General camera advice.

[Mac Jones]

Hi,
I have bought a Canon EOS 600D. This is my first pro camera. I am new to pro cameras so please give your opinion about the camera.If it is good for beginners.

[RustBeltRaw]

If it's in your budget, any camera is a good camera to start on. The T3i (600D) is quite good. Inexpensive and capable, with solid high-ISO performance.

However, it's not usually considered a pro camera. On Canons, "professional" cameras are basically the single-digit _D series (1D, 5D, 6D, and 7D). In the "prosumer" mid-range, there's a double-digit _ _D series (60D, 70D). "Consumer" cameras usually have three-digit _ _ _D or four digit _ _ _ _D designators (600D, 100D, 1000D, etc.). Note that an older pro camera may have performance similar to a newer "prosumer" or "consumer" camera, which is why the used market can provide interesting opportunities.

[DanK]

If you have already bought it, it is a little late to be asking, but yes, it is just fine for beginners. Once you have had considerable experience, you may want to move up to a "prosumer" (professional/consumer) model of the type that Lex noted, but there is no need to do that when you are starting out.

For example, I will post two pictures that I took years ago with an XTi, which is an older and less capable Canon Rebel than yours.

[rpcrowe]

I consistently repeat this and I am sure my CiC friends are getting tired of hearing it. However, this is some good advice given by a Nikon executive who said:

"If you are not getting excellent images with any modern DSLR camera, the fault is not with the camera..."

And yep, the xxxD and xxxxD Canon DSLR cameras are not considered "Professional". However, if you are not getting excellent imagery when shooting with these cameras, the fault is yours, not the cameras. They are capable of producing excellent imagery.

BTW: IMO and in the opinion of many other posters, the lens you use is often more important that the camera on which the lens is mounted.

Additionally, the post processing that you do on your images will make all the difference in the world...

[Colin Southern]

Hi Vivek,

Just to expand on the above from a different angle ...

Most reasonably modern Digital SLR cameras are capable of taking superb images (in the right hands). The differences between consumer / pro-sumer / professional models are more in other areas, such as:

- Build quality

- Autofocus speed

- Firmware features

- Redundancy (like dual media)

- Ergonomics

etc.

If one were about to buy then - normally - many of us suggest jumping onto the wagon with a xxD model rather than a xxxD model due to better ergonomics, but either way, the 600D will be fine to learn and grow with for a while; they just require a lot more button pushes to change things, as they don't have a QCD (Quick Control Dial) on the back. The shutter is also rated for less shots, but that's normally not a problem.

[jcuknz]

It is a lot better than anything I have had until recent years and from the dpreview report it seems slanted for the beginner http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...s600d/overview.
I was going to suggest you put it in P mode and gradually work out how the manual over-rides can help you when the camera leads you wrong but it seems it has other modes for the likes of you. Something called 'basic+' could lead you away from full automatic in easy stages and for starters to gain confidence in the camera it has 'Scene intelligence auto' which sounds better than using P mode. Modern sophisticated cameras can be infurnally complicated and you, and I look for it too, need to be able to simplify matters until you need the special features for a special photo.

[davidedric]

I've had a 600D for a couple of years, and yes it is a good camera in my opinion, though I am not exactly a beginner. Whilst it does have modes to to make it easy for a beginner to get started, there is an awful lot more in the camera to explore as you get used to it.

[Mac Jones]

Thanks