5Dc or T4i for learning photography?

Full Frame is pants!

http://www.hasselblad.​com …duct-view-360-degree.aspx

Medium Format is for pantsies.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ter_Technika_Cl​assic.html

If you didn't already have the T4i, it might be worth considering a 5Dc. But you already have the T4i, and you're asking what camera will be better for learning photography.

Here are the advantages of your T4i over the 5Dc:

• Total system cost, especially on the telephoto end of things.
  
• Autofocus
  
• Size (if you value a smaller body)
  
• Technological amenities (e.g., the screen)
  
• Speed
  
• Resolution
  

• Shallow depth of field latitude
  
• Center sharpness with less-than-stellar glass
  
• Wide angle with tilt/shift lenses
  
• Replaceable focus screen
  

kcbrown,

An excellent, well-reasoned response to the OP's dilemma. I appreciate your clear and concise writing style, and your opinions. You've summed this up nicely. Thank you.

TSchrief wrote in post #15443210
Please, I was not trying to insult you. My information was meant for the OP's consideration. Your "Why?" post asked the question directly, so I included it. No offense intended.

No offense taken! I was merely clarifying as I wasn't sure why you'd quoted my post in that reply.

TSchrief wrote in post #15445335
kcbrown,

An excellent, well-reasoned response to the OP's dilemma. I appreciate your clear and concise writing style, and your opinions. You've summed this up nicely. Thank you.

I did too! All the comments and discussion was greatly appreciated!

You're very welcome! I do try to be factual about this stuff. You get so much hype even on forums such as this (this place is actually very good about that in general, but you still have people who fully believe and propagate the "full frame" hype) that it can be very difficult indeed for a newcomer to figure out what is hype and what has a solid factual basis.

I do have some experience with full frame, but not as much as many here. What experience I have, combined with a rational look at images produced by cameras of each format (especially after accounting for the lens characteristics) and a decent understanding of physics and engineering, has led me to arrive at the conclusions I have.

Regardless, all you really need to know as a newcomer is what kind of quality you can get out of your T4i once you have things figured out. There are threads on this site, as well as various examples in various threads throughout the critique section, that should demonstrate that what you can get out of the T4i is indeed very, very good. Modern DSLRs are so incredibly good at capturing images that even the bottom of the line models are capable of capturing images that even the most demanding professional would be happy to give to his customers. These days, it's all about the photographer, the light, the postprocessing, and the glass. The camera is the very last thing that really matters in terms of the quality of images produced today. Where the camera really makes the difference is in terms of what the photographer has to do in order to get the shot. For instance, a more advanced autofocus system makes it possible for you to keep up with a moving subject and more reliably get properly focused shots than does a less advanced one. There are good reasons the 7D is so well-loved by those who got a good copy: it does absolutely everything really well, much like the 1D series cameras do.


The interesting thing is that I'm being dragged, kicking and screaming, not only into the full frame world, but to the dark side as well! My evil friend that I've known since high school (and who knows what I shoot with and why) decided to get me a Nikon D600 with the 24-85 VR lens for Christmas ! It just arrived today. I expect I'll be picking up a Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC for it, along with a couple of primes, since the main advantage of full frame is its shallow depth of field, and the only way to really make it come into its own is to go with lenses for which there is no crop equivalent (there is no 15-45 f/1.8 for crop cameras, but that's what it would take to have a crop equivalent to that Tamron). It'll cost me a bit, but the camera would probably just sit in the closet most of the time if I didn't do that (I much prefer the way the 7D feels in my hand).

I will most certainly write about my experiences. It's going to be a very interesting journey.


Anyway, I would generally advise someone to stick with the crop format unless they have a compelling need for what full frame can do, or if they have an evil friend that "forces" them into the full frame world.

kcbrown wrote in post #15446407
Anyway, I would generally advise someone to stick with the crop format unless they have a compelling need for what full frame can do, or if they have an evil friend that "forces" them into the full frame world.

The best advice in this thread. I fully agree; unless you actually need (or want) something that only a FF camera gets you, that cannot be obtained with another camera, there is no point in spending more for it.