Recommendations for my 400D

Dwilly

Guys

Looking for a bit of advice on potential purchases.

I currently own a 400D with a Canon EFS 10-22mm Ultrasonic wide angle lens which I'm happy with. My zoom lens is a Sigma 18-200 which I picked up when I was in Hong Kong after the sales guy persuaded me over a much more expensive Canon zoom.

1) I'm not hugely happy with the quality of zoom-in shots, tend to be a bit blurry and was wondering if a Canon equivalent (perhaps with anti-shake) would fare better? If not can you recommend a suitable zoom replacement?

2) I'm thinking of ordering a 40D, are the high ISO improvements really worth it? A lot of the stuff I've been doing is indoors, non-flash.

3) I'm going to attempt a few wedding snaps for a friend. Can you recommend a decent flash & diffuser? The Canon flash seems hugely expensive compared to others I've priced.

Cheers!

Dwilly

Any chance?

Oriel

As a Nikon user, I can't help you with lens choice.
I will however advise you to stick with the 400D until you build up a lens collection with better lenses.

Paulw

I'd say stick with the 400D for now.

Lenses - Canon 24-105mm IS L is a great lens, for general stuff, or the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L.

For zoom - 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L.

It really really depends on your budget and what you want in the end.

For flash, the 430 is good, but of course the high end 590 or 590II are a bit better.

I hope this is a small help.

rahtkennades

There's a Sigma flash available, the EF 530 DG Super, which it's claimed is similar to the Canon 580EX? I know it's about half the price, and the featureset looks pretty good, but somebody else may be able to offer a users review.

RE the 40D, I'd say what Oriel and Paulw said, stick with the 400D. If you need more light indoors, get a wider aperture lens if you don't want to go with lighting.

CONMIKE12

Are you aware that with each lens tere is a slightly different technique involved in shooting? For example, while you will get away with handholding at shutter speeds of 1/50 or even less with your 10-20mm lens, camera shake is exagerated more with the longer zoom lens so you need a faster shutter speed.this could be why your shots are blurry. I read some where that a good rule of thumb is the shutter speed should be twice that of the focal length eg. 1/400 for the long end of your 18-200.

Dwilly

Cheers guys

Oriel - I don't think I'm ever going to need more than 2 lenses, as I'm by no means a pro and my enthusiast level really doesn't go beyond holidays and the odd quick shoot for my design business. If the Sigma isn't cutting it I guess I'll upgrade that one. I don't want to go down the route of lighting really either..

Paulw & rahtkennades - nice one, I'll check those out

CONMIKE12, thanks for the advice on shutter speeds. Most of the time I either use the shutter speed up high or aperture right down to smallest depth of field. I guess I need a lot more practice to get the right balance.

I'm surprised you're all recommending not upgrading - if money isn't an issue, is it not better to get the better model? Or is it a question of getting used to the particular camera?

ThOnda

400D is going to do almost everything you need, but the lenses are the things that transform light to the sensor. So quality of pictures is more dependant on lense quality than toher things.

About the shutter speed there is simple rule - the longest time should be 1 / focal lenght (mm).

And edit - if the money isn't issue - dont waste it. After some time of shooting and getting experience you'll learn on your own what is important or crucical for your photography, what features are less important. 400D, good set of lenses and smart flash, that's what you need to provide realy good pictures. And polariser and UV filters for lenses, of course.

Dwilly

Thanks ThOnda, I love that polariser filter. Made my great wall of china shots trip all the more vivid.
Will stick with the 400d for a while so.

Kali

18-200 is a huge zoom factor, I'd imagine that lens isn't going to be the sharpest at 200mm regardless of camera or technique.
I'd either buy a dedicated tele-zoom (canon 70-300mm IS.. B&H have a fantastic price on this at the moment) or else a shorter range zoom (canon 28-135 IS or 28-105mm).