Upgrades

After having my trusty Canon XTi for the past five years, I've gone and received an upgrade, courtesy of Mrs. Lawhawk. The new camera of choice is the Canon 60D, which I picked up at Unique Photo in Fairfield, New Jersey.

My reason for upgrades was simple. The XTi was a good camera and had quite a lot going for it when I got it five years ago, but I'd outgrown the camera and had bumped up against many of its limitations.

The 60D has a much higher ISO rating, which means that I can get better shots under natural light conditions that would otherwise require a flash or would be exceedingly difficult or impossible to get. Night photography, including star-shots, will be much easier to obtain.

A full breakdown of the comparison between the 60D and XTi shows just how far cameras have come in five years.

Yet, it wasn't a sure thing that I'd go with the 60D. I was going to stick with a Canon camera since all of my lenses and equipment are meant for Canon mounts, but there were a couple other Canon bodies that I had considered. Chief among them are the Canon 7D.

The Canon 7D is a great camera, but for my purposes, the 60D gets everything I'm looking for at a lower price and with few compromises. The comparison between the 60D and 7D show that the differences are slight, but significant for my purposes.

Battery life is much better on the 60D, as is the fact that the 60D has a flip out screen, that allows for low angle shots to be composed easier with the Live-View screen option. While I might not get a faster shutter speed and faster shots per second, the fact that the 60D is also lighter than the 7D means that I'll be much more likely to carry the camera into action.

It's a camera for an enthusiast who loves taking photos, but isn't at a point where I'm making money from taking photos (though if you're willing to buy 'em, I'll sell 'em).