Need help on an upgrade Canon DSLR

[techjedi]

We had the original Digital Rebel and it failed and was warranty replaced with a XTi at some point years ago.

My wife does mostly catalog photography for Web resolutions. She has no print needs, so high pixel-count is not really required. This work mostly includes clothing on mannequins as well as jewelry and bags/shoes/belts in a light box. Sometimes getting really close/macro for jewelry stamps is very handy.

She currently has the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens on the XTi.

This camera has served well, but looking to upgrade.

My wifes primary concerns:

- LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT -> I am not an expert, but she is always trying to get more light in her pictures. We have umbrella lights in her studio with high lumen 5000k lights as well as a few other types of inexpensive clip-lights to increase light. Even with these, she is always experimenting with higher ISO and additional light.

- Quick shooting. The XTi when using the built-in flash will frequently say "busy" and make her wait to take the next shot. Have not tried an add-on flash to see if it is any better.

- Lightweight -> she is a petite person and a lighter camera will help with longer photography sessions.

I was looking at the SL1 as an upgrade that is in our price range (550$ with the default lens or without). It seemed small and relatively the same specs as the 60D/T5i and not far from the 70D. The 70D does seem to have better specs than the SL1 but the 1000-1100 price range doesn't seem worth it for her purposes. I think it would be money better spent on a better lens?

Does the SL1 seem like a good route for her purpose? Any lens recommendations?

[ebiggs1]

"Does the SL1 seem like a good route for her purpose? Any lens recommendations?"

Yes, I do.

Here is the SL-1 at B&H click here but I personally would suggest the T5I at Adorama click here  Not preffering either store so you make your choice. They both are very good and they both have either camera and lenses.  Of course you get free s&h.  In the end though the Rebel T5i is the better choice.  If you area hands on guy, Best Buy will have either, too.

Either of the EF-s 60mm f2.8 or EF 100mm f2.8 will be a good choice.  I would try either to see if they suit your situation better than your current lens.  The EF 100mm f2.8 is going to increase your working distance and help considerably with the light more light issue.

[techjedi]

Thank you for the links and advice. Just curious why you recommend the T5i. From what I can tell, they are almost the same thing except the SL1 is smaller which might be easier for my wife to handle? Here is the comparison I was using:

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-Rebel-SL1-vs-Canon-Rebel-T5i

[RobertTheFat]

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@techjedi wrote:

Thank you for the links and advice. Just curious why you recommend the T5i. From what I can tell, they are almost the same thing except the SL1 is smaller which might be easier for my wife to handle? Here is the comparison I was using:

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-Rebel-SL1-vs-Canon-Rebel-T5i

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If you have two cameras with substantially equal capabilities, the smaller, lighter camera is almost certainly using smaller, flimsier components.

Also, the smaller and lighter the camera, the more the weight of the lens begins to dominate the equation. Halving the weight of the body doesn't come close to halving the weight of the system.

[ebiggs1]

Of course the final choice is yours/hers but my personal opinion is a larger camera has more to offer.  For instance it can be more robust.  It has a larger battery for longer life.  The balance is always better.  And in this case the T5i has better AF than the SL-1.

But you must remember I am a guy that carries two to four 1D series cameras which equal about two dozen SL-1's.  

Bottom line either camera will do a fine job but I still would prefer the Rebel T5i.  Let her handle both.  Go to Best Buy or a real camera store and try each.  Sometimes the ability to touch and feel is worht a little extra more on the price.  

[Skirball]

Camera doesn't really matter in this situation, either one is fine.  Even your old Rebel would be fine if it still worked.  The problem is light, and the lens.  Definitely get one of the macro lenses mentioned above.  I love my 100mm macro, but if you're used to using the 17-40 then it's probably going to be too long, get the 60mm.  The 2.8 aperture shouldn't mean anything to you, you get the macros because they're sharp and allow you to get close.

I'm not sure why she's struggling to get enough light. Ditch the hot lights and get a flash or two.  Light shouldn't be an issue when using supplemental lighting, you should have more than enough.   And if you have more than enough light, and a decent lens, and you don't need high resolution prints... then suddently the camera doesn't really matter much.

You can get cheap manual only flashes for next to nothing.  I'd be happy to suggest some models if you're interested.  Two lights in modifiers should be enough, you can still use your hotlights for ambient if needed.

[techjedi]

Thank everyone for your continued advice.

I think we will go with the T5i because the extra AF points seems to be valuable for any other use in the future outside the studio and since the cameras are within $50 of each other, that is pretty valuable. The lighter SL1 seemed attractive, but she is already using the XTi which is similar in size/weight to the T5i and never really reported issues with weight.

Skirball, I am interested in your recommendations for manual flashes. Additionally, if you can recommend any good books on studio lighting arrangements with flashes, please let me know, they would probably make good gifts and we do want to read up and learn and not solely expect others to tell us how to set things up.

Thank You again!

[RobertTheFat]

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@techjedi wrote:

Skirball, I am interested in your recommendations for manual flashes. Additionally, if you can recommend any good books on studio lighting arrangements with flashes, please let me know, they would probably make good gifts and we do want to read up and learn and not solely expect others to tell us how to set things up.

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You'd be surprised at how many, including a goodly number who post in this forum, don't share that attitude. Most really successful photographers do, however.

Skirball is the resident expert on flash units. Anything she can't tell you about currently available flash equipment probably isn't worth knowing.

[Skirball · Accepted solution]

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@techjedi wrote:

Thank everyone for your continued advice.

I think we will go with the T5i because the extra AF points seems to be valuable for any other use in the future outside the studio and since the cameras are within $50 of each other, that is pretty valuable. The lighter SL1 seemed attractive, but she is already using the XTi which is similar in size/weight to the T5i and never really reported issues with weight.

Skirball, I am interested in your recommendations for manual flashes. Additionally, if you can recommend any good books on studio lighting arrangements with flashes, please let me know, they would probably make good gifts and we do want to read up and learn and not solely expect others to tell us how to set things up.

Thank You again!

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I'd be happy to.  Just one note on the T5i.  It doesn't actually have more AF points, it's that the points it does have are all cross sensor.  Regardless, at a $50 difference, it's the smart call in my opinion.

On to lights (my favorite subject 🙂

I highly recommend manual-only flashes (speedlights).    The learning curve is a tiny bit trickier than eTTL, but manual is more consistent, controllable, and it's going to be much cheaper.  Another down side to flashes is that there is no modeling light, so you can't see where the shadows are until you're taking a photo - but this is mostly for creative flash photography, by the sounds of what your wife does she'll have a couple of basic setups and won't fuss with it much.  And a final down side, is batteries.  I don't know what kind of frequency you're wife shoots - are we talking dozens, hundreds, or thousands a day?  If it's on the high side then batteries are going to drive you crazy.    If it's a couple hundred a day then batteries are fine so long as she's ok putting them into the charger each night.  If we're talking dozens, then a set of batteries will last a week easy.

Given those limitations, the absolute leader in off-camera manual flash is the Yongnuo 560 series.  The 560III flash has a built in RF receiver, so you don't have to worry about cords, or line of sight, or additional triggers.  The best part is they cost only $70, and are more than strong enough for your wife to shoot at ISO 100 and not even max out the flash.  Couple this with the YN-560-TX transmitter, which goes on your camera, and you can control the power level and zoom of all the 560III flashes, right from your camera.  It can also control non-560III flashes with an additional reciever, but it sounds like you don't have to worry about that.

I would recommend 3 flashes, plus the transmitter.  It sounds like you already have light modifiers and whatnot.  3 flashes lets you have a key light, a fill (or just another key for product shots where you usually get rid of shadows), and it leaves one for your background if needed.  Thats $260 for 3 off-camera flashes with RF triggers - you're not going to beat that anywhere.

Trigger (you need 1 of these):

http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN560-TX-Wireless-Flash-Controller/dp/B00LQH3NI2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qi...

Flashes (as many as you want, but I wouldn't get less than 2):

http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN560-III-USA-Speedlite-Integrated-Receiver/dp/B00I44F5LS/ref=sr_1_2?i...

Of course you'll also want AA batteries.  The gold standard is the Eneloop.  Not cheap, but worth it if you shoot a lot of flash:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Eneloop-generation-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable/dp/B00KQ2NA68/ref=sr_1_2...

It sounds like she has modifiers.  Umbrellas are fine, I used them for many years myself.  But I moved to softboxes a few years back and now my umbrellas only get used for archetectural photography.  If your wife has a studio and space (i.e. doesn't need something that can fold up for storage) the Fotodiox are amazing quality for the price.  They come in a variety of different shapes, just make sure the connector is for a speedlight, not a studio light.  Here's an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Flash-2436-Ca-Diffuser-Speedring-Speedlite/dp/B005ODJF4U/ref=sr_1_9?i...

Otherwise there are many cheap, foldable umbrella style softboxes out there, that give more control than an umbrella (but not necessary, umbrellas are a fine option).

As to books.  I know a few, but anything in a book is also on the web (though the web doesn't make a good present).  Just make sure to check out David Hobby (aka The Strobist), website.  There's everything you need to know and more about flash.  Here's the start of the "class":

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

Your wife should know some of it from working with hot lights, but there are some fundamental differences between flash and continuous (hot lights) that needs to be understood.  That website will explain them.  As for gifts, I do own Syl Arena's (another well known "Strobist") book, the aptly named Speed Lighters Handbook:

http://www.amazon.com/Speedliters-Handbook-Learning-Craft-Speedlites/dp/032171105X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=...

Really well written.  Just keep in mind (instead of getting overwhelmed with all the info) that what you're trying to do is relatively easy - small stationary objects that you're just trying to light well, instead of really creatively.  Stick it in a light box and put a flash on each side.  Or stick a soft box on each side at 45 - 45 (potrait photographers everywhere are cringing at the thought), and a third one on the backdrop if you want it white.  If you want black, even better, just don't use a light (this is much, much easier with flashes than it is your current setup).

Sorry to ramble... I do love flash talk.

[techjedi]

Wow, so much great info and I probably wouldn't have trusted those trigger/flashes based on that price without an endorsement. I think my gift will be the trigger + 2 flash to get her started on the "manual" flash type.

I would have thought that flashes triggered remotely from the camera's shutter would have been called "automatic" flashes, but what do I know!

A few more questions based on these items

- So the trigger itself has no flash?

- Do those remote flashes easily mount on top of a tripod or the same types of stands that our umbrellas attach to? Is all that stuff in the kit or would I need to buy something else to mount them? Are these supposed to just sit on a table or the ground pointing up at the ceiling?

- for the light box, we have those soft kind where the lights go on the outside and the light comes through the fabric. Would the flashes go on the outside in the same way just flush against the fabric?

Regarding batteries, she does photos usually 2 days a week and 300-500 photos for each of those days, so hopefully the battery situation will be okay. IKEA AA seem to be pretty cheap and functional if they will work with this.

One other gift I got for this Christmas was a macro ring lite to attach directly to the lens. Not sure if you have experience with those, but some of things i have seen from those are amazing for completely blacking out the background while still fully illuminating the subject. I thought that might work well for jewelry in the light box.