topic Re: Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7 in Gear Guide

Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7

Shagstrom — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 13:07:49 GMT

Hello everyone, I have a Canon EOS Rebel T7 camera with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and I am interested in doing more sport and theatre photography, and I’m looking for advice as to which less would be best.

Re: Sport/Theater photography

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 16:26:57 GMT

For General Purpose photography your EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS II lens should cover your needs. Have you found a limitation in your kit if so what is it please explain. How far from the stage will you be from when doing theatre photography. Low light is a problem with sports and theatre photography. I assume you have this lens instead of the STM variants of that lens. For sports it depends on the sport and how far you'll be from the action.

Re: Sport/Theater photography

ebiggs1 — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 21:30:24 GMT

"Have you found a limitation in your kit ..."

This isn't the question as the only reason that a DSLR has interchangeable lenses is for that exact concept. You can't do everything with one lens. Sports and theater photography can be completely different and are likely going to require different lenses. Now for certina the lens that comes with a Rebel T7 is a good general purpose lens that definition also make sit not so good for specialized photography.

"For sports it depends on the sport and how far you'll be from the action."

This must be known before nay lens recommendation can be made and you might as well substitute 'theater' in place of 'sports' as the same question needs an answer.

Re: Sport/Theater photography

Shagstrom — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:46:27 GMT

I plan on doing sports like dance or cheer which happen on a theater like stage not sure how close or far I will be I think it would depend on the gig.

what would you recommend

Re: Sport/Theater photography

mdphotography — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:55:53 GMT

that lens may not be fast enough for indoor competitions...any chance you can get something at f2.8 or wider?

I found that 18-50mm was just enough to from the sidelines of a rugby match, but couldn't get any detail once they were more than 40 or 50 yards/meters away

Re: Sport/Theater photography

ebiggs1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:51:29 GMT

"... not sure how close or far I will be ..."

That's important and I can't supply an answer without knowing it. I will offer a guess that the lens suggested above 18-50mm? (18-55mm perhaps) will not do the trick.

"... you can get something at f2.8 or wider?"

Of course this is a good, stock, safe, recommendation as these type lenses are the best in general but not solely specialized for dance/cheer photography. If you want to go that route then buy the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens. It is the best lens made in that category and it may well be the best choice lens for your purpose. It is a fantastic lens and will do everything else better than the standard 'kit' lens.

Re: Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7

Tintype_18 — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 20:23:00 GMT

I have a two lenses that I found to be of great help with all kinds of photos. They are listed in my signature, excepting the 18-55 and 150-600. BTW, got the 28-135mm for $90!

Re: Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7

mdphotography — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 16:05:10 GMT

Just took some shots at my daughter's play - dark audience lights --> bright stage lights using a third party 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Canon RF and they all came out between iso640-iso1600...a few with faster shutter speeds were iso2000. All cleaned up extremely well in post - both manually and with AI denoise.

Cheers!

Re: Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7

ebiggs1 — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 14:20:02 GMT

Great, success is always nice how about sharing a few? You might include settings so others can see what works.

Re: Sport/Theater photography lens recommendations for EOS Rebel T7

mdphotography — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 18:25:53 GMT

oh, ha! ha! I'd rather not post pics because they're minors, but the lens I used is available for both EF and RF mounts.

basic settings were: f/2.8, 1/250-1/500, automatic iso

some lighting fixes and denoise in lightroom