Best Camera with Interchangeable Lenses annnnnnnd GO!

[kwsjimmy]

I shoot a a6000 and a7m2 and find the a6000 I tend to use more

[Veng]

If that's your price range for the body only, then you'll want an APS-C "crop" camera body. If you want to buy into the canon body/lens system, the following would be my suggestion. The best budget APS-C body in your price range is going to be the t5i for about 600$ from an authorized dealer (i.e. US warranty). The t4i is a nearly identical camera, but isn't really available new anymore as it's been discontinued for a while. Used, you could pick one up for about 350$ without much trouble. So it's really a matter of if you want to pay 250$ to have something new instead of used, as I said they are nearly identical cameras. Both are more than capable of shooting anything you'll ever want to shoot in your tank. If you're willing to go grey market (i.e. Non-US warranty, but exact same product other than the lack of a USA canon warranty card in the box) or used the 70D can be had for about 700$ with a little shopping.

 

The advantages the 70D has over the t4i/t5i is the following:

Better low light capabilities (~1 f-stop)

"Duel Pixel AF" i.e. much faster focusing when using the 3" LCD screen vs the viewfinder.

More AF points in the view finder

"Top plate LCD" plate on the top of the camera that shows you your current settings.

More buttons (things you'll want to change often don't require as much work, and with practice can be changed without removing your eye from the view finder)

 

Major Disadvantage:

Price, it's a lot more.

Size, it's a small amount bigger.

Weight It's much heavier. If your gear gets too heavy or bulky you won't bother taking it with you and you'll end up with an expensive DSLR that sits around and collects dust while you take pictures with your cell phone.

 

The T6s has most of these features and should be released in the next month or so, MSRP is supposedly going to be 850$.

 

Now, almost all of the advantages I listed above are almost useless when it comes to tank photography, especially coral photography. They are on the other hand, all very useful for shooting pictures of kids running around inside your house.

 

As for lenses, if all I was ever going to do was tank photography, I'd probably get an 100mm macro, a tripod, and a 24 or 40mm prime for full tank shots.

 

If I was recommending for someone to travel, I'd tell them to take an EF-S 18-135 STM and their body and that's it. It's very light, compact, and has a lot of range. I will take the above and then take either my EF-S 10-18 ultra wide angle if I know I'll be in tight spaces, or rent a super telephoto (70-300L, 100-400L, or a 150-600 Tamron) if it's a wild life vacation, depending on exactly what the trip will be. The new EF-S 55-250mm STM is in the same league as the 18-135 STM, in that's it's an amazing lens for the price and weight. It's just not enough longer than my go to 18-135 for me to justify taking another lens.

 

If I was recommending for someone who wanted to take pictures of their kids, while the kids were still, or nearly still, then I think the best value out there is the EF 50mm f/1.4. It's tight indoors, but workable. Alternatives would be the 40mm f/2.8 pancake, the 85mm f/1.8, or the 35mm f/2 IS. Most of those are going to be slower or longer. When people first get into the hobby, they seem to really want to over kill the "out of focus background" effect that people love with DSLRs. The 50mm f/1.4 will be able to do it to excess on tight head shots, and still very reasonably on body shots.

 

IMHO, an absolute must though, for anyone who's going to shoot indoors is a flash. Indoor lighting isn't just lacking in quantity, it's also very lacking in quality. Learning to bounce a flash off the ceiling can literally make the difference between photos that look like crap, and something that looks like it was taken by a professional in a studio. Yongnuo's new yn600ex-rt is a great little flash. It's basically a copy of canon's 500$ 600EX-RT Speedlight, but for only 150$. And in all reality, it's about 95% as good as canons. If you are willing to do it manual instead, there are options as cheap as about 60$ from Yongnuo as well. Really, no excuse for people not to own and learn to use a flash.

[NanoFever]

T5i...Canon>all