Upgrade advise needed

[u8myufo]

Just wondered if anybody could give me some advise on a future upgrade. I can go to about £1400 to spend on a secondhand full frame DSLR. Question is which model would give me value for money? If you got any advise on which camera to go for and any things I should be looking out for when buying one then that would be great. I have read many posts about the amount of shots taken on used DSLR, but could somebody give me an example of say if a particular camera had taken 6000 shots, how many shots is it good for? what happens when it reaches a really high number on the counter? and what needs to be done to get it put right? and at what cost? Forgot to mention that I am more than prepared to wait untill after Christmas if need be, hopefully Santa would have satisfied a lot of people and I can bag myself a bargain

 

[StewartR]

Just wondered if anybody could give me some advise on a future upgrade. I can go to about £1400 to spend on a secondhand full frame DSLR. Question is which model would give me value for money?

What do you have already? The one which gives you best value for money is the one which allows you to continue to use all your existing lenses. If you have a Canon, it would be hard to recommend switching to a Nikon unless you have a compelling reason to do so, which doesn't seem to be the case. Ditto vice versa.

I have read many posts about the amount of shots taken on used DSLR, but could somebody give me an example of say if a particular camera had taken 6000 shots, how many shots is it good for? what happens when it reaches a really high number on the counter? and what needs to be done to get it put right?

6000 shots is a very low number for a DSLR. The shutter life expectancy is typically 50-100,000 on even the cheapest models and up to 300,000 on the pro bodies. Nothing magical happens when it hits 100,001 though - the number is just an indicator of the average sort of life expectancy you can expect. (Like life expectancy for people.) When the shutter mechanism dies you just get it replaced.

 

[Android]

If you are a Canon user you could get a brand new 5D body for that amount or less. It's a great camera if you you can keep it from getting too wet!
Andy.

 

[u8myufo]

Sorry for a late response but ive been busy. Ok, yes I have got a 400d, a 50mm 1.8, a 70-200F4L, a 1.4TC MkII, a 580ex flash, and an old but none the less good 35-80 macro. Since posting this I have read with interest a post in which some guy changed from a full frame back to a 450, mentioning something about the crop factor was better. I also read an advert for a full frame used Canon, I cant remember now if it was one of the 1D models or a 5D but the thing about the advert was, in brackets it stated no magnification, am I right in thinking that a cropped sensor is better in some circumstances than others then, as opposed to a full frame? Right so what I was thinking if this was the case, was keep the 400D keep the 70-210, sale the 1.4TC, purchase a 2xTC, and spend the money on something like a used 300mm F4 IS, as I tend to take more pictures of wildllife. Any thoughts would help.

Thanks

 

[Android]

Sorry this is a bit late, this forum is too busy to keep up with!
The crop factor can make a difference as the image on the sensor is only the centre portion of the image coming through the lens: built-in cropping if you like. If your camera has a crop factor of 1.6 then the effect of a 300mm lens is the same as a 480mm lens on a full-frame camera (300 x 1.6). With a full-frame sensor the effect of a 300mm lens is a 300mm lens! So a 300mm lens on your camera (assuming the conversion factor is 1.6) would give you greater 'pulling power'. Sorry I can't really advise on how you mix up you lenses and converters, but I've been told that images with a 2x converter are softer than with the 1.4x.
Hope this is useful (if it makes sense at all).
Andy.

 

[andrewc]

For wildlife and most sports a crop sensor is better.

 

[StewartR]

am I right in thinking that a cropped sensor is better in some circumstances than others then, as opposed to a full frame?

It depends what you want to shoot.

If you're trying to photograph the landscape, full frame is better. If you're trying to photograph a small distant object, cropped sensors are better.

 

[pearce_jj]

The crop factor increases the effective length of the lens
and in doing so, relative to the same shot with a full-frame camera,

• Increases the amount that pictures are 'blown up' when printed, potentially making artifacts like fringing more visible;
• Increases the depth-of-field, since you're using a physically shorter lens; and
• Reduces vignetting of any particular lens, since the darker edges are simply chopped off.

So a shot using an 85mm F1.8 on a 450D would be near identical to 135mm at F2.8 on a 5D, for example. Except of course the 450 would have used a faster shutter speed if the ISO was the same.

Hope that helps.

 

[pxl8]

Increases the amount that pictures are 'blown up' when printed, potentially making artifacts like fringing more visible;
Increases the depth-of-field, since you're using a physically shorter lens; and

The first negates the second. The DoF only increases if you reduce your print size relative to the crop factor.

If you take the same shot with a full frame and then crop and print both at 12x8 then the print from the cropped sensor would have been enlarged by a greater amount blurring the finer details to the same level as the full frame image.

 

[pearce_jj]

seems to be continual debate on this; that's not how the DOF calculator shows it. I'm going to borrow a 450D and do a test

 

[pearce_jj]

Right, got a comparisons between 85mm F1.8 and 135mm F2.8, both wide open, taken at the same point (on a tripod), the 85mm shot then cropped to be near-as-damn-it the same size as the 135mm shot.

85mm F1.8:

135mm F2.8

Also the same shot from a 350D using the 85mm F1.8, unfortunately it missed the focus and I can't be bothered to re-do it now!!

 

[StewartR]

Hey guys, we're getting into angels-and-heads-of-pins territory here. The OP asked a fairly basic question about the advantages and disadvantages of full-frame. No need to confuse him (and me, and yourselves) with stuff like this.

 

[pearce_jj]

For me the shallower DOF of full-frame was the key reason for me having purchased one. On the other hand the longer DOF of a crop body would be key for macro work, which is why the bridge cams are so strong in that department.