Upgrading from my T1i and kit lens (18-55 IS v1 and 55-250 IS v1)

[trav.cunningham]

David,

I read your post and said, "Hey, that's me!" I also have a T1i with the 18-55 IS and 55-550 IS. I too will be upgrading to the 70D. I do not have experience with any other lenses but a question I would as is, "Are you happy with the results you are getting now?" I imagine the answer is no or why would you upgrade? So what are you not happy with?

For me the 70D became my upgrade choice for a couple of reasons. First, the auto focus (including the Dual Pixel AF). I have been longing for a better AF to capture my kids. The kicker is that the camera is just half of the equation. You also need a fast focusing lens, which I don't have. Both the 17-55 and the 15-85 are faster with USM than STM. So the lens choice is not only about IQ. Second, the DPAF. I always have a Canon HD camcorder and I am switching between the two constantly. With the 70D this switch will just be a switch. However, I plan on having the 18-135 STM be my go-to lens for video for the smooth and quite focusing. The third reason is the 7 fps. My sister got the 7D when it came out and I wanted it (but the wallet couldn't handle it ). The 70D comes very close to the 7D's 8 fps at the lower price. Other reasons for upgrading is the WiFi, better build, flash transmitter, etc, etc.

Here is what I am doing. Depending on your needs it may not be ideal, but I believe it will work for me. I will start of with the 70D with 18-135 STM. I will have to begin saving again and will get the 70-200 2.8. I am going with the 2.8 because I want it fast for my fast moving kids and I want the 2.8 to improve the AF at the center point (where I do most of my focusing). I am not getting the 70-200 2.8 IS II because it is way out of my price range. Next I will save for the 17-55. With the recent price drop it make is more reasonable. The 2.8 again for fast kids and better AF. Then I want the 100 2.8L macro. That might even come before the 17-55. I love macro and currently I use the 55-250 with the 500D macro lens attachment. Even with these other lenses I will keep the 18-135 for video and travel.

I don't know if this helps much but I thought I would share since I am in a similar situation.

All you more experienced photographers, please let me know if any of my thinking is flawed!

[dfedzina]

Trav,
to answer your question - overall i'm somewhat pleased, but still slightly dissappointed. Mostly due to the images being soft which I think has a lot to do with not focusing fast enough or accurate enough on more "action" shots with the kids playing or just being kids. Typically, when they are posing for the camera, those images come out sharp enough for me - especially knowing I didn't break the bank for my set-up. So I guess my question is a little more focused than previously posted...will action shots and just random shots be noticeably sharper with an upgrade to the 70D/18-135 STM combo? Will I get more keepers? Or am I better off just upgrading to a better all-purpose lense (see 1st post) and keeping the T1i? As I mentioned earlier, I do use the camera for video, so the AFMA would certainly be a nice bonus. Thoughts?