Is the Canon 50D the best choice?

I'm a 40D and 7D owner but, I've got quite a bit of time behind a 50D too. While the 50D is a decent camera, I'd consider a refurbished/used 40D and put more of my money toward buying better lenses. The 40D and 50D are very similar with the primary differences being their imaging sensors and the rear LCD. There's no question the 50D has a higher resolution sensor and a higher resolution rear LCD but, I personally didn't feel those differences were enough to justify the cost of an upgrade when the 50D came along. I spent the extra money on upgrading my primary lens to the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and I don't regret it a bit.

On the weather seals, the 50D has some weather seals but not quite as much as you would find on the 5DMkII or the 7D. For example, the 50D lacks the rubber gasket around the len mount found on high end cameras. The gasket mates with the gasket found on L-series lenses to provide a fairly solid seal against dust/moisture that is not possible on a 40D/50D type body. Whether or not that is important to you depends on if you plan to shoot in very dusty conditions or even in rain. Even if that is the case, companies like ThinkTank make rain covers that work with any camera/lens to provide some protection. I've had to shoot football games and police training classes in the rain with my 40D that offers less weatherproofing than the 50D and never had a problem. My view is that if weather seals are really that important, buy nothing short of the 7D and sealed, L-series lenses.

I am a 50D user and have been for the past 18 months. I have found it to be a very solid platform that, together with some very good lenses (EF-S 17-55 and EF 70-200/2.8) yields technically impressive pictures. While there are some who prefer the 40D, you'd likely be looking at a used model and it's not clear that any advantages the 40D has outweigh the risk of going with a used camera.

I've not had any issues with dust or water though I'm not doing photojournalism so I'm not normally out in conditions where that feature is most valuable.

You need to decide why you don't like your XSi. The 50D will be very similar in operation to your XSi because they are from the same family. Before buying anything you need to check it out by handling it to be sure it doesn't have the same characteristics as those you dislike in the XSi

The 50D is one of those cameras that's a good tool, but it just missed the mark. The camera that came before it, the 40D was a wild success. The 40D is a great bang for the buck, had all the features people wanted at the right price point when it was released. The 50D came very quickly, it added more pixels to the same size sensor, and to be honest, that killed any chance of better images in low light at high ISO, on top of that, the 50D didn't have any killer feature that compelled people to buy it in the same numbers.

The 50D was a giant dud, it's not bad, it's just not a camera that canon shooters in the middle were asking for. As for weather sealing, it's one of those things that's nice to have, but in the end, you'll need rain covers in bad weather. You see while people love to tout weather sealing, they forget to mention that the lens attached must be weather sealed as well for the whole thing to work, so don't get too caught up in weather sealing unless you plan on dropping major coin for weather sealed pro lenses.

Right now you could get a killer deal on a 40D and save some bucks for better glass. You other option is to wait. The Canon 7D is another camera that dropped the ball in the photography department, the only reason is has decent sales is the video that it can shoot. It has 18 megapixels on the same size sensor, as the pixels get smaller, they gather less light and the images suffer in low light.

Canon is weak in the middle right now to be honest. The Nikon D90 could wipe the floor with the 40 and 50D when it comes to low light photos. So my advice, get the Canon 40D, wait and see what Canon does with a possible 60D, or jump to Nikon.

If you are going to get a DSLR and you know you want to get into a Canon then I would check out the higher end new Rebel T2i (550D). Below is a link to a camera review of it and it includes sample images from the camera.

Hope this helps.

Mark

It seems if you want the best bang for your buck, go for the 40D. Perhaps if you save a little the 7D or 5Dmk II would be a better choice.

Cheers

Go with the Cannon, then save up for a better lens.

If you were anywhere near pro you wouldnt be asking these questions. Youre still very much amateur.