peter_c5

My wife and I also did an Alaskan cruise and I'd agree with everything Hosteen has said. I had a 450D then and missed having the video capability you have on your 60D. My longest lens was a 200, and I wished I had the 100-400 I now have, which would have been great for wildlife, whales etc. You may want to take a handful of photos on board - your cabin, people you meet - but the lighting should be excellent. Forget the tripod. Oh, and yes, it will rain!

I had a Canon 75-300 and found its image quality at 300 was miserable. I made some comparative shots between it and a Canon 18-200 - not the best EFS lens by any means - and found that the central portion of the 18-200 image was much sharper and more contrasty that the 300's. I sold the 75-300 - not for very much! So I'd agree that a new lens would probably be your best bet. Why not consider the Mark I version of Canon's 100-400? Now that the Mark II is out, secondhand copies of these are around at very reasonable prices.

<p>It all depends on what you're after. I've just upgraded from a 60D to the 70D - at less than US $900 - and am very happy with it. I was after lens correction, micro focus adjustment and a wifi connection. I suspect that the 80D will have more megapixels again; do you need that?<br> It'd be a major upgrade from your 50D and, as you say, the 80D will be much more expensive for a while. As has been frequently noted, bodies will come and go; it's the lenses that are the enduring part of any system.</p>

I upgraded from a 60D - much less of a change than you're considering - and am very pleased I did. One of the factors for me was the aberration correction available for jpgs, another the ability to tether it to an iPad or phone. I was surprised how many detail improvements and minor upgrades there were.

Many years ago when I had an Olympus system I had a couple of non-Olympus lenses (Kiron). I was perfectly happy with them till I updated my camera from an OM2 to an OM4. Suddenly they no longer worked, and I had to get rid of them. So my answer would be that compatibility rather than build quality might be a greater concern - especially in these all- electronic days. Actually, when using a macro lens one is usually working carefully and slowly - at least I am - so I'm dubious build quality would be a major issue. However, another issue could be the ergonomics: if the focusing is in the opposite direction to your other lenses you'll be forever fumbling. Have you looked at the older Canon 50mm macro? It only goes to half life size, but a used one should be less than the 100mm.

Dima, you mentioned the 18-200 lens yet none of the replies have commented on this lens. I have one, a most useful travel lens which I've used a lot - perhaps 30,000 exposures. Bought in 2008, a couple of years ago the IS stopped working. Repaired by Canon for only a little less than the cost of a secondhand one, it now wobbles and rattles... Clearly a consumer grade lens intended for light duty only. Mine is still exceptionally sharp, but I've chosen to replace it with an L series lens as I feel I can no longer rely on it when traveling. When and if Canon choose to replace it with a Mark II version I'll buy one. In the meantime, as the other posters have said, build quality, usage and luck will determine how long any lens will last.

Have you considered the Canon 100-400 IS L Mark 1? Now that it's been superseded by the Mark 2 version it should be available secondhand at a reasonable price, and I'd think you'd find the 400 end even more useful than 300. As for image quality, a good one will blow your 75-300 out of the water!

If your photos are not tack sharp, and you know that's you, then changing cameras won't help. Your 70D will take superb shots if your technique allows. Best advice is to work on this. As to the 6D, two things I would not regard as frills that your 70D has are the built-in flash - so useful for fill-in for portraits - and the fold-out screen. As for changing to full frame, have a look at Sarah Fox's website: graphic-fusion.com

Have you looked at the Canon 24-70 f4 L IS? Wider than your current lens, and with pretty good macro ability. Will also be sharper than the 28-135.

Since you can't get a full frame wide angle lens wider than 16mm without spending a fortune - and even those cost a bundle and are big and heavy - get an EF-S lens. Like Gil, I have the 10-22 but I'd think the newer 10-18 IS should be ideal for you - and I gather its low price in no way reflects its performance.

<p>OK, I'm tethered but I can't see the camera in the Browse box. All I can do is upload the latest shot using the EOS utility - and then ShutterCount still can't read the data. What am I missing? I'm running Yosemite 10.10.13.</p>

<p>Wouter, I just tried this website but, despite it saying it supports the 60D, the message that came back was 'Your camera doesn't add shutter count information to images'.<br> Oh well, looks as if ShutterCount might not work either. And yes, I know that the shutter count is only of mild interest to me and not a prediction of anything.</p>

<p>Thanks! As we are a Mac household, I'll try ShutterCount, as suggested by Puppy Face.</p>

<p>How can you calculate the total number of times a shutter has been released? My body is a 60D, but I imagine the system is the same for most or all Canon DSLRs. The instruction manual is mute on the question. I looked at an old forum posting which suggested looking at the EXIF data using Adobe Bridge, but shutter count isn't shown.</p> <p>On my body, file numbering is set to 'Continuous', the folder is '100CANON 761' and the most recent exposure is shown as '100-8677'. As I've taken well over 10,000 photos all this mans is that I've taken 8677 shots since the count last rolled over.</p> <p>Total shutter count would be useful to know when thinking of selling or buying a used body!</p>

Do you really like living dangerously? I'd take the 7D with your favourite lens AND the SX50 as a backup, and shoot RAW + JPEG. You aren't going to make this trip again, are you? As for cards, they're cheap. Take more than you think you'll need - and don't forget to lock them after use so you don't accidentally format a used one!

Do take your 24mm - a wider lens would have been good if you'd had one. Inside temples and in markets I made constant use of a 10-22 with a 60D.

Gary Duffy's experience was also mine, several years ago when I shot with Olympus gear: the excellent non-OEM zooms I had proved incompatible when I updated my camera body. Since then I've stuck with the manufacturer's gear. But, as JDM said, if new is too expensive, buy used!

<p>I was interested to read your experience, Dave, as I had a similar experience comparing the 24-105L. I bought a near mint one secondhand, and compared it to my EF-S 18-200, also using a 60D. I too couldn't see any real difference and, despite what Rick and Puppy Face suggest, I did compare the two - using real life photos, not test charts - wide open as well as at f8. I compared at 24mm, 50 and 100/105. My conclusion was that the 18-200 doesn't deserve its mediocre reputation and that for me the full frame lenses only justify their extra size, weight and cost if used on a full frame camera.</p>

I'd agree with Kenneth: the 15-85 would be the obvious choice here. If she does decide later to go full frame, then either she keeps this lens with the camera as a backup, or sells the two together. One excellent, reasonably small and light lens that goes pretty wide (24 mm equivalent) and long (135) will obviously be easier to live with than two!

I had a 75-300 USM and did a series of real world tests with it. It wasn't at all sharp at the 300 end, and had poor contrast throughout. I sold it for a song. I'd forget about it, and either buy a better lens with IS, or wait till I could afford one. A good lens will last much longer than your girlfriend's body!

I don't have a 5D, but I'm sure it doesn't have wi-fi (unless you have a wi-fi enabled CF card?) so of course you can't transfer that way. Use a mini to full size USB cord - one should have come with the camera. Or purchase a card reader and connect that with a USB cord. I usually find connecting the camera better, as that also enables you to set up various camera functions on the computer. Oh, and read the manual!

<p>There was never a problem with the viewfinder dots on my 450D, so I'd agree with Marcus: if there's a problem with the one you're considering, I'd walk away.</p>

<p>I had a non-IS ES 75-300, bought for a film EOS camera. I found it had very poor contrast. I compared it to the blown up centre portion of photos taken with a zoom at 200, and the shorter zoom decisively trumped it. I decided it wasn't worth keeping and sold it for what little I could. I'd think any of the newer lenses suggested above would be a much better bet - I went for the 100-400 L myself, and am very happy with it for stills.</p>