Looking at buying a dSLR camera, need some input (T2i, T3i, T4i, T5i, 60D or ??)

[Splash-X]

Make sure you are looking at housing prices too. The 60d housings cost more than the camera.

Do you mean the underwater housing? I'm not in the market for that quite yet. I know the Ikelite housing is ~ $1500 plus ports, etc.

 

[Tigerman]

hey Splash - I would look at either the Canon T4i or the Canon 7D if I were you, not the other options, for several reasons too lengthly to get into here. With a dSLR, FYI your lens and strobe selection will be just as important as your camera selection. If you simply call or drive to a reputable underwater photo store like us or Reef I'm sure they will go over all of this in detail. - Scott

I completely agree to have a look at the 7D amongst other things before its weather sealed.
I would also say that the camera budget is going to be PEANUTS by the time youre done getting lenses, UW housing, ports and any other accessories.
It might be a $1500 body, but given that only the dslr housing without a single port is going to cost you $1200+..
Just do it. Youre going to need to spend $4-5k (or even more) on a dslr uw system anyways..

 

[plok]

Do you mean the underwater housing? I'm not in the market for that quite yet. I know the Ikelite housing is ~ $1500 plus ports, etc.

Before deciding on housing check if it is has ports compatible with lenses that you plan to use underwater. It might happen that a housing that you choose doesn't have a port for your preferable lens.
You have to consider much more things than just which camera model is better and less expensive. It is true for underwater photography that the camera body cost is a minor investment no matter how expensive it is.

 

[Splash-X]

Before deciding on housing check if it is has ports compatible with lenses that you plan to use underwater. It might happen that a housing that you choose doesn't have a port for your preferable lens.
You have to consider much more things than just which camera model is better and less expensive. It is true for underwater photography that the camera body cost is a minor investment no matter how expensive it is.

The cost of the housing, lens and port is going to be roughly the same no matter which EOS model I choose, no? Sure, I may select a different lens for one model than another but the fact is the full list of Canon supported lenses and their port is listed on the Ikelite site, the list doesn't change based on the EOS model I choose. Either a port exists for the lens or it doesn't, that's pretty dry and straight to the point. The Ikelite housing for the EOS series has a MSRP of $1,500 regardless of the exact model I choose, that's a pretty fixed amount. The lens and port may vary depending on my selection but the truth is when I'm ready for the housing I'll make the decision then which lens and port to get. Right now, my focus is getting in to a camera and learning the ins-and-outs of the camera.

 

[Tigerman]

The cost of the housing, lens and port is going to be roughly the same no matter which EOS model I choose, no? Sure, I may select a different lens for one model than another but the fact is the full list of Canon supported lenses and their port is listed on the Ikelite site, the list doesn't change based on the EOS model I choose. Either a port exists for the lens or it doesn't, that's pretty dry and straight to the point. The Ikelite housing for the EOS series has a MSRP of $1,500 regardless of the exact model I choose, that's a pretty fixed amount. The lens and port may vary depending on my selection but the truth is when I'm ready for the housing I'll make the decision then which lens and port to get. Right now, my focus is getting in to a camera and learning the ins-and-outs of the camera.

Let me ask you 3 questions.

What kind of photography do you want to do? Wideangle or Macro?
Do you think you should have fullframe or crop sensor?
What lenses have you looked at? Cheap kit lenses or expensive high grade L lenses, EF or EF-S, what focal lengths?

The 1st and 2nd are quite related to eachother and the success of the 3rd will be affected by them. This is just SOME of what you need to consider for your DSLR setup and you really do need to plan well if you consider taking a dslr under water..

 

[Splash-X]

Let me ask you 3 questions.

What kind of photography do you want to do? Wideangle or Macro?
Do you think you should have fullframe or crop sensor?
What lenses have you looked at? Cheap kit lenses or expensive high grade L lenses, EF or EF-S, what focal lengths?

The 1st and 2nd are quite related to eachother and the success of the 3rd will be affected by them. This is just SOME of what you need to consider for your DSLR setup and you really do need to plan well if you consider taking a dslr under water..

While I would *like* to shoot macro, most of the time I'm shooting larger subjects like turtles and such. It isn't very often that I have the chance to shoot macro subjects.

I had not considered the sensor type but after doing some reading I see how the sensor type can impact your selector of lenses but I'm far from being in a position to decide that yet.

Like I said before, I was looking to buy a dSLR now (near future) to work with on land and then as budget and experience allows (months? maybe a year?) work my way to a underwater setup.

 

[guruboy]

Let me ask you 3 questions.

What kind of photography do you want to do? Wideangle or Macro?
Do you think you should have fullframe or crop sensor?
What lenses have you looked at? Cheap kit lenses or expensive high grade L lenses, EF or EF-S, what focal lengths?

The 1st and 2nd are quite related to eachother and the success of the 3rd will be affected by them. This is just SOME of what you need to consider for your DSLR setup and you really do need to plan well if you consider taking a dslr under water..

No offense but I would ignore the above. It's more confusing than useful. Especially since you are just getting into SLR as a beginner.

Question 1 does not affect camera choice. Those questions will dictate your lenses.

Question 2 is what you can afford, not what you 'think' you should have.

Question 3 is three parts.

First, 'cheap' vs L quality lenses is based on what you can afford and if you can actually distinguish the difference in image quality.

Second, EF-S vs EF is a format thing. EF-S are not backwards compatible with all cameras. They were designed special for crop cameras. EF lenses are backwards compatible with crop or full frame cameras. If you plan to move to full frame, keep that in mind before you invest heavily in a bunch of EF-S lenses. There is also a new STM format out, not sure the compatibility on those.

Third, you won't know what focal lengths you need until you start shooting.

Overall, get the kit lens first. It's cheap and works great for the price. When you outgrow it or decide what you want to do, get more.

---------- Post added August 11th, 2013 at 08:30 PM ----------

While I would *like* to shoot macro, most of the time I'm shooting larger subjects like turtles and such. It isn't very often that I have the chance to shoot macro subjects.

I had not considered the sensor type but after doing some reading I see how the sensor type can impact your selector of lenses but I'm far from being in a position to decide that yet.

Like I said before, I was looking to buy a dSLR now (near future) to work with on land and then as budget and experience allows (months? maybe a year?) work my way to a underwater setup.

From what I can tell, getting into underwater photography will likely cost as much as your camera and lenses combined, or more.

If you are just wanting to learn about and get experience with SLRs, I suggest the t3i for photos only or the t4i if you might do video too.

 

[Tigerman]

No offense but I would ignore the above. It's more confusing than useful. Especially since you are just getting into SLR as a beginner.

Question 1 does not affect camera choice. Those questions will dictate your lenses.

Question 2 is what you can afford, not what you 'think' you should have.

Question 3 is three parts.

First, 'cheap' vs L quality lenses is based on what you can afford and if you can actually distinguish the difference in image quality.

Second, EF-S vs EF is a format thing. EF-S are not backwards compatible with all cameras. They were designed special for crop cameras. EF lenses are backwards compatible with crop or full frame cameras. If you plan to move to full frame, keep that in mind before you invest heavily in a bunch of EF-S lenses. There is also a new STM format out, not sure the compatibility on those.

Third, you won't know what focal lengths you need until you start shooting.

Actually this is why I disagre;
If you are looking to shoot wideangle, you will get a larger field of view with any given lens with a fullframe sensor than you will from a crop sensor camera. This also means you will fill the frame better with small critters on any given lens. With a crop factor of 1.6 your 100mm macro will be a 160mm equivalent on a fullframe and thats a rather big difference.
Therefore you may want to consider this and thats why the 2nd question is there, just to give it a little thought.
As for the third question and really your argument on all of them that its about what you can afford - its cheaper to be satisfied on your first purchase than to buy twice and this is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to underwater photography where the uw housings easilly cost $1500 or more and each lens port cost you a few hundred dollars.
Also when it comes to EF and EF-S lenses, yes - that was there exactly because crop sensors can use both while fullframes cant so its something you need to consider.
With regards to not being able to know what focal lengths youll need before you start shooting - you can get a pretty good idea IF you consider what you want to shoot, with what sensor size.
The difference between L lenses and non-L lenses hold more difference than wether or not you can see a difference on the pics, its also about build quality and as such durability.

Overall, get the kit lens first. It's cheap and works great for the price. When you outgrow it or decide what you want to do, get more.

---------- Post added August 11th, 2013 at 08:30 PM ----------



From what I can tell, getting into underwater photography will likely cost as much as your camera and lenses combined, or more.

If you are just wanting to learn about and get experience with SLRs, I suggest the t3i for photos only or the t4i if you might do video too.

I totally agree on getting the kit lens with the camera for use on land, regardless of body, because they tend to be a very flexible lens like 18-55 or 17-85 (and in some cases you get TWO!) and yes, getting the kit under water IS going to cost you more than the camera body cost ALMOST regardless of what camera body you go with. atleast up to the point of the EOS 6D, which is fullframe.

 

[Splash-X]

In order to have a full frame sensor I would need a Canon 6D, which was outside of my consideration with a price tag of $2,000 for the body only. The 60D, 70D and even the 7D all have 1.6x crop sensors.

In all honestly, I am heavily leaning towards the T4i kit for $509 and using the price difference between the T5i or 60D to put towards the first non-kit lens.

 

[guruboy]

In order to have a full frame sensor I would need a Canon 6D, which was outside of my consideration with a price tag of $2,000 for the body only. The 60D, 70D and even the 7D all have 1.6x crop sensors.

In all honestly, I am heavily leaning towards the T4i kit for $509 and using the price difference between the T5i or 60D to put towards the first non-kit lens.

There are usually deals for the body + 18-55 lens combo and a 55-200 add on. Or you could try for a body + 18-200 combo.