ecar Loc: Oregon, USA

You've had the Canon for awhile, what made you choose canon in the first place? And you already have a lens for it. The T7i would bolt right up to your lens. The Canon 80d is a very popular camera now also. The canon 18-135 STM lens should really be a must also! For about a grand, you could get the Nikon 5600 w/ the 18-140 lens. That would be a good combo.

Go to the local camera store and hold each. It might be a good idea to go slightly over budget also, then you'd be right up to current equipt. Without knowing what lens you have, I have to assume it needs to be replaced with a good 18-135/140 lens which you'd really love.

It all comes down to preference in brand.

The Pentax is a little higher than the Canon or Nikon. The K1 is the full frame, which I'd say stay away from for now.

Good luck, but get something current w/ like lens, and you'll be in heaven.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Whichever line you choose, buying refurbished by the manufacturer will save you some money. Buying used may save you even more, but buy from someplace like keh.com as then you get their 6 month warranty as well as being a great outfit to deal with. I shoot Nikon as I had scads of lenses & gear already. Plus I opted for a higher body than a base model as they allow me to use my older Nikon & 3rd party Nikon mount lenses & other gear. I also have both crop sensor & full sensor bodies. different uses for different bodies.

donb17

So is my T1i

teresajewell Loc: Bloomington, IN

Wow!!! Thanks so much for all of the responses!!! So thorough too. I guess I should have given a little more info. I'm learning. Lol...I have not used my Canon t3i a lot. When I bought it I got the original 2 kit lenses, I have used it on and off for the last several years. Nothing very steady. I am now wanting to do landscapes and wildlife, also some stock photography. I am planning to start traveling a lot around the US (National Parks) and some internationally as well. So, I'm hoping to become a free lance photographer... high hopes, huh?!

Thanks again to everyone for all the suggestions and recommendations. I will definitely look at refurbished and used on the sites that were mentioned. I don't have a set budget, but hoping to keep it below $1000.
Yes, I'm thinking about a pentaprism, I like a lot of the new features on some of the newer models....

I'll let you all know what I decide. Thanks again.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Don't forget to share some of your photographs of the National Parks.

teresajewell Loc: Bloomington, IN

Absolutely. I look forward to sharing lots of photos and look forward to suggestions on how to make them better....

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Does a pentaprism vs a pentamirror make a lot of difference to you? Do you know why? What are your criteria for making a choice? It sounds as though money isn't obstacle, so you should be able to be foot loose and fancy free in your choices. What floats your personal boat?

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Teresa,

Is there something your T3i can't do that you need it to do? Have you mastered all the features of the T3i? What is your budget? Limited doesn't tell us much. You need to save and budget for good lenses since they are really the most important part of the camera. Keep in mind, many people get great photos with cell phones and point and shoot cameras. It's the part that is 10 inches behind the camera that matters most - not the camera or lens.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

The t3i is a good camera to work with at your level of experience. Given the possibility of landscape work in the parks, you may want to consider adding a wide angle lens like canon's 10-18. It is relatively inexpensive and still a great little lens.

dmc Loc: Montgomery, AL

I might as well throw my two cents in.... I have a T4i which is for all practical purposes the same as you T3i. Since your interest is in nature photography (like myself) you'll need, in my opinion,
an exceptional zoom lens to take spot-on, crisp images. In the Canon line that would be any of their 'L' lenses. My recommendation would be a used EF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 'L' IS USM. They are
selling used from approx. $800 to $950 on Ebay, etc. As I've heard mentioned several times and totally agree with...you have a good camera...put you money in LENSES.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi Teresa,

Don't be too quick to give up your T3i!

If all you have are the "kit lenses", then that's where you should be putting your money, instead of into another camera.

T3i came in kit typically with the EF-S 18-55mm and sometimes also with a telephoto... either an EF-S 55-250mm (a decent lens) or an EF 75-300mm III (Canon's cheapest and worst tele-zoom).

If the lenses are "STM", they are a bit faster focusing than the unmarked ones which use "micro motor" focus drive, which is both slow and noisy.

It appears you like to shoot wildlife, in particular. A fairly affordable lens for that is the EF 70-300mm IS USM II, costing about $500 right now, on sale. The previous version is also still widely available new for about $450, and isn't a bad choice. If you have the 75-300mm III, an EF-S 55-250mm IS STM would be a good upgrade for you. 250mm or 300mm is just marginal for wildlife, though. 400mm or longer would sure be nice! Canon's EF 100-400mm IS USM II is a superb lens, but bigger, heavier and more expensive at over $2000. The previous version is a pretty darned good lens too, and might be found used for a bit less, but still is typically well over $1000. Sigma has just introduced a 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM for $800 that might be an alternative and is a bit smaller and slightly lighter than the Canon lenses. I have not used the Sigma, so can't say how well it's image quality compares.

It also appears you have some interest in macro photography. There are a lot of good macro lenses, but one of the most affordable is Canon's EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM at about $400. It's also relatively compact. Tokina also offers a 100mm f/2.8 for around $350... the longer focal length gives more working distance between the lens and tiny subjects, which can be handy at times.

Traveling to national parks, you probably are going to see some scenes you'll want to photograph and might want a wider lens than the 18-55mm kit lens. Canon has one of the best deals of all in their EF-S 10-18mm IS STM for under $300. Most other lenses of this type cost at least $500 and some of them are much more than that.

Aside from those lenses, you'd probably be best advised to work on your technique and skills. Read books. Take classes. Watch online tutorials. Join a photography club and go out shooting with them.

The T3i is a pretty decent little 18MP camera.... quite capable. It's primary short-coming is it's autofocus system. It has a 9-point AF array, but only the center point is the better/faster dual axis or "cross" type. The rest are lower performance single axis AF points. Canon T5i improved upon the AF system. It's still 9-point, but all of them are the better "cross" type. The T6i saw an increase to 24MP and also got a fancier AF system, similar to what was used in the 70D... 19-point, all "cross" type. (The 70D inherited a sort of dumbed down version of the original 7D 19-point AF, which is quite high performance.). The T7i keeps 24MP, but inherits the 80D's 45-point AF system. The 80D, T7i and 7D Mark II (20MP, with it's own 65-point AF system) all also have "dual pixel auto focus" in Live View, which is a huge improvement in speed and performance over earlier versions of Live View focusing. In fact, the 70D has DPAF, too... it was introduced on that 20MP model.

I'm mentioning all this because while I think you'd be better served upgrading lenses than camera, if you still wish to do so, any of these models would be a logical choice if you want to stick with Canon.

I'm a Canon shooter and don't hesitate to recommend them... best selection of lenses (all of which made the last 30 years can be fully used on a camera like your T3i and all the models mentioned above).... great customer service... and it's what you're familiar with. But if you do want to change systems, now would be the time to do so... before you are invested too heavily. Frankly, all systems are good in their own ways. But you need to commit to one or another because once you start to buy lenses beyond the kit lens you will be getting invested in a system to the point it would be very expensive to switch to another brand.

One way to stretch your money is to buy refurbished. In the case of Canon, that's done from the Canon USA website online. Stock comes and goes there, so you might need to be patient. But it's one way to save (always check against prices of new, though... sometimes new go on sale for even better prices). Refurbished are usually little different from new... might be in a plain box instead of the usual one seen in stores. They have the same warranty as new, too. Canon sells cameras, lenses and accessories through their refurbished program. After large trade shows they often have a large stock of items, but sell out quickly. I'd guess those were demo units that were on display for a few days, then couldn't be sold as new.

There are also good sources for used items, to stretch your budget a little further. A dealer such as B&H Photo, Adorama or KEH.com will offer a short warranty on used items. Usually 90 days, which is time enough to insure things are working properly.


Hope this helps! Have fun shopping.

papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA

You guys are blowin' smoke in the wind. She hasn't responded and probably won't, so yap it up fellas.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

What part of her response didn't you see, read, or understand?

Narog50

I think you will be happy whatever you choose because all cameramakers make good cameras, but for me it´s Pentax. On aps-c I have lenses from 4,5mm (circular fisheye) to 600mm, about 80 lenses in total, and shake reduction works with all of them even on my oldest lens, a Tair-3 300mm Grand Prix Brussels 1958. To my K1 I have about 60 lenses that work fine, of course also with shake reduktion, between 14 and 600mm. But, as I said in the beginning, all cameramakers make good cameras today.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Are you one of those guys who reads the first page and figures nothing important has happened since then??
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-484788-4.html#8152954
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-484788-4.html#8153009