Looking to Upgrade My Body

plaid_avenger · Nov 15, 2013

Hello,
I purchased a t3i about a year ago and I've fallen in love with photography. It's one of those things I purely enjoy doing. I am looking into upgrading my body; I currently own three lenses: 18-55mm (kit lens), 55-250, and a 50mm 1.8. I was wondering which should be my next step, I was looking into 40, 50, 60d's but I don't know which one I should get.

thanks for your help in advance!

Light Guru · Nov 15, 2013

What is it that your current camera body is lacking that makes you want to upgrade?

If you can't give a good answer to that question then there is no point in upgrading.

ronlane · Nov 15, 2013

^^^^^ You might try renting a lens for a few days and see if this helps with what you feel is lacking. Good glass will help with a lot of issues.

TCampbell · Nov 15, 2013

The 40D and 50D won't have the ISO range with low noise that your T3i has -- but a 60D will -- but it will only be "about the same" and not actually better (certainly not better in an obvious and noticeable way.)

But really you won't notice a difference in the image. That difference is going to come from skill (composition, creative selection of exposure, etc.), lighting, and lenses -- but not so much the body because both cameras are effectively using the same sensor.

What a 60D will offer you is that the 9 auto-focus points in the camera are _all_ "cross type" points on a 60D (whereas your T3i only has a center cross-type point and the rest are single-axis AF points.)
It will also give you a 2nd dial. Your T3i only has one main dial -- that's the one in front just behind the shutter button. On a 60D you get a 2nd main dial on the rear of the camera positioned for easy access by your thumb. With these two, you can easily control shutter and aperture at the same time (when using Manual mode) or in any of the semi-auto modes (Tv or Av) the rear dial sets exposure compensation.
You get a top LCD screen and a few instant access buttons making it a bit quicker to do things like change ISO settings, or drive mode, etc. without using a menu to do it.
Lastly... the 60D has _some_ weather sealing features on the body. The T3i has none. That doesn't make the camera waterproof... it means they added gaskets and o-rings to body seams and dials so that the camera won't get water inside if it gets splashed. But the gaskets and o-rings aren't designed for pressure -- so if the camera is submerged all bets are off.

That's about it. Notice that some of the features help with ease of operation -- but none of them are really features which will affect the images you get out of the camera.

The first real "jump" in image quality would be a 6D but you wouldn't be able to use your EF-S lenses with a 6D body because it's a full-frame body (and the EF-S lenses only work with cameras that have APS-C crop-frame bodies.)

As Light Guru says... if you don't know WHY you need a new body then you'll probably just end up spending money for no real gain.

pgriz · Nov 15, 2013

I'd suggest getting a flash. Carrying your own light source (or three) with you can open up a lot of photographic opportunities. Also get a tripod. There's another universe to discover once you can reliably use the slow shutters. Those two things are much cheaper than a body, and open the doors to much better images.

manaheim · Nov 15, 2013

I was so tempted to post a picture of Charles Atlas here...

bratkinson · Nov 16, 2013

manaheim said:
I was so tempted to post a picture of Charles Atlas here...

Be careful...your age is showing if you know who the 95 pound weakling was...

Actually, I was looking for a new body myself. Lose 50 pounds, regrow a head of hair, build some muscles so I could be a body-double for Arnold Schwartznegger in his body-builder days...

But for camera bodies, there's a number of options, all with various costs and 'added features'. Without knowing what your budget, what is lacking/limiting with your T3i, or even what you usually photograph, it's difficult here in the cyberworld to give any meaningful suggestions.

It's also possible you are catching the dreaded GAS disease...Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Many photographers get this disease at an early stage, experience-wise. At least it's not fatal...except to your credit cards...as in 'been there, done that'.

Actually, with 3 lenses and a decent camera body, perhaps the best path to take is to figure out what you want to photograph mostly, figure out what is needed to do that, then buy/replace/sell as needed to reach that capability. It would not make sense to buy a macro lens and find you don't have any interest in photographing creatures smaller than an inch or so....or jewelery. In essence, just buying for the sake of buying not only gets expensive, but can result in having to replace the new stuff once again once your needs/goals are become more 'known'.

As mentioned above, perhaps a flash unit might be a good next step, especially if a good portion of your photography is indoors and the pictures you are taking are noisy due to too high an ISO speed or blurred because of a too slow shutter speed. My goal was/is to do low light photography without a flash. I figured out what I needed and started buying what I needed. In my estimation, the three most EXPENSIVE niches in photography are sports, wildlife (incl birding), and low-light (including weddings).

Hopefully, you have or soon will figure out what kind of photography most interests you. THEN get what you need. An oft repeated saying I have heard many times: "if you don't know where you're going, you won't know when you get there!"

manaheim · Nov 16, 2013

*chuckle*

ralphbrunt · Nov 16, 2013

lol i like the original poster have a t3i and after reading this i have come to the conclusion i have the dreaded GAS disease. Thank you all who posted in this thread. i will be seeking treatment this morning at my local camera store's beginner camera class..... instead of with the sales department....
ralph

Smokeyr67 · Nov 16, 2013

ralphbrunt said:
lol i like the original poster have a t3i and after reading this i have come to the conclusion i have the dreaded GAS disease. Thank you all who posted in this thread. i will be seeking treatment this morning at my local camera store's beginner camera class..... instead of with the sales department....
ralph

Why not do both?

Light Guru · Nov 16, 2013

ralphbrunt said:
lol i like the original poster have a t3i and after reading this i have come to the conclusion i have the dreaded GAS disease. Thank you all who posted in this thread. i will be seeking treatment this morning at my local camera store's beginner camera class..... instead of with the sales department....
ralph

Problem with seeking treatment at a camera store class is that is is held at the camera store and taunt by the camera store who want you to buy things. It's kinda like going to a drug dealer for rehab.

Victo · Nov 16, 2013

I would love to upgrade my body.

goodguy · Nov 16, 2013

You want a real upgrade ?

Get the Canon 6D, fantastic full frame camera, in low light its a beast.
If you want to stay with crop sensor then the ONLY camera that can be an upgrade will be the Canon 70D
The 7D, 60D, T5i all have the same sensor as the T3i so they will produce roughly same pictures.