Camera advice needed
 

A few years back I bought a Canon 10D from a well known shooter on this board. I've always wanted to learn photography and I intended to put the effort into learning when I bought that camera.

Well I never took that time and the camera just sat in the box for a very long time in between my minimal usage of it here and there. I still have this camera and it works fine, but I only have one lens a Canon 50mm.

I'm planing to do a road trip the end of this year and I'm going to be traveling all across the US starting late this year and continuing well into if not all of 2013. I expect to be on the road a good 6 months if not a year just traveling the country and going where ever I decide to go, until I decide to stop.

On this trip I intend to learn/practice photography and I'm looking to upgrade my camera. As a rookie I don't intend to go buy the latest and greatest but I really don't want to waste money buying lens's for this older Canon due to the fact they use newer mount system now. (meaning new lenses won't fit my 10d)

I was thinking about picking up a good used 40 or 50D, but I'm also curious which Nikons I might want to look at that would compare to the Canons I mentioned. Also what's the general consensus between Canon & Nikon these days is it still just a personal preference thing or has one taken more lead?

I see a lot more Nikons for sale here locally than I do canons, but I'm not on the up & up as which Nikons are decent, so I'm not sure what I'm looking at when I see them listed.

I plan to do a mix of urban exploring (ie cities) as well and a good mix of out doors type shooting.

If you want to do any sort of video, I'd steer towards a used 60D or a t4i/t3i. In that specific price range.

price range? the Nikon d600 is a good deal (comes with a lens) AND I'm sure there are comparable canon kits... personally I prefer the Nikon ergonomics and I'm told the flash metering is a bit better though canon has some very interesting glass available

I have 30D & 40D and a new 7D, and I love 'em all....the 30D & 40D are obviously a little older, but still rock out great pics.
A good used one of those will server you well.
{Even my 2 older D60's old mount lensed ones still work well, when I use them!}

Canon still has the same mount. They just added another for their cheaper line of dslr’s. Stay away from the “EF-S” lens and you’ll be ok. All EF lens will fit the 10D, even new ones :)

BTW, I have a 10D. Would still use it if the shutter didn't break. Good camera.

here ya go: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-FX-Forma...N%3DB009RVNAX2

I really recommend going full frame and staying away from asp or cropped sensors... looks like the canon equivalent to the d600 kit is the dII mark III kit which pulls in about 1k higher.... get used stuff be a good way to go as well

the new canon 6d is comparable to the d600. but the d600 is the superior camera, in fact i bought one.

Honestly I can't say that I intend to do much of any video, so that's not a real concern at the moment but the option is of course nice.

Also something I didn't think to ask.. With Nikon are all the lenses interchangeable no mater what body you use?

On price.. Honestly I'd rather not spend over $500 on the body. I'm gonna be doing a lot of traveling and I'm sure it will get abused.

Essentially, I want an affordable starter that I can upgrade later while building my experience & lens collection.

So far I'm mostly looking at Canon because that's what I've used before and I know little about Nikon, hence the reason I'm asking about them here.

i had that 28-300 as well, for a travel lens it would kick ass, you lose sharpness but the image stabilization is fantastic but i prefer the results from primes and went with the 85 1.8, the 60mm macro and the sigma 35mm 1.4

another camera system to consider for travel, imo, would be the olympus om-d micro 4/3 fantastic body and the lens selection is also very nice.

Oh really? I was under the impression that starting with the 20D they were all using the EF-S mount. Honestly for my capabilities I'm happy with the 10D, it was mainly that I just didn't have any lenses for it and didn't want to buy lenses for it that I couldn't use later.

yes both canon and Nikon have DSLR's systems which is what you are calling 'interchangeable lenses'. both are comparable.

another interesting option might be the N series by nikon


and Fuji makes a nice little machine as well. I have considered this several times

Yea, they added the S series for those that complained about the crop sensor. To me I?d rather use the EF anyways on crop and stay away from the S series. And the S series won?t fit their professional line.

The also have an M series now for the new EOS M camera.

But the EF still remains king.

What I meant by interchangeable is they didn't change the mounting system at any point making older lenses not work. Like the difference between the Canon EF & EF-S

which 50mm lens do you currently have?

f mount is f mount... hasn't changed since day one I think... the newer small sensor camera lenses will not work on full frame BECAUSE you see a fucking black circle in the view finder and one other issue is that that some lenses don't have motors to drive focus and must rely on the camera motor... that's some kind of weird crap I never got involved in. I just use the pro stuff so I never had to figure that crap out.

the thing about the older lenses is the computer inside not pulling the modern auto focus, being a bit slow... any camera store can tell you what works with what etc..

anyhoo, the reason i was asking which 50mm is canon has the nifty fifty, i always thought the term was generic but got schooled on that a while back that it refers to a specific canon lens, it's not expensive either, i can't recall which one it is as i am not a canon owner.

but itsounds like you might have a nice enough kit already with the 60d and a nice 50mm to take some nice photos.

Here?s the lowdown on the EF-S

New cropped sensor cameras will accept both EF and EF-S. But Full frame can only accept EF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EF-S_lens_mount

yeah just like the nikon stuff

It's just one that was included with it when I bought it. Canon 50mm 0.45m/1.5ft

and the f stop?

there's another set of numbers, something like 1:1.8

i'd bet you have a nice canon 50mm 1.8, that's a fun lens and nice focal length for what it sounds like you will be shooting, street scenes while traveling & such, if anything perhaps grab a zoom lens to complement the 50mm if you think you might want to photograph some images that you will need to pull in closer.

Yea look around the top where the actual glass is, not on the sides.

Yea, I didn't notice the numbers on the front (had a hood on it), it's a 50mm 1:1.8 II

and yea that's sort of what I was looking at is getting something with zoom to add with this. This one seems to do ok for just walking around but it's limited to mostly close up or mid range stuff.

this lens gets good reviews, looks reasonably priced and would complement or even replace the 50mm, depending on your shooting style.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-75-300mm.../dp/B00004THD0

* i'm not familiar at all with canon lens', i'm just a couple months out of researching my kit so.......

this is ef-s


http://www.amazon.com/Canon-55-250mm.../ref=pd_cp_p_0

just thinking about it a bit more, if your camera can take the ef-s lenses. i'd go with the 55-250 for the image stabilization it offers, that ois translates into being able to take sharper pictures in less light.

10D is EF only. It wasn't until the Rebels & 20D that they started doing the EF-S. I had assumed that the EF-S replaced the EF which is why I was looking to upgrade, but now that I know the EF is still used I think I'll just keep this 10D to learn with and spend money on a lens instead.

a new lens can make all the dif in the world! heck, that 50mm lens might have been what's holding you back and a zoom will be perfect for how you like to shoot.

oh and you can sell that 50 for top dollar on craigslist in about 45 minutes. prime lenses like that keep their value and seem to stay in demand. the kid who bought mine on cl said she was required to shoot with it for her camera school/classes.. if the zoom works, ixnay teh iftyfa

Budget allowing - I recommend going with an 18-200mm lens (I have a Nikkor for my d80 and love it...rarely do I change it out).

10D is a fine camera...snagging a good lens for it, will be a LOT more beneficial than getting a new body type AND a lens...
That was sort of my point above that I have 30D 40D 7D...for different things I use different cameras...i also still have 2 older D60 (not 60D), and have a specific lens on it that I use for sporting events and sometimes shallow depth of field stuff in porn shoots.

for example:
http://www.nudephotocontent.com/samp...y/JMG_0105.jpg