Upgrading body - lens help please.

[Magijr]

Hello,
I am looking to upgrade from my 60D possibly to the 7D Mark II. I currently primarily shoot with EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. Should I keep the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or also upgrade the lens to either the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM or the Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM? I understand I lose some of the wide angle, but I find myself zooming in and shooting in 35mm to the 55 mm range more often then not.

Please feel free to recommend additional lenses, camera bodies and ask me questions.

Thank you for looking, thank you for your help.

Bruce J.

[DavidEccleston]

What do you shoot? What are you hoping to get from a 7D2 that you don't have on your 60D?

If you don't need the 10FPS / super AF tracking of the 7D2, then for a similar price, the 6D would get you a higher quality image (but you would definitely need to switch lenses at that point, as the 6D is full-frame and requires EF lenses, and will not take EF-S lenses)

Hard to steer you in one direction or the other without knowing what you want a) from the upgrade, and b) from your shots in general.

[Magijr]

Hi David,

Thanks for the reply. I photograph my family mostly. I have a three year old boy and my wife and I just had our second child 8 weeks ago. I have a 60 mm macro for the close up infant pics, and I need a great zoom as my son is getting faster and faster. Ive taken 25K+ pics in just three years, love photography!! Only hobby though.

I want higher IQ from the upgrade, 100% view finder, and maybe the WiFi (6D), and the most up to date technology (not sure if that applies to camera bodies like it does to computers, tablets and phones).

The 10 FPS definitely appeals to me, but not the end all be all. My cousin shoots with a 7D and lives and dies by it. The body of the 7DII is an upgrade (magnesium), but so would the 6D. Those are the two I'm contemplating between... does this help, would you go with the 7DII, 6D or stay with the 60D?

Is full frame the way I should go? 5Ds or 5Dr?

[peety3]

...and I need a great zoom as my son is getting faster and faster.

Define "great zoom". To some, the best zoom is a prime lens (best image quality). To some, the best zoom is 0.5 pounds. To some, the best zoom is f/1.8. To some, the best zoom is a 10x range. To some, the best zoom would be a 200-500.

I want higher IQ from the upgrade, 100% view finder...

What's wrong with the IQ you're getting now? Is it something that's the fault of the body? What's wrong with a sub-100% viewfinder? Are your shots so time-critical that you can't crop them?

The 10 FPS definitely appeals to me, but not the end all be all. My cousin shoots with a 7D and lives and dies by it. The body of the 7DII is an upgrade (magnesium), but so would the 6D. Those are the two I'm contemplating between... does this help, would you go with the 7DII, 6D or stay with the 60D?

Why is the incremental frame rate (5.3->10) so important to you? Do you have the infrastructure necessary to deal with it? Do you have the light (via aperture, ISO, or existing ambient/artificial light) to support the shutter speeds necessary to achieve 10fps? Do you realize that even the best cameras out there only capture 4% of time with their high frame rates, and the other 96% of time goes by while the shutter is closed?

Is full frame the way I should go? 5Ds or 5Dr?

You have five current FF options out there: 6D, 5D3, 5Ds, 5DsR, 1Dx. You have five older options: 5D, 5D2, 1Ds, 1Ds2, 1Ds3. Do you have the lenses to support it? If you've got the EF-S 17-55 and you switch to the 24-70 on FF, you're probably going to miss that last 18mm you've given up. I for one really missed what my 70-200s could do on APS-C, and bought a 300/4 as an interim until the 100-400II became a reality.

[jrw]

What is it that a new camera body will allow you to do that your 60D won't let you do?
Unless there is some specific need for what you are planning to do with it you may be better off exploring a different lens or two instead to increase the range of what you can do.

[Magijr]

I appreciate your response. I guess I wanted to know if after three years, 25,000 pics and an outdated camera later if there was something better. The view finder in the 60D is annoying, other than that the camera is good. Is the 7DII a better choice than the 6D, or should I upgrade my lense and keep the 60D?

Thanks again for your response.

Bruce

[jrw]

Edit: I see you answered some of that while I was pecking away at the keyboard.

[jrw]

The funny thing is that there is almost always something newer available to purchase. It is only better for you when it meets a need that your current equipment can not fulfill. The zoom lens you have is not one that folks would call a bad one by any means.
Backing up a bit, What do you do with your images? Prints to what size, sharing on social media, digital picture frames perhaps? Unless you print rather large on a regular basis then 50MP isn't something you really require from a camera. If you don't frame tightly in camera and crop your images do you still have enough resolution for your end purposes? If so then a 100% viewfinder, while nice to have, isn't a necessity and this approach can help with moving targets. When I was doing contract sports shooting the companies only wanted images of around 10 MP which was sufficient for all their print needs and took up a lot less storage space. Loose framing allowed cropping the images to 8x10 and not lose body parts in the process. The slightly deeper depth of field from greater distance or shorter focal length helped to ensure that fast moving subjects would be sharply in focus as well. As far as outdated equipment goes the preferred body for this work remains a 1D3 as it has the right resolution for their needs while being low cost on the used market.
At work we still use an original Canon Rebel for our still shots. It still works fine and provides all that is needed for the job at hand.

Hope that something in my rambling helps.

[DavidEccleston]

If you don't have something specific you don't like about the camera, the camera is the last thing to upgrade. Lenses make a bigger difference. A 60D is not outdated. They're only at the next model. Unless you're finding yourself at ISO 1600+ most of the time, and the noise levels are bugging you, your 60D is fine. I have a fullframe body that generally stays home because it's extra big and extra heavy. If you're lugging around things for two kids, the last thing you need is a bigger, heavier camera.

Lenses on the other hand, can change how things appear. An ultrawide angle can make the "very" immediate foreground appear large, while the background is pushed way out to the distance. You can get a distorted look, like the first two images here, or non-distorted, like the last.


My, what a big nose you have by Dave E, on Flickr
Bobble Head by Dave E, on Flickr
Puppy daytime, gnawing by Dave E, on Flickr

A telephoto can let you capture things you can't get close to, animals, the way your children play when you're not hovering over them with "the camera".


Goslings swim by Dave E, on Flickr
Jumping the waves by Dave E, on Flickr

Your f/2.8 lens is pretty fast, so I won't do a series of "wide aperture" images, but something like one of the Sigma Art f/1.4 primes will make your background extra bokeh-licious.

What images are making your feel like you're not getting similar results? Most likely, it's not an issue with noise levels, it will be one or more of:

a) Lighting. Lighting isn't just speedlights, but morning/evening light vs. noon. Using a diffuser to soften the light. Open shade. Direction of light. Shots of shadows. Lots of free options to explore here. Heck, an old thin sheet can be a very big diffuser, or double as studio a backdrop.

b) Framing/Composition. Tight framing, even cutting parts off of the face. Not every hair has to be in every shot. Loose framing, showing the environment, leaving "breathing room" around your subject. Composing for rule of thirds, artfully angled, or even subject dead-center. Each one has a different mood/feeling to it.

c) Perspective. This is a mix of lens choice, and camera/subject placement. I covered wide vs. tele looks above, so I'll focus on camera/subject placement. Shooting up, from down low, to exaggerate height. Shooting down low at a low subject (kids/dogs) to mimic their perspective and give a better background. Shooting from way above. From up a ladder, up a tree, up a cliff, whatever. Mix it up.

or even d) Location. Do you shoot your family at the same places, over and over. The house. The yard. The park. Perhaps you're bored of *where* you shoot, not of (or not just) how you're shooting it. Go for a hike, get shots of the 3 year old exploring a forest. Dress the kids up and take them somewhere to make an interesting shot. Perhaps they're bandits, or spies, or piano virtuosos, or they're on their way to Mars. Recreate movie posters or something. Find an idea that makes you *want* to shoot.

[jamsus]

The 60D is quite a good camera, i'm practically shooting only with it and the only limit that i found is "AI-Servo" focusing the flying birds, something that this camera isn't build for !

In my opinion, if you "feel" to change but you don't want to go full sport\bird hunting, you should safe some money and go with a 6D full frame, and keep the 60D as backup or second body - the 7DMkII is not the evolution you want.

The 17-55 f2.8 is a really good lens too