6D or 7D.

I want to upgrade soon I'm outgrowing the limits of my current camera 600D. I mainly do portraits most of the time indoor with strobes. I'm trying to work on natural light for outdoor portraits (most people want outdoor) and I don't like raising the ISO above 400 on my camera. So I need a good high iso camera.

I also love shooting sports mostly kids outdoor and indoor. It's hard with a 600D, fps not fast enough I miss focus a lot but I try to make it work. I like having the extra reach of a crop. I don't know if I need a camera that's excellent in high iso or a camera that's excellent in fps. My main focus right now is portraits but I'm an athlete and enjoy sports more. What camera should I upgrade to, 6D or 7D is my only options, most of my lens are EF. Thanks

You are able to push your post editing capabilities much further on the 6d shots than the 7d. I’ve owned both and the grain on the 7d gets bad quick. If you do a lot of autofocus your not gonna like the 6d though. I do a lot of spot focus and it works for me. You miss having the popup flash when flying with minimal gear and the joystick on the back that a lot of cameras have. If you use a lot of flash with your portraits the 7d would be fine as it even has a faster sync than the 6d.

If most of your lenses are EF, then it would be easy to switch to the 6D. It will be better for portraits and you can shoot at very high ISOs relatively noise free. The 7D will be better for sports with more reach and greater FPS as you noted. I picked up a 6D not too long ago and actually kept my 7D - it will be used with my long lens for birds and wildlife, and the 6D for pretty much everything else. You could always get the 6D, and then if you can afford it, pick up a used 7D - on the second hand market, they are coming down in price quickly and are more and more affordable.

Heya,

6D, plain and simple. The 7D has no advantage what so ever for your needs over your current 600D (T3i), as they're the same sensor and same ISO ability, etc. The 7D just has better autofocus, but everything else image quality wise, they're equal basically. The 6D on the other hand has quite a jump in ISO performance and range, better dynamic range, higher resolution, and a much more controllable depth of field per focal length, being full frame instead of APS-C, which is nicer for portrait so that you can have better selection of lens per focal length.

Now, the 6D is not ideal for sports. It will do fine, if you simply learn to shoot action. I can shoot kids soccer no problem with a T4i which is essentially the same as the T3i for the most part. FPS doesn't really matter to me, as long as it's 3~4 FPS it's more than enough, I don't just spray 6~7 FPS when shooting, as I don't want to sift through 1000+ photos from an afternoon, looking that one shot.

Really I would just suggest you practice more with your T3i for sports and keep it for that. Outdoor sports, with ISO 800~1600, and develop your post processing (noise reduction) work flow so that this isn't an issue. Granted, the 6D can do just as good, if not better (especially for ISO pushing to keep high frame rates) if you practice it too. Both cameras lack high FPS. The only advantage the 7D offers you here is higher FPS and a better autofocus system for action. The question becomes... are you willing to sacrifice quality everywhere, just for high FPS and AF?

This is where the 5D3 comes in. Or a 1D series. But it depends on your budget, if you want to get the best of both worlds.

Very best,

I doubt that you can even begin to see ISO noise on a properly exposed picture on the 600D until 800 or 1600. Maybe check your settings and post work. I used to push my T1i to 3200 when I needed to.

MalVeauX wrote in post #16991324
Heya,

6D, plain and simple.

Nuff said.

6D is the better choice. Better image sensor (FF).

Have to go with the 6D crowd here. I own the 6D and the 7D and while the 7D may be my choice for daytime sports where I can shoot at ISO 400 or below, the 6D works better for indoor or evening sports due the ability to crank the ISO. The FPS on the 6D is lower, of course, so it depends on the sport. If you absolutely need the 8FPS of the 7D, then you might want to go with it. But if you can live with the 4.5 FPS of the 6D, it's the better choice over all.

You sound like a prime candidate for a 5DIII. Nearly the same ISO capability as the 6D and a better AF than the 7D.

Agreed, the 5D MkIII would be the way to go. But that $1000 premium over the 6D is a tough nut for someone on a budget.

Something to consider, OneDeep. The Amazon Store card gives you one full year interest free to pay it off. They won't start you off with a limit that will allow you to buy the 5DMkIII, but if you have enough cash for the 6D, the Amazon Store card should cover the rest. Just make very sure you pay it off in a year or you get slapped with all the interest. And don't go crazy with the card. Might be worth looking into as an option, though. Just FYI.

+1 for the 6D

I don't really spray and pray when I do sports now the kids are not moving that fast compared to adults so I guess I wouldn't need the fps in the 7D, but as someone mention get the 6D now and get a 7D as a backup in the future. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

if you are coming from the 7D then I will say get the 5D3
but you are using the 600D then the 6D is perfect for your use

5d3. Save up or sell something for it.

M_Six wrote in post #16991382
Have to go with the 6D crowd here. I own the 6D and the 7D and while the 7D may be my choice for daytime sports where I can shoot at ISO 400 or below, the 6D works better for indoor or evening sports due the ability to crank the ISO. The FPS on the 6D is lower, of course, so it depends on the sport. If you absolutely need the 8FPS of the 7D, then you might want to go with it. But if you can live with the 4.5 FPS of the 6D, it's the better choice over all.

Yep this.

7D for outdoors (or overcast) with fast lens is great for fast sports/wildlife. Anything indoors, 6D shines including portraits. I sold my 7D recently and stuck with the 6D.