Best use of budget- New or used?

[Tilpots]

Looking at a couple of cameras posted in the MR Marketplace. Not sure I'll buy either one, but I need some theoretical help determining how to buy my first DLSR. My budget is $500. I have a Lens from an old Canon Rebel 2000 film camera available. Will be shooting mostly outdoor action shots. I'm a former videographer so I think many skills will translate.

Here's the T6i

Here's the 60D

Which of these would you reccomend and why? Working more in theory then necessarily on these specific cameras so I welcome any of your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[MCAsan]

Go for a refurbished Canon body with warranty. If you can trade in an old Canon body, they will give you credit for it. But you have to call in for the trade in credit. The wife and I saved lots get 5DII and 5DIII bodies and L series lens from them.

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras

 

[Tilpots]

Great tip on the Canon Loyalty Program. Any recommendations on which body given budget? Here's their current stock.

 

[MCAsan]

No, not really. The wife and I sold off all our Canon 35mm equipment and went Micro Four Thirds with Olympus OM-D EM-1 bodies and their Pro lenses series. Mirrorless systems like M43 are smaller, lighter, and less costly than 35mm DSLR systems. Investigate all your options before buying into 35mm DSLRs systems.


http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/outlet/reconditioned-cameras.html

 

[Tilpots]

No, not really. The wife and I sold off all our Canon 35mm equipment and went Micro Four Thirds with Olympus OM-D EM-1 bodies and their Pro lenses series. Mirrorless systems like M43 are smaller, lighter, and less costly than 35mm DSLR systems. Investigate all your options before buying into 35mm DSLRs systems.


http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/outlet/reconditioned-cameras.html

I've been checking out the mirrorless cameras. Just don't know much about em yet. Interesting for sure. Look a lot more portable as well. I just don't have any hands on experience with one yet. Is DPreview a reccomended site for info? Leaned on them quite a bit for reviews so far.

 

[robgendreau]

Canon refurbs are insane deals. They even undercut me when selling a used Canon; geez.

But used can work out as well. I've bought from user sites (other brands, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax) and from B&H and have had nothing but good experiences; if anything, sellers understated the quality of lenses and other equipment I was buying. And check etsy for old legacy lenses; they sometimes have better prices than ebay.

I have a mirrorless Oly. It's a fantastic camera (E-M10). I like using it when hiking more than my heavier Pentax DSLR. Sometimes I like the optical viewfinder on the Pentax, though. Oly is having a 20% off sale on their refurbs; I've had good experiences with their refurbs as well. And you can adapt tons of legacy lenses for use on them as well. There are some M-5's with a kit lens for sale there and well under your budget with that discount.

I'd say that for outdoor action the Canon or Pentax might have the edge due to faster autofocus, but it may vary by model. The K-50 with a kit lens is under $500, and is weatherproof to boot, which might be something you could use. I think it's better than some of the Canons in that price range, but you kinda wouldn't go wrong with many of these depending on the specifics of what you need.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I've been checking out the mirrorless cameras. Just don't know much about em yet. Interesting for sure. Look a lot more portable as well. I just don't have any hands on experience with one yet. Is DPreview a reccomended site for info? Leaned on them quite a bit for reviews so far.

I'd recommend DPreview for camera comparisons. It has pretty good reviews as well. But personally, I always prefer holding the camera I'm looking to buy, to get a feel for the layout etc. first.

 

[OreoCookie]

I second the recommendation to look at mirrorless cameras, and I throw Fuji's X-mount cameras into the ring. Olympus cameras which have been mentioned by MCAsan have better AF (on average), but some people, myself included love the UI of Fuji's X cameras.

 

[Tilpots]

So, an update...

I took many of your recommendations here and went to work looking at each and every camera mentioned in this thread and then some. I've scoured Craigslist, eBay, The MR Marketplace, Adorama, Slickdeals, etc. looking for the very best deal/value I could find. Finally, today, I won an eBay auction for an Olympus OM-D EM-5 with a 12-50mm lens and an extra battery. Hopefully, the camera will be delivered this week. I got the body and the lens for about $420 shipped.

I believe this was a good deal. It was really between this camera and the Pentax K50. Both seemed to offer excellent pic potential and both were weatherproofed. I favored the Olympus despite the approximate $100 price difference because of the Micro 4/3 lenses and the potential for a long term investment into a camera system instead of a short term trial.

I am beyond excited. Can't wait to start posting in some of the picture post threads. Thanks for all of your help. I really examined all of your advice, used it and appreciate it!

 

[Ray2]

If you plan to shoot video, don't even bother looking at Fuji. It's a stills system. I love the system but I have yet to take a frame of video with them.

Again, if video, you know what's important. My son shoots video for rock bands and reportage. He bought a Sony 5n a while ago as a backup. Nixed it first use. I'm thinking dslr would be the way to go if video is ever desired.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

So, an update...

I took many of your recommendations here and went to work looking at each and every camera mentioned in this thread and then some. I've scoured Craigslist, eBay, The MR Marketplace, Adorama, Slickdeals, etc. looking for the very best deal/value I could find. Finally, today, I won an eBay auction for an Olympus OM-D EM-5 with a 12-50mm lens and an extra battery. Hopefully, the camera will be delivered this week. I got the body and the lens for about $420 shipped.

I believe this was a good deal. It was really between this camera and the Pentax K50. Both seemed to offer excellent pic potential and both were weatherproofed. I favored the Olympus despite the approximate $100 price difference because of the Micro 4/3 lenses and the potential for a long term investment into a camera system instead of a short term trial.

I am beyond excited. Can't wait to start posting in some of the picture post threads. Thanks for all of your help. I really examined all of your advice, used it and appreciate it!

Good luck with it, and enjoy your Olympus.

I used to shoot with Pentax and found them superb, solidly built and utterly reliable cameras; they were nicely sized, too, and weren't as massive as some of the other camera makes.

 

[MacRy]

Have fun with the EM5. I looked long and hard at one until I fell for the lure of a Fuji. They look like great little cameras. I look forward to seeing some shots with it in the POTD threads.

 

[Badrottie]

So, an update...

I took many of your recommendations here and went to work looking at each and every camera mentioned in this thread and then some. I've scoured Craigslist, eBay, The MR Marketplace, Adorama, Slickdeals, etc. looking for the very best deal/value I could find. Finally, today, I won an eBay auction for an Olympus OM-D EM-5 with a 12-50mm lens and an extra battery. Hopefully, the camera will be delivered this week. I got the body and the lens for about $420 shipped.

I believe this was a good deal. It was really between this camera and the Pentax K50. Both seemed to offer excellent pic potential and both were weatherproofed. I favored the Olympus despite the approximate $100 price difference because of the Micro 4/3 lenses and the potential for a long term investment into a camera system instead of a short term trial.

I am beyond excited. Can't wait to start posting in some of the picture post threads. Thanks for all of your help. I really examined all of your advice, used it and appreciate it!

Oh you beat me! Congrats with used toy.