T5i or SL1 or T5???

[kogro]

I am having troubles deciding between the T5i and the SL1. I origianlly have the T5 in the mix, but was steered away from that. I mostly use it for family, kids, and sporting events. Needing some guidance on which one to get!

[ScottyP]

The SL1 is too small, in my opinion.  You want to be able to hold the camera firmly, so you want it to have a nice deep grip.  

The SL1 was an effort to make a little DSLR, maybe thinking it could lure buyers away from little mirrorless cameras.  In the end, it is not little enough to get any real benefits from the smallness, like to fit in a pocket (especially with lenses), but it is also not big enough to handle well with real camera lenses on it.

If your 2 choices are T5i and SL1, I would go with the T5i.

What lens are you considering?  Most people will agree the lenses are more important than the camera. You can get the bundles/kits that come with 1 or two basic lenses at a pretty reasonable price, but you might consider instead getting a camera without lenses ("body-only") and then getting a better quality lens to go with it.  A lot depends on the budget you have in mind for this.

[kogro]

Looking at the packages from Costco and here is what they each have:

T5i:

Features:

EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens, 16 GB SD Card, Camera Bag, EOS Digital Solution Disc and Software Instruction Manual CD

SL1:

Features:

EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens, 16 GB SD Card, Camera Bag, EOS Digital Solution Disc and Software Instruction Manual CD

T5:

Features:

EF-S18/55 IS II Lens, EF75/300 III Lens, 16 GB SD Card, Camera Bag, EOS Digital Solution Disc & Software Instruction Manual CD

[ScottyP]

The T5 package contains the 75-300 lens, which from the reviews I have seen, has poorer image quality than the 55-250 lenses you see in the other two kits.  To quote one reviewer:  "If you care about great image quality and sharp photos, the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM Lens is not for you. And Photoshop cannot enhance details that are not there."

Costco wants $850 for the T5i kit and $700 for the SL1.  

Go hold both cameras in your hand.  Costco will have at least the T5i on display for you to feel, and if not you can probably find them at either Target or Best Buy.  I feel the T5i is easy to grip and hold and I feel the SL1 is not, in my own opinion.  

Also:

The T5i also has a better autofocus system, all its focus points being of the more sensitive "cross type".

T5i shoots 5 frames per second vs. the 4 frames per second for the SL1.

T5i will shoot about 550 images on a battery charge, and the SL1 will only do about 480.

In this case, I would go with the T5i myself for the minimal cost difference and the (to me) better hand hold feel and the better autofocus.

Good luck.

[ebiggs1]

Of course the Rebel T5i is the best choice but the truth is any of these are so close it does come down to price and feel.

This, EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens, does make a difference.  It is a better lens than the EF75/300 III Lens.

[TCampbell]

The T5 was designed to be a budget-priced entry camera.  It covers the basics, but is more limited in features as compared to the others.

The SL1 was designed to be as small as possible and still be a true DSLR (it has to be large enough for the reflex mirror in front of the sensor.)  It is the smallest DSLR on the market.   But the smaller body also means that it has to be a bit more limited in the control buttons and things are packed a bit tighter.  If you have tiny hands, you might appreciate that.  If you have large hands, you probably wont like that.  I find the Rebel bodies to be a bit smaller anyway (entry level bodies tend to be physically a bit smaller than the higher tier bodies.)

The T5i is the highest end "Rebel" body current produced.  To move up, you have to jump to a mid-tier body -- Rebel bodies tend to be priced so that the camera body and at least 1 lens are still priced at less than $1000.  The mid-tier bodies tend to be more than $1000 for the camera body and 1 lens.

You also mentioned "sporting events".  Sports and action photography are some of the most challenging types of photography given that the subject is often constantly in mostion and focus distances are rapidly changing.  The Canon 7D II is specifically optimized for this... it has an amazing focus system and can blast away in continuous burst mode at 10 frames per second.  ...but you'll notice the price tag is considerably higher than a T5i.   Also lens choice becomes much more important for sports.  You want a lens with fast focus motors and a low focal ratio.  Commonly the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II would be a popular lens BECAUSE of it's low focal ratio (which means it can gather about 4x more light than, say, the 55-250mm f/3.5-5.6 -- and the 55-250mm has a much slower focus motor.)  A 70-200mm f/2.8 works well for most indoor sports... outdoors it may be a bit short and sports photographers may go for 300 or even 400mm lenses (but not the 75-300... that's a slow low-performance lens.)  

Unfortunately, action and sports photography isn't easy on the pocket-book.