Any comments on Canon EOS T3, T5 and T6 Rebel?

[Tom Hall]

I have never owned a camera that is capable of photographing fine detail in closeups. Am now researching. I don't intend to use the camera for action photography such as car races, air shows, etc. Don't especially need it for landscape photography, either.

Any thoughts on the Canon EOS T3, T5 and T6 Rebels?

To photograph the detail of coins, plastic models, HO trains and small products, a high quality 50 mm lens or the Canon 18-55 mm lens would get it done, wouldn't it?

[TheBaron]

I have never owned a camera that is capable of photographing fine detail in closeups. Am now researching. I don't intend to use the camera for action photography such as car races, air shows, etc. Don't especially need it for landscape photography, either.

Any thoughts on the Canon EOS T3, T5 and T6 Rebels?

To photograph the detail of coins, plastic models, HO trains and small products, a high quality 50 mm lens or the Canon 18-55 mm lens would get it done, wouldn't it?

Hi Tom,

I use a Canon 60D for a whole range of photographic subjects, including work for Britmodeller. The T6 model you mention would be quite similar in basics specs to this camera regarding sensor size etc.. If you want to have a look at my posts it'll give you an idea of how close you can get with the 18-55mm lens: (any closer work would require a macro lens) and the typical quality.

HTH,

Tony

[Centaur95]

For me, the critical elements would be a good tripod and a cable release for the camera (to avoid any shake). The type of camera is secondary to that. You can get excellent results with a compact camera set on the close-up function and fitted to a tripod, so don't assume that an SLR will give you functionality that you don't already have.

If you are set on something like a Rebel (good cameras, as most DSLRs are), then I would think carefully before spending too much money on additional lenses. A DSLR will do all the tasks you mention (those that interest you and those that don't) - it's about learning how to make the camera do the things you want it to and that takes patience and practice, lots of practice. I've been using SLR cameras for over 30 years and I still mess up occasionally. There is absolutely no substitute for taking photos - dozens, hundreds - discarding most of them when they don't work and learning from those mistakes each time until you find a formula that works for you consistently.

The Canon 18-55mm lens is a good all-round performer. It isn't designed as a macro (close-up) but it's OK. Get to know it. Understand it's limitations and decide whether they are acceptable for you. If they aren't then consider purchasing a more specialised macro lens. Rather than purchase a lens such as Canon's excellent 60mm F2.8 macro, I'd suggest a fixed focal length zoom with macro capabilities (Canon do a 17-50 F2.8, Tamron offer an 18-55 F2.8 and Sigma do an equivalent too).

My camera bag contains both a 'fixed' 60mm macro and a 'macro zoom' (17-50mm). The 60mm lens is a great lens and I use it semi-regularly, but the 17-50 lives on my camera all the time as a general purpose lens and gets used for its macro functionality as frequently as I use it for family snaps and general reportage work.

Cheers,

Centaur

[Tom Hall]

Many thanks for your comments. I shall look at your photos, Baron.

The tripod I have. The lighting I have. It's the camera for detailed close-ups that I am considering. Am not set on the Canon but have owned a couple of their earlier models and like the brand.

I presume that Sony's A6000 is more of a travel camera and less of a budget studio camera for product photography. The Sony SLT-A65 seems fairly similar to the Canon T3 and T5.

Since this camera is to have a specialized use, that being detail on small things, I am considering buying just the camera body and purchasing the lens a la carte.

One thing I am not finding in online product reviews is discussion of colour fidelity. I have an old digital camera that was more or less blind to violets and purples. I can put up with a lot of fidgety procedure to take a good "studio" photo if I can actually get proper colours and fine detail. Any comments on colour fidelity? To get it am I going to have to step in price level?

[TheBaron]

Hi Tom,

At the T6/60D level, the decent sensor and lens combination on the Canon should provide accurate colour fidelity, *provided* the following parameters are set accurately:

1. White balancing: camera WB needs to match the colour temperature of your lights (in Kelvin, rather than the tungsten etc. presets)

2. Many Canon cameras have a 'Picture Style' menu item which enables you to set up your own presets regarding saturation, contrast etc.) You can set up your own preset to match what your eyes show you by doing test shots using different values for these parameters, until you hit on the right combination. You can then store this preset for future use.

Be conscious however of the perils of colour reproduction subsequent to the photograph, in that unless every device (and printer) you work with is calibrated identically, your picture will necessarily be reproduced with different colour values on each device. So fidelity and subsequent reproduction can be a thorny issue when later disseminating your work.

My apologies if you know all this already Tom - I just wanted to answer your query thoroughly

Tony

[Tom Hall]

Thank you for that advice. I am far from being a professional photographer. I have tried tinkering with colour adjustments after the fact using various software. It is not a good use of my time, so the more colour fidelity I can get from the camera, the more satisfied with it I will be. I know that I cannot expect perfection in colour reproduction. (I once spent a lot of time shopping around Hollywood to get a fine reproduction of a 1941 colour slide. Even with all of the sophisticated colour film knowledge in Hollywood, I found that it was not practical to get all the colours of the slide.)