Upgrading from EOS 300D for internal photos

[lorro]

Hi,
I am an Estate Agent in the UK and want to get much better photos of the insides of houses. These photos are often shot in relatively low light, and quite often with house lights on. I use a Canon EOS 300D and usually shoot at very low speeds (usually around 1/10 at 7.1 or 8) on a tripod. Time is money and so I need to take the photos fairly quickly. I want to upgrade my camera and have been thinking about a 40D or 50D (but have also read that it might suit to get a 450D or Xsi) - so I'm a bit confused. I am hoping that I can upgrade using Canon rather than moving to a Nikon (say 300D?) as I have a Sigma wide angle 10-20mm; a Canon 18-55mm and a Sigma APO 50-500mm F4-6.3EX zoom lens (that I want to use for bird photography). The key though is my job taking photos of the inside of houses. Can you advise me which to go for please - I would describe myself as a beginner with a little bit of extra knowledge so the camera needs to be fairly easy to use. Thanks for your help.

[Franglais]

What is wrong with the photos that you take already? Can you post some examples?

You are already doing many things right:

- tripod
- wide-angle lenses

The more recent cameras will give you more Mpix and higher ISO with less noise. However estate agents typically post on Internet and make fairly small prints so these improvements won't necessarily be visible. If you want to resolve lighting issues then a new camera might not be the solution.

[Loupey]

The 40D/50D is more than sufficient for interior shots and probably a good choice if you do get into bird photography in the near future.

I think the lenses you already own are good enough for interiors. What little experience I've had shooting houses were all done with one lens (17-40mm f/4L) on tripod at long exposures (up to 4 seconds) and using 2 or 3 strobes.

Lighting will help you a great deal more than another lens in my opinion.

[lorro]

Thanks for your help Franglais and Loupey. To answer Franglais I work selling the top end houses and so the shots need to be good. They then get used for brochures (up to A4 size) and full page photos in local broadsheet newspapers. The key for me is which camera to upgrade to (thanks for your help on my lenses) - is the 40D better at slow speeds/poor light than the 50d - or don't I need to worry about that? -Which would suit me better? Or would I be better changing to the 450D or Xsi (or even the 300D Nikon)?? In due course I would love to get into bird photography when I have more time and have learnt more, but in the meantime the house photos are the key.
Thanks again.

[Franglais]

Thanks for your help Franglais and Loupey. To answer Franglais I work selling the top end houses and so the shots need to be good. They then get used for brochures (up to A4 size) and full page photos in local broadsheet newspapers. The key for me is which camera to upgrade to (thanks for your help on my lenses) - is the 40D better at slow speeds/poor light than the 50d - or don't I need to worry about that? -Which would suit me better? Or would I be better changing to the 450D or Xsi (or even the 300D Nikon)?? In due course I would love to get into bird photography when I have more time and have learnt more, but in the meantime the house photos are the key.
Thanks again.

I use Nikon rather than Canon but I do know this much:

- the 50D is the 40D with a more recent sensor (15 Mpix). The 300D has only 6Mpix but this is normally more than enough for an A4, unless you are shooting at 1600 ISO (noise).
- the 450D and the Xsi are the same camera
- Nikon don't make a 300D. Do you mean the D300? Overall this is a better camera than the 40D/50D - but I've seen many wildlife pictures done on the 40D/50D so it's not a reason to change from Canon. Plus be aware that the D300 is very heavy - it's a solid block of metal. Remember you have to carry it around all day.

[Loupey]

...is the 40D better at slow speeds/poor light than the 50d - or don't I need to worry about that? -Which would suit me better?...

In most cases and especially in somewhat controlled conditions like indoors, you won't notice any difference in image quality between the two - or even with the XSi image for that matter. But keep in mind that even your 300D will produce highly detailed A4 images with good lighting and good post-processing skills. So if you're not getting the kind of images that you are happy with now, chances are that simply upgrading cameras will not be the cure-all.

Still, whatever dSLR you purchase from Canon (XS, XSi, T1i, 40D, or 50D) will have a much newer imaging sensor than your current camera so you can't go wrong in terms of obtaining "better" images.

[lorro]

Thanks very much for your help

[freygr]

You need use a flash, or a set of lights. It all depends on the quality of the final image what you need to use but the camera you have now should do the job.