Fordan - excellent post, especially about the EF-S mount; i think the only reason i havent gotten the 10-22 is that I will be moving to a FF camera this year and the 40D was bought with the thinking it would be a back up body to the FF camera as now my 20D is off to
lifepixel for a infrared conversion for a special project(not UW though) i have up coming and so that i can save some money on my film bill as Infrared film is $15-$20 a roll before processing.
I will 2nd the use of image stabilized lenses because of the advantages they offer, as there is nothing like shooting from the side of a helicopter doing 180 miles and hour at sunset and be able to get a tack sharp. The trade off for these advantages are that the lenses are 30-40% more; IE 70-200 F2.8 L IS is 1700 while the 70-200 without image stabilization is 1200 similar % differences with the F4 version
Scubafanatic - I normally carry one spare camera just incase i flood it, but this is only with the oly c5050 and SP350 cameras i have and shoot with now. Now when i plan to upgrade i will sell off the pieces i can to help pay for the upgrade, with the understanding that I wont get what i paid for it, its just how it goes. When it comes to DSLRs for the most part the only part that cant move forward is the housing and the camera as everything else (focus rings, extension rings, domeports, sync cords, strobes,etc). Yes housing a DSLR is expensive but the quality jump between PnS and DSLR is considerable and can help create prints that are in excess of 20x30 with a well shot and processed 5mp file ( a 8mp sensor is capable of in the ball park of a 30x40). For the most part unless you are a working pro or a very very very serious amatuer for shooting underwater a system like the SP350 or the S&S one will do fine.
As for the 50mp comment I doubt the will ever happen on crop frame DSLRs as the camera designers are starting to run into some limitations of the crop sensors as to resolution quality vs image noise and sharpness. Then the other limitations that are coming up are the resolving limits of the lenses with high mp sensors which is requiring a whole new generation of lenses that are more expensive then the current batch of TOL lenses. i realistically seeing 15mp being the lim
it for 1.5/1.6 crop factor cameras and mid to up 20 mp cameras for the full frame cameras. Now there are already cameras on the market with 40+ mp sensors (Medium format backs) but your average diver isnt going to invest 50K for the camera and sensor back and then anouther 20-30K for the housing and other things, unless they stand to recover the outlay.
Easy - Amen on the sensor megapixel to print size comment (as i posted above) its amazing the market spin and less then half truths that people fall for and think that because a new camera is on the market means they need a new camera, when they have a good one right then. This is why till recently i had shot with a 20D since 2005 without issue and produced prints that you where not able to tell the difference between the 35mm prints, 8mp prints in quality even up to the 20x30 range. Some people where even surprised to learn that i wasnt shooting these tack sharp images with a some 5K + camera and lenses, but a camera that they thought were crap (they where shooting with the 5K+ camera and lens setups), it was funny to see the egg roll down there face as having the best camera in the world done mean much if you cant utilize it.
I also recently bought a 40D because of the instant rebate thats running right now, but it wasnt the mp rating that i bought it but it was for the features of livepreview (for studio shooting, and such) as well as the dust protection(which is a big problem with DSLRs) and a couple of other reasons(the 3" screen was one of them), in addition it was time to replace the 20D as it was three years old and has 50K shots on the shutter, so i sent it in for the shutter to be replaced and then now sending it to lifepixel so i can begin to work on a studio based infrared series. the 2 additional mp will be a bonus just not a requirement to the upgrade.
The other reason i only went with the 40D as opposed to the 5D as its reached its end of life and the replacement should be out soon (hopefully this fall) and theres not enough of a step in IQ and resolution to explain the 1k difference in price other then crop verus full frame. so until the new camera is out i will keep investing in my lens set up. Note I have shot with a 5D on several shoots where i have been assistant the main photographer since shortly after the camera came out and it produces some amazing images, it was just at the time (still in school on a limited budget) I didnt have it in the budget for a camera of 5D's caliber.
Texas Starfish Im happy with the 40D so far as it is almost the same as my 20D (which was a great camera when it was released 4 years ago) but with the help of 2 generations newer hardware and processing, which shows in the build and finish as well as image output. The only nagging thing, but easily correctable is that the red channel tends to over saturate real easy and for the blue channel to be very flat (meaning a smaller tone range from high to low). These are a problem with shooting portraits because they can cause editting issues with skin tones, but both are correctable in camera with a custom function, but for the average shooter isnt going to notice the shift.
My loyalty to canon comes from the customer service they have provided me over the years as well as being highly responsive to feedback. Then addition to the good range of lenses from canon as well as 3rd parties really adds to the value. Then also i have a good selection of lenses already and it would cost me a small fortune to switch brands. Then Canon has a edge in the market as till recently they where the only manufacture with a full frame sensor camera on the market till nikon released the D3, but is still about 2x the price of the 5D. Then look at the sidelines of most major sporting events (especially at the upcoming Olympics this year) you see a sea of white lenses which are the trademark of Canon's L series professional len's.
Peterbj7 - Close on the crop format the 1.5x crop factor is a multiplier for the len so if a lens is natively a 20mm with the crop factor its going to be a 30mm, so that macro 60mm lens is in the 90mm range depending on the crop factor.
Im out for now
Tooth