Camera seems to be broken... what to do?

[jimmy156]

Hello all, been a while since i posted here!

So my trusty old Canon 50d seems to be on the way out. 9 years old (at least) and i shutter count surely into the 100's of thousands its served me well but its throwing up very regular "Error 20: shooting not possible" messages. Last time this happened it was sent away and the shutter was replaced at a cost of a few hundred pounds. But it seems less worth it now the camera is this old.

At any other time i would live without a camera for a while, i haven't been doing as much photography as i would like to recently so could have probably lived without a camera for a while. However... it couldn't have come at a worse time not to have a camera, my first born arrived last week and i have been anxiously looking forward to taking loads of photo's of him!

Now i don't really have any money to spend on this at all, however i consider it really important to document his first year (and beyond), so i am willing to dip into a pot of money that is supposed to be used to pay off my car finance next year!

Do i...

- Repair the 50d
- Buy a new 7d II at around £1350
- Buy a used 7d II at around £850
- Buy an 80d at around £920
- Move away form the dSLR system and get something different altogether? I have got 4 Canon lenses, 3 of which are APS-C only hence FF not being a consideration. But i suppose i could sell the lenses to get something else. Probably not worth a lot and i would miss being able to do the wildlife stuff that got me into photography in the first place, not that i have done much for a while anyway!

ETA - Buy an entry level Canon dSLR that will tide me over / still take great photo's compared to my ageing 50d

Having not been in the market for ages i don't really know the merits / drawback of Canon's current line up or if people are moving more towards mirrorless these days!

Any tips appreciated

Cheers,
Jimmy

Edited by jimmy156 on Monday 11th December 16:46

[singlecoil]

Go for the 7d mk2 would be my recommendation, it's an excellent camera by all accounts and you already have the lenses.

[corozin]

The 50d is still a great piece of kit. I still have and occasionally still use mine. I think the answer to your question depends on how much you use the thing; honestly I would find out what you can about the error and seek to get it repaired. But if you really want to move on don't forget that something like a 750d now has 24mp resolution and many features comparable with your 50d.

[Whoozit]

Another option is to buy a mirrorless camera with kit lens, many good options will cost you less than a Canon body. And with 9 years worth of sensor development, may be as good or better than what you have particularly in low light/high iso (and therefore higher shutter speeds for taking shots of the little one!)

I'm on the verge of selling a Nikon D700/D90 and brace of F/2.8 pro lenses, as they never get used. Instead of a large backpack, I take out a sling bag with a Fuji X-E2 body, three lenses and several batteries.

Edited by Whoozit on Tuesday 12th December 01:29

[JulianHJ]

7D mk2, new or secondhand depending on your preference.

[vetrof]

How about something like a Mk1 RX100 as a stopgap. Can be had for less than 300gbp now.
Still a great bit of kit. You will probably get more shots of your nipper with this than a DSLR as it'll be a lot more convenient.

https://www.jessops.com/p/sony/cyber-shot-dsc-rx10...

Edited by vetrof on Tuesday 12th December 07:12

[Craikeybaby]

I'd get another Canon DSLR for sure, or at least repair the one your have. My little boy is 18 months old. We have hundreds of photos of him taken on iPhones, purely because it is easier when wrangling a wriggly little boy, but the few I have managed to take with the DSLR stand out when flicking through albums.


Owen posing by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

(Any excuse to post a picture of the wee man!)

[DibblyDobbler]

If it was me I would go for a second hand modern/small/cheap crop sensor Canon - eg a 100D - and keep all the lenses

I had one for a wee while and it was a great little bit of kit and I'm sure you could pick one up for 2 or 3 hundred quid nowdays.

Good luck with the new arrival!

[spence1886]

I sold my 60D a few weeks ago for about £400 with a 17-85 lens... was only at around 30,000 actuations and had not missed a beat... unless you need really good low light performance I would look to find a secondhand 70D body only... if you decide to trade up to a 7DII etc in a year's time you shouldn't lose much.

[sticks090460]

I'd go for the 80d. Higher dynamic range than the 7D mkII, lower cost. The only reason I can see for the 7d mk II is the 10 fps max speed vs 7fps with the 80d, and do you really need that? You lose the articulating screen, which I find really useful on my 80d, it doesn't have wifi which the 80d does, 80d has better battery life and higher pixel count, and you can control it remotely off an iPad/ iPhone which is brilliant for macro. The 80d is also significantly cheaper.
I thought long and hard between the two, and haven't regretted my decision a year later. The key point for me was that, in a side-by-side like-for-like comparison, the images off the 80d were better than off the 7d mkii, although of course that's always down to personal perception.

[jimmy156]

Thanks all, lots of useful input and as i suspected, differing opinions

10fps on the 7DII appeals because the primary reasons i got into photography was for wildlife, and high fps is useful here. The xxd cameras also seem to have got smaller since the 50d and i like a larger body to hold

However it seems the 80d has some inherent advantages too... is a 90d due soon, could i get a scoop on an 80d clearout?

I took around 20-30 snaps yesterday and the error didn't manifest, compared with the day before when i simply couldn't take a single shot. I may persevere into the new year and see if it remains intermittent or becomes unusable.

I have moved away from getting it fixed as from memory this error always popped up every few months even after it was fixed the first time round, so it may be a waste of money to stick with this body

[corozin]

I had mirror errors on my 50d about 5 years ago. It was easily repaired for (I think) about £120. If my experience is any guide, once the problem started it was intermittent thereafter so you probably best getting it serviced.

[Arif110]

I'd come from a full SLR Canon system - & the arrival of baby changed the game. The old photography adage of 'the best camera is the one you have with you at the time' - is never truer, when seeking to capture this period onwards - it's all about 'micro-moments'. So my solution which allowed me to remain with full-frame, & did not massively compromise on glass quality, plus extremely portable - was the Canon G7X MKII. It can go full manual if needed - but one really wants something easy to grab, will fire up in under half a second, & will focus & take a shot within the next half second. I'm used to things like spot metering, so still get to use that when required.

[rich888]

Arif110 said:

I'd come from a full SLR Canon system - & the arrival of baby changed the game. The old photography adage of 'the best camera is the one you have with you at the time' - is never truer, when seeking to capture this period onwards - it's all about 'micro-moments'. So my solution which allowed me to remain with full-frame, & did not massively compromise on glass quality, plus extremely portable - was the Canon G7X MKII. It can go full manual if needed - but one really wants something easy to grab, will fire up in under half a second, & will focus & take a shot within the next half second. I'm used to things like spot metering, so still get to use that when required.

Totally true, iPhone SE or above for those unforgettable moments, and don't forget to record some video footage alongside the photos. A camera may be better but you're more likely to have your phone on you at all times than the SLR.

I have the Sony RX100 M3 which is mighty similar to the Canon so I also agree with the extremely portable aspect, I tend to carry that around with me if I'm wearing a jacket so I do tend to miss the one-off pics in the house, whereas the wife catches the pics with her iPhone. You can use it full auto, or Aperture or Shutter speed priority, or go full manual if you wish.

And for the days out I lug around my 5D3 + bag with a couple of lenses in it, the wife is always nagging at me because her iPhone 'easily' matches it, well until I show her the close-up photos with the blurred out backgrounds to die for, so perhaps the 7D2 would be a welcome addition to your collection, have heard nothing but good reviews about it.

The thing about photographing your kids is that the memories keep flooding back when you view the pics, and thankfully we have recorded quite a few videos which takes the memories and laughter to the next level. For that option the iPhone has been a godsend.