Canon 400D keep or trade up?

Subject: Canon 400D keep or trade up? 2009-07-27, 04:42

Hi Guys,
Not an urgent upgrade required, but just want to know is it worth upgrading my Canon 400D up to a Canon D40 or D50. I have read the reviews and they are not really clear on whether the upgrade is worth the money, but just wondered if anyone else has upgraded and found any real difference?

All comments welcomed

Vinny..

Moderator Location : Between Coventry and Leicester

Would depend on what you want out of it.
what lens are you useing on the 400D. as it could be a better option to upgrade you
Lens. as the lens as the biggest effect on quality more then anythng apart from the user.

Subject: Re: Canon 400D keep or trade up? 2009-07-27, 07:53

I have 3 lenses
The Canon EF-S 18-55mm
The Canon EF 28-105mm
the Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM Lens

Basically looking at widening my photography scope by taking shots of landscapes and Life.
Because currently I use it for 2 airshows a year and feel it isn't being used enough.

Location : N E Jockistan Spotter Watch Member : No

The EOS 400D & 40D have the same sensor/processor, and even an upgrade to a 50D will only offer you more resolution.

In all honesty upgrading your camera body will not make the slightest difference to your photography whereas upgrading lenses or perhaps widening the range of lenses you have will make a huge difference to what you are able to photograph. Over the three lenses, you have the range of 18-300mm, in 35mm terms this equates to only 29mm at the wider end and thus not ideal for landscape, architecture, indoor or especially air show static photography.

If you want to diversify, your current system my advice based on personal experience would be to purchase a Sigma 10-20mm zoom which is available for £349.99 from Amazon.co.uk

I use an EOS 40D and have no intention of upgrading it at present - I considered moving up to an EOS 50D, but other than higher resolution it offers me little more, the same with the 500D. I have no plans to move to full frame either at present.

Location : Henlow, Beds

I have both a 400D and a 40D. The original intention was to use the 400D as only a backup to the 40D (and it has saved me on one occasion when the 40D shutter packed in). However I now more or less use the 40D for planes in flight (it has a 400mm on it 90% of the time) and the 400D for everything else. Although both are 10.1mp cameras there are differences in them, in particular the 40D is 14-bit and the 400D only 12-bit. That said the main difference in the two is quite simply speed. The 40D does everything faster (FPS, autofocus, metering etc.). If your branching into landscape etc. that speed will not matter one bit and you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between a shot on the 400D vs. 40D. I'd spend the money on lens or save up and go for the "next" generation when it comes out which should hopefully offer a bigger leap in quality / features

Location : Mid Cheshire Spotter Watch Member : Yes

I too have both, and I found that the 40D works 100% better with my 100-400mm usm is lens . A lot brighter , and less to throw away come editing time.
I use the 400D with it's 'Stock' lens for static stuff.

Location : Mid Cheshire Spotter Watch Member : Yes

No idea whats going on here, I posted a reply and then sent it , the whole topic dissapeared. I found it in the photography questions forum and asked where it had gone, I looked back to the recent posts and it had reappeared, so I deleated my question and the whole topic dissapeared again , whats going on ???

Moderator Location : In a layby

Viper28 wrote:: That said the main difference in the two is quite simply speed. The 40D does everything faster (FPS, autofocus, metering etc.). If your branching into landscape etc. that speed will not matter one bit and you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between a shot on the 400D vs. 40D. I'd spend the money on lens or save up and go for the "next" generation when it comes out which should hopefully offer a bigger leap in quality / features

Have to agree with this 100%. I had the 400d for 2 years and managed some cracking photos with it, however I wanted more Razz

In May this year I sold the 400d, and got a 40d. There certainly is a difference in autofocus speed on fast moving subjects no doubt. But as Viper has pointed out, that wont make much difference on landscapes. The only regret I have had about the 40d is it seems to be a dust magnet when you swap lenses, which I never really had with the 400d.

Perhaps it was just my 400d, but the images do seem to be slightly sharper on the 40d but not by a lot.

The other thing to bear in mind is Nikon are due to release 2 new cameras in the next week, I'd be very surprised if Canon didnt announce something soon to try a steal their thunder Wink