How to get to full frame without breaking the bank

[sashbar]

This.....this.....this......is what you need to read and heed. Buying a FF camera when you don't need it and thinking it will make you happy is not at all a good program. The exception, of course, would be that you have a bank account like Mick Jagger.....then by all means do it up right.

Is the equipment you currently own limiting your ability as a photographer? I've owned a 600D (T3i) and I got tremendous results with it.

Forgive me but your reasoning for this purchase is not sound at all. But, at the same time, it's really none of my business. However, you did ask.

I've always believed that you buy better equipment when your current kit is somehow limiting your abilities.

Just some thoughts based on experience.

Will it make you happy? No.
End of story.

P.S. If you, as you say, do not need it (just like 95% of amateurs out there) , if it will not make you a better photographer, then why do you think spending your hard earned money on a big heavy black box with several buttons and a big round hole will make you happy???

It is a genuine question btw. I just find that buying "serious stuff" when you do not need it, is some sort of a therapy that never works.

I don't "need" the T3i, but it makes me deliriously happy. Getting great images is my passion- not my livelihood.

I get awesome images from my iPhone 6, but I hauled my DSLR and a bag full of lenses all over Yellowstone this summer taking pics. This was not necessary- I did not need to do it- but it made me happy. I shot everything RAW, and had hours of fun working with my favorites in photoshop. I didn't 'need to do that either.

I'm rediscovering the joy of photography and I ran into limitations last year with my Nikon D40 that forced me to upgrade to a more modern DSLR and I was amazed at the advances in tech. It's really improved my IQ. I'm just interested in getting a bit more data/image to work with.

So getting a 'better' camera than the T3i is REALLY something I don't 'need', but if I can spend $1000 and get an incrementally better image next time- then yes I would like that. Not sure why that offends.

I've been shooting since I took a college course in photography in 1978 and I actually already know that a few of the images I captured on my Canonette Giii viewfinder camera were superior to the ones I took shooting SLR thru Zeiss glass.

I'm also a wannabe musician, and I didn't 'need' an American Fender Strat to compose and perform music that speaks to me, but that's what I bought 15 years and I'm SO happy that some guitar know-it-all didn't talk me out of it on the premise that a better guitar would never teach me how to be a better musician.

Of COURSE you've gotta pay your dues and learn your craft. Do you think I believe that I will become a 'better' photographer with new gear? I know that I won't. Might some of my images have better properties though? Of course.

Now we are talking
But why this disbelief in your own improvement then? Lack of time?

 

[JustJazzie]

I moved into FF on a whim and yes, it made me happy. Could I have done just as well on a crop body? Probably. But I pink sparkly heart love my camera. Did I go against conventional advice and spend way more on my body than my 28-105 afd? Yup! Guess what. Now it doesn't matter that my aperture is "slower" because my incredible ISO makes up for it. I can throw my camera into manual with auto Iso (but user capped in the menu) and only worry about my ss and aperture. This enables me to focus on other important variables.

I'd say go for it if it's feasable. Pick up a used d600 as suggested, and a 28-105 e.5-4.5 for $150 and enjoy yourself until you can grow a lens collection.

I love this lens because it's sharp, great colors, super lightweight and has a REALLY fun and handy "macro" mode 1:2 ratio that makes it a practical general walk around lens. You just can't beat the used price. I've had mine a year or so and haven't taken it off my camera.

Lots of people say you don't need that much camera. Which I am sure is true. Sometimes though, New gear can motivate you get out and shoot more- which helps you improve.

 

[Bryston3bsst]

Oh gosh, so this is just a validation thread. How stupid of me for not seeing where this was going in the first place.

Enjoy your new equipment.

 

[JacaRanda]

The downside to using EF lenses on a crop body is that the field of view is greatly diminished.

A result, but not necessarily a downside.

 

[astroNikon]

... But I pink sparkly heart love my camera...

There you have it folks. You can't get any better than "pink sparkly heart love" for a camera

 

[Peeb]

Oh gosh, so this is just a validation thread. How stupid of me for not seeing where this was going in the first place.

Enjoy your new equipment.

This is not a "should I do this" thread.
This is a "How do I get this done" thread.

I'm not looking for validation from you, friend.
I'm looking for advice from people who know more than I do.

Thanks for all the kind replies, folks.

 

[JustJazzie]

... But I pink sparkly heart love my camera...

There you have it folks. You can't get any better than "pink sparkly heart love" for a camera

Well there IS the purple sparkly heart awards, but Nikon would have to hire me to design a camera and possibly defy laws of physics in their production of said model, but I suppose that is a topic for another thread. ;-)

 

[Bryston3bsst]

The downside to using EF lenses on a crop body is that the field of view is greatly diminished.

A result, but not necessarily a downside.

How so? How is a narrower field of view a good thing? And please don't regurgitate the additional reach' thing. Unless, that is, you're a fan of the old 'digital zoom'. Which is effectively what you have.

I guess to some the restricted field of view is tolerable. It wasn't for me.

 

[sashbar]

... But I pink sparkly heart love my camera...

There you have it folks. You can't get any better than "pink sparkly heart love" for a camera

Honestly, I can never grasp that concept of a camera love, never mind pink sparkly heart one. A camera is always an annoying, but nesessary medium between me and an image. But that's me, I am unable to grasp a lot of things in this world.

 

[Braineack]

But I pink sparkly heart love my camera.

 

[Bryston3bsst]

Oh gosh, so this is just a validation thread. How stupid of me for not seeing where this was going in the first place.

Enjoy your new equipment.

This is not a "should I do this" thread.
This is a "How do I get this done" thread.

I'm not looking for validation from you, friend.
I'm looking for advice from people who know more than I do.

Thanks for all the kind replies, folks.

Which is exactly what you're getting. But it's interesting that the advice you choose to listen to are the ones that are saying 'do it, do it'. Which is exactly my point. I mistakenly thought that you were undecided and as a result I was agreeing with another poster in thinking that your reasoning for doing this was flawed.

Clearly, by your own admission, you've already decided to this. How you get it done is up to you and your wallet. I'll leave you be.

Again, enjoy your new stuff.

Disagree away, folks.

 

[waday]

Which is exactly what you're getting. But it's interesting that the advice you choose to listen to are the ones that are saying 'do it, do it'. Which is exactly my point. I mistakenly thought that you were undecided and as a result I was agreeing with another poster in thinking that your reasoning for doing this was flawed.

Clearly, by your own admission, you've already decided to this. How you get it done is up to you and your wallet. I'll leave you be.

Again, enjoy your new stuff.

Disagree away, folks.

@Bryston3bsst, I think there was an honest and quite unintentional disconnect between the original post and some of the initial replies (such as that by @sashbar and yourself). If you read the OP, @Peeb is looking for a way to get to FF for under a thousand. The OP did not indicate that Peeb was undecided in any way, in fact, it was just the opposite--very much trying to move towards FF and away from crop. Peeb was not soliciting feedback on the decision to move to FF, just on how to get there without breaking the bank. It's advice that can help many that want to get better equipment but can't afford new.

BTW, no hard feelings on the 'disagree' buttons... I believe there were a bunch of threads or posts when people started using it when it was introduced. I think the consensus was that most people use it to 'disagree' with what was said rather than to criticize anyone (at least that's what I want to believe, haha).

 

[JacaRanda]

The downside to using EF lenses on a crop body is that the field of view is greatly diminished.

A result, but not necessarily a downside.

How so? How is a narrower field of view a good thing? And please don't regurgitate the additional reach' thing. Unless, that is, you're a fan of the old 'digital zoom'. Which is effectively what you have.

I guess to some the restricted field of view is tolerable. It wasn't for me.

It's a good thing when one shoots wildlife or sports and can't afford a $10k super telephoto lens.
Sorry if my regurgitation bugs you.

 

[Derrel]

FF cameras have larger viewfinders than the crop-frame economy cameras that use small pentamirror designs. I'm not familiar with your Canon, but it might be a pentamirror design; I am sure that its viewfinder image is smaller than any FF d-slr from Canon or Nikon. What FF does over APS-C is changes the way lenses work...how far away you stand with a 35, 50, or 85, how easy it is to use some of the common zooms in social situations; the 75-300 length is ridiculously too long on APS-C at say an outdoor BBQ or Fourth of July Parade when used on APS-C; the field of view narrowing of the 1.6x crop really has a big impact of a number of common "full-frame lenses". The way primes lenses perform, the way they must be used, and the way common full-frame zoom lenses perform--that is where the single biggest difference lies between APS-C and FF cameras. Most companies have many more FF lenses than DX-specific lenses.

Affordability: Canon 5D classic is most affordable, at $350-$550; some of the older Canon 1Ds bodies are pretty low cost nowadays, like the 16.7 MP model. Nikon D700 and D600 used are now in the $750-$850 range. Canon 5D-II maybe $1000 or so.

Will FF make you better? No, but it is easier to shoot in social photography situations with many lenses, and the lens lineups for FF are better, wider, more filled with legacy lenses that actually work easily in normal situations; for the first few years of APS-C d-slrs, there were not many good lenses for APS-C cameras; wide-angle and normal and telephoto all had glaring gaps. For studio and portraiture, APS-C is a real PITA. For long-range shooting, APS-C is very nice to have.

 

[Bryston3bsst]

Which is exactly what you're getting. But it's interesting that the advice you choose to listen to are the ones that are saying 'do it, do it'. Which is exactly my point. I mistakenly thought that you were undecided and as a result I was agreeing with another poster in thinking that your reasoning for doing this was flawed.

Clearly, by your own admission, you've already decided to this. How you get it done is up to you and your wallet. I'll leave you be.

Again, enjoy your new stuff.

Disagree away, folks.

@Bryston3bsst, I think there was an honest and quite unintentional disconnect between the original post and some of the initial replies (such as that by @sashbar and yourself). If you read the OP, @Peeb is looking for a way to get to FF for under a thousand. The OP did not indicate that Peeb was undecided in any way, in fact, it was just the opposite--very much trying to move towards FF and away from crop. Peeb was not soliciting feedback on the decision to move to FF, just on how to get there without breaking the bank. It's advice that can help many that want to get better equipment but can't afford new.

BTW, no hard feelings on the 'disagree' buttons... I believe there were a bunch of threads or posts when people started using it when it was introduced. I think the consensus was that most people use it to 'disagree' with what was said rather than to criticize anyone (at least that's what I want to believe, haha).

No hard feelings at all. I appreciate your having the fortitude to speak directly to me as I guess many here don't care for the way I word things. So thank you.