topic Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7 in Gear Guide

Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

sequoialondon — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:11:48 GMT

Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

For work, I take a lot of photos of people and group photos at events, and I am not happy with the grain-like texture that shows up in my photos. I'm shooting in raw, I'm editing on Photoshop, I go in and de-noise it both manually and automatically, but it never looks as sharp as I wanted it to. I want to better my craft, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to a different lens for event photography while still keeping my DSLR. Or if there's any suggestions as to which camera would be better, while trying to stay relatively on the cheaper side, that would be great.

Thank you in advance!

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

deebatman316 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:19:04 GMT

Do you have a budget to spend saying on the “cheaper side” isn’t a budget. What lens do you currently please provide the Full Name of the lens of the question. Provide the full and complete name. A full would be for example Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM lens.

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

sequoialondon — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:10:15 GMT

Canon rebel t7 - EF-S 18-55mm IS II Kit is what I currently have

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

sequoialondon — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:10:28 GMT

Canon rebel t7 - EF-S 18-55mm IS II Kit is what I currently have.

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

deebatman316 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:51:37 GMT

What is your budget to spend on a lens. Saying “no budget” “won’t break the bank” “as high as the sky” “on the cheaper side” is NOT a budget. We need a $$ amount.

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

sequoialondon — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:58:27 GMT

Less than $500. Sorry for not including that in the original post.

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

deebatman316 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 21:02:42 GMT

Do you want new or used. Canon has discontinued production of DSLR cameras and lenses. So your options are limited with remaining stock or used.

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

sequoialondon — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 21:21:01 GMT

Wow I had no idea, would be open to used but prefer new. Thank you

Re: Looking for new lens for Canon rebel t7

deebatman316 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 21:26:52 GMT

You can look into B&H Photo Used section or KEH.com for used lenses that have a warranty. The best DSLR lens for Canon’s APS-C was the EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM lens which comes with a hefty price tag if bought new. I used to own that lens until I upgraded to Full Frame. It’s not compatible with Full Frame DSLR cameras.

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

ebiggs1 — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:05:29 GMT

"Or if there's any suggestions as to which camera would be better, ..."

Yes!

You already have the camera/ lens you need. From what you stated I doubt seriously the EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM would improve your IQ very much or at all. But that being said I would need to see some examples of what you are referring to as " grain-like texture that shows up". I would much more suspect, " I'm editing on Photoshop, I go in and de-noise it both manually and automatically,..." as the culprit. Again not knowing your expertise with PS without seeing some examples it's hard to tell empirically. The first rule using PS is "less is more". The first rule of the digital cameras is "sometimes the camera is smarter than you think it is."

U/l some examples. 🤔

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

sequoialondon — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 19:07:21 GMT

Sure thing, thank you for taking the time to respond. Here's an example of one that I took. I shoot in RAW, when it prompts me to open a CR2 file, I'll edit in that. I usually don't de-noise it more than 20 on the sliding scale. I'll hit auto and then de-noise it and that's it. I'm not a huge expert on photoshop, but I can tinker my way around it. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=998326082330801&set=pb.100064602557367.-2207520000

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1001174468712629&set=pb.100064602557367.-2207520000&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=970468501783226&set=pb.100064602557367.-2207520000&type=3

I always feel like the center of the photos are in focus but not the outside.

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

normadel — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 19:40:04 GMT

I could not view your samples because I am not a Facebook user.

Your 18-55 is just fine for what you want.

What exposure mode do you use....Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Basic Zones, what?

A lens doesn't cause or contribute to "graininess". What CAN is very high ISO setting, perhaps caused by using Auto ISO and there not being enough illumination.

Look to your technique before looking for equipment cures.

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

ebiggs1 — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:46:48 GMT

I could view your samples. I really don't see what you are seeing. For FB they look pretty good.

However as the above poster asks, what are the exact settings you are using. You see when you u/l to this site we can see the EXIF data (unless you purposely remove it) . When you post to FB all that gets deleted. FB also renders images to its specifications.

"A lens doesn't cause or contribute to "graininess"." This is why someone suggesting you buy a different lens wasn't a good solution. The Canon EOS Rebel T7 camera has an ISO range of 100-6400, which can be expanded to an equivalent of ISO 12800. As stated it can be expanded to ISO 12800 but using these extreme higher ISO numbers makes you pay a price. That price is increased "grain". It isn't really grain as you would think in a film photograph but the term remains. It is distortion of the electronics inside the T7 because of increased voltage. It is more akin to you turning up the volume knob, maxing it out so to speak, on your stereo and getting distortion from your systems sound quality. As a general rule you probably would want to avoid the top two native ISO values. So 6400>3200 which leaves us at ISO 1600 as the top if 'grain' is your main most concern. Even using 800 is better. On most cameras ISO 200 is the best performer for all around use photos.

A good way to try and test is to go outside on a nice sunny day, set the T7 to P mode and experiment with ISO. Set it to One shot and daylight WB. Tale a dozen or so of random shots changing the ISO manually then go back to PS and do your edits to them. Although I have had several Rebels over the years I never had a T7 but I suspect it is similar to Rebel specs. Your ISO 100 or ISO 200 will probably be your best IQ and the max you can expect from your T7.

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

sequoialondon — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:50:38 GMT

Thank you for your insight! I will definitely go adjust those settings.

Re: Looking for new EF lens for photos of people and groups

normadel — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 17:25:52 GMT

Like ebiggs1 said.

I should have explained digital "grain" better. It is NOT real grain, which is a physical property of photographic film. In digital, it is properly called "noise". Higher ISO in digital cameras results in electronic amplification, which can introduce distortion of the digital image.