topic Thinking of upgrading from my T3i. in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

Liz22012 — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 14:48:32 GMT

Thinking of upgrading from my T3i. I like the 7d a lot but do I get the older 7d or wait and get the 7dii?

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

cicopo — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 15:54:20 GMT

It's rather important that we know why you feel the need to upgrade, what lenses you have & what your photographic interests are. The more we know the easier it is to give good advice.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

RobertTheFat — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:05:01 GMT

@Liz22012 wrote:
Thinking of upgrading from my T3i. I like the 7d a lot but do I get the older 7d or wait and get the 7dii?

The 7D is a fine camera. I own two and have gotten excellent performance from them. The 7D2 is an even better camera, with several important performance enhancements. So it comes down to how much you're willing to spend and how much of a bargain hound you are. Because the 7D2 has been so well received, there should be some good prices on new or refurbished 7D's.

Remember, though, that either camera needs a top-notch lens to achieve its full potential. (Not that your T3i doesn't; it has, I believe, the same sensor as the 7D.)

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

cale_kat — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:57:22 GMT

I think the 70D is a better value than the 7D for most photographers. Better low light and autofocus performance. Better video features like the dual pixel autofocus and tilt screen. Consumer friendly features like wifi. It's a very well rounded camera.

Canon has the 70D refurbished on sale at its store for just over $800. That is a very very good price for that model and it comes with a 1-year warranty against defects.

Good luck with whatever you choose

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

jrhoffman75 — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:24:52 GMT

If you are thinking of upgrading via the Canon eStore - refurb or new - call them and ask about the Loyalty Program.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

ebiggs1 — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:43:12 GMT

"Thinking of upgrading from my T3i."

If it were me and I wanted to upgrade my T3i, it would be because I wanted a more robust camera. The output from the T3i and 7D will be nearly the same. But there is where the sinilarity ends. The Rebel line is consumer grade. The 7D line is pro grade at the very least advanced amateur. Yes, everything will be better but you must decide.

I would skip the xxD series as it just isn't that "better build" that is the real difference.

If you can swing the 7D Mk II, all the better. Go for it, you will love it.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

RobertTheFat — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 15:46:04 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
"Thinking of upgrading from my T3i."

If it were me and I wanted to upgrade my T3i, it would be because I wanted a more robust camera. The output from the T3i and 7D will be nearly the same. But there is where the sinilarity ends. The Rebel line is consumer grade. The 7D line is pro grade at the very least advanced amateur. Yes, everything will be better but you must decide.

I would skip the xxD series as it just isn't that "better build" that is the real difference.

That's all true enough, but I think it glosses over one of the important differences between the Rebel line and the more expensive cameras: the latter have much more convenient controls. That convenience comes at a price (and not just in $$): the better cameras are considerably larger and heavier. That's OK with some and not with others; it's why my wife carries a T2i instead of a 7D. Robustness is important, but it isn't the only consideration.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

ebiggs1 — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 16:29:12 GMT

Bob from Boston,

Yes, sir, you are correct.

And exactly why I always add the caveat; "Yes, everything will be better but you must decide."

In some situations a bigger, heavier camera is all that will do, however. Plastic and easily moveable dials are not welcome.

Ernie for Kansas

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

RobertTheFat — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 17:47:51 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:

Ernie for Kansas

Looking forward to the NCAA Tournament, are we? Jeez, man, we haven't even gotten the Patriots into the Superbowl yet!

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

ebiggs1 — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:02:40 GMT

"... haven't even gotten the Patriots into the Superbowl"

You will, I have little doubt.

The Basketball Jayhawks have more Big 12 Championships then they have regular game loses at Allen Fieldhouse. I will be in the Alimni pep band for the game with Kent next week. I play two games a year. Rock-chaulk......

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

flylooper — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 15:49:55 GMT

The 7D is a full frame camera, so far as I know. That's an advantage, but...

Wow! you need to pony up $1700 for that 7D body. Aside from the $$$ you have invested in the t3i (a camera "for the rest of us") you'll be in for a sizable bundle. Consider the cost benefit: how much and the type of shooting you do has to be factored in.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

RobertTheFat — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 16:08:53 GMT

@flylooper wrote:
The 7D is a full frame camera, so far as I know. That's an advantage, but...

Wow! you need to pony up $1700 for that 7D body. Aside from the $$$ you have invested in the t3i (a camera "for the rest of us") you'll be in for a sizable bundle. Consider the cost benefit: how much and the type of shooting you do has to be factored in.

Neither the 7D nor the 7D Mark II is a full-frame camera.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

flylooper — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 16:46:55 GMT

My mistake. I assumed for that kind of dough, you get the real deal!

I've got a t3i (gifted to me) and am in the process of trying to learn all this stuff about DSLRs, etc.

At my level of shooting (ultra-greenhorn) the t3i camera will take a while to completely understand. The camera seems to have lot of really nice features as it is, the only drawback is it's format being that 1.6 decrease in coverage. (There must be more but I haven't discovered them yet. But they're marvelous in what they can do, there's no doubt!

Interestingly, all this research with DSLRs has renewed my interest in film photography. I've pulled my 50 year old Pentax Spotmatic down from a shelf and may try my luck with it on an upcoming trip.

Just think—only four things to worry about: focus, speed, ASA and aperture. 🙂

Bob

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

ebiggs1 — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 16:32:31 GMT

"Consider the cost benefit: how much and the type of shooting you do has to be factored in."

But it doesn't end with that. I will add 'feel', too. You need to handle the camera and see it is feels right. For me the big difference between brand N and my beloved 1D Mk IV is the feel. A 1 series just feels right to me. Once you go 1 series you will nevr go back to any lesser camera.

Of course not to mention, Canon lenses are next to none. They are absolutely the best there is. Plus no other company has the extensive line of lenses as Canon. Not even close.

But to my point, a 7D Mk II is going to have a completely different feel to it than a Rebel. Try before you buy.

Re: Thinking of upgrading from my T3i.

Skirball — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 16:11:53 GMT

@flylooper wrote:
My mistake. I assumed for that kind of dough, you get the real deal!

I've got a t3i (gifted to me) and am in the process of trying to learn all this stuff about DSLRs, etc.

At my level of shooting (ultra-greenhorn) the t3i camera will take a while to completely understand. The camera seems to have lot of really nice features as it is, the only drawback is it's format being that 1.6 decrease in coverage. (There must be more but I haven't discovered them yet. But they're marvelous in what they can do, there's no doubt!

Bob

Bob, a couple of comments on your post. Of course, it's your opinion, and you're entitled to it, but I think there are a couple of misconceptions here, and you'd benefit from understanding them.

First, that Full Frame is the 'real deal', imply that crop is some sort of lesser breed. It's not, it's just different. Really the only significant difference is that full frame has better high iso performance (less noise) than crop. Always will, so long as technology is the same. But the crop factor doesn't mean squat. In fact, if anything, I'd put it on the 'plus' side of crop cameras. There are other, smaller differences. In summarizing them I'm going to (intentionally) gloss over some finer details, so take it with a grain of salt: the softening you get as you stop down your aperture affects full frame slightly less. In other words, you can use a slightly higher aperture with full frame. Full frame will also get you a thinner depth of field for more out of focus background, but how this impacts you in the real world is arguable.

That's really about it. On the flip side,

crop sensors are smaller and lighter and cheaper - in general
they can you a whole line of (cheaper to manufacture) lenses that full frame cannot,plus all the full frame lenses
crop sensors only use the inner part of a 'full frame lens', which is the optically superior part
they get a crop factor "magnification" which can be very beneficial when using telephoto lenses, which get very expensive as they get long
the max sync speed is higher, very useful to flash photographers
it's easier to get a higher fps with crop than it is full frame
there are several, cheap, ultrawide angle EF-S lenses that get you just as wide as a full frame can get (and costs much more to get that wide on a full frame)

As mentioned in the last bullet point, there really isn't a decrease in coverage with crop, you just use a wide angle crop lens (EF-S). The EF-S 10-22 (or the new $300 EF-S 10-18) on a crop covers about the same field of view as the 16-35 does on a full frame, it just costs less.