canon 40d and 550d

[brisbane49]

Hi all. just after some thoughts on the relative merits of the canon 40d and the 550d. I am currently using the 40d but had an injury which makes the weight and size a bit of an issue, in particular with larger lenses. I also am attracted to the idea of a walk around 24mm lens/ smaller camera combination. One option would be a digital rangefinder, but I still want the versatility of an slr. So....one option would be to get a 550d and a canon 24mm f2.8 to achieve a relatively light and useful combination for the style of photograpyy I am most drawn to at the moment.

I know there are features of the 40d I would miss, but I get the impression that the picture quality of the 550d is excellent. Any thoughts? Cheers.

p.s. am using a 24-105 L and 70-200 f4L, not exactly compact, so have been using the 50mm f2.8

[fabian628]

what I have found, the weight between these two cameras is not very great, but the size of the hand grip means a more comfortable grip for the hands. Depending on how big your hands are the 550D may be better here. Would you be selling your current lenses? The bigger body will also balance your heavier lenses better if you do use them. Using a rebel film body with a lens like the 35mm f/1.4 really shows big imbalance and this lens isnt so heavy.

Also a question, have you ever used a rebel camera body? They are inferior to the 40D in terms of ergonomics of buttons and dials and the ability to change settings quickly and easily.
For example, to change the focus mode to one shot to ai servo you have to use the back screen to select. I used a smaller body on a holiday and found it sufficeient, but still troublesome to change settings quickly.
You will definately miss the top screen.

My advice is, have a play with the rebel type body, you may love it but you may also feel a bit hindered by the fact it has less buttons. There isnt a great deal more other than grip size, frames/ sec that I would consider a big difference.

[ben84]

I have a 40d and my mate has a 550d. It is quite a bit lighter but like Fabian628 said, the setup will feel unbalanced. It is also a lot slower to use, the functions just aren't as smart and natural feeling and you'll notice the lesser build quality.

Perhaps you could get a utility belt so you wouldnt have to hold it all the time?

[Brian500au]

If you are looking for a smaller camera but still retain all the qualities of the DSLR have you look into the canon G12?