My friend Phil wants to buy the best camera he can and has been agonizing over which one to buy. 5D Mark II, 7D, 6D, 60D, T4i???? And what about all those Nikons? What to do?
Being a friend, I didn’t have to ask the most important question…”What do you want to shoot?”…I already knew what he shoots. His dilemma – he wants the best – otherwise he will have second thoughts later. But, he doesn’t want to waste money either. He is not one to rush into decisions.
1) Canon or Nikon??? (He already has one good Nikon lens.) I use Canon as do most of our friends and won’t be much help if he picks Nikon.
He did get a good offer for his lens on a trade-in so Canon is looking good.
2) Full frame or crop sensor? The 5D III is full frame…I love full frame but, knowing his needs (hobbyist and pictures of the grand-dog) I told him that he doesn’t need a full frame.
3) How many frames per second? The 7D is “rapid fire”. He doesn’t do HDR and doesn’t do sports so most cameras would fit his needs there.
4) Does weight matter? I don’t like a heavy camera on vacation but he is used to it. I use a T3i for travel. I save the 5D II for the studio/professional work on a tripod.
5) Megapixels? All the cameras have more than enough megapixels
My advice: Don’t worry about the body. Concentrate on the lens. A T4i is more than enough camera for his needs. Invest the difference in price in lenses.
My feeling is that he is going to get the Canon 6D (full frame) kit with the 24-105 L lens. B&H says it should come out this Monday and they have a $200 discount. Exactly the opposite of all of my suggestions…He’s going to love it 🙂
Photography by Jerry, LLC 
Jerry, if he lives in our area, one of the most compelling reasons to go with Canon (at least this is what I tell folks) is the fact that you can drive to the Canon facility to get your camera repaired and/or cleaned. I would hate to have to send my camera through the mail and not have the use of it for weeks on end. I love being able to drop my camera off to have the sensor cleaned, go for lunch, and pick it up an hour later. And most repairs can be performed right there, so the longest I’ve ever been without my camera and lens has been a couple of days. To me, that means a lot (in addition to the fact that I LOVE my 7D and lenses!).
He ended up getting the Canon 5D Mark III. Now I am really jealous.