What can I get for £2,000?

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MissyCooper

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Hi :)
I've just joined so apologies if this isn't the right place to put this!
I used to take photos all the time growing up and even won a national competition run by The Times and Canon when I was 17 but since having children I haven't had the time or money to peruse it. My old Canon is a bit rubbish by today's standard - 450d - about 9 years old!

Basically I have been saving up for a decent camera and lens(es) for a while and I currently have £2,000 to play with. I want to take photos of my children and family members mainly location shots - to build a portfolio to hopefully do it professionally one day :)
Seeing as I've been out of the loop for a while now, as I said my last camera I bought was 9 years ago - I'm wondering if anyone can offer any advise! Is 2k enough to get a decent camera to potentially take photos at a professional level or should I keep saving up for now?

Also what camera and lens(es) would people advise for location portraits?
I would prefer to stick to Canon as that is what I know and trust - my 9 year old camera does still work - despite being left out in the rain for 3 days a few months ago - oops - and just generally being man handled by toddlers and thrown in my handbag. (I will look after my shiny new camera - I promise)

Thanks! :)
 
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second hand.
6d
24-70 2.8
100mm or 135mm f2

You can't get a 'pro starter kit' for £2000 unless you want to buy some old gear really carefully. But you should be able to buy some decent kit that'll give some results good enough to build a portfolio, leading to some paid shoots, leading to some more investment, leading to some more paid shoots, leading to some more investment, leading to some more paid shoots, leading to some more investment, leading to some more paid shoots, leading to some more investment, leading to some more paid shoots, leading to some more investment until you have everything you need.
 
I would say a used 5DMkII Full Frame and as Phil said a 24-70 F2.8L along with either a 50mm or 85mm Prime & That will also leave enough for a Decent Canon Flash.
Everyone will have their own opinion, but you will get great results with the above.
 
TBH if you think that your 450D is a "bit rubbish" then you would certainly turn your nose up at my 350D, 40D and 1DMKIIN even though I find them still to be excellent cameras when coupled with a reasonable lens.

And if you think that throwing money at an expensive camera will somehow produce better shots than a lowly camera that is properly used then you are going to be very disappointed no matter what you choose.

Personally I would use your old 450D and purchase the Canon 50mm f1.8 and learn how to use them to produce the best portraits you can and then progress slowly from there.
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Maybe look at a 80d good all rounder and allows the use of crop lenses. Maybe not everyone's choice but to me a great way to restart
 
Go to a shop, and check out the weight/size of the range of cameras, there is a big difference in size/weight from a Canon 450D + Kit Lens and a 5DMkII with 24-70 F2.8 (the shop will have the current equivalents, and may even have many of the models mentioned above s/h) find out what you are comfortable with, this should help in determining whether you are going to go new or s/h. A 5D MkII+24-70 is not a 'lob in handbag' camera!!! If the camera is uncomfortable to hold/carry all day, then you are unlikely to get best use of it, choose something you are comfortable with the handling of.
 
petersmart said:
TBH if you think that your 450D is a "bit rubbish" then you would certainly turn your nose up at my 350D, 40D and 1DMKIIN even though I find them still to be excellent cameras when coupled with a reasonable lens.

And if you think that throwing money at an expensive camera will somehow produce better shots than a lowly camera that is properly used then you are going to be very disappointed no matter what you choose.

Personally I would use your old 450D and purchase the Canon 50mm f1.8 and learn how to use them to produce the best portraits you can and then progress slowly from there.
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Some of this.
The most important piece of eqpt to invest in is definitely your own training. But I think the OP understands that.

And the 450d is inadequate in many ways (some of which the 40d and 1dII aren't).

And the 50mm is a bloody horrible lens on a crop camera. I had my 50mm from film days and in the 12 years I shot APSC digital I probably shot a hundred frames with it.

The 80d is a great camera, but is a lot of money and there's a shortage of a few lenses available IMHO. When I shot Canon crop I missed a decent 35mm equivalent and a 50mm equivalent. They're only really available if you spend big. FF lenses at 35 and 50 are much better catered for.
 
For portraiture on location, good lighting is as important as the camera/lens combination. A proficient photographer could likely produce a superb portrait using your 450D. Consider a simple lighting accessory e.g. Lastolite reflector(s) and a stand(s) /support (s) to use on location with natural light … to modify and optimise the natural light. Consider buying e.g. a Canon 60mm macro lens which can be used as a portrait lens on your 450D. Consider joining a camera club where there might be opportunities for practical portrait sessions. There is prejudice against camera clubs but they offer lots of opportunities to improve your photography. If you're shy about joining, take a friend along with you and sample a few meetings to see if it might be your cuppa. If you're 50 years of age or over consider joining a U3A photography group; U3A has nationwide photographic groups. The advantage of joining a club/society/group is that you will receive feedback for your own work from experienced photographers and also learn techniques from visiting presenters. I've used a 450D for serious work and would happily use it again. Spending £2K on new equipment will likely not improve your imaging.

dunk
 
Personally think that Canon isn't the best choice for the price range you mentioned.

Easy enough to learn how to use a new camera, moved from Canon myself to a lighter system.

If you want a crop sensor Fuji is worth looking at and Sony or Nikon have full frame cameras well within your budget.
 
Phil V said:
And the 50mm is a bloody horrible lens on a crop camera. I had my 50mm from film days and in the 12 years I shot APSC digital I probably shot a hundred frames with it.
Click to expand...

But the OP actually said "I want to take photos of my children and family members mainly location shots", which I took to mean taking shots of them outdoors in which case the 50mm f1.8 would be ideal and at £100.00 brand new is an excellent investment.

Incidentally I have used the 50mm on my 350D for hundreds of indoors shots of kids etc and it is excellent for natural light indoors because from f2.8 onwards it is pin sharp.

Here are a couple of shots to illustrate:

Kid1.jpg kid2.jpg

Both shots taken about 6 years ago on either my 450D or 350D.
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But, you should know really what kit you need for what you want to shoot, and I don't mean shoot your kids :coat:.
 
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I'd highly recommend the Fuji XT-2 kit bundle (18-55mm) and the 35mm f2.0 prime if you need that extra light gathering capability.
 
petersmart said:
What has been mostly forgotten these days is that back in the days of film 50mm was the most common lens on all 35mm cameras (Full Frame) and no one found it to be any problem whatever.
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I used my 50mm loads on film :) great all round focal length.

And in the year since going FF digital, I've used it nearly as much in the preceding 10 years, great general purpose lens.

So if that's what we're suggesting for the OP, then maybe the Canon 35mm f2 or the Sigma 30mm 1.4 to go on the 450d?

However, even though I'm using the 50mm plenty, when it comes to a 'go to' focal length for shooting people, my preference was 135mm on film (or FF digital) and 85mm on crop.
 
i always loved 85mm for 35mm portraits- still do in fact ive got two 135mm in canon fd but much prefer the 85mm. on crop dig i love the 50mm as its close to the ff 85mm
 
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