3 favourite cameras & lenses: Best Buy Canada

If you’ve followed my blog for years now you will know that I am a die hard Canon camera fan, I am always getting emails from you guys asking about what I use to take my photos and what my favourite camera is so it was about time I start this series and I’ve partnered up with Best Buy Canada to do so!

I still remember the first camera my dad gave me when I was younger and all of the cameras in between, a few different brands until a Canon landed in my hands. I am sure if you are a Nikon fan (like my dad) we could debate back and forth for hours on why the other is better but really at the end of the day it’s a matter of opinion. I love my Canon and recently I upgraded to my 3rd camera after hunting down the best sales I could find, I took you guys behind the scenes on Instagram stories where I bought the camera I have wanted for YEARS!!!!! Finally!!!! The Canon 5D Mark iii!!!!! I am almost always hunting Best Buy Canada for sales especially since they have so many amazing tech products at the right price, with a no-pressure (non-commissioned) sales environment. They actually have an amazing Canon sale on RIGHT NOW and I’ve linked to it for you {here}! I love going to shop there, every one is so cheery and eager to help and I was able to go in stores to try camera models & lenses on the floor to make sure I was making the right decision when updating my camera gear. Stuff like this is super important to me, I literally go in stores and pick focal points and shoot it with different lenses and cameras messing around with settings and seeing how the cameras work in low light etc. I found the best deal on the Canon 5D Mark iii at Best Buy Canada when searching for HOURS online, this camera is no small investment but that is exactly what is is for me…an investment! Online I was able to hold my camera in stores since only 2 locations in Toronto had one in stock and I of course bought it the day before going to Paris lol!!! I put one on hold at a location near the airport since I was picking up my friend Kira from there that evening which worked out perfectly, they had it aside and waiting for me when I got to the store and the staff helping were SO sweet and excited for me which made it that much nicer, they cared.

Fun Fact: The first Best Buy Canada stores were opened in the fall of 2002, with eight locations in the Greater Toronto Area. Since then, Best Buy has expanded across Canada, opening stores from coast-to-coast

I brought my new camera on its first trip to France with me last month and it was so perfect for capturing the beautiful architecture and of course the Louvre…I LOVED photographing inside there – what an incredible place! I knew I had to have this camera before leaving for the trip even if it was the night before haha.

Now it wasn’t a quick process getting to this camera mind you and I would never recommend this camera for someone getting into photography or someone who enjoys just taking photos for fun on the weekends, things got serious when I grew into this camera and I thought I would break it down for you guys on where it started…

My first Canon was a Rebel SL1…this camera is what changed the game for my blog and is still responsible for some of my best images. I used 1 main lens on this camera and that was my trusty Canon 50mm 1.8 – a lens I would use for 4 years! You can find one {here} at Best Buy Canada online. There is one left online for sale for $599 and it includes a lens!!!

My second Canon camera was a Canon 70D, this was an upgrade to what I would call an intermediate camera. I chose this one for a variety of reasons. I was about to embark in making video and I wanted the best I could afford at the time AND I wanted a flip screen haha! I still used my trust 50mm too! Well, one thing I didn’t understand when buying the 70d was that it had a crop sensor – this just shows you how impulsive I am when shopping. I mean I did do my research and read a TON of reviews BUT that is the one thing I didn’t quite pay attention to – I mean it did not hinder my work, I got amazing content with that camera and all of my videos to date were made with it BUT I truly didn’t know the magic of a quality Canon lens until upgrading to my latest camera. I felt held back with my 70d but couldn’t put my finger on it lol – now I know why. This altered the shots I could capture with my lens because even though I would be using a 50mm lens, with the crop factor on my camera it made it a different. I added two new lenses to my gear while owning this camera, a 24-70mm lens and a 35mm lens and that was a game changer. You can find the 24-70mm Canon lens online at Best Buy {here}. I still highly recommend this camera for anyone with basic to intermediate knowledge or who is keen to take a photography course or 2, but my best advice is to know what you want from your camera. You can find a Canon 70d at BestBuy Canada online {here}. My Canon 70d did the job I needed it to and the flip screen was awesome when filming to make sure I was in frame etc but I was ready for more…

The size difference for crop sensors is determined by the sensor’s crop factor. This is where the sensor matters when it comes to lenses. A Canon APS-C crop sensor has a crop factor of 1.6x. The larger the crop factor, the smaller the sensor. For the crop factor to become relevant in this case, you must multiply the focal length of the lens by 1.6 to determine the actual focal perspective in which you are shooting. Sounds confusing, and it is unless you see it for yourself! Let’s say you are using a 50mm focal length on both a full-frame camera, such as the Canon Mark iii, and on an APS-C crop-sensor camera, such as the Canon 70D. For the full-frame camera, which has a crop factor of 1x, the perspective provided when looking through and shooting with the 50mm focal length is actually 50mm. However, for the 70D, we must multiply the focal length,50mm, by the crop factor, 1.6, to determine the visual perspective with which we’re shooting: 80mm. Since the crop sensor chops a considerable amount of sensor away from a full-frame chip’s perimeter, the area of the lens now used can be equated to an 80mm lens on a full-frame sensor. If you are using a crop-sensor camera, multiply any focal length by 1.6 (or 1.3 if you have an APS-H camera), and you’ll find out what the equivalent perspective is on a full-frame camera. A crop sensor does not actually magnify the focal length of any lens. It simply crops the sides, top, and bottom of the lens’s angle of view. – read more on crop sensors at Peach Pit here!

So, we are now making our way to my 3rd Canon…the one I own now and LOVE, the Canon Mark iii.This baby will no doubt be with me for longer than the next two years I gather. It may not have a flip screen but it is a whole new world (insert Aladdin soundtrack here) lol. Every thing feels new and wonderful about this thing and I am still scratching the surface!!!!!!!!!! Can you gage my excitement from all of the exclamation marks haha? You can find this camera on sale online at Best Buy Canada {here} and it includes a lens too!

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is packed with serious features for capturing amazing photos and videos. The 22.3MP CMOS sensor brings out clarity and rich detail in photos, while the 24-105mm lens lets you capture a range of shots, from landscapes to portraits. Other highlights include Full HD video recording, and an extended ISO range.

I took this camera to Paris which was my first time using it, I swear I carried it like a small child – I am so grateful to have it. In my stories I got emotional telling you guys about how it was a big gift to myself, something I earned and felt so thankful to be able to purchase for myself – it felt like a big stepping stone in my career as a content creator. I could instantly notice the difference going to a full frame sensor vs the crop of my 70d. Another thing I love about this camera besides the crystal clear photos is that I can capture really great stills from my video, I sometimes did this with my 70d but they were never very clear – with this camera I can get super crisp nice shots from within a video, super handy when doing a collaboration that involves the kids haha! It is heavier that the first two cameras I spoke of but if you are wanting to get into more advanced photography then you should expect that. With my 70d or rebel and 1-2 lenses I could comfortably fit it all in a more fashionable camera bag – with this guy AND my 24-70mm lens I am still trying to navigate the best camera bag to use for it all. Overall the camera has been a great investment and the amazing staff at Best Buy Canada has been super helpful with helping me get any additional accessories needed, they helped me pick out an adaptable charger to take with me to France- thank gosh!!!! And they helped me to stock up on the best memory cards for when taking video & high resolution imagery, I stocked up on a couple of these 64GB cards on sale {here}.

It took amazing photos in France and I will be sharing some of them in this post today and more to come. I have a series planned for showing you guys my camera and lenses. Oddly enough, when I sold my 70d, I sold it with my original 50mm 1.8 lens thinking I was going to upgrade to the 1.2 but held off and bought the a new 1.8 50mm lens. I mean, it’s a great lens to have and even when I do get the 1.2 50mm lens I will still use this one because it is SO light!!! More expensive lens = more heavy!!!! You can find the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens {here} at Best Buy Canada online and it’s on sale right now for $149!!!! I use this lens A LOT when photographing food, I love the beautiful details it captures.

3 favourite cameras & lenses: Best Buy Canada Living Travel Uncatagorized

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Another great camera I have had my eye on for compact purposes is the Canon EOS M5, I noticed it recently after a girlfriend of mine did a commercial with the launch of it – it looks like a pretty impressive little camera! It may defeat the rebel in my opinion but I wouldn’t know for sure until testing it out, Best Buy has a great informative page about it {here} with some video – I would check it out if you are in the market for a mid range priced DSLR. And if you do get let me know what it’s like haha! I read that you can use 70 of the canon lenses on this thing with the adapter it comes with – amazing! You can find it online at Best Buy Canada {here} and on sale too.

Fun Fact: Best Buy Canada has a lowest price guarantee! How does it work? If you find a lower price online, in-store, or in print before you buy or within 30 days of your purchase they’ll beat that price by 10% of the difference. Should their own price be reduced, present your original receipt within 30 days of purchase and they will match the price and refund you the difference.

So I’ve attached some images I took in Paris with my new Mark iii so you can see the AH mazing quality of it paired with my lenses, I am still learning how to use this guy so please keep that in mind haha! I am actually headed out for lunch tomorrow with a photography friend Bettina Bogar to chat photography work and I begged her to share some tips with me!!! You can follow along on my Instagram stories tomorrow as we hit one of my favourite cafes in the city of Toronto.

Up next in this series I will be showing you different images I’ve shot with my different lenses so you can see the difference and I will also be breaking down what I use each lens for and why. We also have a video planned so I can show you the lenses at work when filming too. I hope you tag along for this series, I can’t wait to share it with you! xo