Should I upgrade from my Rebel?

I have a rebel SL1, which served me with what I had intended it for: an entry into the DSLR photography world and a solid camera to take pics of my newborn at home. But is it a solid camera for semi-pro work?

I'm starting to do more landscape photography, am practicing more with models doing portraits, and will be a second shooter for my friend's wedding gig, so a more rugged body would be nice as well as more focus points. Don't really care for a higher FPS or any other features at this point (but maybe in the future). Not sure if there's any features I would need. If I were to upgrade it would be a 60d or 70d.

I would like to keep my current body and add lenses. What do you guys think?

What lenses do you own?

Not too great lenses. The ef 40mm pancake, efs18-55 stm, efs 55-250 IS ii.

That's a good start. The Pancake on the SL1 must be really nice for a city rig.

If I was you I'd buy one or two nice lenses before I upgraded the body. Perhaps a 24-70 and a 70-200. Buy the best you can afford. When you shoot with good glass you will find what you don't like about your camera quickly.

I moved from a t1i to the 6D and I cannot describe how many things I love about it... but before I bought the 6D I acquired the 28-70 and 70-200. My shots made a big jump in quality.

Ok, I should probably stick to EF lenses just in case I go full frame later? And yes, the pancake on SL1 is nice and mobile, but have realized lately that I don't really use it as much.

p00kienrayray wrote in post #16897333
Ok, I should probably stick to EF lenses just in case I go full frame later?

That is a good plan. One exception is the incredible 10-22 if you want Wide Angle.

p00kienrayray wrote in post #16897255
Not too great lenses. The ef 40mm pancake, efs18-55 stm, efs 55-250 IS ii.

definitely upgrade the glass, and do you have flash?

p00kienrayray wrote in post #16897333
Ok, I should probably stick to EF lenses just in case I go full frame later? And yes, the pancake on SL1 is nice and mobile, but have realized lately that I don't really use it as much.

not necessarily - get something like the 17-55is on the used market and you'll be protected against depreciation. The 17-55 is an awesome lens for weddings, and if you want ultrawide on a crop the 10-22 is a great lens.

truthfully, I had a 17-55IS and 70-200/2.8IS V1 and they served me well for a long time doing weddings.

[QUOTE=p00kienrayray;1​6897333]Ok, I should probably stick to EF lenses just in case I go full frame later?[QUOTE]No, absolutely not. Most lens will retain 80% of their value if bought new, or almost all of their value if bought used, so if you decide to make the large financial leap later to a full frame, it won't be an expensive proposition to sell your EF-S to move to EF.

In general EF lenses can be almost twice as expensive to get similar IQ as their EF-S counter parts. It's a lot of money to spend for absolutely no reason other than one day in 4 years you might upgrade.

As for upgrading from your SL1, the only reason to upgrade a camera (or a lens) is if there is a feature you want or need that you're missing. If you aren't looking for faster shutter speeds (1/8000 is very nice when shooting f/2.8+ in bright sun, but great pictures are rarely taken in the harsh shadows of bright sunlight), weather sealing (how often do you really want to shoot in the rain), more AF points (are you shooting sports all day), or full frame (hey, this is nice, but it's not cheap), then there's not a compelling reason to upgrade.

Your money would be much better spent on a 50 f/1.4, a 85 f/1.8, a 10-22, or a 17-55 f/2.8 all depending on what you're looking to do. This is really the key point here. Those are all going to be the same price or less than moving to a 70D (the cheapest upgrade that would make any sense) from your SL1 and would all have a MUCH larger impact on your images than the body.

With photography being a "sky's the limit" hobby when it comes to how much money you can spend, you'll generally want to get the biggest bang for your buck as I suspect you've got a limited budget like most people.

^ I agree. You are not likely to see much of any change from the SL1 to the 70D if you are using the same lenses.
While the 70D camera does offer improved video feature, photographically I is not superior.
If you were using the 20D or 30D, then the 70D would add a lot more usable ISO performance.
Keep the SL1 and it will teach you a lot about what you want to shoot and how well you can shoot it.

I would also recommend getting 2 lenses mentioned that you currently don't have.
The Canon 10-22mm UWA lens and either the 50 f1.4 or the 85mm f1.8 depending on your prefered FL.
Having them will enable you to create photos that would not be possible without them.
Also would recommend the 100mm macro USM if you're interested in macro work, it is also a good portrait lens.

The 17-55mm f2.8 IS is a great zoom lens and the best one on a crop camera.
When I had my T4i (650D) this was one of the last lenses I bought. I tried wider, longer, faster, and macro all before upgrading my kit len to the 17-55mm.
Once I did upgrade, that lens became my most used lens, though. I often left it set in AV at f2.8 all day.
I spent a week in Kyoto Japan last summer with the 17-55mm 10-22mm and 50mm f1.4 lenses.
The 17-55mm was on the camera 80% of the time and the 10-22mm was on it 20%
I only used the 50mm f1.4 once on that trip, but I don't shoot many portraits, anyway.

Buy them used in good condition off of this forum and enjoy the camera.
Best of luck to you.

Don't buy lenses based on what you may have in the future. You have a perfectly capable camera now; buy lenses for that. The EFs 10-22, 17-55 & 15-85 are some of the best lenses Canon makes. Get enough experience to know what you want next, before buying more gear. Don't worry; you'll know when it is time to spend money.

CollegeKid wrote in post #16897917
Don't buy lenses based on what you may have in the future. You have a perfectly capable camera now; buy lenses for that. The EFs 10-22, 17-55 & 15-85 are some of the best lenses Canon makes. Get enough experience to know what you want next, before buying more gear. Don't worry; you'll know when it is time to spend money.

^ Good point. Only you will know when you have reached the limitation of your gear. I used my 100mm macro USM so much last spring, 90% handheld) that I justify the much more expensive 100L lens to have IS while shooting to assist my shutter speed at 1/125 or lower. As a result I got more keeper at f8.0-f22 handheld
The cost seemed minimal to my ability to create the photos I wanted easier.

InfiniteDivide wrote in post #16897928
^ Good point. Only you will know when you have reached the limitation of your gear. I used my 100mm macro USM so much last spring, 90% handheld) that I justify the much more expensive 100L lens to have IS while shooting to assist my shutter speed at 1/125 or lower. As a result I got more keeper at f8.0-f22 handheld
The cost seemed minimal to my ability to create the photos I wanted easier.

How very true. When I got my 6D last year, I really pined for a 24-70 II. When I sat down and went over my photos and realized what I needed, I saved myself about $1,700. I got a EF 35mm f/2 IS, instead. Right focal length for what I wanted to do, one f/stop faster, and $1,700 less expensive than what I thought I wanted.

CollegeKid wrote in post #16898001
How very true. When I got my 6D last year, I really pined for a 24-70 II. When I sat down and went over my photos and realized what I needed, I saved myself about $1,700. I got a EF 35mm f/2 IS, instead. Right focal length for what I wanted to do, one f/stop faster, and $1,700 less expensive than what I thought I wanted.

Perfect situation where everyone on a forum may be telling you how great that $2000 lens is. And they are not wrong. But just because it is a great lens, it may not be what you 'actually need' to create the photos you want.

After 3 months of using my 50 1.4 lens on crop I knew 2 things.
I hated the 80mm FL for what I wanted to shoot.
I loved the f1.4 DOF compared to my f2.8 zoom lens even at 55mm

I researched and researched and read many stories of other users 'saving money'
and buying a cheaper lens and later regretting it and selling it.

I chose to for-go most all of my spending for a couple months and saved up to buy the 24L II
I knew there were cheaper options but they were either a longer FL or a slower lens.
It was exactly the lens the met my needs. Much wider and just as fast as my 50 1.4.
Perfection. (For me) And it still is.

Thanks for the great advice, I have decided to upgrade lenses instead of body. The 10-22 uwa sounds good for landscapes and events, so I'll look into that. Would like to pick up a second glass, so just need to figure out what I need.