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Is the Canon T6 an okay DSLR for my needs?

5,765 1,247 August 7, 2018 at 04:40 AM
Hey Everyone,

I'm looking at new DSLRs, I should have started this process earlier since I see there were some deals a couple weeks ago... I need it by Friday night as the main reason I want to get one now is because there is a Delta Heavy rocket launch this Saturday at 4AM and I want to get a good video of it. I'm thinking my Galaxy S8 isn't going to produce anything worthwhile.

I don't use DSLR cameras that much anymore, I have a Rebel XT from way back that works fine but does not take videos and I'd like something a little more updated anyways, but like I said I don't use it very much or have too many times where I've said "dang I wish I had a better DSLR" so definitely looking for the best bang for buck given very occasional use. I have 3 lenses on the Canon eco-system already (non have IS though). I have a 75-300mm, 18-55mm and the nifty 50. So I'd prefer to go with Canon over Nikon I think. I know the Nikon D3300 has a bigger sensor but it's also more expensive from what I can see. I found the Canon T6 for $330 refurbished (fine with me) but can't find the D3300 for anything cheaper than $400 with a lens included.

I don't care too much about still image quality since I'm sure that either one will be leaps and bounds ahead of my 8MP Rebel XT, but specifically right now I'm looking to know if the Rebel T6 would be good enough at clarity and focus to take a good video of the Delta Heavy rocket launching with very low ambient light (4AM).

Really appreciate your help. Other camera suggestions are also welcome, just figuring that either in-store pickup or Amazon are my only safe options with my time-frame right now.

Thanks!
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Joined Dec 2005
My # is bigger than yours
> bubble2 37,381 Posts
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SnakePlisken
08-07-2018 at 04:54 AM.
08-07-2018 at 04:54 AM.
I'm convinced, go for it!
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Joined Sep 2006
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> bubble2 19,431 Posts
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Fallacy
08-07-2018 at 05:56 AM.
08-07-2018 at 05:56 AM.
Don't use an SLR for videos. It doesn't auto-focus, and if you try to focus it, during the video you can hear the motors moving.
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Joined Dec 2014
Frugal Money Waster
> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-07-2018 at 06:11 AM.
08-07-2018 at 06:11 AM.
Quote from Fallacy :
Don't use an SLR for videos. It doesn't auto-focus, and if you try to focus it, during the video you can hear the motors moving.
I'm fine with that. I've heard conflicting reports on the T6. Some say you can't auto focus while recording, others say if you put your finger on the shutter button it will auto focus while recording. I don't really care about hearing the motors. I'm willing to accept that downfall if it means I can get a good video in dim lighting and if I ever did use it for real video making I'd just have to go with an external audio recording device and splice them together in editing. I was going to get a camcorder but $250 ones have tiny sensors so that's no good.

I wish I could justify spending more but I really can't, I won't use it enough. The T6 says it has an ISO range up to 6400, expandable to 12800. The Nikon D3300 (or 3400) says it has up to 12800, expandable to 25600. Will I notice a huge difference in these? I'd like to eventually be able to take pictures of the milky way if I make it back to the desert. My Rebel XT had a max ISO of 1600 (at which the picture was terribly noisy), so I can see they've made a lot of progress here.
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Joined Sep 2006
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> bubble2 19,431 Posts
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Fallacy
08-07-2018 at 06:38 AM.
08-07-2018 at 06:38 AM.
My first SLR was a rebel XTI, and it was horribly noisy at ISO of 800 or more. I can't speak of the T6, but on my 5DIII, I easily shoot at ISO's of 12,800 and it's decent (not great, but not horrible) and go higher if needed.

If you want to shoot the milky way, use a tripod, longer exposure, and lower ISO.
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Joined Dec 2014
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> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-07-2018 at 06:54 AM.
08-07-2018 at 06:54 AM.
Quote from Fallacy :
My first SLR was a rebel XTI, and it was horribly noisy at ISO of 800 or more. I can't speak of the T6, but on my 5DIII, I easily shoot at ISO's of 12,800 and it's decent (not great, but not horrible) and go higher if needed.

If you want to shoot the milky way, use a tripod, longer exposure, and lower ISO.
Went out to Arches National Park and tried to capture a nice star picture with my Rebel XT but had no luck. Brought tripod and had various exposures up to a minute Frown was expecting star trails but the camera just didn't have in it to capture the light of the stars.

Did take a good moon picture with a telephoto lens years ago though. lol

IDK what to do, the t6 is by far cheaper than anything else offered by Canon, the t6i is 150 dollars more at least, the autofocus thing and bigger sensor make me want to go for it but I just can't justify that spend at the moment, considering how little I use these cameras. The Nikon is like I said, $100 more but it also would mean that my 3 Canon lenses are useless, including that telephoto lens which I'd like to keep using.
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> bubble2 19,431 Posts
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Fallacy
08-07-2018 at 07:05 AM.
08-07-2018 at 07:05 AM.
Quote from Vanquished :
Went out to Arches National Park and tried to capture a nice star picture with my Rebel XT but had no luck. Brought tripod and had various exposures up to a minute was expecting star trails but the camera just didn't have in it to capture the light of the stars.

Did take a good moon picture with a telephoto lens years ago though. lol

IDK what to do, the t6 is by far cheaper than anything else offered by Canon, the t6i is 150 dollars more at least, the autofocus thing and bigger sensor make me want to go for it but I just can't justify that spend at the moment, considering how little I use these cameras. The Nikon is like I said, $100 more but it also would mean that my 3 Canon lenses are useless, including that telephoto lens which I'd like to keep using.
That's not the camera's fault, that's operator error. You should be able to see stars, even on an old Rebel XT. You had your settings wrong.

You had the exposure for only a minute, to get star trails you need about a much longer exposure (think like 30 minute exposure time).


Sounds to me like you need to invest in a good book on photography vs. investing in a new camera body at this time.
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Joined Dec 2014
Frugal Money Waster
> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-07-2018 at 07:12 AM.
08-07-2018 at 07:12 AM.
Quote from Fallacy :
That's not the camera's fault, that's operator error. You should be able to see stars, even on an old Rebel XT. You had your settings wrong.

You had the exposure for only a minute, to get star trails you need about a much longer exposure (think like 30 minute exposure time).


Sounds to me like you need to invest in a good book on photography vs. investing in a new camera body at this time.
I could see stars but they weren't as clear as I wanted. They also came out as different colors. I shot in raw and edited after the fact and it came a bit better but... By star trails I mean any trail (making the stars ovals) I probably did exposure for more than a minute but star trails (as I was talking about) will occur at that exposure length.

Regardless it's besides the point, I have a Rebel XT that cannot shoot video so I need a new camera anyways. Was really just trying to get a sense of the low-light video recording performance of the Canon T6. I suppose I should just give it a shot and order from Amazon and send it back if it doesn't do what I'm looking for...
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Joined Jul 2013
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> bubble2 3,749 Posts
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Novakingwai
08-07-2018 at 07:13 AM.
08-07-2018 at 07:13 AM.
You've got to decide what you really want. You say you want a good video, but DSLRs aren't for that. The T6 is a very basic model for DSLRs, I don't think the picture quality compared to your S8 is worth it and you say you use cameras very little. In my opinion you should just go with a decent cam corder since that's what you're wanting. And if you're wanting to go for nice pictures of the sky at night you'd be better getting a higher end DSLR anyway.

Or buy whatever you want. It is your money after all.
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Joined Dec 2014
Frugal Money Waster
> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-07-2018 at 10:47 AM.
08-07-2018 at 10:47 AM.
I ended up getting the T6. Was about to get the D3400 but decided that I want to still be able to use my other lenses. I'm sure it will be leaps and bounds over what I'm used to on my ancient Rebel XT.
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Joined Jul 2005
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> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
08-07-2018 at 03:33 PM.
08-07-2018 at 03:33 PM.
I would have recommended that you get one of the newer DSLR's. You can get the Canon 70D or 80D for fairly cheap nowadays. If you want to use the DSLR for video too, Canon's DPAF is the best out there. It's easy to use, autofocuses great, and touch screen makes it super easy to control where you want to focus on.

As far as ISO maximums, don't go by that. The higher your ISO, the lower the image quality will be. Max you want to go is ISO 12800 anyways.....at least, that's my preference.
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Joined Dec 2014
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> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-07-2018 at 04:29 PM.
08-07-2018 at 04:29 PM.
Quote from z2g :
I would have recommended that you get one of the newer DSLR's. You can get the Canon 70D or 80D for fairly cheap nowadays. If you want to use the DSLR for video too, Canon's DPAF is the best out there. It's easy to use, autofocuses great, and touch screen makes it super easy to control where you want to focus on.

As far as ISO maximums, don't go by that. The higher your ISO, the lower the image quality will be. Max you want to go is ISO 12800 anyways.....at least, that's my preference.

I paid 320 for the T6 with lens and unfortunately didn't see anything else come close. The t6i was 200+ more at the cheapest Frown
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Joined Jul 2005
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> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
08-07-2018 at 05:23 PM.
08-07-2018 at 05:23 PM.
Quote from Vanquished :
I paid 320 for the T6 with lens and unfortunately didn't see anything else come close. The t6i was 200+ more at the cheapest Frown
Can you cancel the order? I think you can probably get a refurbished sl2 or 70d for around $500. Amazon and Adorama has refurbished SL2s and 70d's for about $450 shipped. Up to you....but I think those 2 are better choices.

Maybe others here can chime in about them.
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Last edited by z2g August 7, 2018 at 05:27 PM.
Joined Dec 2014
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> bubble2 5,765 Posts
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Vanquished
08-08-2018 at 03:28 AM.
08-08-2018 at 03:28 AM.
Quote from z2g :
Can you cancel the order? I think you can probably get a refurbished sl2 or 70d for around $500. Amazon and Adorama has refurbished SL2s and 70d's for about $450 shipped. Up to you....but I think those 2 are better choices.

Maybe others here can chime in about them.

Can't cancel but I'll return if it doesn't meet my needs. I really wanted to spend as little as possible so I think the 320 fits the bill. I know there are much better cameras though. If this can take video of the rocket launch on Saturday 4am I'll be very happy
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Joined Sep 2006
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> bubble2 19,431 Posts
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Fallacy
08-08-2018 at 05:59 AM.
08-08-2018 at 05:59 AM.
Quote from z2g :
I would have recommended that you get one of the newer DSLR's. You can get the Canon 70D or 80D for fairly cheap nowadays. If you want to use the DSLR for video too, Canon's DPAF is the best out there. It's easy to use, autofocuses great, and touch screen makes it super easy to control where you want to focus on.

As far as ISO maximums, don't go by that. The higher your ISO, the lower the image quality will be. Max you want to go is ISO 12800 anyways.....at least, that's my preference.
The noise level at the same ISO on different cameras will be different. Using a hard set rule of 12,800 is incorrect.
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