NOOB camera buying advise needed, please.

PaulEck wrote:

Looking for buying advice on a camera please, here is what I'm trying to achieve. I've been out of the camera world for a while so not sure what's best.

• My 13 year old son started a digital photography/video editing class and want to get him something nice he can use.
• My daughter's soccer coach told me I need to start videoing each game to send to college coaches. I've seen people with a fancy looking camera (it's green) that follows a specific player, my daughter is a goal keeper so don't think that is necessary for me. I have a tripod already I can use and thinking can just leave it pointing at the goal.
• Use my existing lenses - I own a Rebel XT
• Get it from a store today for a tournament this weekend (live in US - Atlanta), so probably Best Buy

Wonder if the T7 DSLR may do for job OR do I need 4k (more for zooming into the action during editing - rather than caring about 4K), if so would the EOS Rebel SL3 would be better (but is it $250 better for what I need?).

The SL3 isn't in stock though so wouldn't get today unless other places people have any recommendations in Atlanta)

Thanks in advance

Paul

I suggest looking at an M50 with a kit lens. Mirrorless is the future of photography and this will give your son an advantage to hone his photography and video skills. The M50 will shoot 4k video with a heavy 2.7 crop but this might work to your advantage when videoing your daughter from a distance since it makes the 15-45mm kit lens a 40-122mm zoom. The 4k video you send the coaches will be very clear.

Older lenses that do not have STM focusing are terrible to use for video. The focus is very jerky and the lenses make a lot of noise that is picked up in the audio recordings. The EF-M 14-45mm STM kit lens that comes with the M50 is very good for video shooting. Many newer cameras come with STM lenses but the nice thing about the M50's kit lens is it provides a FF equivalent range of 24-72mm which is an incredibly useful range for an APS-C camera. Canon's DSLRs start with a 29mm effective range and the 5mm advantage of the M50's kit lens makes a big difference for wide angle shooting.

Also, the M50 has an EVF that can be used for shooting video. This isn't the case with a DSLR. The auto focus of the M50 is much more capable than that found on a DSLR and it has a much higher burst rate for shooting stills. Additionally, the M50 can use all your current lenses you use on your XT with a EF to EF-M adapter. Third party adapters are very affordable ($25-$30) and work just as well as Canon much more expensive adapter.

To sum up, if you are going to buy a new camera I think it makes sense to get one that will serve you well into the future and give you many of the advantages of what mirrorless cameras provide. If you are still using a XT then the additional cost of buying a M50 is much more reasonable in the long term since you use a camera for so many years.