A capable DSLR

The Canon 650 and 700 (T4i and T5i) are almost identical cameras in function and are now about a decade old.  The 700 had some minor cosmetic changes.  Both were 18mp APC sensor cameras with touch screens, no WiFi, nine cross point autofocus and five fps drive.

The best feature of these cameras in 2022 is price. My T5i and kit 18-55 STM lens was $250.

Another 24mm f2.8 STM lens was $85 and a 55-250 STM telephoto was $135.

For a used DSLR the T5i and a set of used STM lenses might be the best bargain for either a beginner or somebody like myself who is a Micro Four Thirds addict, to gain the accurate and fast autofocus for moving subjects.

The nine point phase detect all cross point autofocus system is blazing fast and very accurate.  Once you use an STM Canon lens you’ll not want older models of lenses.  The kit lenses and telephotos are sharp, silent, fast focusing and stabilized, and the stabilization really works well.

1/6 second at 250mm  hand held

The 24mm f2.8 pancake lens is not stabilized, but is razor sharp.

My T5i is amazingly advanced and has automatic lens correction modes for STM lenses, deep menus, and the manual is nearly 400 pages long.

The T5i is a capable Full HD movie maker and has a working live view with touch and shoot articulating screen.  There’s a built in flash. It recognizes remotes, has HDMI, a microphone and headphone port.  Image quality is excellent.

For about $500 anyone can put together a T5i and a kit and telephoto and a normal fast prime lens that will provide a basic set up to do anything an amateur photographer would ever really want to do, and do it well with no apologies.

It’s an extremely capable camera, in 2022.

Digirame wrote:

Thank you for the review and sharing with us your photos. I jumped from the Canon T3i (600D) camera to the Canon T7i (800D) cameras when the advancements became too great for me to ignore any longer. But those that you describe between those models do take beautiful pictures too. They are all good.

Let’s say you have a cell phone, but you want to learn photography. Yes, cell phones take wonderful snapshots and video but you are serious, about learning the art of photography.  You’ll need an enthusiast amateur photographer camera and at least one lens for it, to start.

My 2004 Canon Digital Rebel XT (EOS 350D) can be bought today used for about $50 and it will work to start off photography and it made beautiful photographs.

What $200  buys instead of $50 is a much more capable box that accepts Canon STM glass.

The auto ISO on a Rebel XT tops at ISO 400.

On my Rebel T5i the default auto ISO is 6400 and it looks good.

There are upgrades to continuous drive, and the newer Rebel has an even better autofocus that works in servo tracking for every shot at five frames a second.  Couple that with usable 6400 ISO and it’s a better action camera body.

The T5i has very nice movie capability and a usable live view with an articulating screen, where the Rebel XT had a tiny screen good only for review.

Plus with the T5i there’s the option to shoot 4.5 megapixel standard compression images to share on social media, like the shot of the courthouse above.

The T6i, T7i, and T8i offer even more capability.

But for about  $200 the T5i might be the best value for an enthusiast amateur photographer there is.

There’s really nothing you’d expect a real camera with interchangeable lenses to do that it doesn’t do very well.

Hello...

Humansvillian wrote:

The Canon 650 and 700 (T4i and T5i) are almost identical cameras in function and are now about a decade old. The 700 had some minor cosmetic changes. Both were 18mp APC sensor cameras with touch screens, no WiFi, nine cross point autofocus and five fps drive.

The best feature of these cameras in 2022 is price. My T5i and kit 18-55 STM lens was $250.

Another 24mm f2.8 STM lens was $85 and a 55-250 STM telephoto was $135.

For a used DSLR the T5i and a set of used STM lenses might be the best bargain for either a beginner or somebody like myself who is a Micro Four Thirds addict, to gain the accurate and fast autofocus for moving subjects.

The nine point phase detect all cross point autofocus system is blazing fast and very accurate. Once you use an STM Canon lens you’ll not want older models of lenses. The kit lenses and telephotos are sharp, silent, fast focusing and stabilized, and the stabilization really works well.

1/6 second at 250mm hand held

The 24mm f2.8 pancake lens is not stabilized, but is razor sharp.

My T5i is amazingly advanced and has automatic lens correction modes for STM lenses, deep menus, and the manual is nearly 400 pages long.

The T5i is a capable Full HD movie maker and has a working live view with touch and shoot articulating screen. There’s a built in flash. It recognizes remotes, has HDMI, a microphone and headphone port. Image quality is excellent.

For about $500 anyone can put together a T5i and a kit and telephoto and a normal fast prime lens that will provide a basic set up to do anything an amateur photographer would ever really want to do, and do it well with no apologies.

It’s an extremely capable camera, in 2022.

Thank you for your input about this camera and photographs. 

What a great time to get into DSLR! Thanks to the camera industry moving to mirrorless, the used market for DSLR cameras and lenses is a bargain! I recently picked up a T5i, 18-55 STM, 50mm 1.8 STM, 24mm 2.8 STM, 15-85mm USM, extra batteries, and a camera bag all for around $600!

I'm probably gonna trade in my 18-55 STM and get a 55-250 STM. Might even pull the trigger for a 10-18 STM while I'm at it!

mikehoang31 wrote:

What a great time to get into DSLR! Thanks to the camera industry moving to mirrorless, the used market for DSLR cameras and lenses is a bargain! I recently picked up a T5i, 18-55 STM, 50mm 1.8 STM, 24mm 2.8 STM, 15-85mm USM, extra batteries, and a camera bag all for around $600!

I'm probably gonna trade in my 18-55 STM and get a 55-250 STM. Might even pull the trigger for a 10-18 STM while I'm at it!

My daughter shoots a 2004 Canon Rebel XT with an 18-55 and 75-250 USM II and a 10-22 USM wide angle, and she loves her kit.  The pre STM Canon glass was good.

But the STM lenses are much quicker to focus and are ghostly silent doing it.

On my want list is a used 10-18 STM, about $150.

I put together the above kit for about $500 including backpack case.

Canon still makes the 10-22 USM, for about $500 new.

Once you try STM glass, I can’t see going back.

Alex Framework wrote:

You make a strong case. How do you think it compares to the original 7D? This was my last camera I had many years back and I'm now wanting to get back into photography but I don't want a downgrade from where I was then.

I’ve not owned a 7D but I want one.

The image quality I would expect to be the same as my T5i.

But the 7D was a magnesium build, tank like machine that sold for more money than the lower tier T5i. It would have better autofocus, more buttons, quicker drive, all the perks of a higher end camera.

Except the T5i was designed to shoot STM glass and has built in correction for it. I shoot JPEG and that’s nice. Also the newer T5i has better live view, better movies, and the touch screen is handy to have.

As used cameras, the two models seem to sell for the same money.