New Canon body or new glass?

[Katt]

Hi All,
I have been shooting with a Canon 500D for the past 18 months & am starting to find it too light for the lenses I use & a little bit 'toy like' due to its poly-carbon build. When a couple of my lenses are on it, it feels very top heavy & unstable.

My lens kit consists of a 24-105mm f/4L, a 10-22mm 3.5-4.5, 85mm f/1.8 as well as the two pretty average kit lenses that came with the body on purchase. I mainly shoot landscapes, street & travel photography with the odd family portrait thrown in.

My question is - should I spend my savings on upgrading to a more solid 60D or 7D or should I buy better glass? Out of the two camera bodies I am leaning more towards the 7D as I have previously owned a point & shoot with a flip-out LCD and was not a huge fan. If I should upgrade glass, I am looking for some recommendations.

Appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks
Katt

[Pine]

Time for the 7D you will never look back

Regards

[Cyza]

although the LCD screen is flip out, you always have the option to not flip it out and use it as a normal LCD screen.

[fabian628]

If there is no glass that you think you need or desire, then a body is probably the go.

[wideangle]

It's a tough call as in your justification you say "When a couple of my lenses are on it, it feels very top heavy & unstable" This issue is one that can mean spending the extra $ on a more robust body
pays dividends. Couple this with a larger 100% coverage viewfinder of the Canon 7D, and things like a dial wheel on the 60D/7D then these are good upgrade options as well. Conversely I would ask
(apart from this issue you have of your 500D being plasticy and top heavy) have you outgrown your cameras abilities and feel the need to upgrade. The 60D/7D are great cameras, but so is the 500D,
you have good glass so your camera would be able to take great photos. Sounds like though that you are thinking about the plastic feel and the top heavy feel of your current kit. Have you gone into a shop and tested out the 7D or 60D to see how the feel in your hand, maybe take in your lenses with you and see how they feel with them on? You could also sell your 500D and put some of the money towards the upgrade.

[Tricky]

Whilst generally I'd say "buy glass", on this occasion I'd say get the 7D. I had a 500D as a spare body for a while and my 24-105 felt really out of balance mounted on it. Much better on a 7D.

And the 7D is a substantial upgrade on the 500D, you'll be blown away.

[Forevernowphotography]

I would Go The 7d Over a New Lens, I Feel That A New Body Will And because the 7d is so much more camera than the 500d that the steep learning curve can only stand to improve your skills. I just upgraded to the 7d from the 450d and i have never looked back.

[Bennymiata]

Personally, I'd go for the 60D and keep the extra dough for a good flash or more glass.
From what you say, you don't really need the 10FPS of the 7D, and the 5.3fps of the 60D would probably be fine for your sort of photography.
The actual photos you'd get out of the 60D as compared to the 7D would also be identical as they use the same sensor and processor, although the 7D has dual processors, but unless you shoot flying birds or lots of action sports, there won't be any difference to you.
The 60D is just a little lighter than the 7D, yet it feels very much the same in the hand as the 7D and goes well with the larger lenses too.
The 60D does not feel plasticky at all, but solid and reasuring to hold.
The 7D is now a couple of years old and will probably be replaced in a year or 2's time where the 60D is less than 1 year old.

Why the 60D over the 600D?
The top LCD readout on the top of the camera is very useful, and the 600D doesn't have this feature where the 60D does, and the 60D is a bit larger and easier to grip than the 600D too.

[KeeFy]

I would Go The 7d Over a New Lens, I Feel That A New Body Will And because the 7d is so much more camera than the 500d that the steep learning curve can only stand to improve your skills. I just upgraded to the 7d from the 450d and i have never looked back.

I have been through 2 dSLR bodies and 5 flim bodies, and about 10 lenses in the past 2 years since i started in photography. The lenses makes a lot more of a difference than the bodies do IMO. I went from a 500D to a 7D and agree that the body is so much more but i realised my shooting style didn't change. I just had more action shots due to the extra FPS. The glass however changed the way my photos came out. So Glass over Body anyday. Unless discussing the difference between FullFrame and crop. Then body does make a huge difference.

I only have 1 qualm with the 60D. The lack of micro AF adjustments. Other than that, it's a great camera all round.

[Gemini2261]

Hi Katt, what have you been doing? You joined in May 2010 & only have 13 postings? I don't think we have seen any of your pic's?

My advice is don't spend any of your money unless you have progressed with your photography.

This is what I did: Learnt on my 500D mainly from this site, critiques, comps & joining a local camera club and entering photos there for comps that are judged by well known award winning professionals. I invested all my money over 2 years on Canon L glass because I had a mindset of where I wanted to go.

Once I started to stay in the top 5-10 in comps or winning them I changed my body. I would not have done this had things not progressed satisfactorily & had the evidence of this. All this camera stuff is very expensive. As far as I am concerned if my pix were still crap I would have stayed with the 500D... no point in changing it...the body is not going to make a better picture for you.

In May I changed body to FF & VERY happy.

[BecdS]

I'm soooo confused!!

I would Go The 7d Over a New Lens, I Feel That A New Body Will And because the 7d is so much more camera than the 500d that the steep learning curve can only stand to improve your skills. I just upgraded to the 7d from the 450d and i have never looked back.

As far as I am concerned if my pix were still crap I would have stayed with the 500D... no point in changing it...the body is not going to make a better picture for you.

A new body will help you improve, or it won't? If not, why would anyone upgrade? Apart from more pixels, or greater fps, of course.

Secondly...

I have been through 2 dSLR bodies and 5 flim bodies, and about 10 lenses in the past 2 years since i started in photography.

Whaaaaaaat?? Why so many??

[William]

Stick with what you have till you can use it to It's fullest extent and it feels like It's holding you back, In the meantime buy some good glass , Keeping in mind if your thinking going Full Frame in the future

[Mark L]

What Bennymiata said.

[Kym]

My 50/1.7 is from my first SLR in the 70's.
Glass lasts ... unless they change the system on you as Canon did a few years back, and are unlikely to do so again

[Gemini2261]

BecdS...A new body is not going to make any difference to a mediocre picture, if you can't get the composition and the basics right & have evidence of this by way of scoring well in comps etc then save money work on technique more for longer...the 500D is a great starter for anyone. Then once you do figure out what type of photography you excel at/love, then possibly that will dictate what you should go for next (finances permitting of course)...like the others said...can't go wrong with INVESTING in the glass in the interim (that's what I did). Ended up going FF, now I sold my 500D & the Canon 10-22mm (lens: sob sob) and got my money back...

[kiwi]

Desire is a powerful motivator, if upgrading makes you feel good, gets you taking photos I say good

A good lens will last you 15 years+, most turn over their bodies every 3-4 years

I couldn't shoot sport at the level I do with a d40

But if youre taking average shots in average conditions (iso100-800, 1-4 fps) any body will pretty much work perfectly well

To the OP, contribute more and post pictures otherwise you'll get nowhere in photography or on AP in my opinion.

[Arg]

I have been shooting with a Canon 500D ....When a couple of my lenses are on it, it feels very top heavy & unstable.....

Please use only one lens at a time and the problem will not be so bad.

[KeeFy]

Please use only one lens at a time and the problem will not be so bad.

LoL.

Try using a battery grip with the 500D. It will balance out the weight. It did for me.