Help me upgrade my 550d

[dhofmann]

Have you experimented with bounce flash, light modifiers (bounce card, etc.), etc.  to get better low light performance? An external flash can create pleasing light if you know how to use it.

Canon's EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM is supposed to have better autofocus than the Sigma.

[Daniel Flather]

My 2 cents...Was shooting a 50d and was frustrated with high ISO noise.  Were that not an issue, I was otherwise happy.  A friend has a 7d.  While it is a step up from the 50d, the high ISO noise performance was not enough improved, IMHO, to justify moving to this body.  I did go with a 5D3 (long thoughts about the $) and wow, I can't believe the difference!  Then, add in the focus point improvements and I am really convinced I made the right move.

Me Too, I went from a 50D to the 5D3 and still have to get used to the fact that I can now use iso 6400 without it going to sh*t.

[biscuit]

OP here again:

Have you experimented with bounce flash, light modifiers (bounce card, etc.), etc.  to get better low light performance? An external flash can create pleasing light if you know how to use it.

Canon's EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM is supposed to have better autofocus than the Sigma.

Yes I have.  At the moment I am making fairly heavy use of bounced flash indoors to avoid using high ISO.  It is not always practical though, e.g. if I am not at home and don't have the flash.  It is also distracting sometimes for kids and they decide to come over and stick their fingers on the lens.

So I think your 550d focus issues possibly come from your lens (sigma? not surprising) and possibly technique. With both of my rebels my hit rates are north of 80 percent, and thats for fast moving people in the street with endless variety of lighting conditions.

Hit rate is no problem for still objects, but it struggles in cases where someone is moving (usually quickly) straight towards me / erratically etc.  I have done a lot of experimenting in case that it is operator error, and I am fairly confident that I am doing as well as could reasonably be hoped.  The hit rate with the Sigma is lower than with the others (in any situation), but the AF performance (specifically AI servo) is a general issue.

[biscuit]

OP once again:

I think I have decided to just go for the 5D3 option.  I was hoping to get it in a kit with the 24-105 at a sub-MAP price from ebay.  However, it seems that most of the ebay sellers, or at least the larger ones, will not accept a European credit card for delivery to a US address.

This is an unexpected snag.  I have never had this problem before, and purchased all of my current kit this way from Adorama/B&H.  Any ideas here?  Will Adorama/B&H negotiate sub-MAP prices by phone?  I know that a few weeks ago, pre-MAP enforcement,  their prices were considerably lower.

Thanks again for all of the advice.

[Maui5150]

You like to waste your money.

If 80% of what you will shoot is portrait, then my a 5DMKII and better glass.

While some of the ISO is better on the 5DMKIII and the AF greatly improved, most of that will help the sports or activity shooter. 

Current 5DMKII owner who moved up from the 550D about a year ago, and more than happy with the move.   The new AF on the 5DMKIII may help me get a slightly better number of keepers, but that is hard for me to justify a $1400 increase in price, where that could go to upgrading my 50 1.4 or 85 1.8 to the L versions, not to mention you will loose reach jumping to FF.

For me, I am saving for another year or so and going to the 1DX or perhaps the large MP on the horizon depending on where it fits capability wise.

For where you are and what you shoot, going to a 5DMKII and then selling your 70-200 F4 IS and going 70-200 F/2.8 IS II is about the same as buying a 5D MKIII but a more significant upgrade. 

Given the generations of where the 5DMKII and MKIII are, a 5DMKII will do better than a 5DMKIII with cheap glass. 

Generally glass matter more than the body.

Only major upgrade in the MKIII is AF.  I shoot sports occasionally, and I could not justify the price jump to only go to the 5DMKIII so saving up another $3K to make a much more significant jump. 

[bycostello]

i'd go for a 6d.. i'd like the gps on it for my travel stuff...

[M.ST]

If you only interested in portraits don´t waste a lot of money for the 5D Mark III and get the 5D Mark II with one or two good L lenses.

The EF 24-105 IS is not a perfect lens for portraits. It´s only good between f/9 up to f/16.

Don´t buy the 7D and wait what is coming new next year.

[Marsu42]

i'd go for a 6d.. i'd like the gps on it for my travel stuff...

... as an alternative, just get a $40 gps tagger which lasts 24h, is likely to be more precise, doesn't drain your camera's battery and keeps on tracking when your camera is safely inside your bag. The downside is that you need to merge the gps log with the shots afterwards, but this is really a minor issue and it's a good idea anyway because geosetter also puts the location area and city names inside the exif.

The one thing that would have been nice for in-camera gps is to log the direction the camera is pointing to - but alas, Canon didn't include it (Nikon taggers for the hotshoe have it).

[neuroanatomist]

The one thing that would have been nice for in-camera gps is to log the direction the camera is pointing to - but alas, Canon didn't include it (Nikon taggers for the hotshoe have it).

So do Canon's GP-E1 and GP-E2. 

[Marsu42]

So do Canon's GP-E1 and GP-E2.

They do!? Thanks for the information - I never looked at the features after I had a look at the price (afaik Nikon bodies have a dedicated gps port longer than Canon / at all, thus they've got more and cheaper 3rd party logging solutions).

But esp. in this case it's a shame Canon didn't include this one useful feature in the 6d (if I read the specs correctly) because with the direction and the lens info it's possible to determine the exact area the picture covers.

[neuroanatomist]

But esp. in this case it's a shame Canon didn't include this one useful feature in the 6d (if I read the specs correctly)

You did, AFAIK.  The specs for the external taggers mention location and cardinal direction, the 6D specs mention only location.

[daniemare]

The 5d III offers everything I want of course and is FF, but the price is very high and the camera is basically overkill for my purposes.  I don't care so much about the super robust build, dual card slots etc, and would gladly pay less to give up these features.

Same boat as you with a fairly similar kit (I have the 500D).  I can wait for the 6D as I also think the 5DIII overkill and I can thus not justify the price.  I also do not care for those added features, but I do understand more pro orientated users' need for it.

From all my reading here and questions asked, I think full frame is the way to go, so I cannot wait.  So I will also sell the 17-50 and 11-16

[Zv]

I went from a 550D to a 7D too for the same reason as OP. I kept missing shots due to the slowness. I adore my 7D, but sadly since I got the 5D II, it has been mostly unused. Glad you chose to go with the 5D III, you'll appreciate it in the long run!