Canon 600D (advice) (1 Viewer)

[Stephen-Brooks]

Hello All,

I am looking at buying a Canon 600D in the new year. Can anyone please advise me on a unbias basis as to how good of a camera it is. The camera is going to be used mainly for bird photography birds both in motion and static. Can this camera cope with a bird in flight ?

Regards

Stephen

 

[Steve Babbs]

Well I use a 500D and it's pretty good and I've taken some pictures in flight I'm pretty pleased with, so the 600D should be at least as good. It rather depends what lens you'll have attached. I'm sure many people will be trying to persuade you to find the extra for a 7D. They are pretty good value at the moment, but still a lot more than the 600D, so you might want to consider that as well.

 

[pppppvvvv]

i got one. Hasn't got much of a buffer if you shoot in raw and jpeg, about 4 shots before it runs out of breathe. Quality of photos are quite good though. and the video mode is good, especially the digital zoom which gives another 3x-6x in HD (actually goes to 10x, but the results seem to go downhill towards the higher end).

I'd recommend one if you are going to make use of the movie mode too. They are going pretty cheap at the moment as well. I notice their price has dropped since I got mine lol!

Plenty of pics on my blog if you need an idea. All with a 600d and 70-300L from May 2011 to current, so quite a bit of cropping involved typically, but mostly used in good light (apart from the Brant which was in lousy light conditions).

Hope this helps
Peter

 

[Steve Babbs]

There's no doubt that it's capable of very good photographs, as good as more expensive cameras - it has the same processor - what you get for more money is faster focusing, a bigger buffer etc. I wouldn't shoot in RAW and jpeg with one, if you're in any kind of hurry.

 

[Hor Kee]

I've got one and it serves me well, being capable of making great pictures. Since you said you would one to get one in the New Year, why not wait for a couple of months for Canon to refresh its Rebel line with what would most probably be a 650D? The website Canon Rumours has stated that it would incorporate Canon's latest Digic V processor that gives improved performance over the Digic IV in the 600D.

 

[Lapwing2011]

i got one recently - am still getting the hang of it as it's my first DSLR but i must say i really love it - it's pretty user-friendly

i got it in a kit with the 18-135 lens, which as a starter lens allows some flexibility - i took both the attached with it and am pretty pleased with the results (note the geese pic is a pretty heavy crop - and the robin was about four feet away!).

i will of course be getting a longer lens though.

i do agree though with the buffering - 4 shots is the most you get if shooting both in jpeg and RAW - i've not hit any other drawbacks yet

 

[Lapwing2011]

I've got one and it serves me well, being capable of making great pictures. Since you said you would one to get one in the New Year, why not wait for a couple of months for Canon to refresh its Rebel line with what would most probably be a 650D? The website Canon Rumours has stated that it would incorporate Canon's latest Digic V processor that gives improved performance over the Digic IV in the 600D.

Notwithstanding my comments above, this looks like a good tip - just checked out the Canon Rumours site and there may be a new EF 100-400 lens out soon also (see url below) - almost bought the current version but def going to wait now!

http://www.canonrumors.com/2011/11/canon-ef-100-400-f4-5-6l-is-soonish-cr2/

 

[Roy C]

just checked out the Canon Rumours site and there may be a new EF 100-400 lens out soon also (see url below) - almost bought the current version but def going to wait now!

I reckon if/when a new one is released you will talking about near to £2000 and maybe more. If the suggested retail price is right ($2800) then pre-released or early adopters in the UK could be paying around £2800 (its almost always parity with the $ to start with). After a while it could fall to around £1900. If you are prepared to pay these prices then it is worth hanging on.
Even if is announced soon the way it has been going over the past few years it could be a year or more before it hit the shelves so again if you are prepared to wait then that is fine.

 

[Steve Babbs]

The buffer is:
Max. Approx. 3.7fps for approx. 34 JPEG images¹³, 6 images RAW²³ according to the Canon website. This is a bit worse than the 500D.

Re the Canon 100 - 400 there's be a new one about to come out for about 10 years.

 

[gergrd]

I have a 600D (T3i) as a backup to a 7D. I now use the 600D more often than the 7D - the sensor is the same and it is significantly lighter. I use it a lot for close-up and macro shots, so shooting speed isn't that critical to me. If I were going after birds in flight on an outing, I'd take along the 7D to take advantage of the higher shooting speed and larger buffer. The 60D would be a reasonable compromise as it again has the same sensor as the 600D and 7D and has higher shooting speed and double the buffer of the 600D. The US price of the 60D is not significantly higher than that of the 600D. However, the US price of the 7D is as low as I've seen it, so this might be the right time to go for one if birds in flight is your key criteria.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I do find, with my 500D, that with a high speed SD card, and I've found a huge difference between different class 10 ones, I can more or less keep shooting with JPEGs. I've certainly got to over 150 shots. The buffer is a pain with RAWs though, which I prefer.

I did see a review comparing the 7D, the 60D and the 600D. They liked the 7D and the 600D but couldn't really see the point of the 60D.

As Greg said, if you're going to take a lot of birds in flight you probably want to find the extra cash for a 7D

 

[Lapwing2011]

Steve/Roy - yes I take your points re 100-400, just not sure about forking out for something which may soon be out of date - in particuar I've been bothered about the in-out zoom which some people say sucks in dust - anyway will continue to think about it and if my patience fails me or as Steve says it's another false alarm will go for current one after all