What's a good older Canon dslr?

[Dragoncamera7]

I'm interested in birding, landscape photography and nature shots animals. What is a good older Canon dslr to get? I have used a T1i and 450D and like both. How does the 40D and 20D compare to the 450D? And is it possible to find cheap 1D mark II or 5D mark I? Can these older high models stack up against the newer mid series models?

Thanks,

Ben

[RobertTheFat]

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@Dragoncamera7 wrote:

Correct, right now I do not have any DSLR and I really miss shooting. I want the 40D right now, but at the same time I want the more capable 7D, which is currently out of my budget range. So I am between the two choices, wait and save up, or get back into photography right now.

Ben

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In your situation you have very little to lose by buying a 40D, assuming that it's in good condition and that you really do want to get back into photography beyond the cell phone level. Even if you buy a better camera later, you'll want to have a spare.

[Dragoncamera7]

Yeah, I think you guys are right. Now with summer here I am missing a lot of opportunities to shoot. Like Robert said, if I have the opportunity to upgrade, I'll have a spare body. Since I don't have any really good lenses right now, I probably couldn't make use of the 7D anyway. I just really want to get shooting again.

Ben

[Dragoncamera7]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the advice and guidance I very much appreciated it and I feel a lot better about buying after all the discussion. I'll post a new thread when I purchase.

Ben

[Dragoncamera7]

Has anyone bought a used Canon body with condition G from Adorama? Just would like to know what kind of condition to expect.

Ben

[jrhoffman75]

[Waddizzle]

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@Dragoncamera7 wrote:

Has anyone bought a used Canon body with condition G from Adorama? Just would like to know what kind of condition to expect.

Ben

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The "G" rating doesn't sound very promising to me.  It's in the lower half of the rating scale, which cannot be a good thing.  The best sources for used gear are KEH and B&H, especially KEH for camera bodies.  I see a good deal on a 40D..

[TTMartin]

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@Dragoncamera7 wrote:

Has anyone bought a used Canon body with condition G from Adorama? Just would like to know what kind of condition to expect.

Ben

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A 'G' rating from Adorama would be the same as the 'BGN' rating from KEH.

If KEH still has the 'EX' one, just buy it already!

'EX' from KEH would be like 'E+' from Adorama.

[Dragoncamera7]

I just wanted to thank everyone again for all the help, I really appreciate all the posts, thanks for the clarification on the used conditions.

Ben

[TTMartin]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote:
Sandisk Ultra CF cards are fast enough for the 40D, and 32gb is plenty big.

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32 GB is indeed plenty big. But before I bought one for a 40D, I'd want to verify that the camera can use all of a card that large and/or won't get confused by it. I'm not sure there were any 32 GB cards when the 40D was current; 8 GB was a large card in those days.

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Yes, we use a 32GB CF card in our 40D.\

And 32GB cards tend to be the current 'sweet spot' for price per GB.

[TTMartin]

My impression is that Adorama over rates, B&H rates accurately, and KEH under rates.