Difference in cropping between Canon D60 and 40D/50D

I've seen posts that come very close to my questions, but not quite close enough for me to understand. So, sorry

if this is repetitive.

 

I am currently still using a Canon D60 body, which for the most part suits my needs just fine. I mainly do

daylight outdoor photography, usually with a Canon 100-400mm IS L lens. I will soon order a Canon 1.4X

tele-converter also. Due to my locations, mainly large salt water bays, the tele-converter won't cure all of my

current zoom issues, but it will be a huge help.

 

My main fuss with my "antique" body is that when I do need to crop, as in many bird photos, the image degrades

pretty quickly. I know the obvious advantages to moving up to a 40D or 50D in terms of focusing speed and all

the other goodies, but should I expect to see an advantage in cropping abilities? I'm willing to pay for the

extra megapixels of the 50D if it will truly make a difference in that respect. It seems to me that even with

the 1:4 cropping vs. zoom factor that gaining that many megapixels will matter somewhat. Any advice is appreciated.

Well... the image shouldn't degrade if you just crop it. If you crop and increase the size... then it will degrade. The 40D and 50D have approx twice the resolution of the D60 so YES, you will be able to crop and resize with less or maybe no interpolating.

 

good luck.

The 50D has approximately 2.5 times as many pixels as the D60, which means that the pixel size is smaller by a factor of about 1.6. So cropping a 50D image by a factor of 1.4 will leave you with more pixels than an uncropped D60 image has. Although the Extender 1.4x is useable with the 100~400, there is some image degradation, and you need to stop down by several stops to get reasonably good sharpness. Also, you lose (phase-detect) AF (except on 1-series bodies). So cropping from a 50D image is likely to give better results than using an Extender 1.4x on a D60. That's the theory, and would expect it to be right in this case. And certainly it will be easier to use the 100~400 on the 50D without an Extender than on the D60 with one.

I have a D60 that I shot a good bit of wildlife with using a 70-200 2.8L and a 2x. I did not like using the extender so I bought

a 100-400. I never had trouble with cropping in PS at 300 ppi. The 2X is really bad on the 100-400 and I don't use it. I

have a 1.4X but don't use it either. It is a Tamron F so you get AF and proper image exposure on the sensor but the correct

exposure is not xmitted to the camera so it reads in error in the viewfinder.. Even at that I don't use it because I don't like

the results. I have won awards with cropped wildlife pictures taken with the 2x on the 70-200 and using the D60 on 13x19

prints. Almost all pictuers I take are cropped to fit the paper I am printing on and for better presentation. I do not use the

D60 now because of the operational lag in the camera. i paid 2200 when It first came out and it is now worth about 200.

My XTi solves those problems. I am about ready to go to full frame however. A 50d will give you a great advantage in pixel

count and the ability to use higher ISOs to better freeze motion with higher shutter speeds. I use CS3 and if done properly

it will not degrade the image but it will certainly expose noise particularly in underexposed areas of birds.

Thanks for all the good advice. I guess I'll save the $300 for the TC and use it towards the 50D!