How long will my Canon 20d last me before I outgrow it?

[uliongon]

I own a Canon 20D that I got because I wanted to get into photography. My lenses are a basic kit lens and a 50mm f/1.8. I don't have a lot of $$ to spend on nice gear so I am wondering how long this camera will last before I (a complete beginner) will start to notice its age. Thanks for any help https://routerlogin.uno/  !

[ebiggs1]

"...  I, was saying it with tongue in cheek or with some irony."

Oh, yes, I know you were. I was also attempting to point out the nonsense about it being 10,000.

If you really want to know the average person and their attachment to or ability and interest, you need to teach beginning digital camera classes. The forums are full of keyboard cowboys that all they do is read with no actual experience so a quote like that seems plausible. 

[Tronhard]

That is an absolutely impossible question to provide a definitive answer to.  It is generally accepted that a competent photographer can take decent images with relatively primitive equipment - consider images taken in the past that are universally celebrated, yet are taken with cameras that would today be considered completely obsolete by many.

The corollary of that is I have seen people with the most modern, top tier gear take totally rubbish photographs because they don't learn the basic of metering, exposure and composition - or they take technically good but totally uninspiring images.

As a general observation, once you have understood light, reflectance, metering exposure and composition to some degree, you will start to become more specialized in the types of images you want to shoot.  At some stage your ability to capture images will be inhibited by your gear, and you will know that - that is when you consider a gear upgrade.  That is arguably going to be limited more by the optics you have than the camera.   Most people who start off - and a lot of experienced photographers too - fixate on the camera body, when the lenses arguably have more impact on the image and often represent a far great investment because of their cost and their longevity.

I would encourage you to consider the material in this article:
Considerations for buying camera equipment 

I demonstrated this exact point with a post in the section Share Your Photos.  The 20D was released in 2004 and the EOS 400D was released two years later but the 20D was at it's release time a higher-spec'd camera, so from the trickle down effect, they are roughly comparable. 
Images with an Obsolete Camera - Page 2 - Canon Community

I can even add the older EOS D60 from 2002.
D60, EF 24-105@53mm, f/4.5, 1/30sec, ISO-200  D60, EF 17-40@38mm, f/4.5, 1/2sec, ISO-200D60, EF 24-105@105mm, f/6.3, 1/1600sec, ISO-200  D60, EF 28-135@28mm, f/10, 1/80sec, ISO-200

That's why the first line in my signature says what it does...

[stevet1]

uliongon,

I'd say, use the camera you have and learn as much as you can about taking photographs, all the while, saving what money you can.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I had to save for a year before I could buy the camera I have.

Steve Thomas

[Tronhard]

I can relate to that.  When I first started getting serious about photography, I had only a book on the subject and ones from the library.  They were much as they are today - about the physics of the activity, and a lot of examples with explanations as to the settings chosen and the composition, with multiple variations and examples.  I consumed those for a year before I could afford the gear I wanted, and I had to get it duty and tax free as I left the country to go walkabout in Australia.  That helped reduce my learning curve because I understood the principles and understood somewhat about what I wanted to achieve, I just needed to get used to the controls and practice, practice, practice - which, considering I was using film that cost for every shot, was carefully done.