# Seeking professional opinion - Canon EOS 600D or Nikon D5100 for a beginner



## siddharthx64 (Jan 21, 2014)

Forgive me if this has already happened, but I couldn't find an answer to this dilemma in the previous posts by others. Im a beginner at photography with DSLRs. I am not planning on being an enthusiast for a month and then forgetting all about it. I plan to make the purchase immediately. 

What's your budget?
32K (+/- 2K)

Camera type?
DSLR 

How much zoom do you want/expect?
18-55mm 

Do you care for manual exposure controls?
Yes

What will you be shooting with this camera?
Nature (mostly), Social, and wildlife (rarely)

Will you be shooting mostly indoors/low light and/or action/sports?
not really planning on low light shooting

Video?
Yes 

Do you have any particular model(s) in your mind?
Canon 600D & Nikon D5100

Any brand preference? Like/dislike
would like to go for one of the cameras mentioned above

From where will you be buying?
Online/store (whichever has a better offer


My Dilemma:
I have seen the d5100 being praised over the Canon 600D on many occasions. But I have seen that the canon model comes with an Autofocus motor. How important is this for me as a beginner?

I have heard that the quality of pictures is better in the d5100 than the 600D. How much of an improvement are we talking about?

I have gone to the store, and have tried out both the cams, I did not find any issues with the size (both fit well in my average sized hands)

Finally, from a beginner's perspective, which model would suit me best? (I am inclined towards the 600D)
I would like it to be future proof (plan to buy lenses for higher zooms later

Any help is greatly appreciated. Kindly do not use photographic jargon, as I have no idea what they mean. I am going through Digit's photography guide fast track that came a couple of years back, but I'm still a long way from being a professional.


----------



## sujoyp (Jan 21, 2014)

> I have seen the d5100 being praised over the Canon 600D on many occasions. But I have seen that the canon model comes with an Autofocus motor. How important is this for me as a beginner?



No canon DSLR have any motor inside...but all there lens have focus motors....and nikon have enough lenses with motor ...just dont worry about it..

All worry about canon 50mm 1.8 cost 6k and nikon 50mm AFS 1.8G cost 12k
but no one worries about Canon 70-300 IS cost 35k and Nikon 70-300 AFS VR cost 28-29k  

soo its like both are same on pocket. 



> I have heard that the quality of pictures is better in the d5100 than the 600D. How much of an improvement are we talking about?


Again both are almost same...u can not differentiate...reviews and benchmarks says that D5100 have better image quality



> I have gone to the store, and have tried out both the cams, I did not find any issues with the size (both fit well in my average sized hands)


then its good for you...coz people say that body of Nikon D5100 is better to hold then 600D ...but we have a 600D owner who thinks otherwise 



> Finally, from a beginner's perspective, which model would suit me best? (I am inclined towards the 600D)
> I would like it to be future proof (plan to buy lenses for higher zooms later



if higher zoom is 70-300 then Nikon is better...and cheaper. and if u plan to spend 50+ in high zoom lens in future then it will be Canon only...its 100-400 and 400 f5.6 IS are unbeatable


Bro photographic jargon is the only way to explain...IS and VR are vibration reduction and image stabilisation in lens which helps us taking shots in low light
AFS is the name of autofocus motor in Nikon lens ...if its written AF on nikon lens then it means it will not autofocus on DSLR without motor(D3100,D3200, D5100,D5200,D5300)
18-55mm its simple -more the mm more will be the zoom and less the mm wider will be the view (for landscape and group photo)


----------



## siddharthx64 (Jan 21, 2014)

Hi, Sujoyp,

firstly, thanks a lot for the quick response. I have decided to go with Canon 600D. will post the pic soon on this post 

however, could you please confirm the validity of this statement? :



sujoyp said:


> No canon DSLR have any motor inside...but all there lens have focus motors....and nikon have enough lenses with motor ...just dont worry about it..



Many reputed sites have mentioned that the Canon EOS 600D comes with an in-body AutoFocus Motor, and that there are some lenses that can make use of this if they have no IS. moreover, they went on to say that some lenses come with a switch that lets them choose between manual focus and autofocus. I may be wrong, but this comes from reputed sites such as SnapSort and DPReview. do let me know once u confirm.

also, appreciate the info you gave on the jargon.  I know its inevitable, but you explained it well, and thats why it works 

Thank you once more,


----------



## sujoyp (Jan 21, 2014)

Siddharth I am 100% sure that 600D dont have any motor inside ...and all canon lenses have focus inside it ...also there is no relation of IS with EFS focus motor ....there are lenses which have IS and some without IS ...thats different story and not related to canon DSLR.
Almost all lens have the option to switch from manual focus and autofocus...its nothing new 

Snapsort is not at all a reputed site...but Dpreview is definitely best one.

LOL I just told you in short soo that u dont feel strange reading alien words ...btw there are lots and lots of jargon to be remembered in photography world


----------



## raja manuel (Jan 21, 2014)

I am surprised at the prevalence of the notion that Canon cameras have an autofocus motor inside them despite the number of clarifications that can be found all over the internet that state otherwise. Just as I am surprised at the insistence that a D5100 feels better in your hand than a 600D – as if that were an objective judgement.

Anyway, I own a 600D and I can assure you that it does NOT have an autofocus motor. There are many good reasons to buy a 600D but this is most certainly not one of them.


----------



## siddharthx64 (Jan 21, 2014)

Thank you for clearing that up for me, Sujoyp and Raja! It was quite confusing, but either way, Im covered I suppose... 

As i mentioned before, I have already decided to go with the Canon EOS 600D as my first DSLR. 

So I wanted to know: Raja, If there's one thing that you feel your 600D lacks, what would it be?  and also, while video recording, does it have problems with the subject moving about (focus wise)?

This is the very first camera that I will ever own (dSLR or otherwise), and hence the multitude of questions.  

Thank you for being so patient with me.


----------



## raja manuel (Jan 22, 2014)

As I mentioned in some other thread recently, using the inbuilt flash as an autofocus assist in low-light instead of having a dedicated autofocus assist lamp does bug me. Not a problem for me any more as my speedlite has a powerful dedicated assist beam but when it is just the camera alone in the dark, you might find it a bit annoying. I also wish my 600D had a great electronic viewfinder (perhaps something like the hybrid viewfinder that Canon is supposed to be working on) so that I could use Magic Lantern features from the viewfinder itself.

Overall, I cannot say that I find my 600D lacking in any significant way for my use. Quite the opposite, in fact. The more I use it the more pleased I am – wireless flash master, greater hardware button control, very quick navigation menu, ease of using back-button focus, Flash Exposure Compensation, or the superb software package (shoot tethered!)… and on top of all this there is Magic Lantern.

Sure, one can always wish for more but honestly, the limitations lie more in me than in my camera. I have a long way to go before I reach the limits of my 600D's abilities. I recently had the chance to cover an event with both my 600D and a Nikon D7000 (which is a semi-pro camera) and I was left wondering why people rave about semi-pro bodies. Sure, there are some niche applications where the D7000 might be an advantage but in most cases there will not be any difference.

I haven't used video much but yes, the camera does not handle moving objects very well in video mode. In addition, you could also see peculiar banding when an object moves across the screen due to the data from the sensor being read row by row and the object has moved slightly before the later rows are read. These are limitations found in just about all DSLRs though the 650D/700D are a step above and the 70D is a giant leap forward, at least as far as the first limitation is concerned. Canon have the best video solutions on DSLRs (the 7D, which has the same sensor as a 600D, was used to shoot parts of The Avengers) and once you add Magic Lantern you have a very powerful tool in your hand but be warned: DSLRs are ideally suited for professional movie making i.e., carefully planned short takes shot from multiple angles that are later edited together, rather than continuously shot home movies.

Fire away with the questions. That is why we spend time on this forum and we will learn from you as well. Since you have decided to go with the 600D I will leave you for now with this:
Part 1 of 3: A Look at The Canon Autofocus System - YouTube
That's Part 1 of a 3-part series explaining how Canon autofocus works. Yep, that's 100 minutes of video just to explain Canon autofocus but trust me, it is worth it. There are so many DSLR users who don't understand this and get incorrectly focussed photos. You might as well get it right from the beginning.


----------



## siddharthx64 (Jan 24, 2014)

Raja, thank you for the info! I now have everything I needed to know before buying this camera. I haven't had the time to go through the video series you recommended, but will definitely go through them this week end. thank you for that 

Thank you, everyone. Your posts have been extremely helpful. Will post a pic of the 600D once it gets here (in a weeks time).

By the way, there is a "Complementary workshop for DSLR users" that Flipkart is offering on my purchase. Is it worth going to? It appears to be from Canon (canonedge.com).


----------



## sujoyp (Jan 24, 2014)

no idea siddharth ...but if its in ur city then its good to give a visit...u will only learn something for free


----------



## siddharthx64 (Feb 13, 2014)

Hi all,

Thank you for all your suggestions and guidance. I finally got my Canon 600D SLR. I got a sweet deal (10% off) on Flipkart along with an 8GB card and an EOS Camera Bag and 2 years warrantee, and went for a 64GB SDXC Transcend card to go with it.

Here are a few pics of the buy:






Thank you again! 


I request the Admins to Close this thread


----------



## sujoyp (Feb 13, 2014)

Congrats bro...64 GB ...wow u planning to shoot 1080p regularly?? coz in 64gb I can say roughly we can store 10,000 shots jpeg and  3500 RAW files  8 hrs FHD recording


----------



## nac (Feb 13, 2014)

Congrats Siddhu. What's the bottom number for this bundle?


----------



## siddharthx64 (Feb 13, 2014)

sujoyp said:


> Congrats bro...64 GB ...wow u planning to shoot 1080p regularly?? coz in 64gb I can say roughly we can store 10,000 shots jpeg and  3500 RAW files  8 hrs FHD recording


Thank you, Sujoyp 
No, I don't really plan on too much video recording, but yeah, I'd like to keep my options open  
Also, I decided to go with this coz of the price and the offer. 

Its like this: The camera was at INR 33,945/- when I was buying, and at the time of choosing payment method, (Visa) I got a 10% discount. That shaved 3395 off my bill. Right then, I thought of going for a higher capacity SDXC card (Canon gave me a bag and an 8GB SDHC) instead of regularly upgrading every half a year. I went for the 64GB SDXC class 10 card which was priced at Rs. 3050/-. 




nac said:


> Congrats Siddhu. What's the bottom number for this bundle?


Thank you, Nac,
For the package, (Camera Body and 18-55mm lens + Bag + 8GB SDHC + 64GB SDXC + Workshop) The final price was *33,600 *

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and I must add, Raja, Thank you for bringing that video series to my notice. (Canon's Autofocus system) Helps a lot!


----------



## sujoyp (Feb 13, 2014)

@siddharth ...not to disappoint you ...but just for your information all the professionals travel with many cards of max 8GB card size...soo that if one card gets damage they can use other and if data in one card get corrupted at least they have some data in other card left ...

I suggest you to keep in practice to copy the data after every shoot and dont wait for your 64GB to get filled .. ...a photo lost will be lost forever


----------



## siddharthx64 (Feb 14, 2014)

sujoyp said:


> @siddharth ...not to disappoint you ...but just for your information all the professionals travel with many cards of max 8GB card size...soo that if one card gets damage they can use other and if data in one card get corrupted at least they have some data in other card left ...


Yeah, I thought of that too. That's why I already have 2 other 8GB cards with me. I wont be keeping the 64GB card as a photo storage. 



> I suggest you to keep in practice to copy the data after every shoot and dont wait for your 64GB to get filled .. ...a photo lost will be lost forever


And I will keep your advice in mind. I plan to do regular photo backups using the photo utilities canon provided. A separate 2TB HDD 

And no, definitely not disappointed  Any advice coming from you guys is good advice.


----------



## sujoyp (Feb 14, 2014)

Thats the spirit  Good luck


----------



## raja manuel (Feb 14, 2014)

siddharthx64 said:


> Oh, and I must add, Raja, Thank you for bringing that video series to my notice. (Canon's Autofocus system) Helps a lot!



You're welcome


----------



## siddharthx64 (Mar 25, 2014)

Hi guys,

Thanks to you and other photographers, I'm learning how to use this machine. 
I've been playing around with the Camera for quite some time now, and am moving towards my next upgrade  - - - A zoom lens plus a tripod.

I need your help in deciding both. 
My current choice is a Canon 55-250mm IS II lens. 
Also, what is the difference between 55-250 IS and 55-250 IS II lenses from Canon? The price difference is 1500 (around), and yet, I find no sizable difference.

COming to the tripod:

I have no idea what Tripod to go with that. In future, I may invest in a lens with larger focal length, so Please guide with future proofing in mind

Cheers!


----------



## sujoyp (Mar 25, 2014)

logically difference between 55-250IS and ISII should be better image stabilisation...but I think they are both same ...if you find ISII then get that 

Tripod is difficult one...people say get the tripod which could hold double the weight of your setup ...soo suppose in future you get a 2 KG lens then your setup will be almost 3 kg...in that case look for a tripod which can carry 6+kg ....also there are tripod with attached head and saperate head ...get the one with saperate head...the head number will be mentioned in specification...get a ball head one..do some research...manfrotto, benro, vanguard these are the brand to look for


----------



## siddharthx64 (Mar 25, 2014)

Thank you, Sujoyp,

I will check those brands


Let me get back after a bit of research


----------



## siddharthx64 (Mar 26, 2014)

[MENTION=39722]sujoyp[/MENTION] and others

I have decided to go with the Vanguard SBH-50 Ball Head But I do not know what tripod legs to go with it. Could someone point me to a good set of tripod legs?

Since I will already be spending 4k on this, I can't spend more than 4k on the legs. please help!


----------



## sujoyp (Mar 26, 2014)

If you are not too perticular about that model then I suggest you benro A500F+BH2 ball head = 8000

Gaffarbhai and Sons » A500FBH2

Contact the seller...he is a established person in photography world...ask him the price and tell him to give this tripod combo at 8k ...and you will have an awesome deal ..this tripod can carry 8 kg


----------



## siddharthx64 (May 7, 2014)

Hi guys,

Its been quite a while since I came back here to give my feedback. So here it is:

I've been using the 600D for quite some time now, (regularly). You can see my Pix here: *flickr.com/photos/sidx64
Since I was urgently in need of a basic tripod and was low on cash at the time, I decided to go for a basic Tripod in the 3.8k bracket. I got the Vanguard CX 203AGH Gun Head (Ball head with Gun Style Grip) for 3.6k. I also went for an extra battery (lpe8)

You can see my Pix here: *flickr.com/photos/sidx64


- - - Updated - - -

Also, since i now have a tripod, would this lens be good for me?

Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III lens (No IS)


----------



## sujoyp (May 7, 2014)

no dont get that lens ...better to go for Canon 55-250 IS


----------



## siddharthx64 (May 10, 2014)

Okay, 

Sujoyp, If I go for the Canon 55-250 IS, Which one would I have to go for next? I mean which lens would be a sensible upgrade? (I dont want overlapping focal lengths) . . . .


----------



## sujoyp (May 10, 2014)

[MENTION=3228]siddharth[/MENTION] its all about budget...

ideal -
Tokina 11-16
Tamron 17-50  
Canon 55-250 -------Canon/Tamron 70-300--------- Canon 70-200 f4/f2.8
Canon 300mm f4------- Canon 400m f5.6------------- Canon 100-400

Budget Concern
Canon 18-55
Canon 55-250
Sigma 150-500  Canon 300mm f4  canon 400mm f5.6 canon 100-400


----------

