Upgrade Question: My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer shooting with a Canon T3i Rebel and wants to move up to FF. She lives in a target rich area of NW Montana, and...

Elmo55 Loc: Illinois

My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer shooting with a Canon T3i Rebel and wants to move up to FF. She lives in a target rich area of NW Montana, and shoots landscapes, wildlife and astro. She wants to be able to make enlargements of those really special shots. Not being a Canon shooter I am not much help for making recommendations. She's thinking used and her budget is $1,000.00 or less. I told her to check out KEH and Adorama. I recommended she start her search with either the EOS 1DS Mark III or the EOS 5D Mark III, which are within her price range on KEH. I would appreciate advice from you Canon shooters that I can share with her. And lastly, will she really gain that much moving to FF over a high end APS-C, seeing that her current glass is for APS-C? She's also looking to add a high dollar telephoto to the FF for wildlife. Thanks for your expert help on this matter. Elmo

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

Elmo55 wrote:

My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer ... (show quote)

Based on the type of shooting she does landscapes and wildlife, I think a refurbished Canon 80d would the bill and budget nicely. Buying refurbished saves some money which I have I done a couple of times and the equipment is basically brand new and has a warranty. The 80d can be had for $900.00 on Canon's site.

stu352 Loc: MA/RI Border

I hope she realizes that in order to get the most out of a FF body, she will have to upgrade her collection of lenses. Will that fit in her budget?

anotherview Loc: California

Canon 6D II, refurbished. I own and use this full-frame camera, and I can recommend it for landscape photography and for general photography.

Elmo55 wrote:

My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer ... (show quote)

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

If she's determined to go FF despite most of her glass being EF-S, I also also agree that a refurbished 6d2 is a good idea. As for lenses, maybe a refurbished 70-300? Not ideally long enough for much nature, but even with that her budget is going to get stretched. Or.... forget the nature part and concentrate on landscape, then a wide angle or 24-105 might do. Figure on her spending about $1300-$1500. Or she could stay with her EF-S glass and grab a refurbished 80d body for $650.

Silverrails

Elmo55 wrote:

My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer ... (show quote)

I myself am a Advanced Beginner of 3+ years, I am a APS-C Nikon DX D3300 Photographer having now acquired 4 Nikon DX Lens. I too have considered a move to a F.F. Nikon Camera, although I have learned that my DX APS-C Nikon Lens will not work properly on a Nikon F.F. Nikon Camera. Financially I am not in a position to purchase a F.F. Camera + new F.F. lens. I would not be in my Photography Budget at the present time. As a Canon Photographer, I think it would be wise to consider the Whole cost factor first, if that is necessary in your situation. Hope all works out well.

bleirer

She could get a brand new Canom EOS RP body at BH for $1000 or with the new 24-105 lens (non L) for $1300. It is full frame and mirrorless. It uses RF lenses or with the adaptor it will use any canon full frame EF lenses or her current crop lenses (crop lenses switch to lower megapixel crop mode).

Horatio

Here is my recommendation. Have her contact Brian, the manager, at Stewart's Photo in Anchorage, Alaska. He will ask her some questions, and steer her in the best direction. He is extremely knowledgeable in a variety of camera companies. They have access to some terrific hardly used gear, so she can buy more camera for her money, or she can purchase new equipment. Brian will never sell her any gear she does not need. He has no reason to upset, as the sales people at the big companies are required to do. I have been dealing with Brian for so many years, and have had such superior treatment, that I do not shop anywhere else. Plus, everything you buy is tax free.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If she doesn't have full-frame lenses, she doesn't have the budget to do both lenses and a FF camera. The EF-S lenses cannot physically mount to an EOS FF DSLR. Her 18MP EOS T3i already has plenty of resolution for large prints. Recommending lenses to consider in lieu of a body is difficult without knowledge of her current lenses.

bleirer

Detailed article about sensor sizes. Full frame is not always the Holy Grail. There are pros and cons to it. Does she have high quality lenses she hopes to keep? If not, she can start from scratch in any brand or format.

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

wds0410 wrote:

Based on the type of shooting she does landscapes and wildlife, I think a refurbished Canon 80d would the bill and budget nicely. Buying refurbished saves some money which I have I done a couple of times and the equipment is basically brand new and has a warranty. The 80d can be had for $900.00 on Canon's site.

The 80D is not FF!

anotherview Loc: California

Practical suggestions.

47greyfox wrote:

If she's determined to go FF despite most of her glass being EF-S, I also also agree that a refurbished 6d2 is a good idea. As for lenses, maybe a refurbished 70-300? Not ideally long enough for much nature, but even with that her budget is going to get stretched. Or.... forget the nature part and concentrate on landscape, then a wide angle or 24-105 might do. Figure on her spending about $1300-$1500. Or she could stay with her EF-S glass and grab a refurbished 80d body for $650.

Elmo55 Loc: Illinois

Thanks to all that responded. Talked herself out of FF and going for an 80D with a good telephoto for wildlife.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Elmo55 wrote:

My niece is an accomplished and avid photographer ... (show quote)

You are correct. The natural "next step" would be a "late model" full frame camera. The 1DS Mk III is great and for a lighter load the 5D Mk III is no slouch either but to get the most out of her move, she should consider getting a couple of excellent lenses to go with the new cameras. a 24-105 would be a good start. For astro, the Tamron 15-30mm is a good choice, or the Samyang 14mm F2.8. And the legendary 100-400 F 5.6 II would be an excellent choice for wildlife.

And yes, there will be improvements over a crop camera - less noise being the most important. Image quality is more because Canon's best lenses are all full-frame lenses. The downside is they are heavier and bulkier.

This woman uses a 5D Mk III and has recently upgraded to a MkIV, but most of the stuff on her website was done with the 5D, 24-105, 400 F5.6, and the 100-400 II with and without the 1.4TC.

https://untamednewyork.smugmug.com/

She's got quite a collection of birds and wildlife, but she is also a very good landscape/cityscape photographer.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Silverrails wrote:

I myself am a Advanced Beginner of 3+ years, I am ... (show quote)

Your lenses will work just fine on an FX camera. It's just that in most cases the lens will not fully cover the full 24x36mm frame. Some lenses, like the 35mm F1.8 DX will, however.