Outgrown Canon EOS 600D ( Rebel T3i) - help needed

Hi folks,

 

I have recently developed a passion for photography, and my Canon 600D (Rebel t3i) with its kit 18-55 lens is not enough for me anymore. There are 2 important areas of improvement I am looking for:

 

1) I need something small that I can carry with me easily whenever I am outside that can take good quality pictures.

2) I need to improve picture quality and sharpness dramatically for landscape and portrait pictures.

 

After a lot of research, I reached the conclusion that these 2 goals can't be achieved with the same equipment, as my requirement #1 really is for a pocket size or similar camera, so I am incline to solve my #1 need by buying a Fuji x100t or x100f which will alow me to have great quality pics in most circumstances and to bring the camera with me all the time. and my requirement #2 by upgrading the lenses of my Canon. However I have some doubts and this is where i need you guys, the experts, to help me out.

 

The doubts are basically around upgrading lenses for a very good but old and entry level camera like the t3i. So given the fact that my budget is around $1500-2000, I can think of 2 options:

 

a) getting the x100f for everyday photos (90% time) and upgrading the t3i for the special occasions weddings, birthdays, ... (10% time, but the one where you need high quality) with the 50mm f1.8prime, a Sigma 17-50 f2.8 and a 55-250 f4.5/6.0.

b) getting a used x100t for everyday photo and a new Fuji xt20 or Sony A6000 or A630 with a good quality zoom and a prime lens.

 

Which one would you guys choose if you were in my shoes? One thing that bothers me a bit about the t3i is the lack of autofocus in videos, which despite not being my primary use of the camera, can be quite handy.

Help me out please!

Just a few comments; Note that the latest Canon APSC cameras (24mp and duel pixel AF) may have the best AF video performance of any DSLR (HD only of course), so that upgrade will solve your video AF issue. If I were to want a mirrorless APSC camera, Fuji is clearly the right one since its lens system is almost complete and Sony does not seem all that interested in its APSC offerings. Any 24mp Fuji body with the 18-55mm kit lens is the way to start in the Fuji world. (IMHO). The Fuji x100 has a fixed 35mm FF equivalent lens, so if that is your preference then great. My compact camera option would be a Sony RX100 or similar with a large sensor and 24-70mm equivalent zoom.

#1 is a P&S

#2 is optics, or get your camera+lens checked and adjusted.

 

For #2, This is pretty strong statement: "I need to improve picture quality and sharpness dramatically for landscape and portrait pictures."

How bad is the image quality now? Just how BIG do you intend to print?