New Canon SLR options

[woodypnr]

I've had a Canon 400D for a few years, and feel my photography is now good enough to upgrade to a camera in a higher range.

What should I be looking at within the Canon range?
And I only have three inexpensive lenses at the moment, so I would consider changing from Canon before developing my lens collection any further if there was a good reason to.
I don't want to spend over £1000.

What would you suggest?
Thanks.

[mondmagu]

It all depends on the type of photography you intend to shoot.Are you going to shoot mixed styles of photography or are you going to specialise in any one or a few areas i.e. landscape;portrait;macro;studio;abstract;low light etc.
As for which make of camera,you need to decide which suites you best,so go along to your local photography shop and get a feel for the different makes.Some cameras feel more natural to hold than others due to the size and weight of the camera or your hands.

Des

[woodypnr]

Thanks, good point.
From your list I'll be doing mainly: landscape, macro, low light.
I want to get a bit of an 'urban landscape' photo collection together and when travelling have the ability to do wildlife, but that would be occasional.
I've not done much macro, but I really love macro photographs, I want to develop my skills there.
I won't be doing any studio stuff.

If I narrow down to Canon, which I'm happy with, what should I be thinking about?

[wavemachine]

If you are looking at Canon then I would say in your price bracket you are probably looking at the 60D, the articulating screen would be particularly handy for Macro and the 1.6 x crop factor would give you an advantage with zoom lenses when photographing wildlife.

Of course and APS-C will not be as good at dealing with low light as a full frame sensor but then you will go way above your budget unless you looked at a second hand 5D MK 1 of course.

[mondmagu]

Agree with Wavemachine,a 60d would be perfect, I have this myself and find it great.
Also agree that the full frame copes better with low light than crop sensor but you could always buy a fast lens such as the ef-s 17-55 f2.8 but it is very expensive(I have this also and it normally stays on my camera it is so good).This lens alone would blow your budget.Sigma and Tamron have similar models for half the price.

Des

[wave01]

there is about £250- £300 price difference here in the between the 60d and 600d now you could get the 600d and use the money saved towards a lens

[chris-p]

Personally, I think you're better off investing in lenses rather than cameras. The 600D might be newer than the 400D but it's not that much more advanced and it'll never make as much of a difference to your photographs as better lenses.

You said you shoot in low light, but you haven't said what. You also said macro and landscapes. You also said you have a few cheap lenses but you've not said which ones.

For £1000, I'd buy a Sigma 10-20mm for landscapes (£385 and WEx), a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for "low light" (£379 at WEx) and a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 macro (£269 at WEx). Thats £1,033.
If you could stretch to another £100 I'd replace the Sigma 50mm macro with the Tamron 90mm.

If you'd like something longer but still fast, swap the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for the Canon 85mm f/1.8 which is £75 cheaper at around £305.

That gives you wide, fast and close and that covers just about every scenario you've listed.

[woodypnr]

Hi all, thanks very much for the advice, very useful.
Phil.