Best modern upgrade from Canon Rebel T5i?
For background: I'm very much an amateur/enthusiast and primarily take photos on vacation and at conventions. I like to play a bit at artsy stuff, but keep things simple usually in terms of image processing (usually cropping and tweaking a few sliders in lightroom). Landscapes, architecture, sunsets, animals who may be in motion, travel, cosplay, and of course my cat. Day or night, indoors and outside.
I'm looking to finally upgrade from my over a decade old DSLR (Canon Rebel t5i). I love the photos I take with it and the ease of use, long battery life and flexibility (I can just autofocus and let the camera choose image settings, or mess with manual settings to whichever level I like), and I love having a viewfinder and the flip out screen. But I don't like that it doesn't have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi features (so I need to wait till I get to a laptop and read the sd card, and for me with ADHD this often means I take forever to share photos from it vs my cell phone), and it's also just bulky enough that lately I'm opting to just go with my cell phone camera as "good enough", which a lot of the time it is. Sometimes autofocus is a bit slow too and I'd love even better low light photos since that's a phone camera weakness.
I'm about to travel to Scandinavia for the first time and I want a great camera along. I hear DSLR is basically discontinued and mirrorless is the new thing. I know there are pros and cons to each, but I definitely want to explore a proper upgrade (it would be annoying to not be able to use lenses, flash and other attachments I already bought, but realistically I mainly use a third party lens that goes from 16-300 zoom since it's more convenient than always switching. I'm willing to entertain all brands). Also thinking about how to really get better image quality (to give a solid excuse not to just use my phone) and looking into full frame perhaps, if it's worth it. Obviously there is still budget to consider, but I'm hoping this can be another decade-plus investment so I'm willing to splurge for the right camera that will last me! I could see myself going to the $1,000 range or thereabouts.
Thanks!
(1) Budget, country, and currency:
~$1,000 US Dollars
(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs?
Canon Rebel T5i. No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to instantly share photos, would like something that can focus faster and handle low light better and generally improve upon my initial camera! (While still being beginner friendly)
(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot?
Landscapes, architecture, sunsets, animals who may be in motion, travel, posed humans, candids, cosplay, and of course my cat.
(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both?
Primarily photography
Posted Feb 23, 2026, 5:52 AM UTC