Got a Canon 40D and G9 but not sure!

[Lostprophet]

I am an amateur photographer. Amateur in the sense I have only had a point and shoot Sony T9. A few years ago I purchased a Canon 40D for myself and a Canon G9 for my wife. I have only one lens for the 40D and that’s the standard 17-85. I do not have any dedicated software; I literally plug in my cameras and view using the software supplied with Vista.

Last year I went to Snowdon and took my 40D, a few good pics but I felt it was a bit heavy to carry around up a mountain. Recently I went to Snowdon and took the G9. I have to say it was lighter, smaller and performed really well.

I feel there’s not much difference in picture quality. Is it worth selling the 40D or do I need to invest in some decent lens? I do like taking pics and would like to carry on some form of photography, be it with the G9 or 40D. Just need some guidance from some experienced PHers.

[marctwo]

The advantage of a DSLR only really becomes clear if you really know how to use it. If you just use it in fully auto all the time with one lens then you might as well just use something smaller and lighter like the G9. I think a lot of people buy a DSLR as they expect that having a better camera will automatically make their photos better. This is not the case.

[cirks]

Different tool for different job (although good photographers will make both work in most situations!). I've got a 7D and a G7 and both are very good cameras. However, if I want something to take with me on a business trip, a stroll to the park, or a party etc, the G7 comes. If I want to have full control over everything and use a wide variety of lenses etc then the SLR gets used. The 7D is the main camera for most of my photography but the G7 can be if it needs to be though. The G7 can't use a 100-400 at 8fps when I'm doing sport photography and can't use a 10mm for landscapes. However, the 7D can't fit in my pocket or attach to a belt and be used one handed (easily)!

[Lostprophet]

Right, I need to do something aout my lens collection then.

Any ideas? I was thinking on the 10-22 canon lens as I do landscape shots.

I find the 17-85 quite poor at 85. The picture distorts a fair bit. Any ides on what to do? If I sell it what do I get?

[jimmy306]

Get the canon 50mm 1.8. Great do-it-all lens, you can get creative with shallow depth of field and can be used in almost any light, and only costs £90.

As for suggesting lenses really you would need to give a budget of some sort. Canon, for example, also make a 50mm 1.2 lens, to a non-photographer a very similar lens to the £90 one i suggested. Except that it costs over £1000!