Upgrade (from 350d/Rebel XT) advice

Greymelbourne wrote:

I am considering updating my camera and would be grateful for any advice you can give.

Currently I have a 350d w/18-55 kit lens and the 50 1.8. I got rid of all of my additional lenses a few years ago as I was sick of the weight, and so I have been using a variety of different cameras (Nikon V1, Olympus compact and currently a Panasonic FZ200).

Just for fun on the weekend I grabbed the 350d with 50mm and to some pics with the family, and I found I enjoyed using it again and I was much happier with the output compared to the FZ200. Of course, thoughts have now turned to a return to a DSLR but I haven’t really followed what has happened over the last few years.

My budget is limited, but I will be selling off some bits & pieces to fund any new camera. My uses will be family shots (including an active 4yo and a cat!), travel/landscape, architecture and nature. I enjoy birding but I am ok with not getting a long zoom at this stage. I would like to keep the weight down and if possible have one lens that will cover most situations. Some low light capability would be good too, as I only have a cheap 3 party manual flash.

So far I have thought my options are:

Continue with the 350d but get a better all-purpose lens (e.g. 18-135 STM)

Stretch a little and upgrade the camera (to a 700d?) with the 18-135 (I have seen this combo for about $760)

Change system completely (there isn’t too much value in my Canon gear, so could this be a good time to jump ship to Nikon or MFT?)

Any other thoughts would be welcome. I have only just started looking into this, so I don’t really have a timeframe for making a decision.

Thanks

You might want to consider a Canon SL1/100D. It's light, compact, and has great image quality. There are some great deals that come up on the Canon refurb website for body only as well as body and lens packages. The latest 18-55mm STM lens provides excellent image quality while keeping the package light. Have a look at the lens reviews just so you'll have peace of mind that it really is a very good lens. Here's the Canon USA refurb website URL: http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras?canonAuthToken=vdn5r44favp57g9dac6de6jo4i&cm_cr=No+Campaign-_-Web+Activity-_-No+Name-_-Widget_CanonCategoryRecommendationWidget_34303-_-Refurbished+EOS+Digital+SLR+Cameras-productImageLink&evtype=CpgnClick&intv_id=0&catalogId=10051&mpe_id=234265&validateCanonAuthToken=true&storeId=10051&ddkey=http%3AClickInfo

Good luck!

Jim

Hi,

Assuming he wouldn't make the same statement about ANY xxxD class camera (big assumption), it is probably due to the relatively slow shooting rate and shallow JPG buffer, rather than the AF performance.

Frankly, for birds, I'd be more concerned about 250mm as a max focal length, but then there is never really enough on the long end for that...

Hi. Yes your right the 55-250 stm is a bit short to say the least, but I have used it before on a 500d and got some decent images. 'just have to get a bit closer'. I had hoped the 100d would be a bit faster with its later technology or at least as fast.

with lots of gear but no idea wrote:

Hi. Yes your right the 55-250 stm is a bit short to say the least, but I have used it before on a 500d and got some decent images. 'just have to get a bit closer'. I had hoped the 100d would be a bit faster with its later technology or at least as fast.

You'll certainly be able to take action photos with the SL1.  It's just not as adept at it as other offerings (your keeper rate won't be as high).

R2

Compared to the Rebel XT, the SL1 will certainly have a much faster and more accurate AF. However it won't differ significantly (note: others do have all-cross-type sensors, whereas the SL1 is center point cross only, but the processing engines are comparable. YMMV) from the other contemporary Rebel class cameras prior to the T6i/s (which have a significantly better system).