WHAT CAMERA SHOULD I GET?!

[toweltrick]

Ahhh, back to beating that dead horse with such a question. But I'm so unsure on what DSLR to get! I just need some secondary opinions because maybe someone else will point something out that I'm overlooking. 

Currently I have a Olympus OM-D E-M10 mark II and a film camera, the Olympus OM2n. Recently I tried using my E-M10 to photograph a sports event (thankfully I was just doing it for fun and not professionally) and it failed MISERABLY! The camera's auto focus cannot find anything fast enough and when it does.... its the background and not the player you are trying to focus on. There is no manual override on the lenses I have so I couldn't intervene and fix this myself. I was looking at lenses to get that I could focus manually with but micro four thirds (or Olympus lens mount) lenses are so expensive I came to the decision to just get a different camera.

Right now I am pretty set on the Canon EOS Rebel T7i. Is there anything I'm overlooking? Any other camera someone would recommend near that price range? The T7i looks to be a pretty amazing camera.

Thanks for any help.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"Thanks for any help."

You bet.   The battery thing, is dribble.  Don't even think about it.

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You should actually use gear before making comments like this.  The battery specifications also say you are mistaken.

LP-E6 = 1865 mAH , used in EOS M3, M5, M6, T7i, 77D

LP-17 = 1040 man , used EOS 70D, 80D, 6D, 5D3, 5D4, 7D2

I am going to call that an 80% difference.  It is human nature to reject that which one does not understand.

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I think you've got those backwards. For a fact, my 5D3 and my wife's 7D2 use the LP-E6. Indeed I think they both came with the slightly more powerful LP-E6N.

[Tronhard]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"Thanks for any help."

You bet.   The battery thing, is dribble.  Don't even think about it.

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You should actually use gear before making comments like this.  The battery specifications also say you are mistaken.

LP-E6 = 1865 mAH , used in EOS M3, M5, M6, T7i, 77D

LP-17 = 1040 man , used EOS 70D, 80D, 6D, 5D3, 5D4, 7D2

I am going to call that an 80% difference.  It is human nature to reject that which one does not understand.

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I think you've got those backwards. For a fact, my 5D3 and my wife's 7D2 use the LP-E6. Indeed I think they both came with the slightly more powerful LP-E6N.

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The LP-E6 has been the standard battery for Canon XXD and XD cameras since I invested in them starting with the 60D back in 2011.  The LP-E6N is the more recent and powerful development, but from my experience can be used for any XXD or XD model using the LP-E6.

[ebiggs1]

"You bet.   The battery thing, is dribble.  Don't even think about it."

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"You should actually use gear before making comments like this.  The battery specifications also say you are mistaken.

LP-E6 = 1865 mAH , used in EOS M3, M5, M6, T7i, 77D

LP-17 = 1040 man , used EOS 70D, 80D, 6D, 5D3, 5D4, 7D2

I am going to call that an 80% difference.  It is human nature to reject that which one does not understand."

Repeat. The battery thing, is dribble, which it most certainly is.  Buy two batteries which everybody should do at the beginning anyway.  Two don't last you long enough?  Buy three !  Geeeez.

[Tronhard]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"You bet.   The battery thing, is dribble.  Don't even think about it."

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"You should actually use gear before making comments like this.  The battery specifications also say you are mistaken.

LP-E6 = 1865 mAH , used in EOS M3, M5, M6, T7i, 77D

LP-17 = 1040 man , used EOS 70D, 80D, 6D, 5D3, 5D4, 7D2

I am going to call that an 80% difference.  It is human nature to reject that which one does not understand."

Repeat. The battery thing, is dribble, which it most certainly is.  Buy two batteries which everybody should do at the beginning anyway.  Two don't last you long enough?  Buy three !  Geeeez.

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I am not sure why the battery became such an issue... To me there are many, many other issues that are more important when reommending camera gear.  I agree that having more than one battery is just common sense - apart from the issue of going flat, what if one actually fails?  Like every other single point of failure having a fallback (if it is practical) is a wise measure.

[ebiggs1]

"I recommend passing on the entry level Rebel series of cameras..."

Yeah, it is an entry level, perhaps, but there are entry level and there is entry level.  The Rebel T7i is somewhat beyond what most would call entry level.  In fact it will exceed the needs of the vast majority of folks.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"I recommend passing on the entry level Rebel series of cameras..."

Yeah, it is an entry level, perhaps, but there are entry level and there is entry level.  The Rebel T7i is somewhat beyond what most would call entry level.  In fact it will exceed the needs of the vast majority of folks.

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That's bad advice from someone who someone who is obviously not familiar with the gear under discussion.

If you want to be serious about sport photography, then take a pass on the entire Rebel lineup.  Many of the premium grade lenses have features that disabled with Rebel camera bodies.  For example, better focusing with f/2.8 AF sensors.  No Rebels are compatible with using an extender like the 1.4x III, except for f/2.8 lenses.

Yup, I botched my copy and paste job on the battery specifications, but the point was clear.  The LP-E17 battery has FAR less capacity, because it is made for kit lenses, not the big, super telephoto lenses.  It simply lacks the muscle to control the motors as accurately as a beefier battery.  I will skip the physics lesson on why this is true.  I hate to see you argue against established science and basic algebra.  And, I'm not talking about lens tests, either.  I'm talking about Ohm's Law, and applying it.

The Canon specifications claim that you can get 800+ shots from a single charge on a LP-E17, but it doesn't specify what type of lens would be used.  I have little doubt that the 800 figure is most likely associated with using a fully manual lens, one that does not present a load to the battery.

My M3 uses the LP-17, and I can take hundreds of shots with it, if I am using a fully manual focus lens, but not so with an AF lens.  With an AF lens, the battery indicator is down to around 50% long before I reach 200 shots, and that is using EF 40mm lens, a pancake lens without IS.

My T5 uses a battery similar to a LP-E17.  I have put my 150-600mm lens on a tripod, and then swapped out different bodies, as part of some of my AFMA adjustments with the Sigma Dock.  The T5 could not focus as well as the 6D, 7D2, 80D, or a 1D Mark IV, in One Shot mode.  If I focused several times, then the T5 could finally get a sharp focus, but for just one shot at focusing, the T5 consistently came up not as sharp.  

The T5 needed a few more tries to acquire a really sharp focus.  Yes, the other camera bodies had better focus systems, but the 6D AF system is not all that dissimilar.  All cameras were in One Shot with the center AF point selected.  Tried the same test with smaller lenses, and the T5 could lock focus just like the other bodies.  It was clear, the bigger the lens, the less capable the T5 could focus.  It simply lacked the extra power to do it well.

[ebiggs1]

You just went from dribble to blather!  

The Rebel T7i is an outstanding option for the vast majority of people.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

You just went from dribble to blather!  

The Rebel T7i is an outstanding option for the vast majority of people.

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It is an outstanding camera.  It just happens to be far less than the best choice for sports photography with super telephoto lenses.

[Tronhard]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

You just went from dribble to blather!  

The Rebel T7i is an outstanding option for the vast majority of people.

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It is an outstanding camera.  It just happens to be far less than the best choice for sports photography with super telephoto lenses.

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I think the pivotal issue is that for the purposes of this inquiry, since the budget is in the $1,000 mark, there are limitations on what can be spent on both the body and lenses.

While the asperation is to one day get into professional work, the immediate focus would seem to be on improvement of technique and skills development.  When the time come to go pro the budget will be a different matter as it will be a business expense.  Right now, from what was said it seems we are looking at a fairly wide range of photography, from family pictures, portraits to some sports shots.

If we are going to suggest something that even remotely approaches the budget it seems to me that the rebel body is a good choice, and I have seen some brilliant image taken by skilled photographers, so it is no slouch as a unit. It will be a while before it is outgrown, by which time our user should have a more defined agenda in mind.  I think the question is more about the glass than the body.  Bodies change frequently, lenses not so much and it seems worthwhile to get the best ones he can afford.

My thought, for a general purpose, carry around  lens is the reasonably good EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lens, with an equivalent FoV of 29-216mm, and for long shots the excellent Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Mk 1 lens with an equivalent FoV of 112-420mm.  Since the Mk II came out the Mk1 can be purchased refurbished or second-hand for a very cheap price and it can render great images. 

The budget will still be broken, but he should have plenty to learn on, and he won't necessarily have to sleep on the couch!

Sample photos to make my point:

1.  A casually set up mugshot for an ID photo, taken with the EF-S 18-135 IS STM, actually using a Canon 400D (Rebel Xti?) which is about a 12 year old body!

A deer shot with the same lens:

A shot taken with the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Mk 1 lens

[Waddizzle]

Tronhard,

I think recommending a Rebel to an experienced photographer is bad advice.  The camera body will be outgrown within a few months, or a few thousand shots, whichever comes first.

I think a T7i is not good advice compared to recommending a 77D, which is well within the stated budget, as is an 80D at the Canon Refurbished Store, where I have bought two of them with the 18-55mm STM lens for WELL under the budget.