After searching and deciding what I want 7d vs 60d. I feel the 60d is the route. But since this will be my first dslr I'm not sure if it would be better for me to buy it with a Kit lens or buy just the body and pick out my lens.

My plan is to mainly use it for video in conjunction with my Ax2000 and GoPros. BUT I also want to be able to take nice photos. id like to only have 2 lens at this point so i have some money to put it on a Glide cam

What lens would you recommend

Thanks Tom

The 60D is a great camera and if you're not obsessed with vampires, slider moves on candles or in the wedding biz, I can't think of two better lenses to own. I carry these two every day with my T3i and XF100 and the whole kit fits in a lowepro slingshot. With the 3x crop you have 24mm-1440mm of kick butt glass for your 60D. Have fun!

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens 3560B002 B&H Photo

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Lens 4426B002 B&H

How about the Tokina 11-16?

I also have that lens and it's very nice also. If your needs are more towards the wider end that lens and the 15-85 would make a good two lens combo too. Give you about 16.5mm - 383mm coverage. I tend to use a lot more telephoto and I was trying to stick to the "two lens criteria".

If you're like the rest of us lenses can become an obsession!

yeah that's what i was thinking. I have the AX2000 and that has plenty of zoom on it. I want to use the 60d as the more creative camera. so ill start with the Glide cam and eventually get more in to sliders and what not

for $279 does it make sense to go with the kit lens and then the 11-16mm or is the kit lens pretty much crap?

The 11-16 is well used for me. For tight spaces it's a life saver and they really give a sense of vast spaces. I'm not a fan of the kit lens. The zoom isn't smooth for video and the lack of a constant aperture. But then again, the constant aperture lens are expensive. The 24 - 105 f4 might be a good zoom. L series with stabilization.

Chances are the kit lens would ONLY be used for Photos

Kit lens is perfectly OK for video in reasonable light, and excellent for photos

In my very limited experience, an early consideration needs to be whether you want to have wide aperatures available to create shallow depth of focus. A fast lens can always be stopped down for deeper focus, but if you want (very) shallow too, the kit lenses are not the best.

For me, I bought a used Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 and am very happy with test shots. Of course fast glass costs serious money, I spent almost as much for it (used) as for the 60d body (new). In my use, a short zoom is most useful. I've owned camcorders with long lenses, and I'm constantly trying to get wider shooting in interiors. I'd feel differently if I did wildlife or hidden camera, but the short zoom is great.

Having said all that, someday I will go for longer glass, and if I want to stay with f2.8 it will be some serious money!

A friend is shooting the Tokina 11-16 on a 7D and he is very happy with it.

I don't have it myself, but pretty much everyone really loves the 17-55 2.8 and considers it to be "L quality" glass for EF-S cameras.

When I bought my t2i I got it with the 18-135mm. My strategy is basically to whip it out when I need a big zoom range and autofocus and the rest of the time I shoot with fast manual focus primes. It's worked out pretty well so far.

Why not choose the t3i ? Sounds like you're mostly going to be using it for video.. The 3x zoom function makes the t3i better for video and It saves you from having to buy tele lenses.. Also since this is your first Dslr I doubt you'll be using the extra control the 60d gives you..

Yeah if I could I would buy the 17-55 2.8 but it just costs to much for me to buy right away. In the future i would buy more lens. I need to put a decent shot gun mic on it i need more sd cards and I hope to have enough to buy a glide cam.


I would actually prefer to buy a 7D but because Im trying to cut costs for other things I like the 60D. Build quality is big i want something that feels solid. I dont like playing the move up game. I started doing that when i bought my first camera i bought a cheap HD Cam and a year later i wound up with a XHA1 and then the Sony AX2000. I also DO plan to use it for photos that's one reason why I'm not buying another video camera. Like said above I dont mind having to buy lens in the future but for now i need to stick to the basics.

I've got the 60D and I'm totally happy with it.
When it comes to video there is no difference between 60D and 7D in terms of quality, but the tilt-swivel screen on the 60D is very handy for low or high angles, and if you have it on a table dolly for example.
I wouldn't spend any more than the 60D at the APS-C level. The extra you'd spend on the 7D would be better put towards saving up for a range of lenses, or a 5D in the future. ;)

What lens would you recommend

If I was on a budget (I actually am :)) I'd buy Samyang lenzes for video; I have got a 14mm f2.8, a 35mm f1.4 and a 85mm f1.4 and they are dirt cheap compared to Canon lenses, (there's also a 24mm f1.4 available now) ofcourse canon lenzes are of better quality, have stabilizers build in and can autofocus which all are not possible with the Samyangs but in image quality there is not much difference compared to the much more expensive Canons. (That is for video, for photo you do see the difference more.)
Another benefit the Samyangs have (beside their cheap and very fast) is that they have an iris ring on the lens, iris adjustments are not smooth like with a videocamera but at least you can change it very quickly, for finetuning exposure I use a variable nd filter and just select a fstop value depending on how dark it is or how much shallow dof I want.

One thing to take into consideration is that kit lenses are very slow making them useless in darker environments, you need at least a f2.8 lens to make it a all round lens. Another thing to consider is that with slower lenzes it's more difficult to push the background out of focus, especially with wide angles, and depending on the type of background that can result in very ugly moire making your image useless.

After searching and deciding what I want 7d vs 60d. I feel the 60d is the route. But since this will be my first dslr I'm not sure if it would be better for me to buy it with a Kit lens or buy just the body and pick out my lens.... id like to only have 2 lens at this point so i have some money to put it on a Glide cam

What lens would you recommend


I would go for the T3i instead of the 60D. Regarding lenses, the two I recommend most are the EFS 17-55mm 2.8 and the EF 70-200 2.8 L. However, if you don't shoot much in low light, I recommend you look at the 17-40mm f4 L instead of the EFS lens, in case you decide to go full frame later.

I still recommend you get the kit lens first with the body, and shoot with it for a few months until you find the best focal lengths and f-stops for your kind of work. It will make the decision-making process easier.

Tom,
another factor in lenses beyond specs is usability. I have a 60d which I bought with the kit lens, and the lens was cheap and plastic feeling. I also had a hard time with the flimsy focus ring. consider that you are crippling your potential image with lesser lenses. I also echo the 17-55 2.8 awesome lens, and the 70-200 2.8 Is.

buy just a body, as a rule kit includes lenses that are not in great demand, probably for a reason;
Canon EF S 17-55mm f2.8 IS is an excellent lens, but before you buy it remember you will have to loose it if you eventually switch to full frame, best lens for DSLR (FF or APS C)on glidecam is Canon 14mm f1.4 it's expensive, but being 3 feet hyper focal it'll make your flying 10x easier;
and if you're on tight budget buy just a body and old manual Nikon glass with $30 adapter from ebay,
some from my collection are sharper than Canon L series;

Tom,

No one was really giving low budget recommendations, so I figured I would put in my 2 cents.

I recently bought my first dslr, and it sounds like my situation was similar to yours. I wanted it for video primary, stills secondary. I had a low budget, around $1000, and also wanted a glidecam. I went with the following and am quite happy.

T3i body: $540
Sigma 18-50 f2.8-4.5: $200
Flycam nano dslr: $190
3rd party battery grip: $30
Set of used manual lenses from craigslist (28 f2.8, 50f1.8, 135f2.8) $30

With magic lantern and the 3x 1080p crop zoom the t3i is great. Now my 18-50 is essentially an 18-150 with the 3x. The battery grip makes it feel real nice in your hand.

If I had the extra money I would have got an f2.8 throughout the zoom range. The one I got is a nice upgrade to the kit lens though, its almost a stop faster, has a nice focus ring, and just looks cooler! I definately recommend getting a fast prime lens 1.8 or better. The canon 50mm f1.8 is not bad for $100, but the focus ring is difficult (but not impossible) its a good one to start with, and sell it in a year for a $25 loss when you have a better idea what you want. My next may be the sigma 30mm f1.4.

Not so sure about the flycam nano, there are quite some negative reports found about this stabiliser and the videos that you find with the flycam in action just don't look good at all. I think it's not a good idea to buy a real cheap steadicam as it will give you poor results.

I'm curious, all those preferring the TI3 over the 60D, is this strictly from a video standpoint? I'm interested in a 60D primarily as a still photo camera, and as a backup or B cam to my main video camera. I currently own the 17-55 2.8, and the Tokina 11-16 2.8.

When it comes to stills, still prefer the TI3 over the 60D? And why?

I'd love a 7D, but think its enhancements over the 60D aren't necessarily worth the added cost. And a full frame camera doesn't make sense to me, because the 2 main lens I own are EF-S lens.

Thanks as always,
Jeff

I actually started the process of getting my 60D. I went down to my local camera store just to play with the 60d and some lens. played with a $1600 lens cant even remember what it was after i heard the price. Then the guy told me he had a display model of a 18-50m 2.8f it was a $600 lens they were selling it for $399 so I jumped on it and bought it....Yeah i bought the lens before i had the camera but no worries I just put my order in for the Body.

I'm curious, all those preferring the TI3 over the 60D, is this strictly from a video standpoint? I'm interested in a 60D primarily as a still photo camera, and as a backup or B cam to my main video camera. I currently own the 17-55 2.8, and the Tokina 11-16 2.8.

When it comes to stills, still prefer the TI3 over the 60D? And why?

I'd love a 7D, but think its enhancements over the 60D aren't necessarily worth the added cost. And a full frame camera doesn't make sense to me, because the 2 main lens I own are EF-S lens.

Thanks as always,
Jeff

For video t3i>60d mainly because if the 3x zoom.. It really saves you money from having to buy telephoto lenses.. I have the sigma 30mm 1.4 and sigma 17-50 2.8, with the zoom function I have a reach of 150mm with the 2.8.. I've heard people say it's still great footage at 5x zoom but never really tried it.. It also turns my 30mm to a 90 mm 1.4! How much do 90mm 1.4 lenses usually cost? At least $500!

For photos 60d>t3i.. It has faster focus, more focus points, better build, faster shooting, more buttons..

For photos 60d>t3i.. It has faster focus, more focus points, better build, faster shooting, more buttons..It is however the same sensor so the image quality is identical. We have 5D2s & 5D3s but my wife uses our 600D(T3i) with a 70-200mm F/2.8L USM IS II plus 2X Teleconverter (so about a 600mm full frame equivalent) for shooting wildlife photos & you can see some results on her blog Beautiful Belaugh – our home on the Norfolk Broads (http://www.alicebarker.net). The focus seems plenty fast enough to me & we only ever use a single central focus point.

I took th plung, and ordered the 60D today. I ordered body only, as I already own the Canon 17-55 and Tokina 11-16. I was going to order on Friday, but B&H was closed for the day, by the time I got to it in the after noon. I'm actually glad that happened, cause when I called to order today, an instant Canon rebate of $100 was in effect, so got it a bit cheaper then I was expecting. Used some of the savings to get a 2nd Canon battery.

well thats really aggravating i bought mine on Thursday ugghhh

Just talked to B&H they gave me the rebate