I am considering upgrading from my SXi to a better camera, though I am very happy with the SXi. I know by upgrading I will get a larger pixel count and video, but how about picture quality?
I take a few hundred pictures a day,usually outdoor pictures (birds in my yard), pictures of my granddaughter and in school pics of my class (special ed).
Would it make sense to jump to a T4i or a 60d?
I currently have a 28-135 usm lens and a 50-250 lens.
Would it be worth spending the money?
The 60D is on sale right now for 800 new at BH. You get video, better high ISO, better build, better VF, better controls (dual dials and top buttons). Etc etc. that is the camera to get if you are wanting easy access to manual controls. Otherwise a t2i or t3i would be fine. T4i is just for autofocus video which is not my cup of tea. Video is a manual focus medium in my opinion unless you are just making home movies and for that a camcorder is better and has better AF.
The OP is of course referring to the Rebel XSi/450D.
I owned an XSi. Is there something it's not doing for you? Don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. Upgrade if you are limited by your current equipment in some way.
Shooting sports, I needed superior AF performance, more frames per second, and ISO above the XSi's limited 1600, so I upgraded to a 7D.
I also owned an XSi , well Infact I owned a 450D 'cos that's what the European one is called.
Anyway I found it to be Canon's best crop sensor even though I 'upgraded' to a 40D . The 40D was alround a better camera but its sensor was not quite as good.
However I made the next step upto a 7D which is by far a better camera than the 40D and its sensor is better than my old 450D
To tell you the truth unless all your subjects don't move then I would get the 7D for the the better AF alone. Between my 40D and the 7D I got a 50D which was just like the 40D with a slightly better screen and MA (I sold it pretty fast) and I also tried a friends 60D alongside my 7D , that's just like having the 7D sensor in a 40D/rebel . I'm sure it takes great images but from what I saw is if the subject moves it has the 40's lacklustre AF.
The other option of course is keep the XSi and plough the money into better/nicer glass. At least glass bought well will hold its value better. A body will always drop its value.
dwweiche wrote:
The OP is of course referring to the Rebel XSi/450D.
I owned an XSi. Is there something it's not doing for you? Don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. Upgrade if you are limited by your current equipment in some way.
Shooting sports, I needed superior AF performance, more frames per second, and ISO above the XSi's limited 1600, so I upgraded to a 7D.
Yes, I am wondering if the equipment is limiting me, if I am missing out on things by not upgrading. With the naswers I am seeing it sounds like maybe I'm not being limited. I saw the great sale prices on Canon.com and started thinking!
The AF sucks big time on all the non 7D cameras IMO other than 5D III and 1 series, so you are missing out in that regard. 60D doesn't buy you much improvement over XSi either. For any sort of action work with erratic subjects, 7D blows all the others away.
In terms of IQ, you would gain much more by upgrading your lenses rather than the body. Possibilities would include adding a faster zoom like Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 or a prime like 50 1.8, 50 1.4 or 85 1.8 etc. Adding a capable flash such as 430EX is another option if you don't have it already - will give you nice bounce flash capability for indoor events. Given your current setup I would put the body upgrade at lowest priority unless you have need for better tracking AF or if you need superior ergonomics and control layout.
dansmail26 wrote:
Would a flash like the 580 provide many advantages over the 430?
580 is of course more powerful which means you can light up larger places, can use lower ISO's etc. Personally the way I use bounce flash, I want to get a blend of ambient lighting + flash instead of overpowering the ambient with flash. Due to that I typically shoot at ISO 800 even when using flash, and at ISO 800 flash power is typically not an issue. I rarely needed to go above 1/8 power when I used a 430EX and I appreciated the smaller size of the 430EX specially on a smallish body like XSI. Saying that 580EX is definitely a great flash if you decide to go for it.
