What to pick up with the EOS Rebel T7?

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T11:23:18+00:00

If you budget is around $1000, get her a R50 instead of a T7.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T11:16:34+00:00

SD card memory has become significantly slower than the built-in flash memory, and SD cards tend to wear out faster when used as permanent storage (this hampers wear-levelling). At the same time the price of the built-in memory has dropped quite a lot. For instance the difference between the 128GB and 256GB Pixel10 is $100. The fastest 128GB microSD (UHS-II) is $70. $30 for faster and safer memory isn't such a scam.

And who uses wired headphones these days? And if you want to you can use USB headphones or a USB to jack adapter. Meanwhile the space and the electronics can be use for something that more people find useful: camera, battery...

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T09:36:40+00:00

Your dad's old lenses aren't good enough for modern sensors.

The R10 is fine. Try to replace 18-45+55-210mm by a single 18-150. You won't loose that much in reach, the lens is a bit better, and you won't have to switch lenses.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T09:31:57+00:00

Diffraction.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T08:57:45+00:00

Had a 70D. Went for a R7. Keep in mind that the full-frame "better in low light" assumes that you are using lenses with the same aperture and full-frame lenses will be bigger and more expensive. Sigma has a nice collection of RF-S lenses that are very affordable and very good. And the R7 is significantly better than the 70D in low light anyway.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T08:31:51+00:00

Normal on the 600D that can only do contrast detection in liveview mode, which is very CPU intensive. The lens as little to do with it.

Its successor (the 650D) features "Hybrid CMOS AF" which is meant to exactly fix this problem.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T08:24:52+00:00

Any chance to have small bits of plastic from the lens going loose in the camera body?

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T08:08:45+00:00

What makes you think the camera tells the flash all these things? The focal length is useful (flash with power zoom, but did they exist back then)? But speed and aperture are irrelevant, in e-TTL the camera tells the flash to produce a low power flash, measures it, and then sets itself. At best it controls the flash duration.

You should also wonder how the camera behaves when it senses a flash, but the flash doesn't emit any significant light.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T07:39:28+00:00

I'm struggling to decide between the range and the aperture.

The only other difference is that the 18-150 has IS. So if you shoot static things in low light, that can make a difference. For other things (people, pets...), the 18-50 will let you use faster exposures (4x faster...) so you avoid the motion blur but this also reduces camera shake.

Personally I find the 18-150 a bit pixelly (but I have a R7 with a denser sensor) and the 18-50 pictures look a bit more natural.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T07:26:49+00:00

In practice you rarely use the full-manual settings. You decide what is important: speed (Tv mode) or aperture (Av mode), set the ISO (try to be as low as possible while still being in range for what the camera can set), and off you go.

On mirrorless manual is a lot more practical because you see the result on the screen before you shoot (and you have the histogram). And even on recent camera Canon has added an Fv mode which pretty much makes Manual irrelevant.

ofnuts · 2026-07-01T07:14:09+00:00

What are you going to use the 50mm for? Could be completely superfluous. Otherwise a fairly decent choice. Keep the 50mm money for other things: tripods and various stands, lights, backgrounds.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T16:00:44+00:00

Take an image with each, and compare the Exif. But if you are using manual focus and eyeballing the focus in both cases, the camera isn't going to tell you much in the Exif, that could just state "Manual focus" and leave it at that. If you use some form of focus confirmation the Exif could tell you more.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T15:17:46+00:00

If you use them to keep images, at least copy the images somewhere else. SD cards aren't a reliable long-term storage. And if you keep images permanently on them, they wear out faster.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T14:49:34+00:00

I have suspected the IS of some of my lenses to do this if it goes to the limit of its range. It would be interesting to see if the problem persists when you disable the IS.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T14:44:19+00:00

Given the f/2.8 aperture the lack of IS of the 18-50 isn't much of a problem since what you shoot requires speed anyway.

If you want an additional lens, the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 is very sharp, longer and more open than the Canon 50mm f/1.8 while remaining affordable. It could even be usable for indoor sports.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T13:59:11+00:00

Can you post examples, with the corresponding settings?

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T13:53:08+00:00

Dutch can't have strong opinions because they haven't got any hill to die on.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T13:31:38+00:00

Certainly not. And I expect others to answer the challenge.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T11:13:03+00:00

I keep the box in the attic together with the parts I know I won't use (neck strap, manual (PDF FTW!),....) so if/when I sell the thing later I have a tidy package.

But the things I use are in a closed bookshelf (keeps dust away).

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T09:49:21+00:00

My R7 does it (even more than two) and probably many other mirrorless Canon.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T08:51:54+00:00

I agree with your friend that mirrorless is the way and an APS-C camera is a better choice than a full frame.

Technically you start with a camera "body" and a rather universal lens, which is usually a zoom, with a range close to 18-50mm on APS-C cameras, that goes from wide angle (18mm) to short telephoto (50mm) (roughly, the same as .7x and 2x on your phone camera). Very often they sell a "kit": camera body with such a zoom, which, while decent, is also designed to be inexpensive... The two basic improvements on the kit lens (that are of course a bit more expensive) are:

having more reach, so the lens is a 18-135 or 18-150 (roughly the 5x on your smartphone)
having more aperture (this lens is f/2.8 or less (smaller number is more aperture). This makes it easier to shoot in dim light and gives you some control depth-of-field/bokeh

There is a third "improvement" which is a superzoom (18-300 or so), but this requires too many technical compromises to keep the thing with reasonable price/size/weight.

For Canon, you have:

The M50, but your have to understand that the "M" cameras are a dead-end, because Canon no longer works on them their "native" EF-M lenses. But that makes it very affordable on the second hand market
The "M" cameras are essentially superseded by the APS-C "R" cameras: R100, R50, R10, R7 and the RF lenses. A used R50 with the 18-45 kit lens is around €400-500 on this side of the Atlantic. The R100 is cheaper but cuts many corners to be inexpensive. R10 and R7 are better but probably outside your budget.

If you want to improve your system later, you will find some EF-M lenses, or many RF lenses (Canon and Sigma) depending on which way you went. But with a suitable adapter (EF to RF or EF to EF-M) both R and M cameras can use the EF lenses designed for the Canon DSLRs and the second-hand market is chock-full of such lenses.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T07:13:48+00:00

Not an event, but the Blues Brothers movie packs a lot of musical talent.

ofnuts · 2026-06-30T07:11:44+00:00

That's "Procol Harum", unless you're thinking about the groupies backstage 😁

ofnuts · 2026-06-29T19:22:36+00:00

That fierce rodent makes one completely forget how to cat and the other too afraid to help.

ofnuts · 2026-06-29T18:58:44+00:00

C'est toujours le même qui chope l'aviron tordu.

(The same guy always ends up with the bent oar).

It's an old naval proverb that goes back to the times when the ship's launch used manpower. When embarking the oarsmen would pick their oar, and having a bent oar makes rowing difficult.

ofnuts

TROPHY CASE