Any sense in upgrading 650D to 70D?

mikehiow

mikehiow

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Without going into too much detail, A situation has arisen where I can achieve very strong money for my 650D.

This got me thinking that I could potentially upgrade to a 70D around £200.

I'd love a 6D in the next year or two, however the price of the camera, but more importantly the lenses puts me off (Replacing my 17-55 with a 24-105 isn't so bad, but the price of a 10-22 equivalent looks to add another £600+ on top of the upgrade cost!)

As far as I can see, I gain more weight, a few external buttons, a higher framerate and a better viewfinder. Is it worth it, considering this is likely the cheapest upgrade I'll find between now and my ultimate goal of the 6D?

Pros and Cons? I'm just looking for an objective view, and perhaps the opinion of someone who may have made a similar jump.
 
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What will the 70D offer that you think would be enough of a benefit to buy it ? The 70D is a very good camera but I'm never convinced about a purchase when it's just a stop gap for something else.

A 10-22 equivalent could be a 17-40 which is £519 from hdew, and on the conservative side you'd get £300+ for the 10-22.
 
I did the same upgrade when the 70d came out. I wanted better AF and better burst rate which I got :)

The better auto bracket features mean I can get a bit more detail easily for HDR shots which I do sometimes.

The video AF is a bonus but so far I haven't had much use for it. Other than that, the camera feels nicer too
 
The wife has a 650D and I have a 70D and TBH the addition of the top LCD, faster shutter speed, a much better AF system and even better video performance would make it worth it for me. I traded some gear in for my 70D, including a 7D, and it was the second best thing I've done in photography (the best thing was get a 5D3). IMO the 70D is the best crop body I've used, and I've had 6 including a 1D3, by a long way. The IQ is excellent and the AF is fast and accurate, even without the added benefits that come from Liveview and the build quality is excellent, it feels so much better than the 650D to me. The 70D has a lot more going for it than the body though, the HDR feature gives good results and is easy to use and the WIFI opens up a lot of different shooting abilities.
 
Sold!

That's the kind of experience I want to hear! The video and wifi are the main selling points for me. Doing a lot of night/star photography, it'd be great to see test shots on my iPad rather than a tiny 3" screen.
 
mikehiow said:
Without going into too much detail, A situation has arisen where I can achieve very strong money for my 650D.

This got me thinking that I could potentially upgrade to a 70D around £200.

I'd love a 6D in the next year or two, however the price of the camera, but more importantly the lenses puts me off (Replacing my 17-55 with a 24-105 isn't so bad, but the price of a 10-22 equivalent looks to add another £600+ on top of the upgrade cost!)

As far as I can see, I gain more weight, a few external buttons, a higher framerate and a better viewfinder. Is it worth it, considering this is likely the cheapest upgrade I'll find between now and my ultimate goal of the 6D?

Pros and Cons? I'm just looking for an objective view, and perhaps the opinion of someone who may have made a similar jump.
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I went from a 550D to a 6D, and it's big leap in capability - a whole world of high-ISO and low-light shooting became available; where the 550D would struggle to produce a usable image at anything above ISO 1600, the 6D goes "ISO 6400, you say? Certainly!"

I think that unless you need the reach of APS-C and the weatherproofing/framerate of the 70D - and if you shoot sport or wildlife, you may well do - you're better off saving up for the 6D.

FWIW, I got a 6D and 17-40 from Wex on 12 months interest-free, which made the man-maths required to justify the purchase considerably more palatable.

OTOH, you could sell the 650D and keep the 10-22 to use on the 70D.

Have you tested the trade-in waters with the likes of Wex and MPB?
 
I'd love a 6D, but cost is prohibitive at the moment.

I thought I'd wait until they started showing up second hand a little more regularly, but I'm currently wondering whether it's worth the risk to buy an import from the likes of Digital Rev (£1500 with 24-105).

My only dilemma at the moment is finding a relatively fast lens around 16mm to replace the 10-22. The 10-22 could be faster for stars etc. so I'm not sure F/4 of the 17-40 is the best solution.
 
mikehiow said:
I'd love a 6D, but cost is prohibitive at the moment.

I thought I'd wait until they started showing up second hand a little more regularly, but I'm currently wondering whether it's worth the risk to buy an import from the likes of Digital Rev (£1500 with 24-105).

My only dilemma at the moment is finding a relatively fast lens around 16mm to replace the 10-22. The 10-22 could be faster for stars etc. so I'm not sure F/4 of the 17-40 is the best solution.
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The excellent high-ISO performance of the 6D offsets some of the intrinsic slowness of the 17-40 lens. The 24-105 is f/4, too. Don't let that put you off, as it's a brilliant bit of glass.

If you're prepared to trade width for speed, the 24-70 is a stop faster.

ETA: What about the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8? I've never used it, but the numbers seem to be up your alley.
 
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I will look in to it, thanks - I'm borrowing the 10-22 I have at the moment (planning to buy my own), so it may even be a useful lens before I upgrade.

As long as it's sharp and there is a lens correction profile for it, I suspect it'd be perfect.
 
Mike, STFU, rip off whoever the poor sod is you're going to sting for your 650D and man-up and go buy a 6D.

Talk to Chad (Russell's cousin) down in Ventnor and meet with him to have a look at his 6D if you need any further convincing. He's a good lad.

Going full-frame is the best thing you'll ever do photography-wise, especially if you're looking to do more night landscapes.

10-22mm isn't all that at the wide end on crop anyway and the distortion is hugely lairy on it at 10mm. 17-40 will deliver much better results on full frame with roughly the same field of view and avoid the annoying intermediate stop-gap buying of a 10-22mm lens which you will rue the day you put your hand in your pocket for in due course when you come to trade it anyway.
 
If you're keen on low light photography, as others have said, the 6D is brilliant. You can pick up 24-105 and 17-40 EF lenses on sale here at pretty decent prices as well, so it's not quite as expensive as you might think. The price of the body probably won't drop much until it's within a year of being replaced (sort of like what is happening to the 7D at the moment). I've certainly not regretted buying one, and am even thinking of selling my 7D because I really don't use it any more...
 
I wouldn't bank on the price of the 6D dropping any time soon, even if it's replaced - look at the price of 5D MKIIs now vs a year ago - you won't see much movement there. I bought mine with a feeling of trepidation that I was buying something that was about to take a bath value-wise and they really haven't.
 
I took the plunge this morning and got myself a 70D and on first impressions I am very impressed with it. I am loving the Wifi feature as I can use my phone or tablet to control it which it great when doing macro shots. I also like the new view finder with the increased focus points.
 
You've convinced me.

Once I have my VAT bill out of the way at the end of the month, I'm going to stump up for a 6D.

I'm still undecided on a lens, though.

It's a toss-up between a 24-105 and something like the Tokina 11-16 or Samyang 14mm or just a 16-35 2.8, worrying about the rest of the zoom range later.
 
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I couldn't wait.

6D and 24-105 kit on it's way for tomorrow with a handy little bonus of a nifty fifty and memory card from WEX.

I hope it's all you claim it to be, Thomas :p

I just need to find a Samyang 14mm now and I think I'll be sorted for a while.
 
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First impressions are very, very good. I love the viewfinder - the 650d one seems crippled by comparison.

Despite being heavier, it's a lot more comfortable to use as it's easier to hold and seems a lot more solid.

It's hard to describe as it's not just metering, perhaps it's down to dynamic range, but pictures seem brighter, too.

Whether it was worth the £500 premium over a 70D, I'm not entirely sure, I suspect that'll be revealed with time.
 
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