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Hi All!
I’m wanting to upgrade cameras and am after some suggestions. 🙂 I currently have a Canon 60D, which I bought second hand and have owned for about 6 years. I’m wanting to take my photography to the next level, whether that’s doing portraiture or delving more into landscape and stock photography. I know cameras have advanced a lot since I purchased my first DSLR and would like something that’s higher quality etc than what I shoot with currently. I was curious what model cameras some of you more advanced photographers use? And if you have any suggestions?
I’m just getting started on the research side of things, but here are some things I’m thinking atm.
– Has to be a Canon (sorry Nikon lovers 😉)
– Handles low light and high ISO number well
– Not 100% sure of my budget atm 😊
– My current camera only has 9 focal points, so I would like to upgrade to something with quite a few more.
– Current camera is 18.0 mp, so something with more megapixels
– What are some of the pros and cons of crop vs. full frame sensor?Not sure if that’s very helpful, but maybe it’ll give you some vague idea of what I’m looking for. 🙃
Hey @creative-click-photography, I love researching camera comparisons, and although I’m not a Canon user, I hope that my ideas will help you anyhow!
I recently got a new camera, so I’ve been searching comparisons for the past few months, and finally decided to get the Nikon Z 50.
I would say that it is currently at the top of the list of crop-sensor mirrorless cameras (as far as bang for your buck,) although Canon has some that are probably just as good. 🙂
You may have used this before, but this is the website I have used to compare cameras. Camera Decision
I have been so impressed with the Nikon Z50 that I hardly even use my D5200 anymore. And surprisingly the five biggest deciding factors of how much I use it turns out to be weight, size, ergonomics, touchscreen, and since I’m into shooting video, 4K video.
I literally take it everywhere I go since it easily fits into my jacket pocket. All that to say I’m really into mirrorless cameras at this point.
The biggest disadvantage of mirrorless is that Canon has a separate lens mount for their mirrorless lineups meaning you have to either buy those lenses or else get an adapter. (I would go with the latter if you already have some good lenses from your current mount.)
And as far as an adapter goes, there are some third-party adapters that are a lot cheaper, and still function like the Canon.
The Canon mirrorless options (under $1000) are the Canon EOS M50, M50 Mark II, M6, M6 Mark II, M200, EOS RP, M3, M5, etc.
But I know that mirrorless is not for everyone, and it might not be what you are looking for. 🙂
So in the DSLR spectrum I’ve always been impressed with the things I heard about the Canon 90d and 80d, and I even thought of getting the Canon 6D Mark II at one point.
Everything that I’ve said so far doesn’t mean much till you add in the budget factor. So depending on what your range is, that will, of course, change what you decide on.
And one final thing… I always liked the feel of bigger cameras since it made me feel like more of a pro, but I never knew how well I liked a smaller camera till I tried, so it could be good to check out the ergonomics of several cameras at a local camera store before you buy. 😉
Hope you can make sense out of all of this!If you already own and like your 60D, then it might make sense to just upgrade to a newer model, like the 80D. It’s 6 years newer, and probably checks all the boxes (except maybe the budget. 🙂 ) I would imagine that it would feel the most “familiar”, (hopefully all the layout/buttons, etc would be similar).
I’ve heard great things about the 7D MK II (I think @jamesstaddon has one?) so you might look into that one as well. It’s a bit older, (2014) but I’m sure @jamesstaddon will be able to tell you whether it’s worth the investment or not. 🙂
– Current camera is 18.0 mp, so something with more megapixels
Curious, what is the largest print you’ve ever made? Until a few months ago, I had a 16 MP camera (Pentax K-5IIs) and I don’t think I’ve ever hit the resolution limit. (My biggest print to date is a 13″x19″ and it looks AWESOME!) The only time I ever wish for more megapixels is when I’m shooting something far away, and have to crop super heavy. And even then, the lens reaches its resolution limit long before the camera sensor does.
I’ve never used a professional mirrorless camera, so I can’t comment too much on @ernestf-lloyd’s suggestion, other than to mention that the 90D and the M6 Mk II share the same sensor. I do like his suggestion to find a camera store and try them out for “feel” although I’ve never been in a real camera store that had all of those in stock at the same time. 🙂
– What are some of the pros and cons of crop vs. full frame sensor?
Full Frame Cons:
- Expensive
- Heavy
Full Frame Pros:
- Super-duper image quality
- Beautiful Background Blur (better bokeh)
Here’s a thread that discusses full frame vs crop: https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/full-frame-vs-crop-sensor-and-other-questions/
If you’re a PRO member, you can read some more details and find links to more articles here: https://www.lenspiration.com/lesson/basic3/
Here are a few more links with interesting discussions about full frame sensors, and megapixels, and much more. 🙂
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/sensors/
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/gear-advice/
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/better-alternative-to-the-7d-mark-ii/
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/looking-for-new-camera-thoughts-for-sale/
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/whats-your-recommended-nikon-fx-camera/Here’s a quote from the last link there, from @jamesstaddon:
The MAIN reason I shoot full frame (and will probably never return to a cropped sensor) is because wide angle is truly wide angle. When I’m shooting at 17mm, it’s truly 17mm, not 27mm.
Secondly, it’s the size of the pixels, like @buddingphotographer mentioned before. The bigger the pixels on the sensor, the higher quality and better noise control you will have.
Equipment upgrades can be both exciting and daunting. I realise you have already thought about most of these questions, but for those others who are reading, remember that what exactly you are planning on doing and what other equipment you already have may affect how you will upgrade. Just saying “you need the Canon EOS R6” may be true for some, but certainly not for all.
Here are a few pointer questions on upgrading your equipment:
– Do you regularly shoot in low-light situations where flash is not an option? Go full frame.
– Are you getting a full-frame body? Make sure your lenses are compatible. Also make sure you have long enough lenses. For example, if you like 50mm on crop, you will need 80mm on full-frame.
– Do you shoot portraits? Lighting equipment such as flash / flash modifiers (softbox, umbrellas, reflectors, etc) will make a much bigger difference than a body upgrade.
– Do you change settings often? The fanicier cameras (including almost all full-frame) are quicker to change settings. Also check that there are a couple of custom modes in addition to P, Av, Tv, M. I think it is C1, C2, C3 on Canon, or U1, U2, U3 on Nikon.
– Will your new body have more megapixels? You will also need more hard drives. (I personally find my 24MP sensor is more than enough.)
– Do you always shoot with long lenses in good light? Stay with a crop-frame camera. (Unless you have a big budget for lenses!)
– Do you do a lot of video? Mirrorless is probably the way to go.
– Are you getting a mirrorless body? Again, check the compatibility of your lenses. You may need an adapter.
– Are you getting a mirrorless body? Get twice as many batteries, especially if you do events.
– Do you need the lastest and greatest equipment? Go listen to a message on 1 Timothy 6.I do agree with Ezra that in most cases if you are upgrading your camera body, you might as well upgrade to full-frame, assuming your lenses are full-frame lenses. Besides the image quality, one thing I appreciate the most from my Nikon D750 full-frame over my D5300 crop-frame is how fast I can change settings, and some additional settings that just weren’t there on my other camera.
Those are some excellent replies, @creative-click-photography, so let us know if you have any followup questions.
I’m not really much into the equipment research department, but some comments from my personal experience:
* I’ve been unimpressed with the 5D Mark III (as an upgrade from the 5D Mark II)
* I would recommend the 7D Mark II to ANYONE! It is the best camera I have right now. Only “drawback” is that it isn’t full frame. So I use the 5D Mark III for when I need wide angle stuff, and the 7D Mark II for practically everything else. I can not tell you how amazing the 65 point autofocus system is in the 7D Mark II. Somehow, it’s just better than the 61 points of the 5D Mark III.
* Eventually, I plan to go mirrorless.
* If you plan to continue with stock or portrait photography, I would recommend you invest in good lighting, and depending on what lenses you have, sharper lenses. It wouldn’t hurt to upgrade to a better camera than the 60D since taking the photos will be easier, but lighting and lenses may actually make a bigger difference in how the the end photos look.Thankyou so much for your thoughts and comments, @ernestf-lloyd.
And thanks for reminding me about Camera Decision. I’m pretty sure I’ve used it in the past, but had totally forgotten about it, so have been using it quite a bit lately! It’s quite handy, since I’m not exactly some high tech, camera comparison person. 🙂
I have to admit that I didn’t really know anything about mirrorless cameras, other than the fact that they are… well, mirrorless. So, I spent a bit of time researching them, and my interest has definitely been spiked! I think I’ll stick with a DSLR atm, as that’s what I’m familiar/comfortable with, but I think I might be looking more into mirrorless cameras in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to share you’re thoughts, @buddingphotographer.
Curious, what is the largest print you’ve ever made?
Well, I haven’t actually made that many prints. I’m not sure of the biggest dimensions of the top of my head. But it wasn’t that big and looked fine. I thought that the more megapixels your camera had the higher the quality, but after doing some more research, I guess it’s not quite as straight forward as that. 🙂 Am I right in thinking that it’s more to do with sensor size?
Here are a few more links with interesting discussions about full frame sensors, and megapixels, and much more. 🙂
Thanks for all those links! I’ll have to check into them more when I feel like some light reading. 🙃
I’ve been researching the Canon EOS 90D and the Canon 7D mark II and am tossing up between the two. I was almost convinced about the Canon EOS 90D, but then I watched a comparison video between the two, and now… 🙂 The Canon 90D does overall seem to be better. It has a slightly bigger sensor, 13 more mp, it’s lighter, has a touch screen and flip screen, shoots 4K video and is about 5 years newer. But it seems that it doesn’t have a very good focus tracking system (making it not good for wildlife, which I don’t really do anyway) and the weather sealing isn’t that great in comparison to the 7D mark II, which has both of those. Obviously the Canon 90D isn’t as professional a model compared to the Canon 7D mark II. Does anyone have any thoughts on all that? And does anyone own the Canon 90D?
Thankyou, @dfrazer, for those thought provoking questions and your response! 🙂
I was curious as to why you can change the settings on your full frame camera quicker than on your crop sensor camera? And what some of the extra features are? 🙂
Thanks, @jamesstaddon, for you response!
I can not tell you how amazing the 65 point autofocus system is in the 7D Mark II. Somehow, it’s just better than the 61 points of the 5D Mark III.
I bet! My current camera only has 9 autofocus points, which is pretty restrictive. So I’m really looking forward to having more of those to use. 🙂
Eventually, I plan to go mirrorless.
Do you think that mirrorless will take over from the DSLRs?
If you plan to continue with stock or portrait photography, I would recommend you invest in good lighting, and depending on what lenses you have, sharper lenses.
Hmm…yes. Those are definitely genres I’m quite interested in, but I would also like to shift my focus a bit more onto landscape. I think that’s it’s definitely time to upgrade cameras, but I do need to get some lighting equipment and probably upgrade my lenses. I think I’ll just have to do that gradually though, as money allows. I know that they aren’t making a Canon 7D mark III, but do you know of any other camera models of the top of your head that are similar to the Canon 7D mark II, but have better video capabilities. Not that I really do video, but I’ve always been interested in it, so thought that it could be fun to branch out a bit. 🙂
I was curious as to why you can change the settings on your full frame camera quicker than on your crop sensor camera? And what some of the extra features are? 🙂
In short, there are a lot more buttons! an advanced crop will have a similar array of buttons.
So for example to change from auto iso to fixed iso, on my D5300 I had to hit something like: “menu, up, up, up, right, down, right”, for a total of about 10 seconds. On my D750 I simply hold down ISO and scroll once with the front scroller, so less than 1 second. Same thing with white balance, focus mode and focus type. It takes less than a second to change shooting modes (single, continuous high/low, quiet, mirror up, time delay. Under manulal mode I have two scrollers, one for aperture, one for shutter speed.
Using the presets I can almost instantly switch from Aperture mode with a 3 frame bracketing, +1 exposure bias, auto ISO off, f/8, cloudy white balance, to manula mode with f/4, ISO 800, auto ISO off, 1/60, auto white balance, to aperture mode with ISO 100, auto ISO on, auto white balance, f/2.8, to my flash maual mode with f/5.6, 1/180, auto iso off, flash white balance.
So in short, it can make the difference between getting the picture and getting a good picture. Or it can make the difference between getting the picture and not getting the picture.
Oh, and I have two memory card slots. Yes, I have had several memory cards fail on me, especially when it is cold.
Do you think that mirrorless will take over from the DSLRs?
Yes, I do think mirrorless will eventually replace the DSLR.
do you know of any other camera models of the top of your head that are similar to the Canon 7D mark II, but have better video capabilities.
To answer that question directly, yes, the 5D IV (and the 90D).
Some more thoughts from my perspective on the 90D:
The only Canon camera’s I can think of to consider in a “reasonable” price range would be the 90D, 6D II, 7D II, and 5D IV (though I assume the 5D IV is out of your price range). Here’s a comparison of all 4 https://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=canon_eos90d&products=canon_eos6dmkii&products=canon_eos7dii&products=canon_eos5dmkiv&sortDir=ascending
Of the 4, these are the reasons why I would go with each one:
90D – 2019 release, 4K video, 11fps, wireless, articulating screen (Don’t like: 45 focus points, tiny pixel size of 10.29µm2)
6D II – 2017 release, full frame, 33.19µm2, wireless, articulating screen, and 6.5fps, Full HD video are ok (Don’t like: 45 focus points)
7D II – 65 focus points, 10fps, and 16.83µm2, Full HD video are ok (Don’t like: 2014 release, no wireless, no articulating screen)
5D IV – Full frame, 28.69µm2, 61 focus points, wireless, 4K video, and 7fps is ok (Don’t like: 2016 release, no articulating screen)This makes the 5D IV the best in my book, though I would miss the articulating screen.
If I could only have 1 camera, I would probably go with the 6D II because I love full frame so much, though I wouldn’t like only having 45 focus points (and HD video would be fine with me)
If I wanted only 1 crop-sensor camera, I would probably go with the 7D II because of the focus points, 10fps, and larger pixel size, though I do miss the modern features of wireless and articulating screen.
If I was more into video, I’d probably go with the 90D. It’s modern and fast, though I dislike the small pixel size, and would probably find the 45 focus points annoying.
That’s the way I’m feeling about it after looking into only the MAIN things. I wouldn’t probably look at all the secondary factors if I was actually trying to make the purchase and could spend more time researching. 🙂
God give you clear direction!
Hey, @jamesstaddon,
Yes, I do think mirrorless will eventually replace the DSLR.
I’m curious if, in consequence of that, you’ve considered going mirrorless yourself? Or are the sensors just not quite big enough yet?
Just curious,
WilliamThanks, @dfrazer, for your response. 🙂 That makes sense!
Yes, having 2 memory card slots sounds like a really nice feature. I haven’t had any corrupt on me yet, but from what I hear, it’ll probably happen at some stage.
Thanks for your thoughts on all that!
If I was more into video, I’d probably go with the 90D. It’s modern and fast, though I dislike the small pixel size, and would probably find the 45 focus points annoying.
Ok! So, does a smaller pixel size mean lower quality?
🙂 Because I’m used to only having 9 focus points, 45 sounds like tons to me! But, I guess if you’re used to more, it would definetly seem like a downgrade.
I’m not sure about going full frame. Obviously none of my lenses would be compatible with it. I did a small bit research on lens adapters, and it seemed that they cause distortion and loss of image quality. Has anyone had any experince with using an adapter to be able to use your EF-S lenses on an EF camera body?
God give you clear direction!
Yes! Praying God will show me which one to purchase. I’m not really into all the technical side of things, so it’s a bit of a daunting decision!
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