canon 40 or 50D

This has probably been asked countless times before but....I want to buy my husband a 40th Birthday present - which canon camera is best for underwater photography? My head is addled and I am considering a canon 40 or 50D - any advice?

Welcome to the SMN Community Jennifer.

Compared to the 40D, the 50D has on paper at least cleaner signal coming out of the DIGIC 4 as it is allegedly more powerful than the DIGIC 3 and offers better noise reduction to about a stop and a half.

Also, the LCD screen has significantly higher resolution on the 50D. I have seen side by side photos taken with of the same subject under the same conditions and the 40D images looked right up there with the 50D.

The 40D is an excellent camera for both land and underwater work. There are also some great prices to be had right now. This camera has loads of room for learning and trying new things, so if cash is anything of an issue, I'd simply head for the 40D over the 50D.

The 50D is a hot little unit and if you have the cash you might want to splash out, but I am not changing from the 40D ;) Some of the new features on the 50D are lovely, but nothing that I can't live without as a 40D owner already. Also, there will be a wait for housings on the 50D as it has just come out.

There are several choices of housings for the 40D as it's been out over a year now and you may also find that there are some people who will be moving to one of the newer models so selling their 40D housings (though rumor has it the 50D actually fits, so maybe not the exodus past model releases have caused).

You can't go wrong with either of these models at all.

If you are going to head to a housing, remember that there is more to the overall cost than just the housing...you have ports, strobes, synch cords, zoom gears, extra insurance, more bulk and weight in travel...

Whatever you choose, it's a great birthday pressie, for sure!

The 50, no question about it! Unless you like to go backwards?

I think getting a 40D over nothing is a step FORWARDS ;)

The sensor for one, the 13.6mp over 10 and RAW1 and this from camera lab:Canon EOS 50D verdict

The Canon EOS 50D is a feature-packed semi-pro DSLR which takes the already capable 40D, increases the pixel count by 50%, quadruples the sensitivity and packs in all the latest features – bar a movie mode. As such it’s a very impressive specification, and one which on the whole lives up to its promise.

Kicking-off with resolution, the EOS 50D packs more pixels into its cropped sensor than any model to date, so there’s obviously concerns over noise levels. But Canon’s bold claims of matching the noise levels of the earlier EOS 40D were confirmed in our High ISO tests. From 100 to 1600 ISO, the EOS 50D’s output really is very similar to that from the EOS 40D when viewed at 100% on a pixel level. At 3200 ISO, the 50D applies greater noise reduction, but tone it down a notch and again it looks similar to the 40D. Admittedly the 50D’s 6400 and 12800 ISO modes are a step too far, but it’s an impressive achievement to boost the total pixels by 50% without any perceptible compromise in noise levels over its 10 Megapixel predecessor at the same sensitivities.

It’s also important to remember these comparisons were made at 100%, viewing each pixel at 1:1 on a computer monitor. If you print images from the 40D and 50D at the same size, the 50D’s higher pixel count means any artefacts would appear smaller, so in this respect it has the advantage.

No denying the 50 is a beautiful camera.

But for the money right now, I'd buy the 40...unless money wasn't an issue, of course. And if I was willing to wait for a housing.

Out of curiosity, Papa Bear, which reviewer are you? I didn't see it in the post and I think it would be helpful to know whose verdict it is - or is it from your own tests of both cameras?