Camera Body Under £500 Used

Beav

Beav

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Hi guys,

looking at part exchanging my canon 60D for a 6D this week.

Which camera body would you look for under £500 used? I've just bought a 24-105L Canon lens so ideally sticking to Canon full frame bodies.

Just wanted to make sure I haven't missed out on any other potential upgrades.

Can't really stretch my budget but I do like the look of the smaller size mirrorless bodies :p

Thanks
Beav
 
Beav said:
Hi guys,

looking at part exchanging my canon 60D for a 6D this week.

Which camera body would you look for under £500 used? I've just bought a 24-105L Canon lens so ideally sticking to Canon full frame bodies.

Just wanted to make sure I haven't missed out on any other potential upgrades.

Can't really stretch my budget but I do like the look of the smaller size mirrorless bodies :p

Thanks
Beav
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You wont get a better Canon FF than the 6D for your budget. You can also look at the 5dii but 6d is a better bet.
 
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I picked up a used 6D with a pretty low shutter count <5k. much of a difference in size and weight compared to coming from a crop body. It’s pretty much the same layout as your 60D.

I was torn between a 5D2 and the 6D and I kept coming back to the 6D after reading umpteen posts about each body. I probably would’ve gone for a 5D3 if it was nearer the price of the 6D, but paying nearly a grand on an old body with a high shutter count couldn’t be justified.

Haven't had the chance to use it in anger yet but have taken some shots of overhead planes etc and initial feeling is
positive.

I have set the exposure comp to +2/3 to ensure a properly exposed image. No matter what setting I used, the images were a tad under exposed. There’s loads of posts on the web about this.
 
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Just noticed you can get a good condition Sony A7 II for not much more than the 6D. Would that be worth it? Bear in mind ide have to use a EF lens adapter
 
If it absolutely has to be Canon, then I have no suggestions, however answering the question without a brand bias, the answer for me is Nikon D700. In fact, if I were in the market for a digital body, I would be snapping the one up that's in the classifieds right now.
 
Beav said:
Just noticed you can get a good condition Sony A7 II for not much more than the 6D. Would that be worth it? Bear in mind ide have to use a EF lens adapter
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AF will be slow, what do you photograph?
 
twist said:
AF will be slow, what do you photograph?
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Mainly static car stuff and motorsports. After doing some research it might not be worth getting the A7II for this?

May just get the 6D MKi for now and wait for a few years for Canon to release more mirrorless stuff
 
Beav said:
Mainly static car stuff and motorsports. After doing some research it might not be worth getting the A7II for this?

May just get the 6D MKi for now and wait for a few years for Canon to release more mirrorless stuff
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For static stuff it would be okay, AF with Canon EF lenses adapted only improved after the A7rii and A7 mk3 were released.

Unlikely any newly released FF mirrorless will come in at £500 or less. You could also look at Canons APSC mirrorless adapted or if you want FF then up your budget to the RP.
 
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twist said:
For static stuff it would be okay, AF with Canon EF lenses adapted only improved after the A7rii and A7 mk3 were released.

Unlikely any newly released FF mirrorless will come in at £500 or less. You could also look at Canons APSC mirrorless adapted or if you want FF then up your budget to the RP.
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Ile stick with the 6D for now
 
I've owned a 6D since 2014 and would agree with a test review I once read, which said the 6D was a triumph of performance over specification! I've found it consistently produces great-looking JPEGs (so much so that I very rarely bother with raw) and, for the money they sell for these days, I doubt you'll find a better FF camera. As for comparison with the 5DII, the image quality and high ISO performance from the 6D will be noticeably better.

As for ISO performance and image quality between the 6D and 5D III, in real life use, you won't notice a difference between them. The 5D III does have more AF points, but for faster moving motor sport such as rally driving you'll probably be using the centre point, which is a cross-type and sensitive down to -3 EV, which is a full stop lower than the 5D III's AF centre point.

For the money I'd go for the 6D and put any extra towards saving for another lens to accompany your 24-105 L (which is a really handy lens), perhaps a Sigma or Tamron 100-400 zoom, or a Canon EF 70-300 IS Mk2, which has a very fast focus.

PS Here's an example JPEG image straight from the camera with nothing done to it, taken with a 24-105 L to give you an idea of what to expect from a 6D (click on the image to view full size in Flickr). Hope this is useful and I hope you enjoy it if you get one.

 
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Mr Badger said:
I've owned a 6D since 2014 and would agree with a test review I once read, which said the 6D was a triumph of performance over specification! I've found it consistently produces great-looking JPEGs (so much so that I very rarely bother with raw) and, for the money they sell for these days, I doubt you'll find a better FF camera. As for comparison with the 5DII, the image quality and high ISO performance from the 6D will be noticeably better.

As for ISO performance and image quality between the 6D and 5D III, in real life use, you won't notice a difference between them. The 5D III does have more AF points, but for faster moving motor sport such as rally driving you'll probably be using the centre point, which is a cross-type and sensitive down to -3 EV, which is a full stop lower than the 5D III's AF centre point.

For the money I'd go for the 6D and put any extra towards saving for another lens to accompany your 24-105 L (which is a really handy lens), perhaps a Sigma or Tamron 100-400 zoom, or a Canon EF 70-300 IS Mk2, which has a very fast focus.

PS Here's an example JPEG image straight from the camera with nothing done to it, taken with a 24-105 L to give you an idea of what to expect from a 6D (click on the image to view full size in Flickr). Hope this is useful and I hope you enjoy it if you get one.
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Thank you :)

Going from crop to full frame and having a 70-200mm ile probably want some extra reach.

Could be lens snobbery but I feel like it would be wrong to swap the Canon 70-200L F4 lens (non IS) for a tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 VC?
 
I have the 6D and whilst it did suffer from Canon’s cripple hammer I don’t have any regrets. It’s even better value second hand.
 
Beav said:
Thank you :)

Going from crop to full frame and having a 70-200mm ile probably want some extra reach.

Could be lens snobbery but I feel like it would be wrong to swap the Canon 70-200L F4 lens (non IS) for a tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 VC?
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Keep the 70 200 L as it should work well with the 6D (at f/4 you should get some nice bokeh on a FF camera) and save up for something with a bit more reach to add to your lens collection! I think I'd be inclined to go for a lightly used second-hand Canon EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM, as the focus is meant to be particularly quick, or there's the Canon 70-300 L if you want something built like a tank. Anyway, see if there are any test comparisons between those and the Tamron to help you make your mind up when you've saved enough dosh.
 
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DSLR's are so last century.

If I still had one I wouldn't be looking at replacing it with another no matter how many lenses I had.

That's just me though :D
 
woof woof said:
DSLR's are so last century.

If I still had one I wouldn't be looking at replacing it with another no matter how many lenses I had.

That's just me though :D
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It’s good to have a choice though!
 
woof woof said:
DSLR's are so last century.

If I still had one I wouldn't be looking at replacing it with another no matter how many lenses I had.

That's just me though :D
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Not so sure about that, I bought an old Nikon D90 a couple of weeks ago in mint condition. I can now use my old 50mm 1.8D and an old 28-300 mm zoom. Never had so much fun in ages, and on the cheap too. :)
 
You could keep the 70-200F4L and add a 1.4 extender. I know that there's reports of it not working with one, but I can confirm that my 70-200 f2.8 works with a mkii 1.4. I'm pretty sure that it will auto focus up to f5.6. Definitely doesn't a/f with my 100-400 with it attached to it though.
 
The canon 6D is great, I love mine, not too big. Traded a fuji xt-2 for it.

Nicer battery life, good compatibility with flashes, loads of lenses that are excellent value and the sensor is great.

My favourite camera overall is probably the nikon d7200, the canon equiv is the 7d or 7dii but neither are full frame, if that bothers you.

The 6D doesn't do great AF tracking but it's not really built for sports.

Some key weaknesses imo:
- no built in intervalometer. Pretty weak tbh.
- needs the more expensive type of external one to work (even more weak)
- has an anti-alias filter so if you're used to a camera without one, images won't be as sharp. Imo, pretty irrelevant

Strengths are the sensor, the colours (seem easier to get nice in lightroom than fuji), the handling (it's not quite as comfy as the D7200 but it's close!), size.

It's sort-of perfect in the way it just gets on and takes nice photos. If you underexposed you can recover a mad amount of shadow detail, almost to the point of hilarious HDR.

If you use a tripod for macro, make sure you turn mirror lockup on. It's the first digi camera I've owned that has a real problem with shutter vibrations, but I'm being really picky at macro distances.
 
jonbeeza said:
Not so sure about that, I bought an old Nikon D90 a couple of weeks ago in mint condition. I can now use my old 50mm 1.8D and an old 28-300 mm zoom. Never had so much fun in ages, and on the cheap too. :)
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join the club! Nothing makes me happier than using my old Digital rebel or Canon D30 or Kodak dcs pro slr (each nearly 20 years old!)
 
stickytape said:
join the club! Nothing makes me happier than using my old Digital rebel or Canon D30 or Kodak dcs pro slr (each nearly 20 years old!)
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In that case, never visit the Film and Conventional section of this forum... when you see some of the beautiful old kit being used by the regulars, and some of the results produced by it then there's a fair chance you'll have even more old cameras coming to live with you! ;)
 
Mr Badger said:
In that case, never visit the Film and Conventional section of this forum... when you see some of the beautiful old kit being used by the regulars, and some of the results produced by it then there's a fair chance you'll have even more old cameras coming to live with you! ;)
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I can imagine that’s my next step! It’s pretty weird, the older more unusual stuff definitely attracts me more than Today’s cutting edge stuff... I’m a weirdo!
 
stickytape said:
I can imagine that’s my next step! It’s pretty weird, the older more unusual stuff definitely attracts me more than Today’s cutting edge stuff... I’m a weirdo!
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Well, the Canon EOS 30 35mm film SLR is still reasonably affordable (you should be able to find a nice one in full working order for around £40 to £70 [body only] if you're patient). It should work with all Canon EF lenses (but not EF-S crop sensor ones), including Canon's EF IS and STM lenses. Plus it has 7 eye-controlled AF points - you just look at one of the AF points through the viewfinder and the camera will select it (I really wish they'd bring this feature back as I find it so useful!).

Just saying! :whistle: ;)
 
stickytape said:
join the club! Nothing makes me happier than using my old Digital rebel or Canon D30 or Kodak dcs pro slr (each nearly 20 years old!)
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We do need people to keep chasing the latest gear, giving the rest of us ample supply of very capable gear at a low cost. ;)
 
Mr Badger said:
Well, the Canon EOS 30 35mm film SLR is still reasonably affordable (you should be able to find a nice one in full working order for around £40 to £70 [body only] if you're patient). It should work with all Canon EF lenses (but not EF-S crop sensor ones), including Canon's EF IS and STM lenses. Plus it has 7 eye-controlled AF points - you just look at one of the AF points through the viewfinder and the camera will select it (I really wish they'd bring this feature back as I find it so useful!).

Just saying! :whistle: ;)
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I like that sort old technology, things that are genuinely useful! I can imagine myself getting a film camera, sometime towards the end of the year when I get another itch! Currently I'm hankering after a Fuji S1/S2/S3 but I know that brings a whole different lens mount (again!) as I'm running EOS and micro 4/3 right now. Talking of your EOS 3 clever AF (which is damn useful, I'm geuninely surprised its not carried on) here is a bit of tech that I think is groundbreaking; On my Kodak DCS it's got an extra shutter release for when you hold the camera in vertical formats; But there is no "on or off" switch. The camera has a sensor that detected when the camera is held vertical and the shutter is automatically on for AF and picture taking, and when held in normal orientation, it goes back to off. And in the menu you can choose to have an automatic crop applied to images as they're taken! Little things like that, I find amazing!
 
jonbeeza said:
We do need people to keep chasing the latest gear, giving the rest of us ample supply of very capable gear at a low cost. ;)
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That's a good point. I'm slightly guilty of the latest gear in one respect, I've got an RP!
 
stickytape said:
That's a good point. I'm slightly guilty of the latest gear in one respect, I've got an RP!
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I have already got my eye on certain bodies, just need more people to buy them new, so they can get into the pre owned chain. ;)
 
Case in point..few from today with my 20 year old D30! annoying as these are so sharp on my Mac but the compression on here makes them look so bad!474EB738-B8F4-4F90-856E-9971DF52F50E.jpeg474EB738-B8F4-4F90-856E-9971DF52F50E.jpeg
 
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stickytape said:
and this woodpigeon was at iso 1600! View attachment 277115
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stickytape said:
and this woodpigeon was at iso 1600! View attachment 277115
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van.jpg

Yes those older bodies are not that bad really. Above photo taken at ISO 2000. I made a mess of the photo getting the blades of grass in the frame. But the letters on the van are readable. The van was going at some speed also.

Taken with the Nikon D90 I think the camera is about 12 years old now. But yes, those old cameras are still capable of taking a decent image. :-)
 
I think used is the way to go. Apart from buying my first DSLR new (Canon 1100D), I’ve bought a used 60D, then earlier this year a 6D. I’ve also got 3 L lenses that were all used and only my 24-105 was purchased new (grey market). There’s some real bargains out there. I made an offer of £500 on eBay for a mint condition (Minus box and pouch) 70-200f2.8L IS and they accepted it!! I reckon that I’d get more than that if I sold it/traded it in.

low shutter count and condition is what I look for when it comes to bodies. You get a guarantee if you buy them from a shop so to me it’s a win win
 
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