Who's still using Rebel T1i or older bodies?

I bought my t1i back in 2010 (can't believe it's been that long) and still have zero desire to upgrade the body.  I'm just a guy that likes to take nice photos.  80% of what I take are just snapshots, with the remainder 20% perhaps count as creative shooting.  Surely no pro or semi-pro would use this camera today.

I used to carry the tripod or bag full of lenses, but these days the lens I use 90% of the time is the Sigma 30mm f1.4.  Perhaps I would move over to micro four third or mirrorless one day, but so far I'm pretty happy with this and intend to keep for another 5 years.  Just want to say hi to other owners of old Rebels and happy shootings!

Not the T1i, but I use my great old standby T2i several times per year.   Sometimes it gets used as my 'hazardous duty' camera, if I think there may be a risk of damage from severe elements or something like that.  Sometimes I'll just hand it to my wife when we're in a situation when 2 shooters might be better than one.

I got my 1100D (T3)4 years ago as a gift from my wife,and have just recently upgraded to an 80D.
The 1100D is still my go to adventure / travelling camera where I need something easy to carry around.

my first C-anon DSLRs were the Xsi and then the T1i from 2008 and 2009. I still use them for most everything. The T1i needs a cleaning.  Just this year I finally brought 2 new bodies the T6s and the EOS 80d.   The T1i has really served me well and the Xsi has too. Someday I would like to experience a Canon full frame though.

Rebel XT still works and is my backup. Goes with me in the kayak or other high risk venue! T4i is my main camera. I also use the XT to document progress when I'm painting in my studio. Don't need high res. for that.

I always brought my cameras "to last" and kept them as many as possible for being the sentimental person I am ! I am fortunate there is a great camera repair place near home ... they clean and repair both film cameras and digital SLRs. About digital Canons vs old school film ... it's a different world ... 40 years ago the Canon A-1 was on the market for about 7-8 years and still in camera store stock for about 3 more til it sold out.  Todays digital SLRs are like cell phones ... they get replaced about every 2-3 years but it doesn't make the older model less usable. I like the new stuff (the Canon 80d) but the "old" stuff is still just as good. Like the saying goes "it works for me". Unless one is a professional photog of which I am not.

stuartp56 wrote:

Rebel XT still works and is my backup. Goes with me in the kayak or other high risk venue! T4i is my main camera. I also use the XT to document progress when I'm painting in my studio. Don't need high res. for that.

Roger that!  I still use my XT as my water camera when out sailing or canoeing.  I stick a 55-250 EF-S on it for wildlife and I am ready to go.  Over 34K images on it and still going strong.  An incredibly robust little camera and very capable.  It has produced some wonderful images.  Not bad for 11 year old technology.

I have one and three lenses sitting in a box. They did not cost me much for a variety of reasons.

When it was new I liked the  size, weight and image quality. I have never used it for anything but raw images and video snapshots.

In retrospect it was quite noisy at anything much above base ISO. When I go back and try to massage the raw images they are just not what I thought they were. I have images from a contemporary Nikon d5100 and the comparison does not favor Canon.

I could see no reason to update to the now geezer status 18mp sensor that Canon is still hawking as I never saw any test that showed a significant improvement over the T1i 16mp sensor. I can see no reason to upgrade to the 24mp sensor cameras as for me the Canon price/quality ratio, as well as the heft of the APS rebels, makes no sense when a D3300 can be had for giveaway prices and yields images of better technical quality.

The lenses have a miniscule resale value, the camera none at this point.

stomrunner wrote:

bmoag wrote:

I have one and three lenses sitting in a box. They did not cost me much for a variety of reasons.

When it was new I liked the size, weight and image quality. I have never used it for anything but raw images and video snapshots.

In retrospect it was quite noisy at anything much above base ISO. When I go back and try to massage the raw images they are just not what I thought they were. I have images from a contemporary Nikon d5100 and the comparison does not favor Canon.

I could see no reason to update to the now geezer status 18mp sensor that Canon is still hawking as I never saw any test that showed a significant improvement over the T1i 16mp sensor. I can see no reason to upgrade to the 24mp sensor cameras as for me the Canon price/quality ratio, as well as the heft of the APS rebels, makes no sense when a D3300 can be had for giveaway prices and yields images of better technical quality.

The lenses have a miniscule resale value, the camera none at this point.

I found minimal noise up to ISO 1600. If you print huge posters things may well be different, but under "normal" viewing conditions ~1600 should be good. At ISO 3200 and above things start to deteriorate rapidly. I compensate with an ultra fast 30mm f1.4 lens, which I use 90%+ of the time.

As mentioned in the post above, I found no reason to upgrade to any of the newer Canon APS bodies either. Their so called improvements are more like gimmicks to me. This is not necessarily Canon's fault. The DSLR technology is so mature, there isn't a lot of new ground to be broken. That's why I kind of favor going with non-DLSR in the future.

I "pushed" to ISO 3200 by shooting ISO 1600 and underexposing by one stop.  A slight adjustment in post processing and Bingo!  Easily covered by the DR of the sensor.

Not any more, I have to admit. My route through Canon APS-C cameras has been convoluted - starting with a 500D (T1i) it took in a 60D, a 100D (SL1) and even a 7Dii, which was a very expensive mistake. (Great camera, but far more than I needed, and heavy.) So back to the 100D; except that my wife snaffled that from me. So back to her 500D (mine had been part-ex'd for the 60D, which in turn was part-ex'd for a 6D) for a trip to Crete earlier this summer. I enjoyed using a lot - I realised that the Rebel size and weight are actually just what I want, when I'm on a trip.

Recently I found that I could get a 750D for not very much money at all, with a Canon cash-back offer and by trading in the 500D. So that's what I did. I like the greater resolution; I very much like the better AF system; I think there's more dynamic range; and I also like the touch screen. So perhaps the 750D is now my long-term keeper.

Samaria Gorge, Crete

Camera manufacturers have always added bells and whistles to their products to improve sales. And yet while some of these newly integrated features serve some wanting purpose the truth is very few will improve the quality of the image taken excluding shooting at higher ISO values. If you have adequate lighting and a worthy lens and that included your kit lens, your T1i or older DSLR is more than capable to produce stunning images. Additionally when you examine the build quality of newer models you will notice a significant decrease in the materials used and quality thereof. Yet we are sold on the notion of improved technology. Today I still use my T1i and 50D as my main cameras with my S110 as a small backup. They have served me perfectly well and would not hesitate in recommending to anyone.

scottcraig wrote:

Camera manufacturers have always added bells and whistles to their products to improve sales. And yet while some of these newly integrated features serve some wanting purpose the truth is very few will improve the quality of the image taken excluding shooting at higher ISO values. If you have adequate lighting and a worthy lens and that included your kit lens, your T1i or older DSLR is more than capable to produce stunning images. Additionally when you examine the build quality of newer models you will notice a significant decrease in the materials used and quality thereof. Yet we are sold on the notion of improved technology. Today I still use my T1i and 50D as my main cameras with my S110 as a small backup. They have served me perfectly well and would not hesitate in recommending to anyone.

A good friend of mine is still using a 10D from 2003.  MSRP $1500 for 6MP.  Considered a baby 1D.

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos10d/23

DPR rated it "Highly Recommended"

He is on his second one. They are built like a tank and fit his hands perfectly. You can also pick them up for a song. Lovely images! It does everything he needs. so why upgrade?

csiluk wrote:

I still have my Canon 20D that I bought new back in 2004. It still works good but only gets used a couple times a year. I made a mistake last Oct. when I took this shot. I always shoot raw+jpeg but somehow my 20D was set to jpeg only, so I salvaged what I could from the jpeg. The lower photo was shot with my 20D and a Tokina 12-24 f4 and my T5i had on the Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS

Beautifful ! Love Trains ! Thank you for sharing !