Upgrade to T3i or T5i?

[ab10]

Hello! I am trying to decide what camera to upgrade to (or even if I SHOULD upgrade).

I currently have the Canon XS and the 2 kit lenses. I will definitely be buying a new lens that is 18-250 because I travel a lot and don't want to carry an extra lens around and miss the perfect shot because I was switching lenses.

In your opinion, is the T3i a good choice for an upgrade? Is the T3i outdated? Or should I spring for the T5i? I'm not (technically) on a budget, however dishing out all this money is going to hurt just a little.

Or if I get the 18-250 lens will it work OK with my current XS?

I'm no expert at photography. I am just now trying out shooting outside of the auto mode.

Any and all advice is welcome and highly appreciated!

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, so forget about the T3i, T5i, etc. Just sit down and ask yourself this question:

My photography would be better if my camera could ________________

Then make a list of things that your current camera can't do that would make things easier in the types of shooting situations you find yourself in most often.

For example, I shoot mostly at moving critters, so for me I might put "shoot more frames per second" in that blank. But sit down and think about that, and make a wish list of the most important improvements that you can think of that you feel will make getting good photographs easier in the situations you find yourself in most often when you shoot.

Then once you have that list, put them in order of priority - then we can look at that list, present you with a list of options that will best fit it, and then at that point you can decide whether or not those improvements might be worth the price of an upgrade.

 

[ab10]

As a preface, I just want to remind you again that I'm not that savvy when it comes to terms and photography.... I don't know if the problem is my camera, my lens, or my (lack of) photo editing program.....

1. I would like my pictures to be more "crisp".

2. I'd like to get better shots that I can have one thing or person in focus, and the background blurry. (I've tried this and just don't know why I can't do it. If I'm taking close up shots of something, I can get the background blurry, but if I want a building that is a little far away or a person that is several feet away, I can't get the other things in the foreground and background to be blurry. Again, maybe I just don't know how to use my camera.)

3. I would like to have better low light shots.

4. Better action shots would be nice as well.

Like I said, I travel a lot, so I often take pictures of wildlife, landscapes, landmarks and of local people.

Does this help at all? Or am I too all over the place? Or is the photographer (and lack of camera knowledge) the problem?

 

[JacaRanda]

Spend some time here. Canon Explains Exposure

This info applies no matter which brand of dslr you have or choose in the future.

I would suggest spending time learning how cameras and lenses work together before upgrading to anything. It is a really important time to learn since you are yet to be heavily invested in any given camera maker.

Once you figure out how the camera works and how lenses work and how they work together, you can begin the ridiculous task of deciding what camera to upgrade to. Also and important factor will be determining what you will primarily shoot.

 

[Raj_55555]

Not a cannon-ier so take my advice accordingly. Whatever I'm telling you is based on my internet research.

1. I would like my pictures to be more "crisp".
T3i has better image quality, if not the same.

2. I'd like to get better shots that I can have one thing or person in focus, and the background blurry. (I've tried this and just don't know why I can't do it. If I'm taking close up shots of something, I can get the background blurry, but if I want a building that is a little far away or a person that is several feet away, I can't get the other things in the foreground and background to be blurry. Again, maybe I just don't know how to use my camera.)

Both have the same sized sensor, so the depth of field has nothing to do with the camera. If I had some spare time I'd have loved to explain the "blurry background" concept as I understand it, but I'm sure you'll find ample resources on the internet. Just google for "understanding depth of field"

3. I would like to have better low light shots.
T3i has better low light performance, if not the same.

4. Better action shots would be nice as well.
T5i does have faster fps shooting (from 3.7fps to 5 fps) , and more focus points but still not worth the upgrade for me.

If you have to upgrade, do some more research and upgrade to something else.

_____EDIT____

I thought you were talking about upgrade from T3i to T5i.. now it makes more sense that I've re-read it. Never respond to a post when you're in a hurry

 

[Civchic]

Like robbins said, I think that you need to practice and learn about exposure, depth of field, and lenses first before you upgrade. Even though it's outdated, your XS is still a very good camera, and the "kit lenses" are very good glass that you're not going to outstrip with your skill level. That is not meant offensively. I've only got a T3, which isn't very much of an upgrade from the XS, really, and I haven't become more skilled than my camera yet, either!

If you're not happy with your shots, you can do better with the equipment you have by really learning photography. A T3i or 5i isn't going to help you with that. Then you will learn what you REALLY want from a camera, and go for a REAL upgrade in the future.

 

[astroNikon]

Raj
with # 2 you are basically asking about the lens.
Lenses with an aperture of f/2.8 allows one to more easily isolate a particular subject and take the surrounding areas Out Of Focus.

basically you start learning about Depth of Field of each aperture and focal length and distance to the subject.

Then, based on the aperture, you can determine the actual "depth" of the depth of field
--> A Flexible Depth of Field Calculator

what i've told people is to purchase one of those nifty fifties .. 50mm/1.8 as it is inexpensive and a great training lens for learning the ins and outs of aperture control.


on another note, I thought you had a Nikon d100 ?

 

[Raj_55555]

Raj
with # 2 you are basically asking about the lens.
Lenses with an aperture of f/2.8 allows one to more easily isolate a particular subject and take the surrounding areas Out Of Focus.

basically you start learning about Depth of Field of each aperture and focal length and distance to the subject.

Very true Steve, I specified the sensor size because the depth of field usually is inversely proportional to the sensor size for any given aperture (I hope I'm not wrong); i.e. it will decrease as the sensor size increases. I realised I didn't have enough time to explain about apertures and their relation to the dof so I took the shortcut and asked the OP to google it

I think the nifty fifty is a great lens too, in fact I am keeping an eye out for a used 50mm prime myself for the coming festive season in India. I'll have a lot of opportunity to use it at night.

on another note, I thought you had a Nikon d100 ?

Yes, and I still do.. What made you think otherwise?

 

[astroNikon]

Yes, and I still do.. What made you think otherwise?

I was reading this on my phone .. messed up who was the OP and such.

 

[Raj_55555]

I was reading this on my phone .. messed up who was the OP and such.

No way I'm ever considering canon unless they have a DX competing with D7100..

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, good. So now we have a better idea what your wanting to achieve. The good news is you can accomplish most of these without a camera upgrade, in fact for most of these goals a camera upgrade probably wouldn’t make much of an impact unless you were to upgrade to a very expensive full frame body of some sort.

So, let’s take a look at the wishlist here:

I would like my pictures to be more "crisp". 4. Better action shots would be nice as well.

I put #1 and #4 together because they both depend on shutter speed. The higher the shutter speed the less time the shutter stays open. The upside to this is that a fast enough shutter speed means that any action you shoot will be frozen, without motion blur. A fast shutter speed also means that you won’t see blur from “camera shake”, the motion of your hands as you hold the camera.

So if you want nice sharp images, increase your shutter speed. It also helps for sharp images to increase your aperture, or “stop down” the lens. The higher your aperture number the less light your allowing in, however the more you’re increasing your depth of field which means more elements of the picture will come into sharp focus.

2. I'd like to get better shots that I can have one thing or person in focus, and the background blurry. (I've tried this and just don't know why I can't do it. If I'm taking close up shots of something, I can get the background blurry, but if I want a building that is a little far away or a person that is several feet away, I can't get the other things in the foreground and background to be blurry. Again, maybe I just don't know how to use my camera.)

There are a lot of articles out there on depth of field that will help you with this, I always rather liked this one myself:

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h0ndz86v/bokeh-for-beginners.html

The blurry background really depends on the aperture setting of the lens most of all, the distance between your subject and the background, your distance between you and your subject.

3. I would like to have better low light shots.

This is another area where you won’t see much improvement in Canon unless you go all the way up to a very expensive, full frame body. As an alternative you can either buy “faster” lenses (lenses with wider apertures) or perhaps an external flash to help in those situations where you need more light.

 

[waday]

Ooo ooo... pick me! pick me!

I am fairly new to photography. Well, actually, I've been into photography since I was born, watched my Pap-Pap fiddle with his SLR (and get blinded by the full-powered flash because he never took that darn thing off the camera), got my first SLR when I was a kid, and got my first DSLR when the Canon XSI came out (was that late 2000's?).

I JUST started manual mode with cameras this year.

I had this notion, that many amateurs have, that I could get better pictures when I upgraded my camera. My pictures were blurry, had a lot of noise, pictures were bland and didn't 'pop', [insert typical comment on bad looking photograph]. I even convinced my wife to let me spend a few thousand on a camera/lens setup. Then, I don't know what stopped me, but I decided to hold off (that made my wife happy). I didn't purchase the camera that I so desperately thought I needed.

I turned the dial to Manual and haven't looked back since. Yes, my photos still stink, but they stink a lot less than when I had it in auto. I'm getting crisper photos, even with the 'kit lens'.

In fact, I recently posted a photo to Facebook and someone asked me if I got a new lens or camera because the picture looked 'professional'. Most of the photos I post now get the 'wow, it looks professional' or 'did you hire a photographer' or 'you should become a professional'. Granted, I take these with a grain of salt, because I am NO WHERE NEAR professional. Not even close to it.

However, it felt good to hear that people noticed a positive change in my photographs. Just from learning how to use the same old camera. I thought something was wrong with it, but it turns out that I just had no idea how to use it.

Don't upgrade and spend that money until you figure out (1) how to use it and (2) what you want to use it for.

 

[CameraClicker]

The others have already covered it pretty well.

I have a T2i, and really like the Sigma 18-250 with it, because it saves a lot of lens changes. It is not a super fast lens but the stabilizer is pretty good. Backgrounds don't go out of focus quickly because the aperture is too small, but it is great for travel.

The SX has ISO to 1600. If hand held night photos or photos of moving subjects at night (other than light trails) are of interest, higher ISO would be a reason to upgrade to the T5i. Adding a prime lens or two that can open to f/1.4 or f/1.8 would also help night photos lit with ambient light from street lights and store windows. Otherwise, investing in a good tripod might be a better choice.

Knowing how to use the camera, and even how to hold it, will result in sharper photos. Adding some sharpening at the end of post processing also helps. If your camera is making JPEGs for you, check the menus, you can probably adjust several settings that will improve JPEG output.

 

[ronlane]

If I had to pick between the T3i and the T5i, I guess I'd take the T5, just because it's a newer model. Honestly, neither is going to help a lot with low light situations. As they are both about the same sensor, with the differences just being "window dressing" (The touch screen being the biggest I remember).

Instead of those, I would ask you to consider the 70D as an upgrade. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Bobby Ironsights]

I have the t5i and it's awesome, but not as crisp, but I switched from b&w film to the t5i, and am impressed with the low light performance, but have not yet printed so ... the jury is still out for me. Also, I have the 18-55 and the 55-200.

if you travel alot and use zoom instead of your feet perhaps a superzoom bridge camera might suit your needs better than another dslr I've heard good things about the Canon powershot series and they are coming out with a new 65x soon. I'd like to see what kind of moon shot I could get with one of THEM, I've seen a few good nice moonshots from superzoom bridge camera enthusiasts on the web.

Remember f/8 and be there.