Canon T4i or Canon 6D for travel, landscape, street portrait & street photography

Hey All.

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I travel a lot. I want to get a dslr for travel, landscape, street portrait & street photography.

I've got it narrowed down to the Canon crop T4i or the Canon full frame 6D. I like the T4i for the swivel & touch screen, the flash and the price obviously....and the 6D for full frame.

If I went with the T4i, I'd get it with the Canon 10-22mm(landscapes), the Canon 28mm f1.8(for street) and the Canon 50mm f1.8(street portraits)

If I went with the 6D, I'd get it with the Canon 28mm(for landscapes & street), the canon 50mm f1.4mm(for street) and the Canon 85mm f1.8(for street portraits).

I like primes. I like zooming with my feet and getting up close and personal to my subjects when I travel. Plus I like to travel light.

I love the shallow DOF creaminess you get with FF, but I figure if I go with the t4i, I can always sell it bundled with the 10-22mm if I ever wanna upgrade to FF down the road.

Basically that's about it. This will be my first DSLR, and I'm just looking for feedback from the knowledgable people here at POTN. Thanks!

Just one thing to note... 28mm on full frame is much longer than 10-22 on crop. Something like the 17-40 would be equivalent for full frame (for a zoom lens).

You should have made this thread a poll so people could choose and you would have a tally of the most popular choice.

I think either camera would suit you fine - I personally like your lens selection better for the 6D option which is why Im leaning towards that one for you. But 28mm isn't equivalent to 10-22mm on crop. You would need something around 17mm to have the same FOV. The 6D does not have a pop-up flash, which anyone using speedlights wouldn't care about anyway since a pop-up flash is usually pretty bad anyway. Weak power, and a direct light that typically is not flattering. If you could get the 6D and squeeze in a little speedlight flash to go with it, then I would say go for it.

If this is your first DSLR, do you know the basics of exposure? Shutterspeed/ISO/Apert​ure and how they relate to each other? The rebel series has always been the go-to for people just starting, but if you understand exposure and don't plan on setting either camera on greenbox (auto) mode, there isn't any reason to think the 6D might be too much camera or hard to learn on. It simply has more features. The T4i is smaller in body, which would make it really ideal for a travel companion. But the 6D isn't huge. Its smaller than the 7D but not by much - its mostly a difference in weight which could be appreciated by someone travelling.

The swivel screen (from those I've talked to) say they like it for these reasons:
- Macro photography - they dont have to press themselves down to look through the viewfinder to frame the subject. But you're still using the camera in live-view at that point, which is slower and more cumbersome to begin with. Pick your poison on this one.
- Video - seems the swivel screen is really useful when shooting video, which I could understand.
- Shooting from the hip - when in cities where you want to take candid shots of strangers without looking like a total stalker, it lets them keep the camera away from their face and look like they arn't doing anything, while actually taking a shot.

I'm leaning towards the 6D since I feel you secretly really want full frame

chrismarriott66 wrote in post #15352894
Just one thing to note... 28mm on full frame is much longer than 10-22 on crop. Something like the 17-40 would be equivalent for full frame (for a zoom lens).

True, I thought bout that. And if I went the FF route, I might invest in a 17-40 eventually. But I think the 28mm would suffice for landscapes in the beginning. Or at least the kind that I do. Mostly environmental street portraits and scenes. But thanks for the feedback!

Hey Christina, thanks for the detailed opinion. I think you are right about me secretly wanting the FF. heh heh heh.

I come from a video background, so I am familiar with photography technique to an extent. If the 6D had a swivel screen, it'd be no contest. It really does help with video and shooting from the hip as you say. I'm surprised they didn't add it.

I have some time to decide(and save!) since I am not leaving to New Zealand until after the new year. Maybe the T5i will be announced?

I definitely have some mulling over to do. But I really appreciate the comments. Food for thought. Thanks!

I hear what y'all are saying about the 28mm on the FF not being the equivalent of the 10-22mm on the crop. Although I dig some extreme wide angle shots that the 10-22mm would give me, I'd mainly get it so I could get a true 28mm FOV for street photography on the crop.

If I went the crop route, there is a chance I'd like to fool around with Underwater photography in the future since I scuba dive...which the 10-22mm would be great for, but that is a WHOLE other expense with the housing cost and all. Not really my main reason for going dslr right now.

Vagabondology wrote in post #15352977
If the 6D had a swivel screen, it'd be no contest. It really does help with video and shooting from the hip as you say. I'm surprised they didn't add it.

The 6D has a swivel screen, detachable too .... well, if you have a smart phone or supported tablet.

Steve

canblue wrote in post #15353027
The 6D has a swivel screen, detachable too .... well, if you have a smart phone or supported tablet.

Steve

Yeah, i know with the wifi you can use an iPhone to control the 6D...but then you have to use both hands. One to hold the camera, and the other to hold the iphone or ipad. Not impossible, but kinda awkward compared to a swivel screen.

Welcome to the forum.

I'd definitely get the 6D with either the 24-70L II or 24-70 f/4L IS.
you can achieve all your goals with a single zoom lens that has the sharpness of primes.
Plus, it's much lighter than having three primes in your bag...

Another thing to consider is the impressive high ISO noise performance of the 6D -- you can shoot at a higher ISO than you will with a T4i -- and for street uses, especially at dusk or nighttime -- that could be a huge plus. For landscapes the HDR function built in the 6D might be worth exploring also. And the 6D is almost the same size and weight as a 40D (but more than a Rebel)..

Thanks Andrikos. I will definitely look at the 24-70 if I go with the 6D. Argh! Soooo many choices! Lol. At least I have some time to decide.

Thanks for the feedback Dave. Yeah, I am leaning towards the 6D more and more. Especially since i always planned to go FF down the road even if I go crop now. I guess the main thing was price and learning the ropes in the beginning. So the t4i made sense. But like Christina said, I could just as we'll jump in and learn on the 6D too.

Still mulling it over. But appreciating all the opinions.

The more I research the Canon 6D, the more I get the feeling that Canon made the mistake of trying to compete with itself rather than Nikon.

I know some are upset about the lack of focus points, but that doesn't bother me. I'm not an action photog, and use manual focus most of the time.

It's the little things that could have made the Canon 6D more competitive as an entry level FF that I think are lacking. I mentioned it already, but i think a swivel/touch screen would have really helped make it more separate from the more expensive 5D3.

I wouldn't say it was crippled, but it just feels like canon went out of their way to make sure it didn't stand out too much from the 5D series.

The wifi and GPS feature is cool. But i think Canon should have added the swivel screen.

There just seems to be all these little things that Nikon was able to include in their low end FF that makes the Canon feel lacking. The 97% viewfinder. The lack of a headphone jack etc. little things. But they add up. Especially for $2,000. Nikon was able to do it.

I'm a canon guy...so I'm not jumping ship. Just might wait for the 6D mark 2 and just go with the t4i for now. Or wait a few months for the T5i. This way, I can focus(no pun intended) on the glass for now.

Still haven't made my final decision yet...but

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm excited!

chrismarriott66 wrote in post #15352894
Just one thing to note... 28mm on full frame is much longer than 10-22 on crop. Something like the 17-40 would be equivalent for full frame (for a zoom lens).

Huh? 10-22 on crop has a FOV of 16-35.2mm on FF. 28mm on FF is "much longer" than that.

canblue wrote in post #15353027
The 6D has a swivel screen, detachable too .... well, if you have a smart phone or supported tablet.

Steve

Has someone come up with a mount to attach it yet? I fully expect ballhead phone mounts for the flash mount.