upgrading from XSi.. what to choose?

[cheeseheadsaint]

Hi! It's been a while since I've been on canon rumors and didn't keep up with all the new models and stuff. So I need help! =)

I've had my XSi for 3yrs now(first and only DSLR) and while I love everything about it.. I'm having the video itch. A while ago, I planned to upgrade to the 7D once it gets off market so its cheap but then I watched a video of the new mirrorless camera and like how easy it is to focus during video mode and how i just need an adapter to fit all my lenses. It's smaller and cheaper.

I mainly do portraits, wildlife and sports if that helps. I'll still use the XSi for photos if I do get the eos m since i want a viewfinder but then wouldn't the money be better spent for something like the 7d?

ahh can't decide! help!

[Drizzt321]

Ahh...the good old XSi. My first SLR as well

If you can wait to make the decision I'd wait until the EOS-M is out for a month or more and reviewers and regular users have had a chance to comment and discover any bugs/flaws in it. Especially as it's a very new system.

If you want to stick with the SLR world, 7D of course is great, but the T4i might be a somewhat viable option since it appears they more or less just took the guts of the T4i and stuck it into the EOS-M, so I imagine the T4i is going to be quite a similar experience to the EOS-M. Plus, you then get the viewfinder and a still pretty small body (compared to 5D/1D series).

[cheeseheadsaint]

Heheh i just saw that photo on the blog of the super tele mounted on the eos-m and it looks incredibly stupid. xD leaning more and more to staying in the slr world.

hows the t4i's focusing while filming?

[Drizzt321]

From what I've read in the reviews it's pretty slow, but OK, specifically with the STM lenses. Go do some research on it.

[paul13walnut5]

AF and video...  no matter how fast or silent the AF system the problem is always going to be the correct area to focus on + shallow depth of field + movement.

Above a certain level of video camera (Sony EX1 for example) video cameras just don't have AF.

I wouldn't get too hung up on it.  Get lenses that can be focused manually (nice long throw focus rings, nice wide rubberised grip, non-rotating filter thread)

and get a body with live view magnification, so 550D, 600D, 650D.

I moved from a 550D to a 600D as the flip out screen was just so much more user friendly for video, and as standard audio level controls are useful for more serious work.

There isn't a lot to sell the 650D over the 600D from a video users perspective.. the 650D can continuously record accross clips which is a nice feature to have (by this I mean, the 550D, 600D, 60D, 7D, 5D2 all stop recording when they hit the 4GB file size limit - this equates to around 12min of HD recording, the 650D creates a new clip without interupting the recording) depending on your intended video application this could be a deal breaker.

[Ryan708]

The t4i also features the full time video focusing like the "M", but I have heard it is still nothing great. If you really get into the video itch you will just focus manually. I was able to keep up with a snomobile water skipping at dusk with live view on my 60D with a 50mm F/1.8, so the depth of field was reletively thin. It becomes second nature pretty quick :-)