If you had to spend $1,000...

[Lumens]

I have a T2i I enjoy a great deal. The best advise given me was very similar to Robins.photo above First priority is to LEARN your camera. Books, YouTube, classes, clubs, meetups, etc. are all helpful. I was fortunate to spend a week with my son (A semi-professional) to learn most of what I have.

What I have learned is I really enjoy catching birds in-flight. My son taught me how, him catching beautiful pics of the birds we saw while I caught fuzzy buzzards (LOL). But with that I have now captured some really good wildlife action shots, including some really good photos of Blue Heron in-flight. It takes time and patience, but learn your camera and what you enjoy shooting first. That will tell you what equipment you need.

I did recently upgrade to a 7D which I found refurbished and very much "Like New". But I did that after learning my T2i was too slow to keep up with the flight of the birds. A couple shots and the T2i stopped and showed "Busy Processing". The quick Auto-Focus and dual processors (and refurbished price) of the 7D made my decision . The thing is I made this decision with full knowledge the image quality would be the same. The sensor in all the Canon crop factor cameras (with the 70D likely a bit better, but not a major difference) are pretty much the same . I still use my T2i for my not so active experiences, such as landscape, portrait, etc. set to aperture priority for better depth of focus. The 7D always has my zoom lens on it and is close by set to a fast shutter priority ready to capture something flying by.

Bottom line the T5i you have is a very good camera and most likely all you need in the way of camera body for a very long time unless you see failings in speed or image quality. If image quality is the issue the next step is a full frame, much above the $1000 you mention. As far as speed I suspect the only need there is fast moving subjects such as wildlife or action sports, then look at Frames Per second and again a new camera body is most if not more than the money you want to spend. The best you can do is enjoy and learn the camera you have. Some new glass may be nice but learn what you enjoy first then decide on what is needed.

 

[robbins.photo]

I have a T2i I enjoy a great deal. The best advise given me was very similar to Robins.photo above First priority is to LEARN your camera. Books, YouTube, classes, clubs, meetups, etc. are all helpful. I was fortunate to spend a week with my son (A semi-professional) to learn most of what I have.

What I have learned is I really enjoy catching birds in-flight. My son taught me how, him catching beautiful pics of the birds we saw while I caught fuzzy buzzards (LOL). But with that I have now captured some really good wildlife action shots, including some really good photos of Blue Heron in-flight. It takes time and patience, but learn your camera and what you enjoy shooting first. That will tell you what equipment you need.

I did recently upgrade to a 7D which I found refurbished and very much "Like New". But I did that after learning my T2i was too slow to keep up with the flight of the birds. A couple shots and the T2i stopped and showed "Busy Processing". The quick Auto-Focus and dual processors (and refurbished price) of the 7D made my decision . The thing is I made this decision with full knowledge the image quality would be the same. The sensor in all the Canon crop factor cameras (with the 70D likely a bit better, but not a major difference) are pretty much the same . I still use my T2i for my not so active experiences, such as landscape, portrait, etc. set to aperture priority for better depth of focus. The 7D always has my zoom lens on it and is close by set to a fast shutter priority ready to capture something flying by.

Bottom line the T5i you have is a very good camera and most likely all you need in the way of camera body for a very long time unless you see failings in speed or image quality. If image quality is the issue the next step is a full frame, much above the $1000 you mention. As far as speed I suspect the only need there is fast moving subjects such as wildlife or action sports, then look at Frames Per second and again a new camera body is most if not more than the money you want to spend. The best you can do is enjoy and learn the camera you have. Some new glass may be nice but learn what you enjoy first then decide on what is needed.

One thought also occurs Lumens.. I'm an amateur wildlife shutterbug myself, and the one thing I found is that a faster shooting speed on the camera makes a big difference, but the speed of the memory card can also make a huge difference as well. When I first started I was using a standard Class 10 card that had a read/write speed of about 30 mbps. I found a good deal on a 16 gb card that had a read write speed of 95 mbs, and it was a night and day difference. Not only did I not overwhelm the camera's buffer as quickly it also took a lot less time for the camera to recover if I did - and wow, was that memory card worth every penny. Probably the best/cheapest upgrade I've ever made. I went with the Sandisk Extreme Pro (be careful and check to make sure your getting the 95 mbs version, there's also a 45 mbs version called extreme pro) and I couldn't be happier. Just ordered the 64 gb version for my d5100.

DSC_0278 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Random bird pic.. lol

 

[Smokeyr67]

I would invest instead. Stocks are doing well these days. Most books can be checked out at the library. Adobe software programs have a 30 day trial membership as well so you can check them out. YouTube is also a great free resource for learning editing software.

Brains and looks. Guess all she needs you guys for is your braun.

I need a man for other things too.......like to cuddle.

Is cuddle code for killing spiders and taking out the trash?

On topic, I'd put aside a few hundred for a speedlight, it'll help you keep the shutter speed up when your 1 year old starts to move at a million miles an hour.