Time for an upgrade: T3 to ???

[SimplyEuphoric]

Hi all, I have owned a Rebel T3 for about a year and a half or two years.  I origianally bought the camera to be able to take a little nicer of photographs than my point and shoot.  Now, photography has become a hobby of mine now and I'm looking to upgrade my camera to something a little nicer and more professional.  

I have a few questions:

1. I have a budget of under $800, (and honestly would like to spend as little as possible for a decent upgrade camera, broke college student)  I would buy a body only, and have no problem purchasing from the refurbushed store.  What are the best options for me?  (I'm specifically looking for something that will do a bit better in low light.)

2. I often shoot outdoors and enjoy the idea of weatherproofing option in some of the cameras, have any of you had any problems with that feature?

3. I would sell my Canon T3: Think I'd be able to sell it without the kit lens?  I know its not the best peice of glass, but I'd like to keep it around, sometimes I do still use it.  What would you pay for a used T3 in almost perfect condition.

Thanks all for the help!

My Gear:

Canon Rebel T3

75-300mm EF f/4-5.6 III

18-55 EF-S f/3.5-5.6 IS II

28-80mm EF f/3.5-5.6II

50mm EF f/1.8 II

[SimplyEuphoric]

I forgot to mention, I am really considering the 60D because the price is right for all the rave reviews I've read.

[ebiggs1]

Yes the $800 dollar limit is going to seriously narrow your possible choices. This is a Rebel budget.

But, any of them will do what you want most likely.

The idea of a used 5D Mk II would be my choice but cost is going to be a factor.

[TCampbell]

Incidentally... the refurb store is showing the 60D for about $576 right now (before tax & shipping):

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras/eos-60d-body-r...

[Yorptunes]

Well I poked around the WEB to see how cheap a 70D could be obtained.  I found the 70D body only for 850 dollars.  I think you would be better served with the 70D since it does so much more than the 60D and I consider it a revolutionary camera because of the sensor alone backed up with the other features it has.  I don't know if this will violate the sanctity of this forum but go here

Mod Note:  Link removed per forum guidelines.

They advertise the body only for the lowest price I have seen.  Your lenses you already have will work with the camera.  

I am a former 60D owner, a current 7D owneer and 70D owner.  

John  

[TCampbell]

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@Yorptunes wrote:

Well I poked around the WEB to see how cheap a 70D could be obtained.  I found the 70D body only for 850 dollars.  I think you would be better served with the 70D since it does so much more than the 60D and I consider it a revolutionary camera because of the sensor alone backed up with the other features it has.  I don't know if this will violate the sanctity of this forum but go here

Mod Note:  Link removed per forum guidelines.

They advertise the body only for the lowest price I have seen.  Your lenses you already have will work with the camera.  

I am a former 60D owner, a current 7D owneer and 70D owner.  

John  

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Careful!  There seem to be a lot of complaints against this company.  As the saying goes "If the deal seems to good to be true... it probably is."

ALSO note that Canon imports their own gear into the US for distribution to their authorized dealers.  They handle any charges associated with imports (duties & tariffs).  This gear is sold as "USA" gear and comes with Canon's north america warranty and is backed by Canon service.

Any other gear is sold as "Import" gear... which means someone else got it into the country and Canon considers this to be "gray market" gear.  That gear is NOT backed by Canon warranty or even out-of-warranty service.

[SimplyEuphoric]

Thanks for all the help!

I did see that the 60D is super discounted via refurbished price! Would I be better off spending the $575 on a refurb 60D then spending the extra funds getting a used lens?  Or should I wait it out and save up more for a newer model and skip on the lens? 

[Yorptunes]

Apologies posting that link.  

However, there are 70D's available from reputable companies for just under 1000. and I mean just under.  

[TCampbell]

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@SimplyEuphoric wrote:

Thanks for all the help!

I did see that the 60D is super discounted via refurbished price! Would I be better off spending the $575 on a refurb 60D then spending the extra funds getting a used lens?  Or should I wait it out and save up more for a newer model and skip on the lens? 

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How big of a deal is low light performance?   

I do notice the 70D does seem to do a little better in noise tests  and gains about a stop worth of ISO performance over the previous 18 MP sensor.  

A full-frame body would add several stops of performance -- but there's a big price jump to get into full-frame bodies.  

I would probably go with the 60D and then save funds to acquire better glass (or even other gear such as off-camera flash, etc.) 

[TCampbell]

The 60D is a particularly good value right now because of it's price reduction.  The 70D is the replacement for the 60D and while Canon is still marketing the 60D I would expect that it's going to be withdrawn from marketing in the near future.  BUT... this means it's a great time to get a deal on it.

The sensor on the T2i, T3i, T4i, T5i, 60D, and 7D are all nearly identical with respect to high ISO / low-noise performance (the amount of noise you see when shooting in low light and cranking up the ISO.)  I've noticed the 70D (which does NOT use the same sensor as the rest) seems to have a bit of improvement over the others.

This means regardless of which body you choose, the image quality and ISO performance will be the indistinguishable.  What really separates these cameras is the rest of the features.  This, btw, is the main reason why I think the 60D is a good bargain at the moment.

The 60D has a 9 point auto-focus system, but all 9 points are "cross type" -- which will be a big improvement over your T3.  It also has many improvements in the area of video (if you shoot video) -- for example, it allows manual audio gain (most other bodies only have auto-gain so when things get quiet, the gain goes up and you hear the microphone pick up that "hiss" sound.)  

The 60D does have some degree of weather-sealing in the body -- but keep in mind this is not the same as waterproofing.  It really means most obvious body seams have gaskets and dials have o-rings.  But these are not designed to deal with water under pressure (only water which is not under pressure).  If it is submerged, it will leak.  If it is blasted with water under force, it will also likely leak.  

Also... none of the lenses on your list are weather sealed lenses, so you would still need to take precautions in the dust or rain.  You can get relatively inexpensive (literally a few dollars) package of disposable rain sleeves.  Think... plastic baggies shaped like a camera (very loose fitting) which protect it if you get caught in the rain.  

To get weather-sealed lenses, you'd have to buy Canon "L" series lenses and those are the high end / more expensive glass. (Also... not all "L" series lenses are weather sealed and you have to read the specs on any lens you are interested in.)  

As you specifically point out that you are a "broke college student", I wouldn't necessarily run out and start buying glass... but over time you might start to upgrade your collection.  The new "STM" version of the EF-S 18-55 and 18-135 has improved focusing speed as well as improved optics.  The "STM" versions of these lenses sell for only about $50 more than the non-STM version (and frankly that $50 is well worth it).

Shopping the refurb store is a great idea -- gear from the refurb store basically has the same warranty as non-refurb new camera, so there's very little risk in buying a refurb.