Working Bee

Were you using any special Macro equipment; extension tubes, close-up filter, ring flash, etc. ?

What lens and focal length ?

I decided my old Canon T3 was just not enough camera to have the 50-500mm Sigma hanging on it; so, I got another 7D for that lens and have decided to dedicate the T3 to close-up/Macro duty.

The T3 with the 50-500mm looked like a Stevens Crackshot with a .50-caliber Sharps barrel on it.

We have all the various tricks, including a TTL ring flash.

I intend to mount the appropriate equipment on the T3 and keep it laying handy for those times when I see a bug that needs it's photo taken; if you don't already have the camera ready, the bug will be long gone by the time you get ready.

Nope; it is a T3/1100D; very similar to the T5 and I think T6; only real difference being megapixels.

Those all use the same battery and many other attributes are the same.

My cousin has the T3i, which is an entirely different animal; other than being part of the Canon "Rebel" family, and maybe using the same eyecup, there are many differences between the T3 and the T3i.

One would wonder why on earth Canon would confuse matters so by appending the letter "i" to "T3" for a camera that is in no way an improvement of the T3, but a completely different camera.

My theory is it was purely a marketing ploy.

From what I have read, the Rebel T3/1100D was for several years the hottest selling model in the Canon lineup and I believe they doctored the popular model name to capitalize on that; consumers who had not educated themselves would assume the T3i was an improved T3; who wouldn't? 

Anyone who had a T3 and a drawer full of T3 batteries would be in for a surprise when they found that their shiny new T3i took a different battery.


My two main reasons for preferring the 7D for the 50-500mm Sigma is first, the T3 (and all other Rebels) is plastic and therefore not very strong in the lens mount; that big long heavy lens puts a lot of torque on the lens mount and could break it out; and second and probably the best reason, the T3 ~might~ get two reasonably quick successive shots before going into a thirty-second "busy" spell; whereas, the 7D is like a touchy automatic pistol; it will take five shots before you can get your finger off the trigger and is capable of many more.

My real preference would have been a 7DMkII; but, I can buy three 7D and trick them out for less than the cost of a single 7DMkII.