topic Beginner in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Beginner

Shervin — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 06:14:55 GMT

What is a great camera for a beginner at a good price. Also looking for wifi and video capability. For over ten years I have wanted a camera. I held off for financial reasons. My dad loved taking pics. He recently passed. I want to preserve all my life memories as did my father. Tired of iPhone pics. Thanks for the help 🙂

Re: Beginner

ScottyP — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 15:14:40 GMT

Hi, Shervin.

If you MUST have wi-fi, then you really only have 2 choices, and the more economical of the 2 is the 70d. It costs about 1,049.00 and it really is a nice camera. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/986389-REG/canon_8469b002_canon_eos_70d_dslr.html?showMap=N

That is the price with no lenses. You can get a good deal buying a "kit" for just a bit more, because they throw in lenses at a considerable discount.

Here is a review. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-70D.aspx

If you don't have that much in your budget, and if you are willing to give up on the wi-fi, then the T5i is a great choice. Here is a review. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-Rebel-T5i.aspx

You can get that camera WITH a 18 - 135mm kit lens for just $929.00 right now.

Re: Beginner

digital — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:50:26 GMT

What is your budget?

I was helping my wifes friend look for a package and i asked at several sites. Had some pretty good feedback on this set up. This is from a local camer store and was a christmas package deal which is still on sale now. Now you don't have to get this exact body but for aournd $1000 you can get started and have failry decent gear with a nice range of coverage. The 55-250 is surprisingly quite good for the price. Make sure the lenses have STM in them. Better image quality and faster focus. You may not get the monpod and bag but this may be a good start for you.

Re: Beginner

Skirball — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:43:18 GMT

+1 digitals suggestion. I would either try to get a refurbished T3i, or get the T5i bundle. WiFi is ok, but I wouldn’t put much weight on it unless you’re absolutely sure you need it. I have it on my 6D, and it’s kind of neat, but I don’t really use it all that much. I’d trade it in for an articulating screen if I could.

@digital wrote:

Make sure the lenses have STM in them. Better image quality and faster focus.

Disagree. No relation, and untrue.

If the lens you want has an STM version than that's something to consider, but I wouldn't weigh it heavy in consideration.

I look more at the optical performance than worry about STM. STM was made for video, it’s silent and smoother. It has no (positive) impact on still photography. Ultrasonic is still faster, though not by much. STM lenses require use of a motor when manually focusing; you essentially push a button to focus in and out. I can’t say I’ve tried it, and perhaps I’d get used to it, but it sounds awful to me. Yes, in the case of the new 55-250 the IQ is better, but that’s because it’s a new version of the lens, it has nothing to do with the STM.

Re: Beginner

TCampbell — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:44:59 GMT

If you want to be able to do full-time auto-focus during video (all DSLRs do video... but most cannot do continuous auto-focus while shooting video and/or the auto-focus triggers the camera to do "focus hunt" which is very distracting as it "guesses" it's way to better focus) AND you want WiFi then *the* camera that does both of these is the Canon EOS 70D.

It's a mid-range camera with controls laid out a bit more like the pro-level cameras. It also has a better focus system than all of the Rebel bodies (but then it's a notch above the Rebel class) and it's continuous shutter speed is better as well. It's not quite, but nearly as fast as the 7D (which is regarded as more of a sports/action photography camera.)

None of the Rebel cameras have built-in WiFi nor support continuous auto-focus during video.

With that said, you can get an "Eye-Fi" card for a Rebel camera. This is an SD card that has a built-in WiFi radio and as you shoot, it can transfer images to your computer or smartphone/tablet. It's a bit slow to do this I'll warn you because in order to preserve battery the system shuts off the WiFi while it's shooting. After you stop shooting, it waits about 5 seconds... if there is no further user activity it switches the WiFi radio on and begins transferring the images. This means you do get the images delivered via WiFi but with a bit of a delay. Also, unlike the 70D where you can actually use a smartphone to control the camera, an Eye-Fi card only uses the WiFi to transfer images... there is no remote control capability like there is with the Canon built-in WiFi cameras.

Re: Beginner

Shervin — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 06:06:02 GMT

Hi Scott! Thank you for the response. I am leaning towards the 70D after reading your feedback. I want to take full advantage of the camera. Wifi isn't mandatory but a luxury. If you had to chose between the two, which would you pick?

Re: Beginner

Shervin — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 06:08:49 GMT

Thank you for the feedback as great information. Why is the STM an important mark on the lenses. Is it the quality? I am willing to spend anywhere from $900-$1400.

Re: Beginner

Shervin — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 06:14:51 GMT

Hey thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I like shooting video but it's secondary to taking photos. I guess the next step for me is to read up on the models. I love taking pictures as want a product that will last for years. Like computers my only fear is will the camera become outdated after two years. So I can see that wifi isn't as big as a deal as I thought after reading your response. Thank you for the wonderful info.

Re: Beginner

Shervin — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 06:21:53 GMT

Hi Tim. Like everyone else, thank you for the knowledge. So the 70D can work with your smart phone? How's that possible. That's pretty cool. In response to shutter speed. How does that work. I know I'm pretty green but does faster shutter speed garner better results and are slower shutter speeds good for a feel of moving objects? Thanks!

Re: Beginner

Skirball — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 15:52:52 GMT

If you're absolutely set on getting Wifi, then get the 70D. And this is coming from someone that owns a 6D.

Re: Beginner

TCampbell — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:36:31 GMT

Hi Shervin,

Canon makes an application called "EOS Remote". I believe it's available in both iOS (iPhone) and Andoid versions. The app connects to the camera via WiFi and is able to transfer images and also remotely control the camera (remote shooting). You can find numerous videos hosted at YouTube demonstrating how the app works.

I noticed you also asked about the "STM" mark on some Canon lenses. Canon lenses have three different major groups of motor technologies and the "STM" mark indicates that the lens uses Canon's new "STepper Motor" technology.

The most basic lenses use motors which are neither particularly fast nor quiet. When shooting video it's ideal to be quiet so that the noise of the motors isn't picked up by the microphone. When shooting sports or action it's nice to have motors that have snappy focus performance and can track action without lagging behind.

Canon's STM lenses are much faster than the standard motors and almost completely silent. Some are so quiet that the internal micorphone cannot pick up the sound at all. Some of them do have sound which is barely detectable. This is quite a performance step up from the standard motors -- especially for video shooters.

Canon's USM lenses have the fatest forcus performance and are also extremely quiet, but as they are noticeably faster than the STM motors, they are not completely silent (but they come close). For action photography, lenses with USM motors are ideal. For video, usually a less snappy focus transition from one subject to another is preferred so it's not so jarring to the viewer. On the 70D for example, you can be recording two subjects at different distances. You can focus to one subject by touching your finger to the LCD screen... when you're ready to focus to the next subject, touch your finger to that subject on the LCD screen and you'll get a smooth focus transition direct from one to the other (no focus hunt) but not quite so fast as to be jarring.

As for your question about shutter speeds... I was actually referring to the frame rate. E.g. one camera might be able to take 3 shots per second... another might shoot 6 shots per second... another 8. The 7D can shoot 8 shots per second. The 70D comes in a close 2nd place at 7 shots per second. When you're shooting action photography, it's nice to be able to put the camera into "continuous" mode and blast off a full second worth of shots. When you inspect them later, you'll find that often one of them stands above the rest and will be glad you captured a group of shots and not just a single shot. It's often all about that "decisive moment".

You can control the actual shutter speed on these cameras as well... you can take shots from as slow as a full 30 seconds to as brief as 1/4000th of a second and some cameras go to 1/8000th of a second. When shooting action, you can typically "freeze" most action at speeds of around 1/500th of a second or faster... but sometimes even 1/250th of a second is brief enough to freeze action. You can create images which "imply motion" even though it's a still image, but showing motion blur in the image. To do this you deliberately set a slower than normal shutter speed.

When you're shooting in particularly low light... far lower than a camera could normally handle, remember that there's practically no such thing as "not enough light" as long as your subject is not moving AND your camera is not moving. E.g. put the camera on a steady mount (such as a tripod... but some people rest a camera on a bean bag, etc. -- just so you can be sure the camera isn't going to move) and shoot the still subject... you can hold the shutter open as long as necessary to get the shot (these cameras do have a "bulb" mode... this involves using a remove "wired" shutter release (because just touching the camera to press the shutter button will shake the camera enough to spoil the shot) and put the camera in a mode which holds the shutter open as long as you keep holding the button pressed on the wired remote (the wired remote is an accessory... not included... but these are inexpensive.)

Some of this is a bit advanced and as you are admitting to be new, you'll want to learn the basics of exposure. There are a couple of good books that tend to be recommended over and over. One is the Bryan Peterson book called "Understanding Exposure". The other is the Scott Kelby Digital Photography series... this is actually a four volume set but it gets good reviews from beginners. Both authors try to write in a style that does not assume you already know the lingo as they explain the concepts.

A DSLR is a bit like owning a fine musical instrument. One can do amazing things with a Steinway piano... assuming one actually KNOWS how to play the piano. If you don't learn, even the best instrument will not improve your results.

Cameras are not nearly as complicated... there are just a handful of basics and then you can get amazingly creative with them -- but if you leave the camera in auto-mode you'll hardly tap the potential of what it can really do for you.

Re: Beginner

ScottyP — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:17:53 GMT

Hi,

To answer your question, assuming the higher price is ok with you, I would choose the 70d over the T5i, and not for the wifi.

The 70d has micro focus adjustment so you can tune your lenses without mailing all your gear to Canon.

It is a bit bigger and has a few more buttons so ergonomics are better.

It focuses faster in video or live view than any other EOS camera because of the dual pixel focusing.

That dual pixel thing just might enable something very neat someday, like improved dynamic range, some day in the future if/when Canon figures out a firmware upgrade.