Which DSLR?

[Seriak]

Okay, I originally purchased the first Canon DSLR years ago. (300D) I thought it is about time to upgrade. I only take hobby pictures, nothing professional. I have a few questions for you gurus.

1) Are my original lenses worth keeping. I see that all the new lenses have IS and possibly other improvements. So should I buy the body with the new lenses or save money and use my old lenses.

2) I was looking at the 70D. Is this a good choice or is their a better one to look at.

3) For macro lenses is it worth spending twce the money for the IS lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM) overtop of the the regular lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro)

4) Best place to purchase the camera and lense. Camera store, bestbuy, future shop, online vendor, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[Magickiwi]

If you can hold your nose while dealing with staff that patronize you the Camera Store is definitely the way to go in Calgary. They match anyone in terms of price, at one time they'd even match B&H. Vistek is some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced and Saneal is more for people that don't know what they are looking for. Saneal has decent staff but don't have the knowledge level that places like The Camera Store or Vistek have.

If you are an informed shopper prior to going in to buy you can usually save a few bucks at BestBuy if The Camera Store doesn't have what you're after in stock.

As to the question about IS for your macro lens I would say that would be the single best feature a macro lens could have. When you're shooting at < 3' and trying to catch a fish or snail etc. before it moves you pretty well have to be handholding your camera which means movement. The only lens I could see IS as more important to would be a long zoom lens. Can YOU justify the price is really what you want to know and I can't answer that for you. I know I'd get it if I were buying a new macro lens now.

70D is a great body but if you're just an occasional photographer and have made a D300 last this long I'd suggest one of the Rebel line models instead. They still have a steel mounting ring and are relatively rugged. Generally much cheaper too.

[Rice Reef]

Originally Posted by Seriak

Okay, I originally purchased the first Canon DSLR years ago. (300D) I thought it is about time to upgrade. I only take hobby pictures, nothing professional. I have a few questions for you gurus.

1) Are my original lenses worth keeping. I see that all the new lenses have IS and possibly other improvements. So should I buy the body with the new lenses or save money and use my old lenses.

2) I was looking at the 70D. Is this a good choice or is their a better one to look at.

3) For macro lenses is it worth spending twce the money for the IS lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM) overtop of the the regular lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro)

4) Best place to purchase the camera and lense. Camera store, bestbuy, future shop, online vendor, etc.

Thanks in advance.

1) I think the new 70d is an entry level to the full frame market so I EFS lens will not work unless the lens you have are EF lens. If you wish to continue using the old lens then you will have to look at the EFS lines.

2) the 70d seems to have some decent reviews. I'm a Canon guy so I will say yes. However, you should look at the Nikon cameras too. You can't go wrong with Canon or Nikon... Lots of lens option and resalability is better.

3) if you can budget for the IS go for it however the non IS works just as well. You are going to be using a tripod most of the times so the IS feature is not necessary.

4) look around for when Canon has the rebate programs. Most dedicated camera stores can generally tell you this

Good luck with your buy and happy shootn!

[sphelps]

I know nothing about canons so if you're open or considering switching brands I'd highly recommend the Nikon D5300 or D7000. I just bought the D5300 for my wife and I prefer it over my D300, it's amazing how easy it is to get really good pictures right off the camera and with built in wifi and gps on such a small body it's much more practical as well. The D7000 is a bit more advanced but doesn't have the wifi or gps built in. I'd avoid a full frame body unless you're looking to shoot more professional, you need full frame lenses to match which are significantly more expensive.

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I know nothing about canons so if you're open or considering switching brands I'd highly recommend the Nikon D5300 or D7000. I just bought the D5300 for my wife and I prefer it over my D300, it's amazing how easy it is to get really good pictures right off the camera and with built in wifi and gps on such a small body it's much more practical as well. The D7000 is a bit more advanced but doesn't have the wifi or gps built in. I'd avoid a full frame body unless you're looking to shoot more professional, you need full frame lenses to match which are significantly more expensive.

I was thinking of looking at the Nikons, but I remembered I also have a fancy external flash I bought for my Canon that should still work with newer Canon models. I would hate to have to buy another one of those as well. From what I have read, Nikon is pushing past Canon recently in performance.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

1) I think the new 70d is an entry level to the full frame market so I EFS lens will not work unless the lens you have are EF lens. If you wish to continue using the old lens then you will have to look at the EFS lines.

The 70 is a APS-C sensor, not full frame. So EF-S lenses will work fine.

1) Have you out grown your current gear? If you are unaware of the limitations of your current kit then I'd say no, it's not worth while replacing them. If you have been unsatisfied with the photos your taking then perhaps its time to invest in better optics.

If your camera never leaves the green square or pre-set modes, then I'd say your better off learning how to push the limits of what you have first.

2) 70d is a good camera. (I prefer the extended range the small sensor cameras provide over full frame) but, I tend to shoot more telephoto shots.

3) I debated between the two lenses before settling on the non L lens. while the IS is nice, it didn't help enough to justify the extra $400. I feel a GOOD tripod will help more with macro shots than IS.

4) In terms of stores, I agree that "The Camera Store" is the best in Calgary. The do have a get you in get you out atmosphere however. I've seen many people go to the store to try the gear then tell the sales men that they are going to buy it online to save a few bucks.

If you want to try any canon gear go to Eight Avenue Place and check out
IMAGE SQUARE - The canon experience center.
This is a trail location only, no sales, so they are there to answer questions and help inform you, not up sell you to reach sales targets.
Play with all the lenses, from 8mm to 800mm!!

If you want to order online, B and H Photo is the best source IMO.
Check out http://www.photoprice.ca for a comparison of a lot of stores in Canada and the States.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Seriak

Okay, I originally purchased the first Canon DSLR years ago. (300D) I thought it is about time to upgrade. I only take hobby pictures, nothing professional. I have a few questions for you gurus.

1) Are my original lenses worth keeping. I see that all the new lenses have IS and possibly other improvements. So should I buy the body with the new lenses or save money and use my old lenses.

2) I was looking at the 70D. Is this a good choice or is their a better one to look at.

3) For macro lenses is it worth spending twce the money for the IS lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM) overtop of the the regular lense (Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro)

4) Best place to purchase the camera and lense. Camera store, bestbuy, future shop, online vendor, etc.

Thanks in advance.

I'm no guru, but here are my opinions.

1. What are your original lenses exactly? Some (if not all) of them can still be great lenses on your new camera. I just about a 10 year old lens for my full frame camera. I am also still using lenses that I originally used on an older Rebel XTi that I had years ago. Image Stabilization is definitely a nice feature but only you can weigh its benefits vs cost.

2. The 70D is a not a full frame camera so either EF or your EF-S lens will work on it just fine.

3. Image Stabilization is a handy feature to have in a lens but only the user can deem its worth. My favourite type of photography is macro photography and I take a lot of macro photos both in and out of the fish tank. I started with the non IS 100mm macro lens 6 years ago and am still using it. IS would be a nice to have feature but my photos look just fine without IS. Actually, in my experience with macro photography 8 times out of 10 I am taking macro shots with the camera on the tripod. There is absolutely no need for IS with the camera mounted on a tripod, therefore I really have no need for IS in my macro lens. IS is good for shooting macro in low light situations, which you may or may not do a lot of. I mostly shoot macros of corals and flowers which are always lit by plenty of light. Certainly enough light to photography with a high enough shutter speed to negate the need for image stabilization.

On the topic of macro photography, another option to macro photography is to purchase a set of extension tubes. They are cheaper than a macro lens with the benefit of allowing you to use pretty much any lens as a macro (and near macro lens). For example, I often use my 24-105mm F4 zoom lens with an extension tube to take my macro photos.

4. I like to buy my lenses from whomever will sell me the cheapest lens. They will all match one anothers price so it comes down to who has stock and who you like to talk to. I also buy lenses from kijiji. Half of my lenses I purchased used off of kijiji. You can save bucket loads of money this way. Lenses don't tend to have a high failure rate. Most often you'll find people selling lenses simply because they purchase a lens thinking they would use it, but end up not using it much at all so the lens is near mint when they sell it

[kien]

One thing you will notice when you upgrade from your 300D is how much bigger many of the new cameras are. This may or may not be a big deal to you, but it is definitely worth while to hold ALL the cameras that you can get your hands on.

I went from a rebel XTi to a Canon 40D to a 5D Mark II, and although the 5D Mark II is the best of the lot (on paper), I rarely used it because it was much heavier than the other two for me to be lugging around. I used the 40D much more, especially on vacation. Recently I sold my 5D Mark II and instead of upgrading to the 5D Mark III, I side-graded to the 6D. The 6D is essentially the exact same camera as the 5D Mark II, but in a much smaller/lighter body. It's even lighter than my 40D. So now my 40D sees no action and I use my 6D exclusively.

But not everyone is a pansy like I am and don't mind lugging around a brick.

[Ron99]

The 70d is a solid choice in a mid range DSLR. It has some great new tech and is geared to the advanced amateur. If you want to save some money the T5i (or even a T4i) is also a great camera and will be a huge step up from your 300d.

[Rice Reef]

oops.. my bad... I thought the 70D was a full frame for some reason... too many different lines...