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Sebastian Uribe's picture

Canon 550D worth upgrading to Canon 6D?

I did a lot of research; I've had my 550D for about 5 years. I was always happy with my kit lens and 55-250mm; and never bought anything until a year ago I bought a 50mm 1.8 lens and it changed my life. I started doing research on lenses and I mean a lot of research about my own camera and so much more. I understand that the 6D is full frame; bigger; better battery life, higher ISO, better for weather etc. and I always loved shooting my friends that perform at nightclubs for fun. I notice though the noise/grain is so much. I understand I need to use a lens with a lower aperture. So the first two lenses I mentioned are kinda useless in low light situations except for my most recent one. I also know that the 50mm is actually a 70-80mm I believe correct?

My point: Is it really worth upgrading my t2i or just invest in a lens? I'm aiming for doing photography part time and would love to make some side cash just for fun and see where it goes.

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14 Comments

Concert photography isn't my field, but Ihave done quite a bit of low light street photography and I was looking at the 6D recently, think there are a couple of points you should consider:

1. The current 6D is supposed to get replaced shortly. If you wait, you can either get a better model or a very good deal on the current one

2. Sensor size isn't everything; sensor and processor generation make a big difference. And Fuji's perform extremely well in low light. So you might want to consider the option of something like an XT20. Or the Nikon D500.

Hopefully you're aware of the 6D's well-known limitations re the focus system. If not, do some googling - they probably won't matter for what you want.(?)

Thank you so much!

Hi, concert photography is my strong and yes you should upgrade your camera. In most of the concerts there are no great light so you have to step up your iso... a better camera a better level of noise at high iso so you can have better exposure in low light.

Is not necessary the full frame. I have a Fuji XT1 for concerts and a Canon 1DX and both are great and the Fuji is crop sensor. Since 2013 or 2014 every decent camera have great iso performance. T6i, 70D, 80D, a6000, a6300, Fuji XT10 and now the 77D all of those cameras are APSC and their great cameras.

At the end is your choice. Your camera body is not bad, and with better and more luminous lenses your pictures will improve without upgrading to a better sensor.

Good luck!

Talking on the last generation Fujis, the best deals are probably on the XE2 - as opposed to XE2s. It's the same tech as the XT1 and XT10 in a rangefinder-shaped body. It can be a great bargain used.

I see myself doing this long term; might as well upgrade my camera for a stronger foundation. Your words helped thank you!

Sebastien -

The main downside to Fuji are the lenses. They're mostly of two kinds:

- There a few budget zooms with very limited maximum apertures. Optical quality is superb though - the 18-55 kit zoom is up to "pro" Canikon standards.

- Then there are the fast primes like the legendary f2 90mm. (=135mm FF) Some of these are up to Leica standards. They're cheap compared to Leica, but you're still looking at $1000 for a new lens and used ones are *very* hard to find.

There are some lenses - reasonably priced pancake primes and semi-wides and pro-level zooms. But the two categories above are the main ones. I think you might want to take a look at the f1.2 56mm, the f2 90mm, and the f3.5 50-200mm. The zoom and 56mm should be buyable used.

WAIT -
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1311239-REG/fujifilm_16536611_xf5...
...Very reasonably priced! That's an 85mm equivalent.

The main things you'd get from going for an XT20 instead of a used XE2 would be lower noise at high ISO combined with higher resolution and more dynamic range, faster AF, touch screen AF point placement, usable video, and an exceptional black and white film simulation that does behaves like film at high iso - ie it uses variable grain size to hide noise in parts of the image that need it:

https://blog.fauland-photography.com/2016/02/12/bw-straight-out-of-camera/

Otoh, The D500 is also exceptional. And the Sony DX sensor cameras are very strong. I think you have a lot of good choices - the only one that I think would be "non-optimal" would be buying a 6D without checking the replacement date, in case you could hang on and get a bargain...

I shot a dance recital with a 6D, and I would definitely say that the camera held it's own. A full frame camera can really help with the low light/high ISO issues. While I'm not crazy about the autofocus for motion, the center point is just fine. It also focuses better in low light than my 5D Mk3.

Also, as mentioned below, a 6D MkII is going to be released later this year that does improve the autofocus system. If you can afford the ~$2k price for a new body, then I say wait, but if not, a 6D now would be just fine. I might just get another one to use as a 2nd camera.

>> A full frame camera can really help with the low light/high ISO issues.<<

I really wish people wouldn't say this.

All things being equal, bigger sensor pixels perform better at high iso. And for a given resolution, pixels get bigger with sensor size.

But things are NOT equal! The 6D has an old sensor, possibly less advanced heat management and definitely an old, old processor. And sensor performance isn't as simple as better worse. Chrominance and luminance noise and DR all have separate curves.

...You really can't count an older larger sensor to shoot better at a given iso. You have to look at sample images for the iso - and I emphasize for the given iso, because curves can easily cross. Eg

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr18=dayl...

...The XT20 looks at least an edge better than the 6D at 6400 iso. At 25600 the 6D is noticeably smoother - but at the cost of detail, so not really a win.

Think of it as being like cars. If you have two classic Mustangs from the same year then the one with the bigger engine will probably be faster. But a Nissan Skyline made a decade later will probably be faster even though the engine is a fraction of the size. Plus real speed is a complex characteristic that depends on eg road holding as well as power...

.."Full frame" is a sensor size, not a level of capability!

You're the first person to ever say these things based on the multiple things i have read online and youtube videos; it's almost shocking.

Unfortunately prestige pays a very large part in camera buying. And most people aren't very "information driven" so they don't check graphs.

I'd suggest that a good option might be buying an XT20 from somewhere with a strong returns policy. If you are a raw shooter then you might want to download a copy of rawtherapee - it's free, works well with Fuji sensors, and has a lot of advanced controls that come in useful at high iso.

I'd suggest the XT20 as the first choice because it is relatively cheap, fits in a jacket pocket with a pancake lens, the EVF acts as an image intensifier in dim clubs, it has a silent mode, and you can get funky angles shooting from rear screen. Plus it has about 100 times more decent focus points than the 6D.

Otoh if you want to shoot sports as well as concerts then it might be worth looking at the D500 - twice as much, but amazing AF, 10fps, and still probably at least a match for the 6D at 6400 and 12800 iso. Because it's newer tech. Just like my phone can kick the ass of the desktop PC I used to have.

I own an X-T1. Very happy with it, but I would not rely on it for shooting a fast moving event in low light. More focus points is only good if the AF can keep up with what you are shooting. High ISO noise performance is not as good as a 6D. This comes from real life experience, not specs.

While you are correct in saying that pixel size also matters, all other things being equal, full frame cameras will typically have the better sensor, better processor and better overall performance because they are aimed at advanced amateurs and professionals. I would not choose an XT20 to do a shoot I was being paid for.

Firstly, the XT1 focus system is not the focus system in the XT20. It is completely and totally irrelevant. The XT1 is after all obsolete for a reason - the jump from the XT1 to the XT2 is around the same from a 5Dii to 5Div in relative capability. The XT20 has FOUR TIMES the processor capacity of the XT1, a different sensor, and a different focus system. So how is bringing up the XT1 in anyway sane???

This is an actual XT2 lowlight AF test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrcIQfMNFCY

...In summary "Faster than my Nikon 810". And

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G5a0DeYl5U

Secondly, no an obsolete camera won't magically have a better sensor because it was aimed - you imagine - at "advanced amateurs". This is, in fact, silly. And that is being polite.

(Also,the XT20 has the same sensor and cpu as the XT2... which unlike the 6D has dual card slots for professional use- so applying your silly argument fairly, it's to be expect that the XT20 would still out perform the single slot amateur 6D... But it isn't a smart argument, so don't apply it!)

The sensor a camera has is the one it has. Fullstop. Period. End file. The new Fuji sensors are measurably equal or better to the 6D sensor - depending on what properties matter to you - and so is the D500 sensor.

***You don't deduce a sensor's performance by imaging who it was aimed at - you take sample images and look at them!***

And you find out how fast a camera's AF is by testing it or looking at a test. Rather than assuming that it be the same as an obsolete model from the same maker...

Even more to the point, they're both more than good enough and kick the hell out of the 6D in a host of other ways - they have more AF points and they're both focus much more accurately than the 6D, which didn't get the 5Diii closed feedback loop system. The 6D focus system is a decade behind the other two cameras- it's essentially that of the 5Dii dumbed down to a single decent focus point.

This really shouldn't be hard to understand: the reason why camera makers bring out new models is because they're better than the old ones!

Thanks for your insight!

Happy to help. Hopefully you can get something that suits your needs.