Upgrading advice needed

G

gavin

New member
I am thinking about upgrade my camera equipment. I can't decide whether I should upgrade lenses, camera or both.I would be helpful if any advice you give me.


I have a Canon Rebel SL1 with the following lenses:



  • 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
  • 24mm f/2.8 STM
  • 50mm f 1.8

FYI: I'm not a professional, only a hobbyist. But I surely notice the quality.
 
P

pforsell

Senior Member
If nothing in your current setup is holding you back, there's no point in upgrading anything. Upgrading and/or purchasing new stuff just to satisfy curiosity will get pretty expensive pretty fast. Below are three different scenarios I quickly came up with.

Upgrade only when you realize a specific need. For example portrait photography could benefit from a studio light setup and a couple of portrait lenses like 85mm f/1.2, 135mm f/2 or 200mm f/2 and perhaps a high resolution camera, like 5D Mk IV or 5D S (not the 5D SR for portraits).

If you are shooting sports or your own fast moving kids, then a fast telephoto lens or a fast frame rate sports camera might be in order. My personal favorites are 200mm f/2, 300mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/2.8, but some people prefer slow but more versatile zoom lenses like 200-400mm f/4. And the most sports oriented camera in the Canon lineup is the 1D X mk II, but a refurbished 1D Mk I would be very good too.

If you are into landscape photography, a sturdy but light carbon fibre tripod like Gitzo GT55xx, a tilt/shift lens like TS-E 17mm or TS-E 24mm or a high resolution camera body like 5D SR could be great choices.

Hold on to your money until you know what you need instead of what might be fun. Save your money until you are sure, and then don't settle for inferior stop-gaps, because you'll lose money in the end, but get the real deal instead.

In my opinion it is usually best to buy the item that you really need and want. For example if you need a fast 400mm f/2.8 telephoto lens, you might be tempted to first buy some plastic fantastic superduperzoom, then after badly disappointed you "upgrade" again and get some discount brand item, and then you realize it was a mistake too, and finally get the 400/2.8L. This step-by-step approach is the most expensive, and you have lost all the images you could have been shooting with the correct lens.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
gavin said:
I am thinking about upgrade my camera equipment. I can't decide whether I should upgrade lenses, camera or both.I would be helpful if any advice you give me.

I have a Canon Rebel SL1 with the following lenses:

  • 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
  • 24mm f/2.8 STM
  • 50mm f 1.8
FYI: I'm not a professional, only a hobbyist. But I surely notice the quality.
Click to expand...
Canon's SL1 is an entirely capable, albeit entry-level, DSLR. That being said the Canon 50mm f/1.8 you have is a totally killer prime (the newer stepper-motor version is even better). I would use that lens to benchmark what the SL1 body itself is capable of.

Conversely, if you want more features (e.g. more focus points, more frames-per-second, less menu-diving) then you'll need to upgrade the body. If I were in your shoes, and wanted to keep to the Canon line, I'd probably be looking at a something like the 7DMKII, or better. That's a fairly big jump but I don't see the point, really, in upgrading my camera body if I'm not roughly doubling what I have currently. That's a fairly subjective thing but I don't feel like splitting hairs.

Much of this comes down to how far you want to take this as your hobby and, of course, how much you have to spend. .:)
.....
 
S

spb_stan

Senior Member
Your current kit is not bad, and an excellent learning tool set. I can safely bet that you are assuming that more sophisticated cameras produce better images. That might be true but only for extremes of conditions like in low light or fastest action that requires superior auto focus. I suggest deciding what subjects interest you most and study,join a local photography club for shooting workshops or a paid workshop on the subject you are interested in. Of the priority list,camera and lenses are way down the list for compelling images. Concept, point of view, posing, lighting, and post processing are all more important in creating images that mean something to viewers.
What subjects are you most interested in?
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
pforsell said:
If nothing in your current setup is holding you back, there's no point in upgrading anything. Upgrading and/or purchasing new stuff just to satisfy curiosity will get pretty expensive pretty fast. Below are three different scenarios I quickly came up with.

Upgrade only when you realize a specific need. For example portrait photography could benefit from a studio light setup and a couple of portrait lenses like 85mm f/1.2, 135mm f/2 or 200mm f/2 and perhaps a high resolution camera, like 5D Mk IV or 5D S (not the 5D SR for portraits).

If you are shooting sports or your own fast moving kids, then a fast telephoto lens or a fast frame rate sports camera might be in order. My personal favorites are 200mm f/2, 300mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/2.8, but some people prefer slow but more versatile zoom lenses like 200-400mm f/4. And the most sports oriented camera in the Canon lineup is the 1D X mk II, but a refurbished 1D Mk I would be very good too.

If you are into landscape photography, a sturdy but light carbon fibre tripod like Gitzo GT55xx, a tilt/shift lens like TS-E 17mm or TS-E 24mm or a high resolution camera body like 5D SR could be great choices.

Hold on to your money until you know what you need instead of what might be fun. Save your money until you are sure, and then don't settle for inferior stop-gaps, because you'll lose money in the end, but get the real deal instead.

In my opinion it is usually best to buy the item that you really need and want. For example if you need a fast 400mm f/2.8 telephoto lens, you might be tempted to first buy some plastic fantastic superduperzoom, then after badly disappointed you "upgrade" again and get some discount brand item, and then you realize it was a mistake too, and finally get the 400/2.8L. This step-by-step approach is the most expensive, and you have lost all the images you could have been shooting with the correct lens.
Click to expand...
What he said :)
 
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