New photo camera - your advice is welcome

[continental060]

Hello,

I am thinking of buying a new photo camera. Do you have any suggestions for a good camera for aircraft spotting?
Body? Lenses?
Canon 550D is my favorite for the moment, but I would like to hear possible other suggestions from spotters/photographers about other good cameras.
Thanks in advance,
Karel

[Dreamflight]

Karel,

550D is a good choice - The rest depends on your budget.

Cheers

[torchus]

I've got the 550D and I'm quite happy with it. Make sure you go to the shop and grab the camera before you buy as it's rather small and maybe not very suitable for someone with large hands. What lenses have you got/are you planning to buy ? If you plan to use one of the heavy Canon primes (300 mm etc.), you also might wanna opt for a larger body.

[MIVB-reiziger]

550D is definitely a good choice, but the glass work you use is the most important part. I'd invest in good lenses rather than buying an expensive body. A body has a much shorter lifetime than most lenses (due to the electronics, moving parts such as the shutter etc), and it certainly isn't the most crucial element in taking good pictures.

[AlphaOne]

In case you haven't decided yet, Sony's new (well, announced last year in August) A580 seems to be a winner. For € 800 you get 5 fps, a large buffer (22 images in RAW!), far better bettery life, a superb sensor (same one as the one used in Pentax' K-5 and Nikon's D7000) with great high ISO performance,...

[continental060]

Thanks to all.
This morning, I went out with the Sony A700 of a friend of mine. I can use the Sony with older Minolta lenses [28-85, 70-200] from my dad. Very happy with the first pics [see my other posting on BRU 13/02/2011]. I will definitely look closer into the A580.
Karel

[Ivan_Eagle]

Now whe are talking about advice ...
I can use some to ...

I would like to buy me the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens.
Somebody experience with this one? or some comment?

Kind regards Ivan

[Bottie]

Now whe are talking about advice ...
I can use some to ...

I would like to buy me the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens.
Somebody experience with this one? or some comment?

Kind regards Ivan

One of the best price/quality wise, pretty popular among spotters, together with the 100-400 IS

[hvs89]

I worked with the 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM during a year, and that's an awesome lens! Quality is the same for IS and non-IS lens, that is to say very sharp. About all my pics on my flickr account (if you want to have an idea, have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hvs89/) have been taken with that lens in 2010.
As Bootie said, that's probably one of the best price/quality ratio. Moreover, the lens is quite small. IMO one of the best pro lens to start spotting with a "small" budget.

[Acid-drop]

L lens are not mandatory to make good pics
just make sure you have USM, a fast focus will make the difference

[AlphaOne]

Lovely lens but I'd save more money and get the IS version. Also, I'd get a 1.4x converter, as 200mm is relatively short...even for airliners.

Another nice option is the 300/4 L IS USM.

[Bottie]

Another nice option is the 300/4 L IS USM.

Indeed, had this one also (Now I have the 300 f/2.8 IS) and was very happy with it.