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## edwinphotog (Apr 24, 2013)




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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 24, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*



edwinphotog said:


> Hello everybody.
> I'm planing on buying a second hand Canon EOS 40D, but still not shore if it is the right camera for me!
> I' am a very experienced photog and love taking all sorts of pictures.
> I take pictures of wildlife, landscape and macro, but do a lot of journalism too.
> ...


 
You will be better off buying the best lens and the cheapest body. But, with 40D's available for $250, its already a low priced body.

The 50mm f/1.8 is a good start, but certainly not a all around lens.

There are a ton of low cost EF lenses, all EF lenses will fit on the camera.

Since you are looking for the best low cost lenses for your dollar, get the 18-55mm IS EF-s plus the 55-250mm EF-s. A used 18-55 can be found for well under $100, and I see a used 55-250mm on my local craigslist for $110. Normally though $150 is the lowest.

These lenses are sharp and can capture excellent quality images if you learn to use them properly. The reason they are low cost is the inexpensive construction (treat them like eggs), and the fact that they are not low light lenses.

Save money to buy Adobe Lightroom 5 when it arrives. Shoot using RAW and process the images in Lightroom. Its a bit of a hassle to learn, but you can really make your images shine when carefully processed. I am able to get good images at ISO 3200 with my old 40D when show in RAW and processed in Lightroom 4. You will not be able to do this with the jpeg mode, image processing has improved a lot since the 40D came out, and by using RAW, you can take advantage of that.

Lightroom 5 is on the way, right now, you can use the beta along with free online training. Then when version 5 is released, buy it. Thats better than buying version 4 at this point.


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## Menace (Apr 27, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

Personally, if I was on a really tight budget, I'd get the EF50 1.8 - it may not have the versatility of a zoom but the large(er) aperture more than makes up for it. 

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-50mm-f-1.8-II-Lens-Review.aspx

Cheers


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## Hydrogen (Apr 27, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

My thoughts after using several crop APS-C bodies would be to get the EF 28mm f/1.8 lens (I actually still have mine but since I have the EF 35 f/1.4L they are redundant to me). Very well built and good image quality. This will get you to around 45mm with the crop body and is a good focal length (close to actual 50mm on a full-frame/35mm) for general purpose photography.

The 50mm lenses are 'too long' as the sole lens in a kit on a crop body.


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## Richard8971 (Apr 27, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

I have owned 2 40D's (And I still have and USE one of them on a regular basis) and I love them. To be honest, I cannot tell between an 8x10 print made from my 40D and one taken with my 7D!

The 40D is a steal at this time. I see bodies all the time from $225 to $350. Some are still largely unused. It is VERY easy to find a lightly used 40D right now for sale. I have done personal comparisons between images taken with the 40D and the 50D (and even the 7D) and it is VERY hard (almost impossible) to tell the images apart. I love the 40D because 1) bodies have always been reasonably priced (Thanks to Canon for releasing the 50D less than a year after the release of the 40D!) and the image quality and colors are fantastic. At 6+ fps it is a workhorse and with a 10.1MP sensor, the images are super smooth and noise free all the way up to ISO 1600! 

I would say the EF-s 60mm macro is one hell of a prime lens and at a great price. VERY, VERY sharp and not only is it a great prime/portrait lens but it also gives you the advantage of being able to do macro photography. (I have owned 3 myself) It's lightweight and the images are stunning with this lens.

The EF 70-300 IS USM is another great lens for the price. From 70-200 it is super sharp, even compared to the L class versions of the 70-200 (f4) lenses (I have used the 70-200 f4 IS USM for comparison). From 200-300, you lose a little detail but not much. BUT for the price, it is one lens that is hard to beat. AND it will give you IS and a super fast USM for "right now" autofocus!

You will not regret the 40D, I haven't. Even after shooting with the 7D and 5D2 I am still amazed at the image quality and colors from my 40D. Stick some good glass on it and you will not be disappointed!

D


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## Plato the Wise (Apr 28, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

I had a 40D and it was a great camera. I only sold it because I purchased a 5D mII. Good value, frame rate is decent, build quality is far superior to the rebels, and RAW files are great to work with since they switched to 14 bit from the prevous 12 bit on the 30D.

You should be very happy. 

With that said - your lens choice will make a huge difference in image quality and lenses hold their resale value longer. So spend a little more on the lenses and I promise you that you'll not regret it. The 18-135mm is the perfect walk around lens and has excellent image and build quality for the price. It's the rough equivalent to a 28 to 200 mm on full frame.

50 mm is a bad choice for a crop body. It's two tight. If you would rather have a decent "standard" prime, get the Canon 28mm 1.8 or the Sigma 30mm 1.4 v1 - which you can find for a steal at $350 right now because they are coming out with a new version. I have both and they yield excellent results and are usable wide open.


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## CROSSfirePhoto (Apr 29, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

went from a Xti, added a 40D a year later... put 100,000+ on it before shutter went out... went ahead and got it fixed 2 years ago, still going strong... have a 7D now as well, but regularly still pull the 40D out of my bag for shoots... and like others have said, $250-400 for a gently used version is great... get a battery grip!


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## Dylan777 (Apr 30, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

I started out with used 40D + 17-55 f2.8 IS + 50 f1.4 back in 2008.


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## kennephoto (Apr 30, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

Only thing I wish the 40d had is micro af adjust and I'd still have one it is quite the camera.


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## Hannes (May 1, 2013)

*Re: Canon EOS 40D?*

I have a 40D as well, it is a very nice camera and for the price they go for at the moment I think they are pretty unbeatable. The images are pretty noisy but as long as you stay below 800 in the dark or 1600 in daylight the noise is far less intrusive than the newer crop canon's even at the same ISO. Controls and handling is excellent, fps is good and autofocus decent. 10 megapickles is enough for most things so all in all a winner. The only shame is the lack of AFMA and the rather dated screen.


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