Upgrading from Canon 750D (Rebel T6i)

[Samuel.z]

I've been at it with the Canon 750D for 4 years now and I still think it does a great job as a camera where I'm happy with the results even on print.
However, I have found a few flaws with the body which makes me think it might be time to upgrade.

I have looked at some mirrorless cameras as that seems to be the direction the future of photography is moving. like the Canon EOS R and EOS RP, as well as the crop-sensor EOS M6 Mark II.
My biggest concern with the mirrorless cameras is the physical size. I tried the Sony A6300 from a friend and it felt flimsy and unstable in the hand even with a battery grip.

I don't intend to use the camera for professional work in any way. I'm just looking for an upgrade from a camera that is getting older that I've used enough to feel the flaws but also know the pros of.

As I'm happy with the quality overall with the pictures from the 750D I'm not sure if it would be a valuable investment for me to switch but these things have started to annoy me more and more lately.

What attracted me most with the mirrorless cameras is the autofocus points as well as the electronic viewfinder.

I've got myself 3 main lenses I use and don't have a budget to go get lenses for a new brand. therefore I ruled out other brands. Also from my experience, the Canon cameras have the best ergonomics on their bodies.

My lenses:
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4,5-5,6 IS STM
Tamron EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6 IS II USM
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

The main pros/cons with the Canon 750D I got are:
Pros:
- The size (with a battery grip) feels good and sturdy.
- Comfortable button layout
- Takes pictures

Cons:
- The autofocus is very limited with it's 19 AF points.
- It's extremely hard to hit focus in low light and moving objects.
- 5 fps is slow and I've missed a couple of fast-moving shots.
- hard to hold the camera steady while changing aperture settings in Manual(M) mode


I've considered the following bodies as they're in my price range.
Canon EOS RP
Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Canon EOS 90D
Canon EOS M6 Mark II

I've also considered holding onto my money and see what Canon releases in the near future within a year or two on the mirrorless market.

What would you do in my situation?

 

[Derrel]

You have two Canon ef-s lenses so I would suggest buying another crop body Canon, either the 80D or the 90D.

 

[malling]

Personally I would just upgrade the house to another crop, I would definitely not consider switching to the mirrorless system of either Canon or Nikon. The offering those brand have might be good, but the problem is that we do not know if the R and Z line will survive tomorrow. Allot of vendors don’t even stuck basic parts and allot of them are in top of it very sceptical of their success and so are third part manufacturers. I talked with a few recently and the said that A7 where the FF system most people where buying, people where literally switching from Nikon and Canon and very, very few took the chance with the mirrorless system of said brands even those who wanted to switch to mirrorless systems. It’s a massive problem for those brands as the dslr are outdated technology and won’t survive for that much longer.

I would personally have preferred to stay with the Nikon family, but I would never consider something that I can’t get all the necessary equipment to or where it’s unnecessary difficult. I want to go into my local shop and walk out two minutes later with what I want, not wait weeks because the parts are not in stock. And I definitely do not want to end up with very expensive equipment that no one wants to buy or that I cannot use. Unfortunately that is the crossroads we are at.

 

[Original katomi]

I was listening to a pod cast and the canon RP did not sound that good
From my own research #looking at on line reviews#the 6d mk 2 could be better
Have a look at the 5dmk4

 

[TWX]

I carry the 77D, which was the successor to the 760D, aka T6s, which was a variant of your T6i with some minor improvements.

I would strongly consider the M6 Mark II. It is smaller than the T6i, but a body-glove or other on-camera case can solve that easily enough. It'll use your lenses with the EF/EFS to EFM adapter, and the few native EFM lenses are deliciously small. We've been using the 22mm f/2 on my wife's M100 and it's basically a pocket camera in that configuration, while producing pictures as nice as the 77D produces. You can use the add-on electronic viewfinder when you want, or just use the screen if you don't want.

Before we bought that M100 we looked at the M6 Mk-II, and it felt sturdy enough to me. Did not feel like a toy.

 

[photoflyer]

Unless you are dead set on a new body and cannot get the shots you want with the 750D I would invest in L series or equivalent glass and put off the body for one more release of the mirrorless type. Then I would go full frame and keep the 750D so that you have both in your arsenal.

You will keep good glass forever.

I say this because I now have five bodies spanning nearly 18 years. There are certain types of shots where the results on the oldest are nearly the same as on the newest even though the breadth of functionality has vastly expanded over time. The real difference maker, in many cases, is what is on the front of each body when the shot is taken.

 

[Original katomi]

Agree with post 6
Good glass most photographers will change camera bodies more than they will good glass
Even though I use crop sensor canon I have saved and invested in all be it used l series glass

 

[Derrel]

The problem with Canon is that the ef-s lenses are not even mountable on full frame. If you want to go full frame then going Pentax or Nikon or Sony makes much more sense since they have a crop frame lens system that will mount on their full frame bodies. Nikon DX lenses will Mount and shoot on full-frame bodies. If you wish to go mirrorless the Nikon Z mount has the strongest potential for the future.Sony at the moment has the most advanced lens line, but in the future I expect this might change, and the Nikon Z mount adapts well to many lenses.

The real issue is lenses. You say you don't want to buy new lenses, and so the easiest transition would be to buy a new aps-c Canon body. The Canon 6D Mark II is a fine is a fine Imager, but two of your three lenses will not even mount on it. If you had a Nikon full frame your aps-c lenses would Mount and shoot.

If you want to save a large amount of money I would suggest buying a used camera body and quality used lenses. There are some very large vendors whose websites will show you great deals available across the internet.

 

[ac12]

Cons:
1- The autofocus is very limited with it's 19 AF points.
2- It's extremely hard to hit focus in low light and moving objects.
3- 5 fps is slow and I've missed a couple of fast-moving shots.
4- hard to hold the camera steady while changing aperture settings in Manual(M) mode

1 - How many AF points do you want?
Or what amount of screen coverage?

2 - Specifically what do YOU mean by low light?

In LOW light it can be hard to use any autofocus.
If the camera cannot see enough contrast in the subject, it cannot focus.

The low light alternatives are:

• FAST lens, large aperture letting in more light makes it easier for the autofocus to work.
  
  • All three of your lenses are what I consider "daytime" lenses. They are not fast enough for low light shooting.
    
  • In general, fast lenses are expensive, especially long lenses.
• A newer camera with a newer sensor that works better in low light, or a full frame camera.
  
  • This is a general statement that the sensor gets better with each generation.
    
  • But this is no guarantee of better low light AF performance.

3 - Just how fast do you want your shutter to go?

• Based on my experience, depending on what you are shooting, faster fps is not going to guarantee you of capturing those shots.
  
• 6fps is about normal for midrange dSLRs. Faster than that costs money.
• If you want to go faster than 10fps, you need a mirrorless camera.

4 - What is your left hand doing?

With my left hand supporting the camera, I can adjust the aperture on a Canon T5 and T7, without shaking the camera.​

For easier aperture control, you may need to switch to a TWO dial camera, like the 90D. That is why I personally do not like the single dial cameras. I shoot a Nikon D7200, and Olympus EM1, both two-dial cameras.

 

[ac12]

I've considered the following bodies as they're in my price range.

Canon EOS RP
Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Canon EOS 90D
Canon EOS M6 Mark II
​

RP

The EF to R adapter, will let you use your EF-S lenses on the RP.
But it does not make much sense to me to use crop sensor EF-S lenses on a FF camera. Why?
​

6D

You have to replace two of your three lenses.
The FF dSLR will NOT mount your EF-S lenses. Only your Tamron EF lens can be used.​

90D

The 90D is a good dSLR upgrade for your camera.
The school that I help has a 90D as the special camera, to the standard T7i.
Faster fps, and better low light capability.
It has two dials.​

M6

For mirrorless, I would go with the M50 rather than the M6.

The primary reason is the M6 does not have an integrated EVF. The EVF is a slide-on attachment, which to me is just asking to be broken.
IMHO, if you want an EVF, get a camera with an integrated EVF.​

The M50 has a limited line of native lenses.
The EF to M adapter will let you use EF and EF-S lenses on the M50.
I do not know the autofocus performance of the M50 in low light or moving subjects.​

Warning, the battery run time/life of a mirrorless camera is significantly less than a dSLR.

 

[TWX]

6D
You have to replace two of your three lenses.
The FF dSLR will NOT mount your EF-S lenses. Only your Tamron EF lens can be used.

It will mount but it's a lens designed for an APS-C sensor. I believe the expression, "heavy vignetting," will be an understatement.

EDIT: I looked it up, I was incorrect, it is full-frame compatible.

 

[ac12]

6D
You have to replace two of your three lenses.
The FF dSLR will NOT mount your EF-S lenses. Only your Tamron EF lens can be used.

It will mount but it's a lens designed for an APS-C sensor. I believe the expression, "heavy vignetting," will be an understatement.

EDIT: I looked it up, I was incorrect, it is full-frame compatible.

As I understand EF-S is an EF mount with a shorter registration distance between the lens mount and the sensor.
So an EF-S lens won't focus to infinity on an EF camera.
But you can use an EF lens on an EF-S camera.

 

[Original katomi]

The efs lens on a ef or ff body
There are so many different reasons stories put out there here are a few that I have been told
1 efs is to long on the back end and will get in the way of the mirror flip up
2 efs will not go onto ef body will not mate properly
3 image size will not cover a ff sensor
I don’t know the truth, I know that ef will fit and work on efs/crop sensor bodies provided they are of a certain age eg not to old the 1.3 crop

I regularly use l glass on my crop sensor canon 60d ,600d,1100d
Also worth noting that some sigma lenses are not compatible with canon camera, for more info on that there is a web site. Just did a quick search and a number of sites popped up

 

[Dao]

My lenses:
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4,5-5,6 IS STM
Tamron EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6 IS II USM
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

The main pros/cons with the Canon 750D I got are:
Pros:
- The size (with a battery grip) feels good and sturdy.
- Comfortable button layout
- Takes pictures

Cons:
- The autofocus is very limited with it's 19 AF points.
- It's extremely hard to hit focus in low light and moving objects.
- 5 fps is slow and I've missed a couple of fast-moving shots.
- hard to hold the camera steady while changing aperture settings in Manual(M) mode


I've considered the following bodies as they're in my price range.
Canon EOS RP
Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Canon EOS 90D
Canon EOS M6 Mark II

If I were you, I will look into getting better lenses to start with. As mentioned, a faster lens (wider max aperture) allow more light to the camera which help focusing in low light situation. On top of that, if you do not have a external flash yet, you may also consider getting one. Some of the external flash has focus assist beam which help camera focus in low light.

Personally, lenses upgrade had more impact on my photos than camera upgrade and lens investment last longer. The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens I bought used 10 years ago to replace the stock Canon standard zoom lens still works and products great image. It is still my go to lens with my 7D mk1 today. My 85mm f/1.8 lens still a great lens after all those years. I still like the creamy looking out of focus blur background it produces. (Same with the 70-200 f/4 I have). The recent gem I got is the Sigma 24-35 f/2 lens.

When I upgraded my first Canon XTi to 40D, the top display was the best upgrade feature. It is more or less a convenience upgrade. I no longer needed to go through the menu system to change the ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, Meter mode as well as Focus mode which sometimes was pain in the behind. Of course, this is just my personal preference. And the 2 wheels system really help changing the shutter speed and aperture during shooting. I guess that is what you meant by

"- hard to hold the camera steady while changing aperture settings in Manual(M) mode"

As for the camera body, it depends on your shooting. If you do a lot of wildlife or sports stuff, the 90D on your list maybe a better body. Otherwise, the 6D MK2 is my choice (lol that is what I have so I am kind of bias)

 

[TWX]

6D
You have to replace two of your three lenses.
The FF dSLR will NOT mount your EF-S lenses. Only your Tamron EF lens can be used.

It will mount but it's a lens designed for an APS-C sensor. I believe the expression, "heavy vignetting," will be an understatement.

EDIT: I looked it up, I was incorrect, it is full-frame compatible.

As I understand EF-S is an EF mount with a shorter registration distance between the lens mount and the sensor.
So an EF-S lens won't focus to infinity on an EF camera.
But you can use an EF lens on an EF-S camera.

If I understand correctly, due to some quirks of how Canon approached the legal framework regarding EF and EFS, third-party lens makers are able to use the EF mount but are not yet able to use the differences that go with EFS. This means that third-party lens makers creating lenses for crop-sensor cameras will simply use the EF mount. The crop-sensor EF lens will still mount on a full-frame body, but it won't fill the sensor. Several of Christopher Frost's lens reviews on Youtube get into this. He has, from time to time, shown this issue by mounting such third-party lenses on his 6D to show this. When I corrected myself, I referred to his video covering the Tamron lens. I suppose I could've mounted my own copy of the lens on my old film camera and looked through the view finder, oh well.

Now, the advantage of the EFS lens for a crop-body is, as you pointed out, the reduced minimum clearance between the lens and the sensor, because the mirror is smaller and less clearance is required for it. This can help simplify lens design, since that large gap doesn't have to be so large. It's also why mirrorless is increasingly the future, since that gap can be incredibly small, only enough for the shutter depending on the necessary configuration for the desired optical characteristics, such that the lenses themselves can be much smaller and thus easier to carry more lenses in the same volume of space.