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General discussion

Thoughts on the Canon Rebel T3i.

Sep 20, 2011 3:35AM PDT

I have wanted to upgrade to a dslr for quite some time now. My birthday is coming up and I am thinking about buying myself the Canon Rebel T3i. I got a Canon point and shoot last year and love it. But I am now needing a dslr. I was just wondering what other people's thoughts are on the Canon Rebel T3i. Or even any Rebel. I have done lots of research on this camera and think it is right for me but am open to any other suggestions. I am planning on going further with my photography and would like a camera that will last me a while. I do sports, wildlife, landscapes, and pets. I would also like to start doing portraits. If anyone has some pros and cons (or any other information) on this camera I would love to know. Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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D-SLR
Sep 20, 2011 5:52AM PDT

Most entry D-SLRs are very capable to produce great images these days. But if you like to take a lot of sports or fast action photos, then a faster camera body with better AF may increase your keeper rate and your chance to nail the peak moment. But you need to consider whether the extra costs of a mid range or pro camera body is within your budget.

Most of the thoughts when buying a D-SLR should not be just the camera body. You should spend some time to think about what kind of lenses, flashes, strobes, and other accessory equipment you may need for the type of photography you want to make. These will make a bigger impact on your photography than which camera body or brand you pick, and will cost more than your camera body. Things that you will need:
A wide angle lens for landscape
A tele lens for sports and wildlife (as a nonpro, I have a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens for my son's sports and a 2x tele extender for the very occasional widelife photo on trips, this works quite well for me).
A external flash
A good tripod
A polarizing filter
A neutral density filter
There are many other accessories to think about
If you like portraits, then you may want a portrait lens that has 85mm equivalent focal length and an aperture of f/2.8 or larger. And if you want professional studio look, then will need to invest in a strobe/monolight system and some reflectors and backdrops.
Any time you want to capture actions in low light or at night, you need to spend extra money for a good fast tele lens that will cost more than twice your camera body. So the camera body should not be the center of your thoughts, or the major part of your budget.

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Thank you!
Sep 21, 2011 7:50AM PDT

Thank you for responding. Also, thanks for listing the things I will need. I knew some stuff I was going to need but you listed a few more. Like the wide angle lens and the filters. I will definitely look more into them. Thanks again!

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Canon Rebel T3i lenses
Sep 25, 2011 3:26AM PDT

The info. above was helpful. My first EOS was a 650 in 1985 and I still have it (sentimental reasons I guess, and I just loved using it) I then had a Rebel film camera which I sold as I never liked it as much. I waited a while to purchase a DSLR, but knew I had to have a EOS. I just purchased a Rebel T3i camera kit w/ the IS 18-55 lens because I had two other lenses from my old Canon EOS . I want to use my EF 35-105mm lens for all around as I loved it on my other cameras. I also have an EF 70-210mm that I used to take great pictures with. Being a novice, I am not sure if they are working properly as they are slower to focus and seem a little "jerky" (compared to the new lenses). Maybe I just don't remember this from before. Is this normal, or are they just not as comptable with the new camera? I am trying to save $$ by not purchasing all new lenses.

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EF 70-210mm lens
Sep 26, 2011 11:24AM PDT

Frankly I have not used this lens in the past, appears to be f/4 originally (but also has a f/3.5-4.5 version). From some limited reviews, it appears to be a good lens with sharp focus. Some reviewers have put it on their new Canon D-SLR and did not notice much problem, so not a compatibility issue. One reviewer commented that it is much more noisy than the new lens, but works well.
If you are getting nice photos from this lens, then I'm not sure whether you really want to spend $700 for a similar lens 70-200mm f/4L. The new lenses have IS version, so these are better if you do handheld shots. But 70-200mm f/4L IS costs more than $1200. If you want to upgrade to 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, then it costs $2000+. I like the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens a lot, but it is a quite a bit heavier than your 70-210mm lens. This is the tele zoom to get if you do a bit of night or low light actions.

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One more thing
Sep 27, 2011 12:10PM PDT

When you switch from film to digital, one thing to get used to is the ISO among other things. If you are using a tele lens in lower light for actions, then you may need to crank up the ISO high enough to gain enough speed to capture the action. For night sports, I often have to use ISO 3200 with my lens wide open at f/2.8. If your lens has f/4, then may even need higher ISO 6400. If you use too low an ISO, the AF may slow down.