Canon 24-105mm OR Canon 17-55mm: for my first DSLR

[neuroanatomist]

It really depends on your budget. If you buy a 7D and keep if for 5 years, great. If you buy a 7D and keep if for a year, then sell it and buy a 5DIII, maybe not so great. It's a bit different with good lenses, they hold value well (and sometimes gain value over time). Bodies lose value...fast. A used 7D can be had for $1K or less these days.

[Scott Stephen]

It really depends on your budget. If you buy a 7D and keep if for 5 years, great. If you buy a 7D and keep if for a year, then sell it and buy a 5DIII, maybe not so great. It's a bit different with good lenses, they hold value well (and sometimes gain value over time). Bodies lose value...fast. A used 7D can be had for $1K or less these days.

Yes. Conventional wisdom is to spend the money on glass, not on the body. A cheap lens cannot resolve what the expensive camera is trying to accomplish. A lens you don't own due to budget constraints cannot resolve anything.

And yes, bodies depreciate like a new car does. And worse, they become obsolete faster than they wear out unless you are a working-daily professional. Lenses hold value well, and they last much longer than a body. And if you buy a used lens, you can probably sell someday for what you paid for it, or even more.

[KJawa]

Thank you! I haven't bought any refurbished cameras before. If I decide go with 7d, please suggest what all to check for while buying a good refurbished body. In your opinion, which one of these is the best dealer of refurbished cameras in terms of quality and reliability - Canon, BHphotovideo, Adorama or any other??
Do refurbished cameras come with any kind of warranty?

Thanks!

[PatrickH]

I am in the minority as well. I use a 60d with the 24-105, but I also own a Sigma 10-20 for those times I need something wider.

The primary reasons I opted for the 24-105 were the weather sealing and the 56-105 focal lengths. The sealing came in handy on a recent trip to the SW US during monsoon season, and I really like the added length for portraits. For me these benefits outweighed the 17-23 range and the extra stop. I think it's also easier right now to find a screaming deal on the 24-105, and once you factor in a Canon lens hood (supplied with the 24-105 but not with the 17-15) the gap is a bit wider than it appears at suggested retail.


That said, after going through my trip photos I notice a lot of my shots were at 24mm. At the time I didn't feel like I was missing much (I wasn't constantly swapping to the 10-20 etc.) but the numbers suggest that I was trying to go wider with my walkaround lens.

I'd make the same choice now, but again this also includes owning a lens in the 10 to something range.

Good luck.