im thinking of buying a canon 60d or rebel t3i, any suggestions?

Cheapest camera, higher end glass.
always

unless you're rich

umm NO, never the cheapest camera
next time try be helpful



we need more info, what do you want it for? ie what will you be shooting, just a normal everyday camera for snap shots / landscapes / portraits / sports ........?
budget?

High quality glass > camera.
Buy all the lenses you need with a cheap camera.
Upgrade camera later and keep the lenses.
voila.

That's the way to go.
The quality difference between low end camera is so small that it's not worth it at all to get a semi-high end camera.
Get good glasses then upgrade to a badass camera (fullframe or the highest quality crop sensor one)

This post was edited by Deibu on Jul 7 2013 06:45am

Note that you will be able to get a fullframe using your old lenses (only the ones that will be for both of them because some lenses give some vignetting while being used on fullframe)
But other than that, this will work for nikon only.
Canon sucks for that because fullframe and crop sensor from canon does not use the same lens mount. (so you'll need to go with a high end crop sensor)
But with nikon you can always try to use all of your lenses on fullframe (it might work unless you get some vignetting)

tl;dr
you'll get way more quality out of good lenses than from good camera with shitty lenses.
f2.8 all the way across your zoom !
Or even prime with 1.4 / 1.8 (The cheap 50mm 1.8 is pretty sick for the price ($150~)
The 50mm 1.8 was my first lens on my d90
I bought it for like $130
One of the greatest lens for the price, sadly it's a bit too zoomed it.
i wish i started up with the 35mm 1.8

This post was edited by Deibu on Jul 7 2013 07:29am

getting an old "cheap" 4-6mp dslr and a great lens will not help, you will still get noisy low quality images, with terrible AF
for many reasons normally I would not recommend any other than Nikon or canon (although at times I do recommend sony, they certainly are improving)
I agree with spending as much as you can on a lens or 2, but going for the cheapest body available is not the way to look at it
most 2.8 zooms are not a starting point unless you have more money than sense
almost always recommend the 1.8 50mm for a cropped body
35mm on a cropped body is a bit boring, a 24 is far better imo
but for a wide on a cropped body the tokina 11-16mm f2.8 is amazing

never talked about a cheap used camera lol
I meant the cheapest brand new camera.
btw at the 24mm over the 35mm.
Im not sure but i think only sigma makes a 24mm 1.8 (at over $500)
id still go for a 35mm 1.8 just because it's cheaper and a bit wider than 50mm
(the 24mm 1.4 is way too pricey ahah)

By the way for a great cheap zoom f2.8 i highly suggest 17-50mm f2.8 from tamron not a bad price
http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-17-50mm-Aspherical-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000EXR0SI (there's another model of this lens cheaper, i think the difference is the AF motor but im not sure)
This lens > prime lens. (not for image quality but for being way more practical)
Other than slower apperture, you'll have less problem with zoom than always moving with the prime lens (It really sucks when you dont have alot of room to move with a prime lens lol)

This post was edited by Deibu on Jul 7 2013 08:18am

my budget at the moment for a camera body is probably $1000
i figured lenses were going to be the most important factor
im not trying the be a professional photographer
i just want to be able to carry it around with me and take nice pictures when something catches my eye
i DID however like the video function on those 2 cameras as i may use that to make short films
and or youtube videos
maybe this info will help a bit more?

I know that the t2i was pretty damn great at making videos.
I dont know about the t3i or 60d but im pretty sure that both of them have great quality video.
try to look for cameras that support external mic (and 1080p of course)
But if both offer the same video options, then go for the cheapest one of them.
Invest in a f2.8 Zoom lens you wont regret it (i mean fixed aperture not something like 3.5 - 5.6).

Like i stated before id go with nikon just because if one day you plan to upgrade to a fullframe , all of your canon lenses wont work (except if they changed that but i doubt it).
nikon is as reliable and good as canon but just the fact that there's chances that you can keep your lenses (Atleast they will fit) on a fullframe, just this little thing makes me like nikon over canon (I have nothing against canon tho)

ahh yea im not sure if that is still the case with canon lenses
i havent looked TOO much into nikon ill probably do that tonight
aswell as looking into the f2 8 zoom lens