Suggested upgrade path?

[Marine03]

Current kit consists of 450D, Nifty 50, 2 Old Sigma lenses pre digital,  kit 18-55 and Yunguno 565ex.   

I do family portraits and christmas cards for friends etc, as well as an wedding as 2nd shooter.  I've done 6 this year.   

Looking at the 6D as my next body as with event photography I totally see the limits of the 450 and need better High Iso performance.     

So would it be alright to do Body and then down the road Tamron 24-70 since its half the cost of Canon 24-70L2 I know glass is a  big limiting factor in image quality but if I could only afford 1 big purchase a year what would you choose?  Camera then glass or Glass and then camera.

[crasher8]

The way the 5D2 kit is selling (and get them while you can) I'd go for one of those. Get your body and sweet glass all at the same time. Have you considered the CLP?

[Marine03]

The way the 5D2 kit is selling (and get them while you can) I'd go for one of those. Get your body and sweet glass all at the same time. Have you considered the CLP?

CLP is a sweat deal and I'd have no problem getting one through them, however as capable as I know the 5D2 is, I'm just hung up on the idea of buying a 2008 camera, just like I'd hate to buy a 2008 car when I can have a 2012.... retail it doesn't make alot of sense however if I can't wait CLP is a great way to make it happen have save lots of money.

[Menace]

6d would be really nice however you may not get the best out of it without good glass - so lens upgrade would have to be sooner than later 

Cheers

[Zv]

Nothing wrong with the 5D mk II, works just fine in this new day and age! But I see your point, 6D looks like it might be the way to go though the AF isn't really much of an improvement over the 5D mk II.

It might be better to get the good glass first - you could still use it with the 450 and you could be taking some great pics while you save up for the full frame body. And by that time the bugs will be ironed out of the 6D!!

[Tcapp]

The way the 5D2 kit is selling (and get them while you can) I'd go for one of those. Get your body and sweet glass all at the same time. Have you considered the CLP?

CLP is a sweat deal and I'd have no problem getting one through them, however as capable as I know the 5D2 is, I'm just hung up on the idea of buying a 2008 camera, just like I'd hate to buy a 2008 car when I can have a 2012.... retail it doesn't make alot of sense however if I can't wait CLP is a great way to make it happen have save lots of money.

I don't know about you, but I would go for the 2008 car. Buying new is the best way to lose money. Especially if the 2008 model does everything you need and has just as smooth a ride. 

[verysimplejason]

Sell everything except flash and start with a 6D + 24-105mm F4L.  You can invest on other lenses later.  If you're a wedding photographer, the next investment for you will be an 85mm.  You'll also need a basic strobist kit.  You can refer here: strobist.blogspot.com.  It's very very cheap to invest on one.  You don't need that much.

[DV333]

I had a 30D then 60D (fail at life for thinking their alike). When I got the 60D I wanted better glass. Got a 24-70, 17-40 and 50 1.4. Yet IQ was still lacking. Got a MKIII and now I feel like I'm getting full IQ. I've also heard that MKIII's lens correction is like magic and even with non-L still performs. So my point is: EVEN with Good-Great Glass Sensors still play a large roll in IQ. BTW it was nice to have FF body after having L glass but don't know if I'd do it the same now knowing. 

PS Dont know MKII has Lens correction.....

[verysimplejason]

I had a 30D then 60D (fail at life for thinking their alike). When I got the 60D I wanted better glass. Got a 24-70, 17-40 and 50 1.4. Yet IQ was still lacking. Got a MKIII and now I feel like I'm getting full IQ. I've also heard that MKIII's lens correction is like magic and even with non-L still performs. So my point is: EVEN with Good-Great Glass Sensors still play a large roll in IQ. BTW it was nice to have FF body after having L glass but don't know if I'd do it the same now knowing. 

PS Dont know MKII has Lens correction.....

If you shoot raw (which is what I always recommend), all 4 Lens aberration correction can be done later in the post through DPP.  It doesn't matter if it's MKII or 3.  It's easy and fast.  You can also just copy the recipe and apply to all files.  You'll only have problems if you shoot JPEG.

[mariusx1]

Overall, good glass is going to be a better long-term investment, but body upgrades are a fact of life.  Unfortunately, you have to do both at the same time. One possible path is to do a modest body upgrade now (T4i?, 7D?) and put the rest of your money into some good lenses (85mm f/1.8, 24-105mm f/4, etc). That'd improve your shots all around and would still give you better ISO performance, AF, FPS, etc. Then, when you make the jump to full frame, you'll have a few decent lenses to make it worth it.

[Zv]

Overall, good glass is going to be a better long-term investment, but body upgrades are a fact of life.  Unfortunately, you have to do both at the same time. One possible path is to do a modest body upgrade now (T4i?, 7D?) and put the rest of your money into some good lenses (85mm f/1.8, 24-105mm f/4, etc). That'd improve your shots all around and would still give you better ISO performance, AF, FPS, etc. Then, when you make the jump to full frame, you'll have a few decent lenses to make it worth it.

I think it's better to get the camera he wants and not waste money on another APS-C in between. Though I do agree he should do both glass and body at the same time. A 6D w/kit lens (24-105L) would be good start. If you can, wait until the price comes down after initial release.

[mariusx1]

I think it's better to get the camera he wants and not waste money on another APS-C in between. Though I do agree he should do both glass and body at the same time. A 6D w/kit lens (24-105L) would be good start. If you can, wait until the price comes down after initial release.

True. Probably just depends on the overall budget. The 6D kit is currently close to $3k.  But yeah, if you can wait for the price to come down and/or save up, that's probably the better route to take.

[drmikeinpdx]

My 5D Mark III is making my old (Non-L) glass look good.  A lot of unsharp pix were caused by the poor autofocus on my 5D classic.  You might want to keep an eye on the end of year sales and see if you could afford a Mark III.

[brad-man]

Current kit consists of 450D, Nifty 50, 2 Old Sigma lenses pre digital,  kit 18-55 and Yunguno 565ex.   

I do family portraits and christmas cards for friends etc, as well as an wedding as 2nd shooter.  I've done 6 this year.   

Looking at the 6D as my next body as with event photography I totally see the limits of the 450 and need better High Iso performance.     

So would it be alright to do Body and then down the road Tamron 24-70 since its half the cost of Canon 24-70L2 I know glass is a  big limiting factor in image quality but if I could only afford 1 big purchase a year what would you choose?  Camera then glass or Glass and then camera.

Glass, then camera. Lens prices creep up, body prices creep down...

[verysimplejason]

Current kit consists of 450D, Nifty 50, 2 Old Sigma lenses pre digital,  kit 18-55 and Yunguno 565ex.   

I do family portraits and christmas cards for friends etc, as well as an wedding as 2nd shooter.  I've done 6 this year.   

Looking at the 6D as my next body as with event photography I totally see the limits of the 450 and need better High Iso performance.     

So would it be alright to do Body and then down the road Tamron 24-70 since its half the cost of Canon 24-70L2 I know glass is a  big limiting factor in image quality but if I could only afford 1 big purchase a year what would you choose?  Camera then glass or Glass and then camera.

Glass, then camera. Lens prices creep up, body prices creep down...

If you really value money and intend to do photography for a very long time, I suggest investing on a "system" lens which for our part is Canon unless you're fine with a fully manual lens.  Canon bodies does not and will not support third party lenses.