Anyone using a Canon 600D ???

[hotspur]

Hey folks.

My son is looking at purchasing a Canon 600D, (I am helping fund this:shrug:)

So want to know what the field use is like.He mainly wants a lot of usage with the HD video part of it,as he is doing a film and Television editing course,and is use to using the 7D's and 5D2's for this sort of work.But I want to have a few shots with the 400L and 70-200 on it.

I suggested a 500D,but the vid specs were not what he wanted,he wanted to look at a 550D,But I see a few people on this forum have them,and are not happy with them,apparently there is noise issues and other issues,so will give that one a miss.Yes-the 60D would be better,but on a budget-and the 600D is certainly a lot more than I started out with.He will have to fund his own lenses purchases.

Thanks -for any advice.:thumbsup:

[Osirisra]

I have onlu used my 600D for a few months but so far I'm quite happy with it. All round good specs for the price and the rotational screen is very hand when doing astro and taking movies.

The HD is nice but you have to have a 6 or 10 class card for it to work.

With some good lenses it is quite a capable bit of kit.

[hotspur]

Thank you-sounds a lot better than the 550D,which was not at all very popular on this forum.

The rotational screen certainly sounds very useful.

[Phil Hart]

The 550D and 60D share the same sensor and I've seen impressive results from both on my night sky photography workshops. I know JJJ has had problems, which I can't square with what I've seen.

I really don't think there is much difference between any of the current crop of DSLRs. They're all operating near the same limits, assuming you're comparing the same pixel size. So from an astrophotography point of view, going back to the 40D/450D with larger pixels is a great cheaper option just a slightly different feature set for your daytime stuff.

Phil

[Phil Hart]

here's the example i referred to on a previous thread:

http://philhart.com/files/IMG_2723_resize.JPG

Canon 550D on my Tak Epsilon 160 scope. 5 minutes, ISO400, f3.3

60D would be the same..

Phil

[jjjnettie]

I've still got a love/hate relationship going with my 550d.
But honestly, I can't fault it for day time work, and the video capabilities are awesome.
If you find one for a good price....go for it.

[hotspur]

Thanks Phil

Certainly a nice image there,and a great instrument the camera was attached to.

The camera is not for me,its for my son,who will use it for some of his film and Television assignments,so really will not get a great deal of astro work.Not sure why some members had issues with this particular model.

May be a second hand copy would suit my son.Although the rotational screen for his application of the camera would be a plus,-which the 600D has.

[jjjnettie]

The 550d in comparison to the 20d, showed an awful lot of noise when taking astro images. Basically, the 550 doesn't like our heat and humidity.
The images I've taken with it the Winter months have been great, but I'll be looking for a different camera to use over Summer. :D

[adman]

+1 to JJ's comments. The 550 is great for daytime stuff - I have taken some very nice shots with it, and is also great in winter for astrophotography, but the noise does ramp up during long exposures when the sensor temp gets over about 30 degrees C.

Adam

[Phil Hart]

High temps sounds like a reasonable explanation. It doesn't surprise me that smaller pixels are more sensitive to heat (greater noise to signal ratio!) but I doubt it is specific to the 550D - it's just the laws of physics and thermodynamics! So I still think the 550D/60D will look pretty similar to any other DSLR sensor of a similar vintage and pixel size, for a given temperature.

For astro use, I think buying a cheaper secondhand 40D/450D with slightly larger pixels has to be a good option. 20D/350D is even cheaper again and has even larger pixels, but has some amp glow in one corner and doesn't have LiveView which for telephoto lenses makes a big difference (not so much for deep sky). And of course, larger pixels is why I love my 5DmkII so much! ;)

Phil

[jjjnettie]

The Canon 550d is a beaut piece of kit despite this user specific problem.

[hotspur]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts,I'll buy him the Canon 600D-I have a Mk2 18-55 IS lens I'll give him.But I will have to have a play with it first-the tilt screen is going to very useful for astronomy!on the back of the scope.

Had a look at the reviews,and there does not seem much of a difference between it and 550D,apart from the tilt screen,which I think is worth the extra expense-after using the tilt on the G12,it really is good!

Thanks all-Chris