500d upgrade opinions.

Here's an old snap with the 450D and kit lens, bouncing a single speedlight off camera. Pick up a cheap speedlight, Yongnuo, Godox, etc.

MalVeauX wrote in post #18541362
Really, just add a small ETTL flash to your kit and you'll get way more from that. I wouldn't even move to FF for this. Just get better APS-C glass and a flash.

This would be my suggestion as well. Spend the money on upgrading perhaps to some STM glass. For myself, the 10-18 STM with bounced flash is very useful for indoor birthdays and parties.

My vote would be to keep the 500D and get a better lens or lenses. Getting a better camera with cheap lenses isn't going to do much for you in terms of IQ or or lowlight shooting. If you're ok with buying used maybe go for a pair of Sigma art primes. Or maybe a Tamron 24-70 or 70-200 G1. Lenses would be a better investment both short term (you'll see a marked improvement in IQ right away, and you'll be able to shoot in lower light conditions) and long term (a good lens will still be good 5 years from now) when you're able to get that FF body.

You could probably sell the two lenses you have, and have half of what you'd need to get a used or refurb 24-105L.

Chrizz wrote in post #18541431
also guys,
if i invest in FF would i be like investing in the future, or does not matter?

No, FF is not an investment into the future. There is no mandatory progression towards FF. Crop is perfectly capable of handling everything as plenty of examples in this forum shows.

As for IQ: All the suggestions you got in the other posts will give you a better IQ - especially under low light conditions. A flash is certainly the biggest improvement - but also has the steepest learning curve. It took me a year to get half-ways comfortable for "party, birthday" situations (dynamic...). The new bodies (e.g. 80D) are a steep increase in low noise / high iso and enables you to avoid a flash much longer.

I personally would invest the (lots of it) time and money into a good flash. This will give you the best IQ improvement for low light.

I upgraded from the 500D to the 6D 2 years ago. I'm still completely happy with that decision.

Just some food for thought, a 50 f1.4 on a 6D does great in low light. It is a very economical choice that will get you much better results in low-light that you can currently achieve. It's also probably a good focal length for the parties and birthdays you want to capture.

I've shot the 10-18 on my old crop body. A nice inexpensive lens, but I really used the heck out of my 24-105. Many like to dis on this lens, but it's one of the best bang for the buck lenses out there. I shoot it FF quite often.

Hm,
so I have two choices:
1) 6d Body+(maybe a fifty1.5)
2) get a nice lens

one big problem i have right away is that i am in europe and most sales on the site are CONUS (used).
Buying new is way over budget ,plus i think i will be wasting my money...
decisions, decisions...

Chrizz wrote in post #18542091
Hm,
so I have two choices:
1) 6d Body+(maybe a fifty1.5)
2) get a nice lens

one big problem i have right away is that i am in europe and most sales on the site are CONUS (used).
Buying new is way over budget ,plus i think i will be wasting my money...
decisions, decisions...

Do you use your camera to document sports???

Your in a situation where a new current body will produce much better IQ. Also purchasing "better" lenses can also improve the image quality.

Do you like to shoot available/natural light?? If so you may benefit in purchasing a new body. If you like to bounce flash you can happily use your current body and have new adventures with a newer lens.

I would say for the Canon world I really enjoy my 80D. It's so capable in both pushing the limits in available light shooting and also it works happily with any flash (like most camera bodies).

My biggest appreciation I have with a mirrored body like the 80d is that it has AF micro adjust so you can tweak a lens if it back/front focuses (most cases anyways.) On print I'm extremely impressed with the 80D. I always mention the 80D is like a canon 5dmk3 autofocus with a crop sensor in it.

I'll just mention that for a small form factor travel camera you can buy a used Fuji X-t10 with incredible 18-55 stabilized lens for a very reasonable price. I would have to say the image quality would surpass the 500d with 18-55 by a huge margin. That is the combo I first purchased in the Fuji world and for available light shooting the images were shocking to me. Mind you that combo the auto focus is not as fast as the mirrored canon bodies.

Have fun shopping

Chrizz wrote in post #18542091
...

one big problem i have right away is that i am in europe and most sales on the site are CONUS (used).
...

What about refurbished through the EU Canon outlet? Are you in the UK or another part of EU?

Are you saying they have no Craiglist in Europe?
6D is not something rare. I was checking local listings today for 6D and where are plenty and not expensive. My 5D and 5D MKII where purchased and sold locally as well.
I can't believe what they all went mirrorless in Europe and DSLRs were recycled.

Snydremark wrote in post #18542642
What about refurbished through the EU Canon outlet? Are you in the UK or another part of EU?

There is no official refurbished system like you get in the US here in the EU, or the rest of the world for that matter. There are some ebay sites that sell what they call refurbished, but they treat them like second hand goods, so you get practically no warranty on them. We do have consumer legislation that we could try to rely on, but even for business sales it is a lot less strict than for new goods, and can be difficult to get a problem resolved if you have one.

Don't expect Canon, or any other importer, to be waiting to help you with items that were sold to you as second hand, they have no liability to you. You will be relying on the retailer to sort it out. If it's been officially imported then you should at least be able to pay for out of warranty repairs, but that is about it.

Alan

AlanU wrote in post #18542632
Do you use your camera to document sports???

Your in a situation where a new current body will produce much better IQ. Also purchasing "better" lenses can also improve the image quality.

Do you like to shoot available/natural light?? If so you may benefit in purchasing a new body. If you like to bounce flash you can happily use your current body and have new adventures with a newer lens.

I would say for the Canon world I really enjoy my 80D. It's so capable in both pushing the limits in available light shooting and also it works happily with any flash (like most camera bodies).

My biggest appreciation I have with a mirrored body like the 80d is that it has AF micro adjust so you can tweak a lens if it back/front focuses (most cases anyways.) On print I'm extremely impressed with the 80D. I always mention the 80D is like a canon 5dmk3 autofocus with a crop sensor in it.

I'll just mention that for a small form factor travel camera you can buy a used Fuji X-t10 with incredible 18-55 stabilized lens for a very reasonable price. I would have to say the image quality would surpass the 500d with 18-55 by a huge margin. That is the combo I first purchased in the Fuji world and for available light shooting the images were shocking to me. Mind you that combo the auto focus is not as fast as the mirrored canon bodies.

Have fun shopping

1) Sports = NO.
2) natural light, always.
3) Can someone explain mirrored vs non mirrored?! Is this the new thing?
4) about the fuji, is this the setup that Mike brown uses?

Snydremark wrote in post #18542642
What about refurbished through the EU Canon outlet? Are you in the UK or another part of EU?

kf095 wrote in post #18542709
Are you saying they have no Craiglist in Europe?
6D is not something rare. I was checking local listings today for 6D and where are plenty and not expensive. My 5D and 5D MKII where purchased and sold locally as well.
I can't believe what they all went mirrorless in Europe and DSLRs were recycled.

basically what Alan said. Personally, after some bad experience i had with equipment that needed some work done, fixing is more trouble than just replacing the thing and be done with it.

The simple answer is, at least the way I see it, that you should go to the 77D if you like the Rebel footprint, or the 80D if you don't mind a slightly larger body with a bit more performance and build, or to the 7D2 if you want a 1D-like APS-C. Depends on budget, and your needs around size, build quality and general performance (burst, AF, etc).

This assumes you just want to get a newer better performing body to replace what you have, and you don't want to go down the road of changing formats or manufacturers, and thus lenses, or at least adapters for lenses that will affect AF, etc. If you have the budget (higher than what you are looking to do here) and what a complete change, then definitely look at mirrorless cameras, read the reviews about using the rear screen only or having to buy an electronic viewfinder, lens adapters, and lenses you may want for that format.

Chrizz wrote in post #18542899
3) Can someone explain mirrored vs non mirrored?! Is this the new thing?.

Mirrored refers to the mirror in a DSLR, the mirror reflects the image from the lens up to the viewfinder so you can see it.

Mirrorless is a camera that has no mirror, usually you use the rear screen or an electronic view finder (tiny LCD screen) that replaces the optical viewfinder found in DSLR cameras.

thanks for clearing things up guys,
but just a quick question for mirrorless,
so. there is no mirror to reflect to the viewfinder,
however, image quality and image projection to the sensor does NOT change from classic dslr , right?