I don’t know if we’ve mentioned it here, but we have a video on Youtube about moving on from our Nikon D5300 DSLR camera. We bought it right before Adelaide was born to document her life with better pictures than cell phones can muster – especially back then. It’s been an AWESOME camera for us. We didn’t use any fancy lenses, just the basic kit lens that came with it. We used it on our big RV trip – and it served us very well again. No complaints. Not super artsy photos (no fancy lenes), but great images that are hanging on our wall.
But as we have started making videos in addition to photos, the camera came up short. Specifically it lacked autofocus during video. I first noticed it when we tried to film Adelaide’s Winter Dance Recital. Getting focus right was tough. That was the day we learned to use manual focus.
We tried to solve the problem with a GoPro Hero7 Black.
The GoPro can take some great photos and videos. It can go underwater. We can give it to the kids without worrying they’ll damage it. Even the audio is decent when you learn not to cover the microphone. But it can’t zoom. It can’t change focus or create depth of field. And audio isn’t great. You can attach an external microphone to a GoPro, but the other limitations make it a great 2nd camera where audio is less important.
What put us over the edge was when Karissa shot the 2nd half of Adelaide’s Spring Sing. I normally control the camera – especially for video. I focus on getting my focus right. I’ve practiced quite a bit. Karissa hasn’t had the practice and wasn’t as focused on ensuring focus.
So that meant we knew our biggest need in new camera – great autofocus in video! Essentially, Nikon lacks video autofocus. That left us Sony or Canon. Long story short, Canon’s autofocus is the most reliable, most natural, and doesn’t miss. Sony’s might be more advanced and “faster”, but it’s not as reliable. And after dealing with lack of focus, reliable autofocus was more important than speed. Also, Sony doesn’t offer flippy screens. Our Nikon has a flippy screen and we use it all the time!
Learning about a new ecosystem is daunting. It’s daunting for cars and trucks and also for technology. Thank goodness we didn’t have any fancy lenses, or switching brands would have been tougher.
As with all technology, there are a lot of choices to make. Canon has a vast lineup of cameras in various sizes and feature sets. We needed a camera that was at least as good as our Nikon D5300 at photos and had great autofocus in video mode. That put us into the mid-range of Canon’s camera lineup (or higher). The most comparable Canon camera would have been the T7i. It has a flippy/vari-angle screen and is basically a step above “entry-level”. But it’s processor is a few generations old – and we all know how much better processors get with every generation. For cameras, better processors mean better performance in low-light (and faster processing). Learning this made getting the latest processor a must. That left 4 cameras.
EOS R – $2,299+ full-frame mirrorless. A “pro-sumer” camera. Not quite for professionals, but definitely not for people just getting started in photo/video.
EOS RP – $1,299+ full-frame mirrorless. A budget version of the EOS R. It removes some features, is smaller and lighter. One of the cheapest new full-frame cameras ever. It was a major contender.
EOS M50 – $650+ crop-sensor mirrorless. A mid-range camera from the “M” lineup that has a full feature set.
SL3 – $650+ crop-sensor DSLR. It’s the DSLR version of the M50…sort of. The biggest knock against it is the laughable 9 autofocus points when shooting from the viewfinder. Our Nikon has 47 autofocus points or something, so downgrading to just 9 would be frustrating!
The SL3 was immediately dismissed. 9 autofocus points is terrible. I thought the EOS R was too expensive for us, though Karissa fully supported getting it. That left the EOS RP and the M50. The EOS RP is a severely handicapped camera. They removed features that the M50 (and EOS R) has – such as 24fps shooting. It is also very SLOW. It only shoots 3.5-4.0 shots per second in camera mode. And while we’re not sports shooters or anything, being able to shoot quickly with kids is important. The M50 can shoot 10.0 shots per second. Both have the ability to shoot 4k video, though autofocus is removed. For comparison, the EOS R maintains dual pixel autofocus while shooting 4K video.
So do we buy a handicapped full-frame camera or a full-featured crop-sensor camera? That was what the decision came down to at this point. Well, there’s a little secret accessory for the M50 that made the decision a lot easier. It’s called a “speed booster”. Or a focal reducer.
It essentially turns the crop sensor camera into a full-frame. Sort of. And allows the use of full-frame, EF-mount, lenses. So we can mimic a full-frame look on a full-featured camera while saving money and building/using full-frame lenses!
Because of the speed booster, the M50 was too good of a deal to pass up. We’ll definitely be moving to a full-frame camera in the future, but the current offerings aren’t up to snuff with the M50 right now. We’ll pocket the savings while technology improves.
In the meantime, we bought 3 extra full-frame lenses. The “Nifty Fifty”, a 50mm 1.8/f lens. A 35mm, 2.0/f lens. And a 24-105mm 3.5-5.6/f lens.
With this lens collection, we should be pretty well set up for taking all kinds of great pictures/videos today – and will be ready to buy a full-frame camera body in the future when the price/technology ratio moves into our favor.
We’re very happy with our new camera setup and can’t wait to start taking some amazing pictures and videos!
Here’s an “unboxing” video. I plan to turn this post into a video in the near future as well.
Thabk6you for sharing your knowledge with us!
Absolutely! I hope it was helpful for you.