40d v 50d Canon - Worth an upgrade ?

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40d v 50d Canon - Worth an upgrade ?

I love my 40d, it's a beast

However it's low light capabilities are poor , something that didn't matter when I bought it and hadn't bothered me until now , when I find myself needing to shoot in low light venues

The pros I like of the 50d are the higher megapixels , the weather proofing and the higher ISO capabilities

But is it really an improvement or just moving sideways ?

What compromises will I have to make , to move to the 50d? Is there anywhere that my 40d trumps the 50d ?

Also will my kit be compatible ? (Batteries, grip etc)


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I wouldn't bother with that upgrade. I have the 50D and the 60D and the 60 is quite a nice improvement. But having had the opportunity to play with a friends 70D, I really wish I'd have waited to buy that. A much better quality camera, with the micro-adjustment, and much better in low light. So my advice to you is to wait until you can buy something that is a bigger upgrade like he 70D
 
Also, you might well find that the ISO performance of the 40D is better than the 50D in real pictures so I wouldn't bother swapping either.
 
twhite87 said:
I wouldn't bother with that upgrade. I have the 50D and the 60D and the 60 is quite a nice improvement. But having had the opportunity to play with a friends 70D, I really wish I'd have waited to buy that. A much better quality camera, with the micro-adjustment, and much better in low light. So my advice to you is to wait until you can buy something that is a bigger upgrade like he 70D
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I appreciate what you're saying

But I'll never be able to afford that camera it goes about £500 used.

I physically don't earn enough money to ever condone spending that on something that's not essential

Just out of my reach I'm afraid

Whereas I've seen 50d bodies around £150

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I would seriously consider either saving it for future when you can afford something (maybe by that time Canon will have brought the 80D and driven the price of the 70D down), or I would consider buying a lens. What do you currently have, and what do you 'normally' shoot?
 
Why the urgency to upgrade? I recently made upgraded my body for the first time in nearly 10 years.

My old 300d was superb for years, it didn't have any fancy technology, but it still takes a decent photo with a good lens attached.

My advise, save your money, then make a justified upgrade from your 40D.
 
I was hoping the low light capabilities would be a decent improvement as the 40d is known for it's poor performance there


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twhite87 said:
I would seriously consider either saving it for future when you can afford something (maybe by that time Canon will have brought the 80D and driven the price of the 70D down), or I would consider buying a lens. What do you currently have, and what do you 'normally' shoot?
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I currently have 40d with 18/55is 55-250is and 50 1.8

I normally shoot animals and animal sports

But am getting more into gig photography and urban exploring / night architecture


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I do use mine for weddings, but I can really only get away with ISO 1600 or less. How close are you to Cardiff? You'd be welcome to try it out.
 
gothgirl said:
I currently have 40d with 18/55is 55-250is and 50 1.8

I normally shoot animals and animal sports

But am getting more into gig photography and urban exploring / night architecture


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If you normally do animals and animal sport, then I wouldn't think the 50D will be much more beneficial to you. In regards to night architecture, wouldn't you normally use a tripod and a fairly slow SS anyway, so not really needing hgh ISO levels. I may be wrong, but that's just me. You'd definitely want high ISO capabilities with gig shooting, but as I say, the 50D will not give you much more than you currently have.
 
50D is a good camera - big step up from the 40D - however I might be minded to look at a 7D mk1 (lots of bargains about with the 7D2 coming out
 
I have a 50D and yes it has some useful upgrades over the 40D, it's not night and day and probably not worth it really. I've seen a number of used 7D Mk1 in local camera stores at around £500 which would be a significant upgrade. Also if you're doing gigs, perhaps a 5D Mk1 would be of interest?

BTW batteries and grips are the same for 20D, 30D, 40D and 50D.
 
When the 50d first came out alot of review sites advised sticking with or buying a 40d instead as it's high ISO performance was slightly better in real world use. The 59d brings ver very little to the table and as someone for whom money is tight you embolus be better off saving or spending elsewhere.
 
Its always a problem how much of your income you want to spend on your hobby,to the benefits you will obtain from upgrading,if you want to get into gig photographer in an bigger way,it might be better to save for an better performing camera at high iso.

Another way is to look at maybe trying another system the Nikon D3300 has a very good high iso :)
 
simonblue said:
Another way is to look at maybe trying another system the Nikon D3300 has a very good high iso :)
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tbh its rarely worth changing systems chasing ephemeral benefits - by the time you've paid out to replace all your lenses the OP could have bout a much higher performing canon
 
Given your current kit and subjects you need to be looking at glass, not changing the body. Sorry to say...
 
MPB have mint 50Ds for about £240 at that price its a no brainer - I'd get one and keep the 40D as a second body.
 
the 50d is a good camera and it has micro adjustment but imho you may not see much over your 40d iso noise wise etc,the newer cameras have better sensors etc maybe a faster lens would help more
 
ive had both the 40d and the 50d ( i still have the 40d ) and the only thing the 50d brings to the table is an extra 5 million pixels and AF micro adjustment, as far as noise is concerned there isn't much if anything in it to a point where some think the 40d has the advantage

if you can sell your 40d and get a 50d for very little difference on the sale price it would probably be worth it, anything else and i would be looking further afield maybe a 7d which is a definite improvement over both cameras
 
There are plenty of better similarly priced upgrades. With 50D you'd get better resolution at ISO100 with the very best lenses on tripod; practically that was about all it changed. Neither was much good above ISO200 (probably ISO160 to be honest).
 
daugirdas said:
There are plenty of better similarly priced upgrades. With 50D you'd get better resolution at ISO100 with the very best lenses on tripod; practically that was about all it changed. Neither was much good above ISO200 (probably ISO160 to be honest).
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I'm open to any canon upgrade, but within budget ideally £150 for a secondhand body, maybe a bit more if I put my 40D towards it

I'd love to buy some glass, but doubt £100-£150 will buy me anything worth buying that I haveb't got already

@daugirdas I've been shooting at 1600 iso, to give you an idea ! and now I've been shown how to expand it to 3200 I'll be doing that !
 
Then save your money for something worthwhile rather than throwing it away on something that's not.
 
I ran a 40d and 50d together for a good while and both were excellent bodies. 40d to a 50d really isn't an upgrade though aside from mfa (which with your lens i doubt you'll benefit from), minor bump in resolution and the ability to run Magic Lantern. For low light you really need to be thinking very fast lens or a cheap 2nd hand full frame body.
 
What about a 40mm pancake to go with my 50mm 1.8 ?

Any other recommendations on a slightly faster lens than my kit lens (18-55is)




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gothgirl said:
What about a 40mm pancake to go with my 50mm 1.8 ?

Any other recommendations on a slightly faster lens than my kit lens (18-55is)




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Canon 15-85 would be a good upgrade, if you can't afford that then a tamron 17-50 f2.8 can be had for around £150.
 
I agree on the Canon 15-85mm, really nice lens. Stays on my 50D most of the time.
 
I agree with Sharky I would not call a 50D a upgrade. There very similar cameras but DXOmark would tend to show the D40 had better image quality, better colour depth, better iso handling. The 40D also has slightly less shutter lag and in the real world very slightly higher burst speed. By the sound of it you have not got to many lenses at the moment. If you are considering trading in your old body have you considered a Nikon? You could probably just about afford a D3300. This would probably be thee biggest upgrade you could do for your money.
 
The 40-50d change is a limited upgrade there are a few improvements as has been mentioned. I would look the sell the 40d and add your £150 to it then maybe look for 60d, 7D, or maybe a 650d or 700d
 
gothgirl said:
I appreciate what you're saying

But I'll never be able to afford that camera it goes about £500 used.

I physically don't earn enough money to ever condone spending that on something that's not essential.

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Possibly a bit controversial, but you have a semi-pro body and clearly take your photography seriously. You state in this post you cannot pay that money for something non-essential, but how essential is your iPhone and how much does that cost over a year compared to a cheaper phone unless you are sim only and using an old phone? An iPhone contract can be £400 a year. It comes down to what is more important for you.
 
gothgirl said:
What about a 40mm pancake to go with my 50mm 1.8 ?

Any other recommendations on a slightly faster lens than my kit lens (18-55is)




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as good as the 40mm pancake is i don't think you will gain anything over the 50mm 1.8
it is sharp at 2.8 but so is the 50mm and the extra 10mm field of view is basically 2 steps backwards it's not enough in my opinion to warrant it over the 50mm 1.8
if your thinking along those lines the 50mm 1.4 would offer more benefit but at 1.4 the DOF is minimal and probably too narrow for what you want it for

the problem you have is to get a body with a much improved noise handling capabilities your going to have to spend a considerable amount of money you would be far better off putting your money into a decent fast lens, there are plenty of suggestions already
unfortunately it might cost you a little more than you want to spend

the 40d is quite a capable camera the better the lens you put in front of it the more this will become obvious to you
 
Indeed I noticed a shot or two in this years wildlife photographer of the year were shot with a 30D...
 
Goody13 said:
Possibly a bit controversial, but you have a semi-pro body and clearly take your photography seriously. You state in this post you cannot pay that money for something non-essential, but how essential is your iPhone and how much does that cost over a year compared to a cheaper phone unless you are sim only and using an old phone? An iPhone contract can be £400 a year. It comes down to what is more important for you.
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I pay £10 a month on giff gaff and have my dad's old phone ;-)

Ill look into the canon 15-85 and the tamron

Sounds like a good piece of glass is what I need :)

I adore my nifty fifty , but the limited focal range has caught me out at times

How stands the canon 28-135 is?
I heard that's a good lens


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gothgirl said:
I pay £10 a month on giff gaff and have my dad's old phone ;-)
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Ah! Fair enough. Just trying to be helpful. A lot of people who pay for things monthly don't always appreciate the cost over a year. Hard to believe, I know.
 
Goody13 said:
Ah! Fair enough. Just trying to be helpful. A lot of people who pay for things monthly don't always appreciate the cost over a year. Hard to believe, I know.
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I totally understand , and wasn't being funny with you , I appreciate your input :)


Problem is I am very money conscious

I don't have a lot of money , but what I have is mine

I owe no-one, no debts no credit cards and nothing on tick

To be honest I probably could save £500 over time but the logical side of my brain says it's fine to spend £150 at Christmas to treat yourself , but £500 is a months rent !




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first of all I have never used the 50d but have used the 40d for the past 6 and half years and have just upgraded to the 7d mkii I know its only early days with the 7d mkii for me but even that does not seem the big leap forward that I was expecting in particular the high iso capabilities. so my advice would be to keep using the 40d its a great camera and im still going to hang onto mine it will be a great back up. Hope that helps (happy Christmas)
 
gothgirl said:
I totally understand , and wasn't being funny with you , I appreciate your input :)


Problem is I am very money conscious

I don't have a lot of money , but what I have is mine

I owe no-one, no debts no credit cards and nothing on tick

To be honest I probably could save £500 over time but the logical side of my brain says it's fine to spend £150 at Christmas to treat yourself , but £500 is a months rent !




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I didn't think you were being funny with me. You seem to think in a similar way to me. I would like a 70D, I can afford it grey, but I can't quite justify the cost to myself! Had a £500 gift from work recently but after ages considering a 70D I went for the pocket option of a G7X compact to complement my 450D.

Maybe I'll get a 70D when the 80D comes out and the price drops.
 
mike68 said:
first of all I have never used the 50d but have used the 40d for the past 6 and half years and have just upgraded to the 7d mkii I know its only early days with the 7d mkii for me but even that does not seem the big leap forward that I was expecting in particular the high iso capabilities. so my advice would be to keep using the 40d its a great camera and im still going to hang onto mine it will be a great back up. Hope that helps (happy Christmas)
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I love everything about my 40d
It's just the low light where it falls down
But if new glass fixes that problem , I'm more than happy to hold on to my beast :)

I've had some cracking shots with it ,
Would just be nice to have more focal range to play with than bring stuck at the 50mm with my nifty fifty !

View attachment 27332

Here's one I took at my first gig , plus some editing of course !


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gothgirl said:
How stands the canon 28-135 is?
I heard that's a good lens
Click to expand...
It might be, but surely what you need is a *fast* lens. And the 28-135 isn't.
 
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