Canon Upgrade?

Greetings,

Thanks to ALL who are replying to my recent Mini-Photo Survey.

I have a much better “picture” (oops!) of what you guys are using in the field. And it seems a lot of you are Canon-types … as I am!

Wel-l-l-l-l-l-l … I’m s-t-a-r-t-i-n-g to think about upgrading my amateur-level Canon inventory. Here's what I have now:
Canon EOS D60 DSLR
Canon EF 28-105mm (non-L)
Canon EF 100-300mm (non-L)
Sigma 15-30mm (for Canon EF)
… plus the usual accessories.

And here's what I’m (gasp!) considering:

1. Upgrade my lens inventory first:
Canon 24-105mm L
Canon 100-400mm L
[I’ll stay with the Sigma for now since I don’t use it that much.]

SO … I’m wondering if it makes sense to get these optical goodies first ... for use with my D60 … before going any further?

2. Next step would be to p-o-s-s-i-b-l-y upgrade to a new Canon camera body. My D60 body alone cost $2200 (at B&H) in 2003. In other words … would the increase in technology since 2003 warrant a new body at this time … or should I wait? At any rate I don’t want to spend as much this time around.

[For the record ... I don’t consider myself a pro … just a serious amateur-type.]

So … I’m open to “any and all …”. Thanks.

Mike (shamrock838)

The 100-400 would be a nice choice, great for spotting. I rented it last month and it beat the pants off the 100-300 and my Sigma 70-200/2xTC combo, though you might not be fond of the push-pull zoom.

As far as upgrading the body, I've never used the D60 so I'm not really sure what features it has or doesn't have. A quick search revealed that it's a 6MP camera, so in terms of that, upgrading would mean you could crop more and still have decent-sized images (the 30D is 8.2MP, and the XTi is 10MP).

I would upgrade lenses before I'd upgrade bodies; the lens is going to make a bigger difference than the body in terms of image quality, unless there's something wrong with the body. I'd figure out what it is you want do with the camera, and what the shortcomings are of your existing lenses, before buying anything new. The 100-400 has more reach than the 100-300, and is optically superior, but it's also bigger and heavier, and has the push-pull zoom (which can really bother some people), so if you want to be walking around with the camera and a long telephoto, this might be a bit too heavy to be comfortable. For spotting, it's definitely a better choice.

Camera bodies are generally cheaper these days; the 30D is available new from B&H for a little over $1000 (body only), and the XTi runs a bit over $650. If I'm not mistaken, the 30D is in the same "line" as the D60, so it would probably feel more similar than the XTi, which is smaller, lighter, and more plastic-y.

For your wide-tele zoom, what do you think is wrong with the 28-105 that would warrant spending for a 24-105 (other than L-lust)? Picking up 4mm on the wide end isn't a big deal, though I'm not sure what the difference in IQ is (obviously, the "L" should be better, but what matters is how much better). You get a constant f/4 instead of variable f/3.5-4.5, which isn't a big deal, and you might want to look at the 24-70 f/2.8L if you're shooting in low light a lot.

If you have the 28-105 3.5-4.5 II (make sure its the II...) hold on to it, its a nice lens. From what I hear from people on some photog forums, the L 24-105 isn't that much better quality, not worth the extra cost.

The 100-400 L is a great choice, wish I had that kind of money...

The body for you would probably be the 30D, although you might want to wait for its replacement which should come soon. The replacement should be more MP's and Canons new sensor cleaning system and maybe a few extra features. If you are looking for slightly higher optics, you could look at the Mark II (or III) series, but that will run several thousands of dollars and would be out of your reach most likely.

My recommendations?

keep the 28-105
Get the 100-400 L
Get the replacement for the 30D

Its pretty simple, upgrade your glass first. If the body is working and still takes good pictures then max it out until it dies. If you already had the glass I'd say get the body but I'd invest in the glass right now and wait to see what Canon comes out with next.

I thought about this a little more, and realized I didn't mention that when it comes to considering a new body, you ought to ask yourself the same thing as with the lenses: what do the new ones do that the one you have now doesn't?

I also came up with a couple of things that, while not revolutionary, might be worth a switch (they were for me when I went from a DReb to a 30D):
* Faster startup time (great for when the camera has auto-powered-off and you need to set up quickly for a shot)
* Faster write times to CF cards (this will save you if you do a lot of burst shooting, as you won't be stuck waiting for..e..v..e..r for the camera to write out to the card before you can snap another frame)
* Larger buffer (means you can get more shots in a burst before you need to take a break)

Depending on your shooting style, you might want some or all of these. Personally, I tend to snap off at least two or three shots of everything; it means a lot of rejects when I start processing, but I also have some more flexibility in choosing the best shot. (For example, maybe a tree branch got in the way of one shot; if that were my only shot, I'd be SOL, but with one or two others I still have the shot.)

Small buffers & slow write times basically make burst shooting a lot less practical, though. In my case, I was shooting a St. Patrick's Day parade with my old Rebel, and since it's constantly moving I'm trying to constantly take pictures. With the Rebel, I was stuck waiting for more than a few seconds every four frames for the camera to write out the buffer to the card. It was then I realized I needed a new camera, and got the 30D. It can buffer (I think) 7 RAW images and 11 JPEGs, and also writes out to the card a LOT faster. I suspect that the D60 shares a lot of this.

I think that making decisions about whether or not to buy something photography-related can figured out by considering the answers to just one question: What photos will the new stuff get me that the old stuff would have missed? There are plenty of things that'll make life easier, and some things that are just nice to have for the sake of having, but I think that question is the best way to consider whether you really need something, or just want it.