Assistance: Replace Camera Equipment

[Space]

Dear all, I require your assistance.
Unfortunately my camera equipment has been stolen a couple of months ago.
Luckily my insurance has paid out and now I'm in the predicament what to buy.
My previous setup consisted out off a canon 6d, canon 70 - 200 F4L, canon 17 - 40, canon 100 f2.8 makro, 50mm 1.4, 2x extender, 580 speedlight. Area of photography: mainly portraits, some wildlife and landscapes.
One item not stolen was my canon 40D,
With a budget of approximately $6000, I'm considering the following

Option 1: Remain only with 40D body (wait till release of 6D MII) and buy following lenses:
canon 24-70 f/4 IS vs. 24-105 F/4 IS
canon 70-200 F/4 IS
canon 400 f/5.6 L USM vs. Tamron SP 150 - 600
Tonika 11 -16 f/2.8
canon 50mm 1.4

Option 2: Change to Nikon and buy D750 with 24-120
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR?
Tamron SP 150 - 600?
Tonika 11 -16 f/2.8

Any comments, advise will be appreciated
Regards
Christo

[William W]

If you are really serious about the 6D MkII, then I cannot see much sense in buying the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX II SD. And I don’t think it is a good idea buying that Tokina lens for use with a Nikon D750, either.

The Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 throws an image circle for APS-C format sensors.

WW

[William W]

Additionally:

I think it best to make something good out of your circumstance. You have time now to reflect on the time of the Photography that you had with your previous gear. That might be two or ten years, I don’t know, but in any case I would take one or two weeks and seriously look at what you have captured and what gear you used to capture it and where things fell short.

I appreciate that you might have a passion to spend the money quickly. But I wouldn’t. The first thing I would do is identify what I used the LEAST in my previous kit and I would not buy that item.

Secondly, I think it a bit silly to “wait for the release of” – if you liked your 6D and were used to using it then I would buy a replacement straight up and get back into the saddle and start enjoying your Photography. With that purchase I would buy only ONE lens – the lens identified as the MOST useful and then I would think for a few weeks on what I wanted to buy next.

***

Personal opinion: I don’t think you could go too far wrong by buying a 6D and the ‘kit’ 24 to 105 at the best ‘bundle’ price you can get – that’s what I would do today if I were in your position - and then I would take time out to think about it.

If you don’t end up keeping the 24 to 105 then you will get your money back or close to it, I expect, as the value for money in the ‘bundle purchase’ cannot be ignored.

WW

[rpcrowe]

Christo,
If you live in an area in which factory refurbished cameras/lenses are available, I would definitely go that route in purchasing your equipment.
It is not only less expensive to purchase refurb equipment, I have had far better luck with the four Canon DSLR cameras that I purchased as refurbs than with the two DSLR cameras that I purchased new...

[Glenn NK]

I think it best to make something good out of your circumstance. You have time now to reflect on the time of the Photography that you had with your previous gear. That might be two or ten years, I don’t know, but in any case I would take one or two weeks and seriously look at what you have captured and what gear you used to capture it and where things fell short.

The first thing I would do is identify what I used the LEAST in my previous kit and I would not buy that item.

Secondly, I think it a bit silly to “wait for the release of” – if you liked your 6D and were used to using it then I would buy a replacement straight up and get back into the saddle and start enjoying your Photography. With that purchase I would buy only ONE lens – the lens identified as the MOST useful and then I would think for a few weeks on what I wanted to buy next.

WW

I like this advice.

Glenn

[Clactonian]

I too like Bill's sound advice.
You might also consider looking at the EXIF details of your best or favourite shots to see which, if any, focal length range you use most, and buy the lens that suits that range first.

[Space]

Dear WW,
Thank you for advise. After the payout the initial reaction is to replace everything asap. I think I will settle for one or two lenses and then decide the next steps, regards Christo
Unfortunately in South Africa refurbished cameras or lenses are not that easily available.

[Geoff F]

The 40D is certainly still a decent body, unless you must have more pixels or a faster burst rate etc, so it does make a lot of sense to concentrate on replacing your best lenses then upgrade the body later.

Looking at what you are considering purchasing, I see that you aren't bothering with a x2 extender which does make sense, although would a Canon 400 mm be sufficiently large for you. A good lens, although I was put off by the rather long minimum focusing distance. There are several reasonable lenses in the 150 to 500/600 range now; but all have some limitation with regard to light levels and focusing speeds, plus bulk and weight. I have the older Sigma 150-500.

The Canon 70-200 is definitely an excellent and useful lens.

When my Canon 24-105 L broke down for the second time I was looking at a Canon 24-70 L F2.8 replacement but eventually went for the Tamron alternative which gets excellent reviews, also F2.8 and has stabilisation but at a cheaper price than the Canon version. So far, after a little over a year, it has proved to be one of my best bits of kit.

The 580 flash might be tricky to replace. When I damaged mine recently, smashed in half, I found that I could only get the upgraded 480 or the new replacement for the old 580 which depending on what you require, is either very useful or extra money for options which you will never use. Eventually, I managed to bolt mine back together!

[loosecanon]

If you sort out what you want, as described above then buying all at once gives you a chance to negotiate a price for it all - I see a dealers price as the starting point for discussion - including a free protection filter.
As to what to get - the new 16-35 f4 has excellent reviews and is stablised. The tamron again good but is not Canon and newer Canon lenses seem to interface with the camera better, such as type of focus point available. The 24-105 f4 is a good all round lens, though early examples did I believe have teething reliability problems. The 70-200 is f4 is excellent, but would the 1.4 converter be better that 2x , f5.6 rather than f8 and limited focus point ability.

[lukaswerth]

Christo,

with regard to your alternatives:

would be good to know where your interests and ambitions in photography lie.

I was in 2012 in the position to buy myself a DSLR system from the scratch, and I went for Nikon, because, according to my reading, Nikon had the best sensors (d800/e). I think this still holds true today, according to DXO anyway, and the sensor is the heart of a digital camera. It's not only pixels, it's the dynamic range which matters for me.

But then it may depend on the lenses: if there is one lens I envy Canon users for, it is the 17mm tilt-shift - such a lens is not available for Nikon. With regard to lenses, I would really take some time out and think about my preferences, what I use mostly, perhaps what I missed in my previous set, and what I only had because I thought I had to.

Lukas