Canon t3i or SL1 or Sony a77 or NEX-6????

T

The Irish TRex

Well-known member
Having trouble making up my mind on which camera to get under $1k. I will be using these cameras primarily for stills but video is important as well. I have limited experience with DSLR's, etc. but my wife and I have kid(s) now and the speed of my Canon S90 isn't cutting it for capturing our little guy on the move. The most important things to me are (in order):

1) Fast Autofocus (minimal shutter lag, etc) ***MOST IMPORTANT*** (Hence why camera #2 is suddenly on my list after messing with it today)
2) Shallow DoF (hence why all my cameras are about the same sensor size)
3) Low light Performance
4) Would prefer smaller body if possible

With that in mind, please note that I have NO lenses so I'm not invested yet in any "brand". I know Canon has more lenses but Sony and Canon both offer good affordable lenses and I'm hoping to stay under $1k anyway so the idea that Canon has great $2k lenses does not matter at all to me for this purchase. If money were not a factor here I'd be going Full Frame anyway so the sheer # of lenses isn't a huge deal to me. My main reason for considering Sony is their reviews are really good on these two cameras and I would get a 25% discount (via family member who works for Sony).

Right now these are the cameras I'm considering given the 3 things listed above that are most important:

1) Sony NEX-6 - PRO: Great size and feel when I tested it. Also had a very snappy AF performance (although #2 was slightly faster when using optical viewfinder). 1080p60, and wifi option is nice to have as well as the articulating screen, but again, my #1 feature is shutter lag and AF speed. Also, I'd get about 25% off making it really affordable. CON: Did not have the INSTANT AF speed of the SL1 (when using viewfinder) in my tests which was the main reason for me coming here to the Canon forum.
2) Canon SL1 - PRO: I wasn't considering this at all but just played around with one today for the first time and while the Live View on the LCD was MUCH slower for AF, when using the Optical Viewfinder the AF was almost instant which was AWESOME!!! This totally took me by surprise. Also it's small for a DSLR which my wife will like CON: Still bigger than the NEX6.
3) Sony a77 - PRO: Had great AF in video mode which I loved and pretty fast AF/minimal shutter lag for stills. Shoots 1080p60 which I personally like and again, I have a family member working for Sony so I'd get essentially 25% off. :) CON: Way bulkier than I want to go ideally.
4) Canon t3i with ML - PRO: Not really sure about this one because I've never used it. How fast is it's AF compared to SL1? It's on the list because from what I've read it seems to be a much better camera with Magic Lantern for both photos (the in between ISO's help apparently?) and video (more settings/control) CON: Bigger than I would like.

How does the t3i match up in terms of AF speed and shutter lag, etc. to the near instant speed of the SL1 (when using the viewfinder only of course)???

I know there are newer t4i and t5i options as well as good older models for decent used prices, but again, I'm trying to keep it small if possible. But I'd consider them if the AF was as fast as the SL1 was using the optical viewfinder.

My top choice was really the NEX-6 this whole week since it's pretty solid all around and I'll get the 25% off discount making it VERY affordable. This was my top choice until about an hour ago when I stopped into a Best Buy just to mess with each of these and realized how incredibly fast the SL1's viewfinder AF was. Are their any other cameras under $1k that can match it's AF/speed performance (any brand)? It was pretty much instant which, although the Sony's were damn good, was definitely the top performer. Granted the back LCD view was much slower on the SL1 than both of the Sony cameras, but I can live with that I suppose.

So based upon my top priorities, any experience with these cameras and which would you recommend?
 
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For image quality in video mode, I would have said NEX or D5200 (I don't know why it's not on your list, it's a great performer), but since you care that much about AF, I can't really say (all my lenses are manual).
 
Samuel H said:
For image quality in video mode, I would have said NEX or D5200 (I don't know why it's not on your list, it's a great performer), but since you care that much about AF, I can't really say (all my lenses are manual).
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I'm not opposed to any camera. Thanks for that suggestion. My reason for not including other cameras was that I was trying to keep the size down, but obviously the Sony a77 is quite large so I'm not ruling anything out at this point. I'm just leaning toward more compact choices. I'll take a better look at the 5200 as well, thank you.
 
The T3i is nearly instantaneous focus and actuation when not in live view. The SL1 has better / more accurate autofocus for still though. The T3i has a flip out screen which is great for video, but not that important for stills. Auto focus in video mode with the SL1 is next to useless from my testing at the store. It hunts all over and is not usable for production type video work at all. Same as the T4i I've used.

Can't say much about the others, but a NEX7 is a great cam too.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Are there any advantages to the t3i (with or without Magic Lantern) over the newer SL1 besides the articulating screen? I tried both today in store and I still like the SL1 I think. Although, the NEX-6 and NEX-5R that I played with as well were also very impressive. MUCH MUCH MUCH faster in Live View mode on the LCD screen than the Canon cams although just slightly slower that the Canon cams when using their optical viewfinder. Hard decision. Part of me thinks I should take the t3i off my list because it's so much older but with ML does it make it on the same level or better than the others?
 
For video, which this forum is about, they are the same and the t3i has enough advantages over the sl1 that I'd save the money. You can find barely touched used t3i's in the local classifieds all the time for $500 with a kit lens. This allows you to get extra lenses and support gear easily while learning the dslr video game.

Magic Lantern is a huge help for many functional things when doing video and then add onboard timelapse etc and it's a great thing to have.

The SL1 is tiny and very cool and will probably get ML as soon as a firmware update comes out. It also has more accurate auto focus for stills. Neither cam has particularly great video resolution or low light capability.

The new to arrive in June, Panasonic G6 looks like it may be the cam that gets me to switch from canon. If you can wait three weeks or so that may be the best opton of all.

Cheers,

Pete
 
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c3hammer said:
The new to arrive in June, Panasonic G6 looks like it may be the cam that gets me to switch from canon. If you can wait three weeks or so that may be the best opton of all.
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Yeah, G6 looks nice but it's M4/3 so won't the DoF be not as shallow? For pics, this is one of my original top 4 "important features" in the original post.
 
It has a deeper depth of field, but that can easily be solved by using a longer lens and or getting closer to the subject. I don't want such shallow depth of field. it's really hard when using super fast lenses. On a full frame cam you can't film anything closer than infinity at less than f/2.8 or you only have a few inch depth of field. The m4/3rds cams allow using super fast lenses (f/0.95) wide open for light gathering, yet don't create such shallow depth of field that they are unusable. A 5d with a 24mm at f/1.4 has about a 1/4" depth of field at 4 feet. It's totally useless.

Just my $0.02 as I use a 24mm on a stabilizer all the time with my T3i and depth of field is very big issue with regards to keeping the subject in focus. Movement of the camera takes care of softening the back ground for you quite nicely already.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Thanks Pete.

Yeah, I kind of forgot that this site is really more about the video side of things. The HD cams I shoot with for video (weddings) are smaller sensor 1/3" panny cams that I can manipulate for shallow DoF when I need to, but my primary purpose for this cam is for pics. I do plan to use it for video every now and then though but just for fun. Messing with these cameras again today at a Best Buy and I got to test out the video AF on the SL1 which wasn't as bad as I anticipated. It's nowhere near the Sony a77 for video, but it did okay and better than the AF of the t3i for sure. I am sort of leaning toward the SL1 now due to the optical viewfinder and smaller size, but my wife will ultimately make the final decision since she'll be using it half the time. The main reasons I still like the NEX cams are: Much faster in Live View mode, even smaller than SL1, 1080p60 and better video AF if I needed a backup to my real cameras, tilting screen, and finally I get about 25-30% off using my Sony discount. That alone is huge as all the NEX cameras instantly drop well below the cost of the SL1. Ugh!!! Decisions...decisions.

Anyway, thanks for your $.02 ...it really helps actually to hear you step back and put things in perspective given your experience with some of these cameras.
 
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The Irish TRex said:
I'm not opposed to any camera. Thanks for that suggestion. My reason for not including other cameras was that I was trying to keep the size down, but obviously the Sony a77 is quite large so I'm not ruling anything out at this point. I'm just leaning toward more compact choices. I'll take a better look at the 5200 as well, thank you.
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I've been shooting with a 60D for 3 years on the job and it's been a workhorse, never failed once. I picked up a 600D /T3i for a b-roll cam and I like it so much I selling the 60D and getting a matching 600D. Some things are left out like the light up info screen on top of the camera and has only whole stops on the ISO, but won't matter much. It's also missing size and weight which is great.
There are a lot of good cameras out there and this is only one of them.

Go to a camera store with your own SD card. Shoot some of your own tests side by side with all the different cameras, then take the card home and study the tests. This will give you the answer you are looking for.
 
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