Canon EOS 40D

[THoey]

I don’t see much talk about the Canon EOS 40D on the internet. I gather because it is new. Has anyone heard anything good / bad about it? I am thinking of getting one for my wife for Christmas. She is an avid photographer, bordering on trying to start her own small in house business to take pictures for weddings / parties.

Found the following at http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=64_757_1207&products_id=5303&osCsid=309f833a74067479d18f7b3bb37f8278 for a kit:

1- Canon EOS 40D Digital Camera Body With 1-Year USA Warranty
2- Canon 28-105mm f/4.0-5.6 EF USM Auto focus Lens With Canon 1 Year USA Warranty
3- Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 EF III Lens w/ 1 Year USA Warranty
4- Dane-Elec 2GB CompactFlash (CF) Memory Card
5- Deluxe Digital Camera Case
6- Pack Of LCD Screen Protectors
7- Deluxe Lens Care & Maintenance Package

Price $1,639.00

Any ideas if that is good?

Thanks in advance.

[Analogy]

That actually seems like a pretty good deal to me… When I got my 30D the body alone was $1k.
with two lenses (albeit consumer-level lenses) and that other stuff it sounds about right.

[THoey]

Thanks for the response. Are you saying it might be better to just buy the body and then buy other lenses for it separately?

Also, this is replacing her old SLR, a Canon Rebel II. Could she even use the 35 – 80mm lense that is with that or has the lenses been upgraded to use the DSLR body?

[Analogy]

All EF mount lenses will still work on the newest Canon bodies, though the field of view will be narrower than she is used to because DSLRs have a smaller imaging area than film SLRs (see this page for more info).

My recommendation would actually be to get the 17-85mm kit lens, especially if she’s used to the look of the 35-80 on a film SLR as it will cover the range she is used to and give her a bit of extra range on top of that. The problem with the lenses in that kit you linked was that the widest you could go was 28mm, which isn’t all that great. They do have a lot more tele reach to them, but depending on the type of photography she does she may not need it. 85mm is as tight as most people need to go. If she needs more tele reach she will want faster glass than f/5.6 anyway unless she’s shooting everything is broad daylight.

The other consideration is that the 35-80mm lens was made decades ago. Lens design, even at the consumer level, has gotten so much better since then.

[Curious]

i’m with Analogy on the wider lens. if that 28-105mm is film settings she’ll be looking at the 35mm she’s used too which just isn’t wide enough for what you say it will be used for. and even if it’s that range in digital it’s slow and impractical in lower light settings. you want a lens that’s fast enough that you don’t have to use flash all the time in lower light. a 17mm-??mm at f2.8 will run more money but be a lot more useful.

[staplermofo]

The 5D has come down in price quite a bit lately. You can get a refurbed one under $1600 and a new one for under $2k.
Pair that with a 50mm f/1.4 and just crop to fill out the zoom range. It’d be like having a 300mm f/1.4 equivalent lens on a 2mp body! Just think of the possibilities!

[schnee]

The 5D …[p]air[ed] … with a 50mm f/1.4 … [is a fun little walk-around kit]

By schnee, shot with Canon EOS 5D f1.4 1/25s ISO1600

By schnee, shot with Canon EOS 5D f1.4 1/25s ISO1600

Dig that shallow DOF.

[zeke]

40D, body only, $1240….

[THoey]

Well, looks like we have narrowed it down to the following shopping list:

Canon EOS 40D 10.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body
Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM Lens
Canon 17-40mm f/4.0L Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
77mm Professional Three Piece Filter Kit
Canon 430EX EOS Speedlite Flash w/ 1 Year Canon USA Warranty
Canon BG-E2N BATTERY GRIP f/EOS 40D
Canon BP-511 Lithium Ion Battery X2
BP-511 Rapid Travel Charger
4GB CompactFlash (CF) Card X2

Questions or comments? Should be a good start?

[schnee]

Questions or comments? Should be a good start?

Where do you live? I want to mug you before staplermofo does.

don’t really answer that question

That is a bit more than a “starter kit” – it is pretty darn nice. For weddings / parties, you may want to think about a more powerful flash (580 EX II) and/or faster lenses (of course, the costs just sky-rocketed).

Camera bag and a tripod (for portraits). If you get the tripod, get a remote shutter release.

ah, San Antonio – that’s just down I-35…skulks away…

[staplermofo]

Thanks schnee. I’ll save big on gas if I only have to mug one of you.

(sweet set up)

[Elsinore]

A couple of third party lenses you might want to consider. These are known to be optically excellent and well respected lenses for much less than the Canon version (especially when the Canon version is L glass), and they’re faster glass to boot.

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (I don’t have this one, but all reviews say it’s every bit as good as the 28-75mm)
Tamron 28-70mm f/2.8 (I have this lens and it’s an awesome portrait lens. I also use it for my general purpose lens)

Remember that 17mm on the 40D (a 1.6 crop body) will be wide, but not ultra wide. 17mm on the 40D is equivalent of just over 27mm on full 35mm frame. If you want true ultra wide, look into either the Canon 10-20mm f/3.5-4.5 EF-S, the Tokina 12-24mm f/4, the Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6, or the Sigma 12-24 f/4.5-5.6 (the only one on this list that is designed for either full frame bodies or crop factor bodies).

The Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS L lens is a great focal length for a walkaround lens, but Tokina and Sigma have some interesting alternatives that are faster apertures. The Tokina is a 50-135mm f/2.8 and the Sigma is a 50-150mm f/2.8. The drawback is that these are intended for crop factor bodies, so if you’re intending to use the lenses on full frame cameras, they will be of limited use. Another Canon option to consider (since you have quite a lot of L glass on that list already 😉 ) is the 70-200mm f/4 L in either IS or non-IS version. It’s excellent optically, of course. There’s also an f/2.8 version in both IS and non-IS, but it’s quite a bit more cash.

[staplermofo]

I’m going to chime in on the 5d again. I’d give my right arm and the lens it’s holding to undo that damned 1.6x sensor crop in close spaces.
You’ll spend the extra $1k making up for the difference with lenses eventually anyway.

Also, I don’t know about anybody else, but I can shoot for days, like, more than 24 hours of actual shooting on just one piddly little battery, so unless it’s for ergonomics, a battery grip seems like overkill unless you’re hiking alone in the wilderness, far from civilization and civilization’s convenient supply of electricity, and take one majestic shot per day for weeks to fill those cards as slowly as possible. That might be because I don’t have any large autofocus lenses though. Anyone know?

Also, Canon has some crazy rebates going on, if those hadn’t been factored in already.

[XenPix]

..stuff..

Also, I don’t know about anybody else, but I can shoot for days, like, more than 24 hours of actual shooting on just one piddly little battery, so unless it’s for ergonomics, a battery grip seems like overkill unless you’re hiking alone in the wilderness, far from civilization and civilization’s convenient supply of electricity, and take one majestic shot per day for weeks to fill those cards as slowly as possible. That might be because I don’t have any large autofocus lenses though. Anyone know?

..more stuff…

When travelling to Europe I generally take three or four pre-charged batteries with me and two 8gb memory cards (usually a three night stay). I’m a freak about my memory cards, and will leave my race photos locked in my case in the hotel whilst I take a fresh one for touristy stuff. I figure that way, if someone does mug me for my camera, I haven’t lost everything. (Oh, and the 8gb was on offer for the same as the 4, that’s why I went so meaty.)

The batteries I can go through like a hot knife through butter, but I’m twitchy (I’ll frame and reframe a few times quite often on still life), I also have it on AI servo for the cars and will follow pretty much everyone until I find a shot I want to take, so the camera is constantly working. Even saying that though, I took 400 shots at the Rally and used 2.5 batteries(over two days) , including some flash usage in the service park.

When I did a wedding in the summer, I only used the one battery.

[THoey]

Thanks for the responses all. Couple comments I have based on your input.

1. Wife is a die hard Canon person, so she only wanted to look at Canon cameras and lenses. I have heard that some of the third party lenses can be as good or sometimes better, but I think it is name brand recognition more than anything else. You know what they say, if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy… 😉

2. I know this seems like above and beyond a starter kit. But she has been an avid photographer for longer than I have known her. She understands more about what you guys are saying about the cropping, etc than I do. I’ll take my Olympus C4000 any day. Her on the other hand, needs all the bells, whistles, and gadgets (still haven’t priced the trick filters she already wants). She would rather have too much battery and memory then not enough. But this will probably last her for the next 5 – 10 years so I am okay with a little extra expense. Hey, she started talking about the Canon EOS-1D Mark III.

3. As to those trick filters I mentioned (Star filters, etc). She has those already for her old camera with a 52mm lense. Can they be used on the 77mm lenses with an adapter? Or would that be like cropping the image again?

4. I am a little vague on the understanding between the f/4 and f/2.8. Sounds like it is the speed of the shutter? Schnee mentioned getting the bigger flash to assist with the f/4 lenses. Am I understanding that right? Another $100 to upgrade that flash, but the prices on the same lense at f/2.8 is about 3 times f/4. For what she is going to be doing, does she need the faster lense or just the better flash?

5. As to the 5D… Ouch… Please don’t mention that to her…

Thanks very much for the comments. I hope it doesn’t sound like I ask your opinion and then shot down every comment. She is a very picky woman. I am lucky to have her. (she made me type that)

[Author]

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