Just about to buy a 40D

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andy182

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I have a 500D at the moment and hardly ever use the video mode and looking to move up in the camera world. Before I confirm the deal to buy the 40D, do you guys think it is a step up from the 500D or am I best off keeping the 500D for now? :help:
 
You might either love or hate the extra bulk and weight, really might be a good idea to go handle a 50D (nearly the same body) in a shop or the 40D if you can before committing.

If you use live view a lot the screen on the 500D is far better clarity wise so another possible deal breaker

The 40D has a much faster frame rate and personally think the controls are easier to use too

No one can say what you should do, only you can know what you want from a camera, Picture quality will be very similar so all comes down to handling and size/weight along with the metal versus plastic body

One last thing you will also need new memory cards so budget for them as well
 
Unless you vastly prefer the handling of the xxD series or find that they offer some vital feature that you can't live without I'd say stick with what you have and if you must buy something because you have money burning a hole in your pocket look at lenses or a train ticket to somewhere really photogenic.
 
Do you shoot fast moving sports or wildlife?

If not, I think you're better off keeping the 500D and buying lenses.

The 40D is faster, more solid and will handle better, but unless you bash your camera around or shoot fast stuff where you need the fastest possible operation and shooting speed, the 500D will do everything you need and it's smaller and lighter.
 
Andy

Looking at the spec of the two, what is it that you are wanting from the 40D that the 500D doesn't give you?

The 40D is 60% heavier (which can make it feel more substantial in your hand) and does go up to 1/8000 shutter speed compared to the 500D's 1/4000.

Other than that I think it is perosnal choice and which one feels right for you?
 
This is purely a personal opinion,but I think 10-12mp is about right for the crop sensor and find that objects such as distant trees retain more detail.

The higher pixel count seems to need higher quality lenses to make the most of them and even then I prefer the lower density count for quality on an A4 print
 
Of course theres the better noise handling at higher ISO's to take into account as well, here the 500D out performs the 40D, but the 50D is better
 
iancandler said:
Of course theres the better noise handling at higher ISO's to take into account as well, here the 500D out performs the 40D, but the 50D is better
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. 500D has similar sensor to 50D... 50D vs 40D is a more complicated comparison. IF 50D image is resized down to 10MP, there may be a slight noise advantage, but not at their native file sizes (ISO3200 is a notable exception to the 50D advantage, due to clever noise reduction). The rest is marketing.

But then 40/50D at least feels like a proper camera, and the viewfinder is large enough to be actually useful.
 
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