Lens or body upgrade first?

[james_bales2]

<p>I have been using a digital Rebel XT for about... maybe 6 years now. I have a kit lens and a couple of extra cheap lenses. I have gotten a lot better with my photography, especially in the last 6 months as I have been making money with it! Not a lot of money yet, but enough to come a way with a little profit after fuel, time, and all the other costs that go into a business. I do real estate, construction documentation, and small weddings<br>

I'm ready to turn this into a serious business and will need, i think, some more professional equipment. I'm considering either a 7D or 5D as the body. As for the lens, I want to invest into, if not L series, then the next step down.<br>

So what do you think I should get first? I'm not at the point where I can get both. I'm concerned that a good lens will be held back by my 8 megapixel Rebel. But then again, I don't necessarily want to stick cheap lenses on a good body either.<br>

Any suggestions?<br>

Thanks!</p>

[nathan_meador]

<p>The lens tends to be the limiting factor, an inexpensive lens will look more or less the same on either body but a great lens will look great on just about any body. You might consider a used 5D or 30D..40D.. whatever you decide to go with (full frame vs crop). Which lens is a whole different story as no one lens does 'everything'. </p>

[kevin_delson]

<p>Budget?</p>

<p>What are you unable to do now with your present equip?</p>

[Jeff Lear]

<p>Your decision on bodies will greatly influence my recommendations for lenses.</p>

<p>If I were paying absolutely no attention to your budget I would recommend you keep your Rebel as a backup and go with a 5D MkII body and a 70-200 f/2.8L IS. I know, probably out of the budget. Next best option would be the same kit with a used 5D MkI body... Still probably out of the budget and a little limiting with just one lens. The 7D with the 17-85 IS kit lens is a pretty good bargain and it has HD video. Plus, all the lenses you have now will fit. I'd be curious to know what lenses you have for your Rebel, keeping in mind that some of these lenses (EF-<strong>S</strong>) will not fit a full-frame sensor camera like the 5D. All EF lenses will fit all modern Canon DSLRs but EF-S lenses only mount on crop sensor bodies.</p>

[james_bales2]

<p>Well, I have about $2600 to work with.</p>

<p>I would like to see either a higher ISO ability or a faster set of lenses. I'm finding the wedding and real estate shots are in low light conditions. A larger LCD would be really nice.</p>

<p>Also, and I know this is silly, I have had some comments made about the equipment. I read a guys post a while back that stated something to the effect of, to the average joe blow, "the bigger the camera, the more professional the photographer." So professional image is a concern.</p>

<p>I'm not very happy with the meter inside the body. I think it could be better.</p>

<p>The backside of the body is a pain. I borrowed a friends 50D for the weekend and found the controls much easier to manipulate and faster to get to. Especially with gloves on!</p>

<p>But I guess my biggest concern is with overall picture quality. I want to make larger prints and I find I just can't get the quality I want out of the rig I have now. Don't get me wrong, the Rebel takes a good picture. It's not faulty and has taken quite a beating over the past few years. I have no harsh complaints about it at all.</p>

[nathan_meador]

<p>For $2600 you could get a new 5DII, but that is about it. Or you could get a 7D and have about $800 left for a decent lens. Or you could get a 50D and have about $1500 for lenses....lots of variables here. I don't see a problem with Real Estate photos since you could just put the camera on a tripod and go with longer exposures as needed. Weddings and sports would be helped by higher iso ability and faster lenses for sure. When you say 'larger prints', how big is that? I get very good results from my 40D up to 16x24. Haven't tried making anything bigger and that is with good lighting/lower iso.</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>for $2600 you definitely have enough for both. The 5D and 7D are completely different cameras for completely different purposes. Research each and figure out which one fits you best. The 7D is an all out sports camera that can also do portraits and landscapes pretty well and has high resolution thats great for large prints. The 5D has a full frame sensor that produces better bokeh and beautiful portaits/landscapes. It is also great for large prints. I would suggest a 1st gen. 5D ($1200 used) and some nice lenses. You could get a 24-70mm f/2.8 L or 24-105mm f/4 IS L with the rest of the money. This would give you a great beginning wedding and portrait set up with about $500 left over for a 580EX and and some other things. If a crop sensor fits your needs better, look at a used 40D. They are about $600 now, leaving you $2000 for lenses. You can certainly stretch that budget to get quite a bit.</p>

[antonio_leandro_nascimento]

<p>My 2c.<br>

Canon EOS 50D body: US$ 929.00 @ B&H +<br>

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5: US$ 699.00 @ B&H (Real Estate) +<br>

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS: US$ 1030.00 @ B&H (Low light portraits at weddings)</p>

<p>Or wait one month and get the new EOS T2i. It is certainly a less professional looking camera than the 50D. It is also less rugged and with poor ergonomy. But it can film.</p>

<p>Antonio Leandro</p>

[mark_ethridge]

<p>I shoot with an XTi and I was amazed at the difference in image quality when I bought my first higher grade lens--an EF-S 10-22. I've since replaced my entire focal range with good glass and haven't looked back. I will eventually upgrade from my XTi, but it isn't nearly as important as the lenses were, in my opinion.</p>

<p>There's no law that says you have to spend all your money at once. Naturally, if you need better performance at high ISO (the XTi is very weak in this regard, I would imagine your XT is even worse), then you'll have to upgrade the body but you might start out with one good lens just to see what your XT is really capable of. Maybe a nice L series lens that would be useful regardless of which sensor format you ultimately choose.</p>

[antonio_leandro_nascimento]

<p>The same thing happened to me. I shoot with a XTi and two years ago I bought my first higher grade lens, which was an EF-S 10-22mm also. I was impressed by the image quality (not to mention build). Since them, I am trying to replace all my lenses with good glass. I have bought a EF 100mm f/2.8 macro (in order to have a medium telephoto portrait lens with good bokeh which can also do macro work) and I am looking forward to a EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 (or the EF 24-70 f/2.8L, I can not decide which focal lenght if better for me) and a EF 70-200 f/4.<br>

I have also the EF 50mm f/1.8, a great lens which could be added to James' kit I proposed. It is the best bang for the buck in Canon lineup (specially considering its price), but I am considering to replace it with the 50mm f/1.4.</p>

<p>Antonio Leandro</p>

[james_bales2]

<p>Thanks for all the feed back! It seems the general opinion is that I'm going to need better glass eventually anyway, so I may want to go that route first. That makes sense. The better glass will automatically improve the quality of my image. I may not need a new body yet. If I can just find a lens that will help my composition... hmmmm....</p>

<p>Thanks for helping me combat my new gear syndrome!</p>

<p>James</p>

[antonio_leandro_nascimento]

<p>Dear James,</p>

<p>If you are going to invest the US$ 2600,00 in lenses, I can suggest some new glass for you:</p>

<p>Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5: US$ 699,00 (really nice indoor and outdoor real estate photos) +<br>

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS: US$ 1030,00 (general purpose low light portraits at weddings)</p>

<p>Then you can add some really fast lenses like:</p>

<p>Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM: US$ 344,00 +</p>

<p>Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM: US$ 369,00 OR<br>

Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM: US$ 429,95 </p>

<p>These lenses are good portrait lenses, specially in low light situations. But they are not zooms, so they might not be so versatile at wedding parties, but they might be very useful in low lit ceremonies.</p>

<p>If you want to go further and buy a really nice piece of glass, you can add one of these to the 10-22mm + 17-55mm kit:</p>

<p>Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L: 980,00 or<br>

Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L: 749,00</p>

<p>These will not be very useful at a wedding party, but they will perform very well on a low lit ceremony (problably the 135mm f/2.0L would be a better choice in this case).</p>

<p>Yours sincerely,<br>

Leandro</p>

<p> </p>

[james_bales2]

<p>That sounds great. Is there really a notable difference between a really good lens and the L series? Are they that much better?</p>

<p>James</p>

[antonio_leandro_nascimento]

<p>L series lenses are said to be the best in Canon's lineup. Most of them are weather sealed (which only makes sense if you are using a weather sealed body), they have UD elements in order to avoid aberrations and they all come with the appropriate hood. They are believed to last longer than other lenses because of their sturdier construction.<br>

Some of the lenses I mentioned (85mm f/1.8 and 100mm f/2) are recommended by several pro photographers I know even though they are not L lenses.</p>

<p>Leandro</p>

<p> </p>