Replacement for the 20D

AntiThesis

AntiThesis

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So, insurance have come through with a replacement. The quotes they received have advised them to do the following:

R7999.00 replacement value (on a 550D body)
R2295.00 replacement value (on a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6)

That gives me a total of R10294.00 to play around with.

Any suggestions? The 550D is being pretty heavily punted by the photo shop but as yet I have absolutely no idea about it. Looks quite cool - will it live up to the (excellent) 20D?

Please, any thoughts at all would be welcome. I already have the 18-55 kit lens for the 20D so I don't really want to swap to Nikon or similar but any good recommendations would be considered :D
 
OK, have read up on the 550D some... seems quite sweet. The only thing worrying me a little is the transition from xxD to xxxD range.
 
I personally would look at the 50d, Orms currently have the body only for R8395 (http://www.orms.co.za/product.php?a=view&product=1623) which is a bargain. The 50d's handling is better than that of the 20d and much better than that of the small xxxd series cameras. The added bonus is that the battery used in the 50d is the same as the 20d and also uses CF cards instead of CD in the 550d. The 50d does not have the movie functions of the 550d but does have 6.3 frames per second and better tracking autofocus.
 
Agree with the previous posters, you will prolly be frustrated using a 550d after the 20d. The back wheel and the body size would be the major deal breaker for me.

Also, I haven't checked your original post, but make sure the 70-300 they are willing to give you, has APO in its acronyms.
 
BigAl-sa said:
Agree with the previous posters, you will prolly be frustrated using a 550d after the 20d. The back wheel and the body size would be the major deal breaker for me.

Also, I haven't checked your original post, but make sure the 70-300 they are willing to give you, has APO in its acronyms.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely convinced I'd use the HD video particularly either as that's not really something I care about at present and I prefer my cameras to be either still or video.

The original Sigma lens was not one of the APO lot so it's doubtful I'll get a more expensive replacement.

Another possibility of course is to pick up a 20D body for R3999 or so and then spend the rest on lens replacements.

Waiting for input from a couple of heavy photographer friends so will see what they reckon.
 
AntiThesis said:
Any suggestions? The 550D is being pretty heavily punted by the photo shop but as yet I have absolutely no idea about it. Looks quite cool - will it live up to the (excellent) 20D?
Click to expand...
I wonder why/how they came up with the 550D, a camera in a totally different class? It's kind of like you crashed your Porsche 911 and they wanted to replace it with a Boxer.

How much had you insured your camera for?

I wouldn't even consider replacing it with another used 20D. A lot has happened in 6 years.
 
I'd add another 6k and get the 7D body or get one 2nd hand for around R13k. Otherwise, another option to consider, if you have a compact to get you through the next few months, is to wait till canon announces the next camera in the lineup, which would be either announced in July or August. Of course, you'll probably only be able to source the new model a few months later. It might also present opportunities for those wanting to get rid of their existing 50Ds.
 
It was insured for R8592, bwana with the Sigma lens being for R2148 so the total they're paying out is within a couple hundred.
I don't know where the 550 came from honestly - it's just the recommendation of all the various service providers that they queried. It's not a bad camera from the looks of it, heard some very positive things but... well jy weet mos :D

@Subliminal: The 7D is out of my price range unfortunately - I don't have a spare anything to pop up to a higher range. What insurance are giving me is what I got.

I've been busy with editing but I've narrowed the options (well, kinda narrowed) the options down to:

50D body + sigma 70-300 for R10690
550D body + sigma 70-300 for R9890
20D body (demo model) for R2999 + selection of various lenses with change

Thanks for all the input folks, really appreciate it.
 
How about a newer model like a 2nd hand 40D and [-]then maybe change things up with a wide to normal zoom?[/-] there's no rush for another lens just yet is there?

And no - as far as I can tell there's nothing whatsoever wrong with the 550D.
 
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Hmm... I wonder if I could find a new 40D? That'd be quite cool.
The bonus of the 20D that I can get is that it really hasn't been used for more than showing customers what the thing looks like. Guys are trustworthy enough that I believe them that it's never even taken a shot.

Yeah - there's nothing wrong with the 550D that I can see... so far most of the votes seem to be for it. The only objections really are that it's not a 50D :P
It's apparently like the smaller, consumery aimed 7D feature wise.
 
AntiThesis said:
Yeah - there's nothing wrong with the 550D that I can see... so far most of the votes seem to be for it.
Click to expand...

I suggest that you go and try one out in a shop. Two things I would consider are:
* viewfinder brightness (pentaprism vs pentamirror)
* changing aperture in manual mode

If you can live with these, then go for the 550d as you'd be getting a big step up from the 20d feature-wise.
 
You can't change the aperture in manual mode on 550D?
 
Dolby said:
You can't change the aperture in manual mode on 550D?
Click to expand...
If it's like the 400D you'll need to hold down one of the buttons while turning the thumb wheel. Simple enough.
 
Dolby said:
You can't change the aperture in manual mode on 550D?
Click to expand...

It requires you to be double jointed. Hold down the ± button and turn the [top] wheel. Try and do that with your eye to the viewfinder...
 
Thanks for the heads-up. I'll give it a try at the local camera shop - that is if they have stock :D
I'm so sad right now that I can't buy stuff from Amazon - they've got a lovely bundle that would suit me perfectly but which SA Retailers seem to charge close on three times the amount for.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KY6PA4/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A36DL6WLK2RE7O

I suppose it's still totally impossible to get that kinda stuff?
 
AntiThesis said:
Thanks for the heads-up. I'll give it a try at the local camera shop - that is if they have stock :D
I'm so sad right now that I can't buy stuff from Amazon - they've got a lovely bundle that would suit me perfectly but which SA Retailers seem to charge close on three times the amount for.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KY6PA4/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A36DL6WLK2RE7O

I suppose it's still totally impossible to get that kinda stuff?
Click to expand...

No, you can buy from Amazon by using a forwarding service like MyUS, http://www.myus.com/

Plenty of people on here use MyUS from what I have read which means they can buy from ANY shop in the USA.

Before you buy shop around place likes B&H, Andorama, Cameta, MyDigital etc etc
 
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