Upgrade from 450D to which 'Pro' DSLR camera?

DaelpixPhotography

DaelpixPhotography

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David
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In the future I would like to upgrade to a more better 'professional' camera.
At the moment I own a Canon EOS 450D.


I take mostly landscapes and some macro (flowers etc). And would like to shoot portraits too in the near future. And sell my photos!!!!!!!

I'm staying with Canon.

Any advice?
 
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Given your preference for landscapes and portraits I would do with a full frame either the 6d or 5dIII. What do you think your current camera is not giving you? Also what current lenses do you own as both the 6d and 5d are only ef fitment and wont take any ef-s lenses
 
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Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (None IS)
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
Canon 70-300mm


I hardly use the 18-55mm any more since I upgraded to the 18-135mm. But I seem to be having trouble using my filters/holder on it, so I'm going to use the kit lens the next time I go out.

I made a thread about the Sigma lens here


I was actually thinking about the 5D mkIII ... it is a lot of money though. I won't be buying any more camera equipment at the moment as I can't afford it.
 
Dael_Pix said:
Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (None IS)
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
Canon 70-300mm

I hardly use the 18-55mm any more since I upgraded to the 18-135mm. But I seem to be having trouble using my filters/holder on it, so I'm going to use the kit lens the next time I go out.

I made a thread about the Sigma lens here

I was actually thinking about the 5D mkIII ... it is a lot of money though. I won't be buying any more camera equipment at the moment as I can't afford it.
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Well only one of those will fit on a full frame camera..

As someone that went from a 450D to a 5D3 I can say the upgrade was worth every penny of what it cost me...but you then need to think about the lens you'll need, based on your current and future interests I'd say you'd be much better off sticking with the 450D and spending some money on good quality lens be that primes or zooms but a fast prime would would serve you well with the portraiture...but make sure you are going for EF mount over EF-S as that was if in a couple of years you feel the need to go full frame at that time you would then not be looking at a need to buy all new lens too :thumbs:
 
I'm unsure if I want a wide angle anymore. I guess it can be good in some cases. I think I'm a little put off because the lens doesn't focus well.
 
I don't use that lens much any more. I might sell it some time. Tbh I wouldn't mind a better lens for capturing otters in Scotland and birds.

But as I said, I can't afford anything at the moment.
 
Dael_Pix said:
I don't use that lens much any more. I might sell it some time. Tbh I wouldn't mind a better lens for capturing otters in Scotland and birds.

But as I said, I can't afford anything at the moment.
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In simplest terms you'd be better served investing in the better lens first though of course there is a point that you also need to get a better camera too :lol: sorry it's a hobby that hates your bank balance :lol:
 
MWHCVT said:
In simplest terms you'd be better served investing in the better lens first though of course there is a point that you also need to get a better camera too :lol: sorry it's a hobby that hates your bank balance :lol:
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That is true.

The reason I can't afford it is because I bought a car back in June, and since then I've only been working mornings which cuts a lot of pay off me! So I'm trying not to spend much at the moment.
 
Dael_Pix said:
That is true.

The reason I can't afford it is because I bought a car back in June, and since then I've only been working mornings which cuts a lot of pay off me! So I'm trying not to spend much at the moment.
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Well then just play with what you've got for now..the more you shoot the better of an idea you'll have on what you want :thumbs:
 
Dael_Pix said:
In the future I would like to upgrade to a more better 'professional' camera.
At the moment I own a Canon EOS 450D.


I take mostly landscapes and some macro (flowers etc). And would like to shoot portraits too in the near future. And sell my photos!!!!!!!

I'm staying with Canon.

Any advice?
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Well if you're interested in macro but lack funds then a good compromise is a set of close up filters off Ebay coupled with your kit lens.

Cost about £10 and learning to use them properly can really boost your photography.

But in fact the 450D is a cracking camera (I had one for over a year) which can turn out some excellent photos.

.
 
petersmart said:
Well if you're interested in macro but lack funds then a good compromise is a set of close up filters off Ebay coupled with your kit lens.

Cost about £10 and learning to use them properly can really boost your photography.

But in fact the 450D is a cracking camera (I had one for over a year) which can turn out some excellent photos.

.
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That I do believe :)

What close-up filters would you suggest?

I have something wrong with the kit lens, the 18-55mm. The focusing ring seems to have worked loose? Is there anything I can do about it?
Should I consider the IS version?
 
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Dael_Pix said:
That I do believe :)

What close-up filters would you suggest?

I have something wrong with the kit lens, the 18-55mm. The focusing ring seems to have worked loose? Is there anything I can do about it?
Should I consider the IS version?
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Unfortunately repairs will probably cost more than a new lens (if you shop around).

Or you might find one going on here fairly cheaply.

The IS version is considered by many to be the better one but having used both personally I couldn't see much difference.

.
 
Dael_Pix said:
In the future I would like to upgrade to a more better 'professional' camera.
At the moment I own a Canon EOS 450D.

I take mostly landscapes and some macro (flowers etc). And would like to shoot portraits too in the near future. And sell my photos!!!!!!!

I'm staying with Canon.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Personally after reading through this thread I think you're... mad... :D But in a nice way.

Changing to a full frame or even top end APS-C body and selling your lenses and buying at least one full frame or good quality APS-C lens is going to cost quite a bit and I don't think it's something you can do on a limited or zero budget.

If you want to do landscape and macro and portraits you could possibly do all three with just one lens if you're not going down the cliché route of insisting on a wide angle for landscape and a long lens for portrait.

If desperate to spend money I really couldn't afford :D I'd go for a shortish macro lens and accomplish all three of your wants with it. A 30 or 50mm macro will allow you to shoot pseudo macro flower shots, portraits and even landscape too.

None of these uses would require state of the art performance at higher ISO's, a fantastic cutting edge focus system, machine gun frame rates or a super wide aperture so I'd advise keeping your current camera.

So, my vote goes for investing in a nice used f2.8 macro between 30 and 60mm. If you're ok with manual focus you could even go down the legacy lens route and invest £10 in a AF confirm adapter and a get a couple of Zuiko primes such as a 28mm f2.8 (£20-30) and a 50mm f3.5 macro (£70-80) You could even add a 135mm f3.5 (£20-30) and if you spend wisely you'll have three very good primes that you can use with an AF confirmation adapter and you'll have spent under £150 and probably quite a bit less.
 
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. If you're ok with manual focus you could even go down the legacy lens route and invest £10 in a AF confirm adapter and a get a couple of Zuiko primes such as a 28mm f2.8 (£20-30) and a 50mm f3.5 macro (£70-80) You could even add a 135mm f3.5 (£20-30) and if you spend wisely you'll have three very good primes that you can use with an AF confirmation adapter and you'll have spent under £150 and probably quite a bit less.[/QUOTE said:
Spot on advice.
I have an FD mount Vivitar 75-205 f3.8 macro zoom lens that I bought to mess about with. I paid 17quid for it with a 2x matched multipier both in mint condition. This thing is unbelievably sharp with an adapter fd to eos with focus confirm chip. Only problem is, once you get into these old lenses you end up spending a bomb and get a bit obsessed with them.
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Are you getting 'better camera' and 'more professional photo's' and 'sell my pictures' all mixed up? :thinking:

You can sell your pictures as soon as you take pictures that you can convince people to buy. It's that simple - if you're a great salesman / businessman, you can do that with a phone camera, if you're a decent businessman great photographer, you can do it with a phone camera. If you're a crap businessman and an OK photographer, you can't do it with £20k worth of gear.

So what's stopping you doing it?
Do you think you need to shoot people to sell pictures? - Wrong
Do you think it's easier to sell pictures of people? - Wrong - the market's bigger, but the selling is almost as complicated.
Do you think that just because you have taken some nice landscapes that you can shoot nice portraits too? - Wrong, it's a completely different skill set, very few people are good at both. Portraiture is all about people skills, it's about reading and understanding people, making them feel at ease and comfortable and getting them to do what you want without telling them what to do.

Do you need a new camera or lens? If you're serious about Macro, you need something, a reversing ring, close up filter, extension tubes or a macro lens. If you want to shoot people, you can start today, but you might want to get a better lens in future - my personal choice would be the 85mm 1.8 but others will have other opinions and it depends on your style / personal preferences.

The other thing about Landscapes is; they're not very demanding on your kit, you'll be shooting low ISO, and if the light level drops, using a tripod. You'll be shooting f8 or smaller, where even the crappest lenses can pull some decent quality. Shooting people often means going where it's darker, and they move, so you'll find reasons for buying into higher ISO's, faster lenses and then creating your own lighting. In short, the gear requirements are a lot less simple.
 
woof woof said:
Personally after reading through this thread I think you're... mad... :D But in a nice way.

Changing to a full frame or even top end APS-C body and selling your lenses and buying at least one full frame or good quality APS-C lens is going to cost quite a bit and I don't think it's something you can do on a limited or zero budget.

If you want to do landscape and macro and portraits you could possibly do all three with just one lens if you're not going down the cliché route of insisting on a wide angle for landscape and a long lens for portrait.

If desperate to spend money I really couldn't afford :D I'd go for a shortish macro lens and accomplish all three of your wants with it. A 30 or 50mm macro will allow you to shoot pseudo macro flower shots, portraits and even landscape too.

None of these uses would require state of the art performance at higher ISO's, a fantastic cutting edge focus system, machine gun frame rates or a super wide aperture so I'd advise keeping your current camera.

So, my vote goes for investing in a nice used f2.8 macro between 30 and 60mm. If you're ok with manual focus you could even go down the legacy lens route and invest £10 in a AF confirm adapter and a get a couple of Zuiko primes such as a 28mm f2.8 (£20-30) and a 50mm f3.5 macro (£70-80) You could even add a 135mm f3.5 (£20-30) and if you spend wisely you'll have three very good primes that you can use with an AF confirmation adapter and you'll have spent under £150 and probably quite a bit less.
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Thank you for the advice. I had looked at the Zuiko 28mm f2.8 on Flickr and it seems to be a nice lens. I've found it at less than £30 on ebay, so I might just place a bid on it.

Which AF adapter would I need? ebay link

I might actually buy the three lenses you mention :)

But what you do mean if I'm ok with manual focus?
I would like to both manually and auto focus on the subject.
 
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Dael_Pix said:
Thank you for the advice. I had looked at the Zuiko 28mm f2.8 on Flickr and it seems to be a nice lens. I've found it at less than £30 on ebay, so I might just place a bid on it.

Which AF adapter would I need? ebay link

I might actually buy the three lenses you mention :)

But what you do mean if I'm ok with manual focus?
I would like to both manually and auto focus on the subject.
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He means that those lenses are old manual focus lenses an you'll need to manually focus and also to stop down the lens to take a picture.:)
 
Spend your money on getting out and taking more photos. At this stage of your career your photography will get better the more of it you do. Go out, shoot everything, see what you enjoy, then specialise in it. Once you've decided which way you're going to go then go and shoot some more.

On the whole IMO your photography will benefit more from knowledge and expertise than by kit. Workshops are good for this, find out who is the master of the type of photography you like and book a workshop with him or her, I bet you take more from that than from buying a new lens.
 
Dael_Pix said:
Thank you for the advice. I had looked at the Zuiko 28mm f2.8 on Flickr and it seems to be a nice lens. I've found it at less than £30 on ebay, so I might just place a bid on it.

Which AF adapter would I need? ebay link

I might actually buy the three lenses you mention :)

But what you do mean if I'm ok with manual focus?
I would like to both manually and auto focus on the subject.
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These are manual focus lenses so you focus manually, however there are adapters that give you focus confirmation... meaning that the little focus square in your viewfinder will flash red just like it does when you use an auto focus lens.

These lenses have no electrical communication with the camera body and you set the aperture using the aperture setting on the lens rather than by using the thumbwheel on your camera.

Your camera needs to be set to Manual or Aperture mode and the option to shoot without lens needs to be set.

The adapters are like this...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AF-Confir...daptors_ET&hash=item1c10fb9af4#ht_4004wt_1002

That one is £8.48. I can't remember which one I bought but I'm pretty sure it was £10. Prices seem to be all over the place from £8 to £25 or more.

PS. £30 seems a bit dear, hunt about and check used camera stockists as well as ebay and you should get one cheaper than that. You might even spot one in the classifieds here.

PPS. I picked up a manual legacy 85mm f2 and it's an amazing performer at a fraction of the cost of a modern auto focus lens.

If you have the time to focus manually and if you are happy to do so these lenses can make sense.
 
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Alan
I promised myself that I wouldn't buy anything other than the UK, but since its less than £10, I'll buy it.


Here is the link for two lenses 28mm 50mm

I think I'll buy the 28mm and see what I feel about manually focusing the lens.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I can't view the classified's on here for some reason?
 
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Dael_Pix said:
Alan
I promised myself that I wouldn't buy anything other than the UK, but since its less than £10, I'll buy it.

I think I'll buy the 28mm and see what I feel about manually focusing the lens.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I can't view the classified's on here for some reason?
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I think there's a rule about having to be a member for a certain length of time or having posted a certain number of posts... might be worth reading the rules.

Keep an eye on this place...

http://www.ffordes.com/category/Lenses/Olympus_OM

I've bought stuff from them and you get a guarantee :D Sadly they don't seem to have much at the moment and of the lenses I suggested they only have the 50mm f3.5 macro.

These places are also worth a look and I've bought from both...

http://www.rockycameras.com/lenses-9-c.asp

http://www.mifsuds.com/

Stock comes and goes so it's worth shopping around or when you can access the classifides you could put up a "want ad."
 
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It says that I have to have wait 60 days to view the classified ads in the rules.
 
Alan

I've won the 28mm lens and bought the adapter from Ebay. Now I just need to wait for them. I'll receive the lens first which is rubbish, I should have the adapter in 3 weeks just after I come back from Scotland :)
 
Alan

I've won the 28mm lens and bought the adapter from Ebay. Now I just need to wait for them. I'll receive the lens first which is rubbish, I should have the adapter in 3 weeks just after I come back from Scotland :)
 
:D

You may be lucky, delivery may be a little quicker as some of the things I've bought from the far east have arrived surprisingly quickly.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the lens once the adapter comes.

Here's a picture of my 5D fitted with an Olympus Zuiko 28mm f2.8. Next to it is a modern Sigma 20mm f1.8 AF lens.



If you do decide that you can cope with manual focus lenses it may be worth watching out for some bargains to grab in the near future as prices seem to be rising and may well rise a more if some of the existing and imminent compact system cameras with in body image stabilisation become popular.
 
Thank you for the advice Alan. It's very much appreciated :)

I won the 28mm lens at £32.66 + £4.99 p+p. I'm sure I could have found one cheaper, but I didn't want to wait.

Now, for the time being, I'm going to start saving my money! (Not that it will last).

Are all Zuikos lenses which are fitted on Canon cameras manual focus?
 
I've received the lens today and I'm anxious to try it out! Now I have to wait a few weeks for the adapter :'( :thumbsdown: :'(
 
The time willsoon pass + it may come a little earlier :D
 
Give me chance reyjabs!
Took a few shots. Had a cold all week, so couldn't be bothered doing anything. I'll try it out when I can.
 
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