400D upgrade paths?
I've had a Digital Rebel XTi/400D (I am in europe, but it's labelled rebel XTi so I guess the previous owner got it in the US) so it was imported at some point) that I bought used about 15 years ago. It came with a flash that I basically never used and the 18-55mm EFS lens. Generally I would use it when I was going somewhere to take photos. So mostly large scale photography from medium or far distance, landscapes, buildings, museum exhibits.
When I used it, 90% of the time I just used the presets as a fancy point and shoot camera.
In the last 3 or so years I stopped using it, the photo quality on my smartphone became "good enough" for most of my use, especially in the last 2 years with covid cutting out travel and the 400D had built up some bug bears:
- The battery life had dropped to appalling, <50 photos
- Mini-USB to USB-C cables are somewhat rare and so need to be ordered online and most I've got have been of dubious quality and longevity.
- Transfers from the camera are slooow
- CF card readers are an extra thing to carry around (vs my laptop's built in SD slot)
- It's kind of heavy if I'm trying to pack one bag for ryanair flights.
My budget is approx €500. I'm a little flexible in this, but it's not going to stretch to a new M5 II or 850D.
So I see the following options:
- Buy a used M5 + a EFS to EF-M adapter to use the lens from my current 400D (cheaper than a EF-M lens)
- Buy a used higher tier DSLR like an 80D, reuse my current lens
- The 800D doesn't appear to be notably cheaper than the 80D used locally, you're more likely to get the 18-55mm lens thrown in with the 800D but I already have one, while the 850D is much more expensive, so that going for the same tier seems out.
- Buy a new 2000D. New come with a warranty along with the latest features, though this is technically a step down in model. But the comparative review sites indicate they're pretty equivalent, so I guess near 20 years has closed that gap.
- Revamp the 400D. Buy some new batteries, maybe a wide angle lens. Cheapest but won't really fix what a PITA it is to get photos off of it.
I'm leaning towards option 1 here, the fact that the m5 is lighter and smaller than the dslr range does make it appealing for travel use.
Posted Apr 26, 2022, 12:38 PM UTC
Sl3 24mp, APSc, 4k, 16oz, ef\efs mount
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1473086-REG/canon_3453c001_eos_rebel_sl3_dslr.html
M5 24mp, apsc,1080p, 15oz, m mount
Sl3 is a current product, will nativly accept your current lens and any EF glass. M mount is dead, but probably irrelevant if you only plan to use EF glass.
I had an SL2, zero complaints for stills for what it is. Video was meh. Sl3 does 4k video, so much better than my SL2 there.
This does seem promising, but it doesn't appear to exist in my market. Some stores have listings, but they're out of stock with no expected date, and ebay/Amazon will ship used ones from the US at the same price as the new out of stock listings. Are these being scalped like GPUs or is it just a slow global rollout?
It will have a different name outside the US. 250, I think?
Yeah, it's the 250D according to wikipedia. The rest still applies. I think most of the things on ebay as "250D" are actually imported SL3s, and the local retailers out of stick listings are down as "250D"