I was at the Star Wars movie with my sons a few weeks ago.  We were running late and I was wondering if we were going to miss all the previews.

I was wondering if we would even get a seat.

Fortunately we made it in and there were only 3 rows open in the very front of the IMAX.

We sat down and the first thing I saw was an ad from Canon.

If there was one ad I’d like to see, that’s it.  Until the end through me for a bit of a loop.  “Shoot if Yourself” is the campaign message.

This has since thrown the pro photography community into a bit of a fury.

I’ve never heard of a greater exodus from pros away from Canon before.

They feel like Canon is undermining their core market – the professional photographer.

Once, I thought about it for a while, it bothered me less and less.

We need to face the facts.  People can take photos with their phone that rival the quality of my first professional workhorse – the 30D.

Home Depot has been sending the same DIY message for years, but that doesn’t stop contractors from showing up at 7am every day.

Canon and all major camera companies are trying to balance between the consumer and the pro.

With the consumer cameras getting better and better, the pro is forced to rely on things other than better tech to differentiate.  A pro needs to know how to create art and master the manual control of the camera to set themselves apart.

With that said, I present to you the best options for professional photographers.

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Fuji X-T1 (around $1,300 body)

If I was going to switch from Canon, it would probably be to Fuji.  There are a few reasons it won’t happen though.  Fuji does not make a full frame camera.  This is the only mirrorless camera I would consider for professional use.

The downsides:

The menu navigation is a bit lacking.  It’s a crop frame camera.  It is slower to focus than the Canon’s I recommend.

The upsides:

It is beautiful – the best looking camera.  It’s shutter and exposure controls are great.  It takes amazing pictures with it’s built in Fuji profile that is about as close to a film looking image you can get from a camera.  It replicates Fuji film very well, of course.

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Canon 6D (around $1,400 body) 

For the price, this is an excellent choice.  This is a full-frame camera for under $1,500 – something unheard of for years.  Wi-Fi enabled technology allows you to send images to your phone and then publish to instagram on the fly.

The downsides:

It’s a little small for what you would think of for a full frame camera.  It doesn’t have the same build quality as the 5D series and it’s noticeable.  It actually has a shorter life-cycle rating than the 7D Mark 2.

The upsides:

Price.  Full Frame.  Amazing low light quality.  I would not hesitate to start a business with this camera.

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7D Mark 2 (around $1,500)

This is an amazing camera.  It is a great option for someone who wants to equally explore still photography and video.

The downsides:

The standard 1.6 crop factor on Canon’s non-full-frame cameras is not as appealing.  It’s slightly worse than the 6D in low light because of that.

The upsides:

Price.  Dual Memory Card slots!  Follow-Focus subject tracking for video that works pretty well.  It is weather sealed similar to the 1DX and has better autofocus than the 6D.

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 5D Mark 3 (around $2,500)

This is an amazing camera.  It’s a true workhorse.  I’ve taken about half a million photos on one of these bodies.  I remember when I moved up from the mark 2, the first thing I noticed was that I could shoot 6400 ISO and it looked pretty good.  I also noticed I could focus a lot better.  In the last few years I’ve checked out the 1DX and the 5Ds.  For what I do, this is still the best.

The downsides:

Lack of WiFi and inability to transmit radio to Speed lights.

The upsides:

Durability.  Excellent Low-light images.  Dual Memory Cards.  I think it’s been the best wedding photography camera overall for almost 3 years.

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Nikon D810 (around $2,900)

I don’t often shoot Nikon, but if I did, this is what I would shoot.  That said, I’m thankful for Nikon they just announced a D500 and a D5.  If I was a Nikon shooter, I would be waiting for these.  They look great.  They also put some much needed pressure on Canon to bring something great in 2016.

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I hope this helps.  While a good camera can help you take better photos, it is important to remember that it is just a tool.  It’s a crazy cool tool, but just like a good chef could blow you away with a $20 knife, learning the tool is the most important factor by far.  I’m trying to help people with that this year and I created a free 1 week course.

Click here for a free course where I personally teach you how to manually control the camera

 

You can view all these items on amazon here as well.  Thanks for reading and please share this with any photography friends.