Canon 700D or 70D for a beginner

Question

I have the opportunity to buy either a Canon 700D for about 470€ or the Canon 70D for 830€ (both are just the cameras, no lenses included). This would be my first DSLR. There's a gap of 360€ which I could spent on lenses. 800€ is actually my limit but since 30€ is not THAT much of a difference I'd do an exception. But not more than that.

Since I'm a an absolute beginner, I have done a lot of research and watched hundreds of videos but I still can't decide on what camera I should buy. What I mainly want to do is shoot at night (low light), sky pictures and a lot of landscape pictures. What do you guys think, which one should I buy or are both of them not good for my purposes?

don't make it harder then it is.. get a camera, start shooting and you'll find your own standard. It is really up to you what you want to go with. My first camera was a 70d, and I was very pleased with it. What I DO recommend is, go to a shop, and try them out for like 5 minutes, the feel of it, the buttons, shape and size. — onimoni, Apr 30 '16 at 20:33
In my opinion, buy the 700D and spend the $360 on a nice lens and/or tripod, those are the factors that will probably improve your photography more than the camera you use — Kiah, May 01 '16 at 00:02
When you say "sky pictures", do you mean astrophotography or daytime skies? — mattdm, May 01 '16 at 15:06
Possible duplicate of Are there disadvantages to a prosumer camera for a beginner, aside from cost? — inkista, May 01 '16 at 17:25

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:43

For your intended purpose there isn't a lot of difference between using a 700D or a 70D (The 80D, on the other hand, provides significant improvement in low light performance and dynamic range which is vital to most landscape photography). The 70D has very slightly better sensor performance, but the difference is well less than 1/3 stop in terms of dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio, tonal range and color sensitivity.

The biggest difference between the two, apart from price, is in handling speed and the number of direct controls that allow you to change settings quickly without taking your eye from the viewfinder. The other major differentiator is in the AF system with regard to number of focus points and configurability. Neither handling speed nor AF performance are a major concern in either night sky or landscape photography where you are most likely going to be using Live View to manually focus your tripod mounted camera.

For a more general comparison between entry level and semi-pro/prosumer cameras, please see Are there disadvantages to a prosumer camera for a beginner, aside from cost?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 11:21

I have the opportunity to buy either a Canon 700D for about 470€ or the Canon 70D for 830€ (both are just the cameras, no lenses included). This would be my first DSLR. There's a gap of 360€ which I could spent on lenses. 800€ is actually my limit but since 30€ is not THAT much of a difference I'd do an exception. But not more than that.

Since I'm a an absolute beginner, I have done a lot of research and watched hundreds of videos but I still can't decide on what camera I should buy. What I mainly want to do is shoot at night (low light), sky pictures and a lot of landscape pictures. What do you guys think, which one should I buy or are both of them not good for my purposes?

700D. I have the 700D and I can tell you it's not the body that does the most job rather the accessories. A single lens is not enough, don't even try to get away with 18-300mm lenses.

Since you are an absolute beginner, you'll want to have a grip on the essentials, a.k.a. exposure, lighting, composition, shutter speed and those. I've seen many people grabbing a DSLR and only using them in AUTO mode which really freaks me out.

If a photo is not good, it's not the camera, it's you the photographer. Even if you have the best camera in the world you will not guarantee a good photo.

What you do need though is 1 or 2 good lenses, a good tripod, and maybe a external flash with diffuser. The internal flash coming with the camera is practically unusable without modification as the hard light will just make a good photo feels meh.

Trust me, get a normal body, some good lenses, a tripod and a few flashes and shoot on. It'll take a few months or even years until the camera bottlenecks you.

Addition:

For landscape photography, I've seen people needing 18-50mm and 70mm-200mm.
And in low light condition, the exposure is set to be generally very long.
If you really need more advanced feature, MagicLantern can make up for it generally, but use it at your own risk.
If you really think your photos are mediocre, learn how to use image editing software. It's not to be over reliant on editing but rather to 'optimise' the image for our eyes.

Canon 700D or 70D for a beginner

2 Answers2