T5i vsT6i vs 60d af points

I take photos of pets. My pet in particular is a 9 pound black dog. For a 7 year old dog, she moves around a lot.

I cant decide between the t5i , 60d and t6i. The t6i is a little bit out of my price range where the t5i iand 60d s right on point (used of course). I know the t6i is the better camera, but, will the t5i or the 60d suffice since it has all 9 crosstype AF points?

I mainly shoot pets. I do use the viewfinder and not live mode. I dont shoot video. Wifi is not very important, but I find the touchscreen is (for viewing in playback mode - I like to zoom the photo to see if what I wanted was in focus).

I do have the sigma 18-50 f2.8-4 lens (not to be confused with the 17-50 f2.8) and the canon 18-135 STM lens.

Thanks!

I'll start the ball rolling.  Firstly you don't say what camera you already have and it is misleading to list the cameras you'd like to have in your profile.

I have the T5i/700D and I am a generalist shooter which may or may not include black dogs though does include wildlife including birds.

Which camera you get of those cited is less important than your technique but there are a few pointers:

1) I tend to use Centre Point mainly and where necessary focus on the eyes.  All points is ok except it tends to lock onto the nearest point.  All points is however useful if I am tracking a moving object (bird, plane etc) and I can't keep the Centre Point on it readily.

2) If the dog is moving you will still have issues if the dog is not moving in a consistent fashion.  AI-Servo can only be so much intelligent and needs a second or so of consistent movement to predict where the subject will be.  That's how it works.

3) You need to be careful of focussing on a black dog (or any uniform object).  Some contrast is usually needed though you will have it if focussing on the eyes.

4) You need to be careful with metering and you may be better to go for manual metering otherwise you may end up with black dogs looking grey and everything else looking too bright.

Hope that helps with your deliberations though it would help others if they saw samples of what you are doing or would like to achieve especially whether indoor (lighting) or outdoor (motion).

rosycreates wrote:

I take photos of pets. My pet in particular is a 9 pound black dog. For a 7 year old dog, she moves around a lot.

I cant decide between the t5i , 60d and t6i. The t6i is a little bit out of my price range where the t5i iand 60d s right on point (used of course). I know the t6i is the better camera, but, will the t5i or the 60d suffice since it has all 9 crosstype AF points?

I mainly shoot pets. I do use the viewfinder and not live mode. I dont shoot video. Wifi is not very important, but I find the touchscreen is (for viewing in playback mode - I like to zoom the photo to see if what I wanted was in focus).

I do have the sigma 18-50 f2.8-4 lens (not to be confused with the 17-50 f2.8) and the canon 18-135 STM lens.

Thanks!

A big +1 to AnthonyL’s post.  It would be my own advice exactly!

Which actually leads me to the question of - what were the shortcomings of the other cameras you’ve tried recently? (70D, SL1, Sony, etc).

Like AnthonyL, I too would begin to question (possible) technique as much as the camera/lens.  Growing up with black labs, I know how hard it is to get consistent results shooting jet-black critters.  Everything has to be optimal!

Some more info (and samples with EXIF) might help a lot.

TIA, R2

rosycreates wrote:

I'm not having focus issues. I was just curious to the af systems the cameras have.

I have since chosen the t6i since it has the better focus system for me.

And I'm curious as to what was "wrong" with all of the other cameras you've owned recently (70D, SL1, Sony, etc).

Personally, for what you're shooting, Out of all of these the 70D would be the most capable body. If the 70D wasn't working out for you, then I'd lean more toward camera settings and user technique as being the culprits. A new T5i, T6i, or 60D would not address this IMHO.

R2