend the money on a 50D and a better zoom lens for the type of photos you want to take. The 75-300mm just won't cut it I am afraid.

I have both a 7D and a 50D and the difference in the AF is what matters for me BUT you won't notice it with the slow AF of the 75-300 anyway!
 
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