Wrei wrote:
Alex, whatever you do, DO NOT GET THE 85 f 1.8! You will want to go to full frame after taking photos of your toddlers in natural/low light indoors!!! (It is a little too much tele indoors on a 1.6 sensor for me.)
The focus distance blows too but its great on a full frame or outside. Indoors I use a 50 1.4 or 35 2.0. I'd love the 351.4 or 241.4 but well you know....
FWIW: I think you are "hurting" more in the glass department than the body department.
I use a 40D and I bought it after doing a side by side comparison with a 5D.
I have the 70 -200L you mention and it is a great lens...but interestingly, I dug out some of my old USM lenses recently and tried them on the 40D shooting raw and processing in CS5.the results were interesting to say the least!!
One of them..the 28-105mk2,,,produced results when stopped down to f5'6 that are excellent...I would happily use it instead of the 50m 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 that I own...and they are excellent performers.
Almost as good at the same aperture are the 35-135mm and the 24-85mm..I would happily use them as well.
The body and softwear make a difference.....I originally used those lenses for film and on a 10D so have some images from the 10D...they were nice but nothing special.
I have recently redone some of the raw files with CS5...a marked difference. With that in mind, I did some test shoots with the lenses on the 40D and processed in CS5..yet anothe IQ jump!!
the point of this contribution is that one doesn't have to spend a fortune on lenses if already owning the right body and softwear...and the body doesn't have to be that expensive either...and LR3 is cheap now and it processes raw files exacly the same as CS5.......
The issue with a 60D is that it does not have AFMA. As soon as you invest in a fast wide aperture shallow depth of field lens like a 35mm L, you will want AFMA.
The point is that you need to maintain a balance between your camera body and the glass you use, and be aware of the limitations that might cause a disappointment later on. Right now, a 17-55mm lens makes good sense, since it will work well with your current body.
Your XTi has a form of AFMA too.
I adjusted mine and it really improved the AF. There is a tiny set screw that is accessable thru the lens opening under the mirror. It adjusts the stop for the sub mirror and, in doing so, adjusts the autofocus of the body. I happen to have lots of Allen wrenches, and it took a really tiny one, but two clicks, and AF was perfect. That was several years ago, and I only had one lens then, so I did not have to worry about adjustments for each. Today, I'd just adjust it for my widest aperture lens and verify that others are not messed up. Mty daughter has that camera still, and loves it!
BTW, the article is in French, but a translator seems to do a excellent job.
