50D w 17-55 or 7D w 18-135

Looking for some feedback on these two set ups. They are very close to the same price right now in Canada and I have always focussed on getting better lenses not bodies. I have bought and sold a variety of equipment and am essentially starting out fresh again after a couple of years of not shooting with my own equipment. This is all Canon brand equipment I am referring to. Any thoughts??

Are you much more of a slow and deliberate photographer who works carefully and makes big prints, or are you a go-with-the-flow kind of a guy who wants to go take lots of pictures of lots of things, and only rarely go bigger than 12 x 18?

Type one, get the 17-55 and a body to hang it on. Benefit from a little bit of hard-to-find better quality.

Type two, get the 18-135mm with a wider range of things it can shoot well, with very small quality differences you'll never notice.

But unless you need the ultrafast reaction of the 7D, $1200 gets you a movie-capable T2i with 18-55 and 55-250mm lens, and the $800 you save could buy you a 50mm f1.8 lens and a 580EX flash gun, and maybe even a tripod, and adding that all together, you'll get a wider variety of better photogaphs, assumingyou can work the camera well and have an eye.

BAK

Thank you for the response. I would say I am more of a Type 2 shooter. I tried a Rebel Xti back in the day and did not enjoy the smaller, dimmer viewfinder. I will check out the T2i but have they improved the Rebel viewfinders much? I know the bodies depreciate over time whereas the lenses do not to the same degree, so I always used to focus on getting the best lens possible with a body I could live with. I do not need the latest or greatest, just something that can shoot and focus quickly. Thanks again, would love to hear other opinions!

Go with the 7D, and maybe the 15-85mm lens much better than the 18-135mm.

The IQ is better on the 7D compared to the 50D plus some good features.

--
Canon 5D II & 7D

....I love that range.

While you're learning to use the 7D, the very respectable 18-55IS will do fine. It will also let you know if a 15-85 FL would suit you better in the long run.

Hey, according to rumors, the 60D will be out in a couple months. Perhaps that would be a better way to go.

Thanks everyone, you have left me with some tantalizing decisions to make! The 50D with the 15-85mm is almost as much as the 7D with 18-135mm, here in Canada at present. Choices, choices...

I have just noted that I can buy the 7D with the 18-135 cheaper than with the 18-55 at present. Funny how the packages are priced at times.

Well, if you haven't been shooting much lately, nothing like a 7D to get you back out there and smiling. In your case, I say, get the better body. The 7D is a joy. I own a 5DII and enjoy the shooting experience with the 7D much more. I have a 15-85, but if you have to start with the kit zoom, I say go for it.
--
http://www.pixelmap.com

I spent the last 3 weeks looking at the 7D compared to the 50D. I too have put the emphasis on lenses rather than bodies but ended up going for the 7D. The deciding factor was that it just feels so good in my hands and I prefer the layout to that of the 50D.

I also picked up the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS L having decided against the 'kit lens'. I also picked up a 2nd hand 17-85mm IS as a walk around lens for this body.

However (and this won't help you) if I had to make the choice again, I might just buy the 50D and spend the 500 quid saved on a 10-22mm.

Right now I'm in the prosess of getting to grips with the 7D's focussing system shooting in manual + RAW.

Hope this helped.

Drew
--

'The whole idea of learning Photography is to reduce the number of Monkeys it takes.'

The first one, without any doubt. The 18-135 is the worst Canon EF-S zoom, the 17-55 is the best.

We have 7D as well as the wife on 50D. We also have the 17-55mm F2.8IS lens. Which is simply an awesome piece of glass.

Don't underestimate the 50D. We love ours, and the only reason I went to the 7D was I had a 40D and our old video Camera was MiniDv (720 x 576 resolution). Going to Singapore we wanted footage from Jurong Birdlife Park in HD. My choice was to either buy a HD Video Camera, or get the 7D so I could use the Canon Glass. So basically, I invested the $1K AUD in getting the 7D over carrying more gear. And it was the right call, as my video needs are very minimal. I'm more into Stills, with occasional video. So it was the right choice for me. I have some awesome HD video shot with a 100-400mm lens @400mm form the last row of seats on a monopod with no heads in the way of Macaws, Hornbills etc flying round in free-flight. I doubt I would have got as good with a dedicated video camera due to the distance.

For a pick up and shoot, the 50D has the Simple modes. Landscape, Portrait etc. Which are very handy for the novice. My missus loves the 50D for this, as she doesn't have to bug me for settings. The 7D has none of these settings, but to be truthful, it's not a huge issue, as you can set the C1-C3 settings to do the same as your 3 most used settings. So I have a sports setting, a landscape setting & a portrait setting of my own choice. Just have to remember which settings which.

The 50D was a big step up from the 40D, as it offered a much better LCD screen, MA adjustment, and can shoot in RAW even for all the simple settings (yes, even the green square!). While the 7D has a Green square as well, the only way I'd see using it is if I had to hand it to someone to take a shot with me in it at a moment's notice.

I have no regrets with the 7D, but I must say the jump from 10Mp to 18Mp took some getting used to, as the higher pixel density means it's not as easy to get a really "sharp" shot, and to get used to an image looking "soft" at 100%. As well as having to think about every shot as there wasn't a simple setting to slack off with. But it was just a case of spending some quality shooting time with it. It's much better frame rate, AF system etc has made me never regret buying it.

My thought's might be towards finding a s/h 7D and the 17-55mm lens, as if the whingers are to be believed there are people that regret buying the 7D so there should be some sales happening. Because if you could get a s/h 7D for about the same cost as a new 50D, I'd go that way for sure.

For me, it was the occasional need for HD video that tipped the favour for the 7D. Take that out, and the 50D would do fine. Bottom line is we all chip in with the + and - and you make the informed decision that's right for you.
--
The Aussie Viking

Get the 50D and the better glass. That's what I did.

Thanks everyone for the variety of feedback. I am going to the local store to handle both today. I have shot a 50D about a year ago but have never really handled the 7D so will give it a peruse today. The speculated 60D does not interest me much and I am not sure the 50D body price will get lower than the $799 CDN it is currently at. I used to read a lot of comments about dust issues with the 17-55mm, is that still a real issue or has it just been overblown. Both are still in the running at this point, and you have all given me some good ideas to think about. I really appreciate the comments, this is a great community of photography enthusiasts!

Well a certain amount of dust is bound to blow into a lens, but I do think that this time it is overblown. lol.

I love my 17-55mm. If it ever gets a little dusty I will still love it. After all, the dust is not in focus. It just darkens the image.

If the dust gets so thick I have to turn up the iso's I will dismantle and clean. A job that will take me a couple of hours, or a profesional about 5 mins.

I think the 17-55mm is a victim of its sucess. It gets used a lot. Lenses that stay in the camera bag never get dust problems.

batchelor22 said:

I used to read a lot of comments about dust issues with the 17-55mm, is that still a real issue or has it just been overblown.

Click to expand...

Totally overblown IMHO. Absolutely no problems with mine and it's far my most used lens.

My primary walkaround lens is a 17-55 which I have owned for a couple years. There is a single dust particle behind the front element, but that's it.

I really enjoy using the 17-55, and hope to assemble a whole collection of dust in it before having it professionally cleaned.

batchelor22 said:

I used to read a lot of comments about dust issues with the 17-55mm, is that
still a real issue or has it just been overblown.

Click to expand...

I put a good filter on my 17-55 when I first got it and I've never had any problems. I used it quite a bit at Burning Man last year and that's one of the dustiest places on earth. It's a fabulous lens, I recommend it wholeheartedly.



--
Austin, TX
http://www.sevenstarphoto.com

Thanks again everyone. After handling both this morning, I must say I am really impressed with the 7D and I really like its viewfinder. The 50D is also a solid performer but the viewfinder just seems a touch smaller and dimmer (might be just my imagination). I am no further ahead as I would ultimately like the 7D with the 17-55mm. However, life is full of compromises and I have a budget of $2500 CDN to stay within. I am only funded to buy new equipment, not used, so even though I know there are some great deals on used equipment I cannot take advantage of them. Oh well, it is the weekend and I will give it some more thought before buying next week.

Well, this is where I have landed. The Canon 50D, with a Canon 70-200 f4L and a Sigma 17-50 2.8 OS. Any thoughts before I pull the trigger on Monday??