Camera body upgrade? - Upgrade advice from EOS Rebel T3i

[Vannoyes182]

I have been trying to get good photos of my sons wrestling matches. I have a Canon Rebel t3i and recently purchased a used Tamron SP 70-200mm f2.8mm Di VC USD lens which can know is a dinosaur but it has the f2.8 and my budget was under $500 so this fit the bill. My photos are better but still not as sharp as I’d like. I shoot in manual at f2.8 ISO1600 1/500 shutter speed in Al Servo. The photos are quite grainy but I fix this as much as I can while editing. Do I need to upgrade my camera body? If so, what would you recommend? I’d like to stay around $400 and used or refurbished is fine. Another parent shoots with a Nikon 70-300mm f4.5 and gets as good if not better results. Her camera body is newer so I’m wondering if that’s my problem. Any advice? Thanks!

[rs-eos]

Yes, a newer camera body (R-series line) will indeed provide you much better ISO performance.  So an ISO 1600 image on a new body will be much cleaner than an ISO 1600 on your Rebel T3i.

However, there would be concern as to if your third-party lens would be fully compatible.  You would also need an EF to RF apdater for allowing you to connect your lens to an R-series camera.

About the only camera that would be within your budget is the EOS R100.  Body only right now is around $430.  And with an RF-S 18-45mm lens, it's on sale right now for right at $500.   An EF to RF adapter though (do stick with the Canon brand) is $130.   These prices are for new items.  I didn't check to see the current refurbished items at Canon.

[deebatman316]

$400 is NOT going to get a new up to date camera body. DSLR cameras are rapidly being discontinued and being replaced by mirrorless cameras. If you can find a camera body in that price range. The only new thing would be a new sensor. The AF system would be the exact same. Your camera uses the 9 point AF system which was released in 2004 with the EOS 20D. My old EOS 40D uses that same AF system. This AF system is very slow in low light especially with lenses with slower and cheaper AF motors. Are you finding problems in low light. Please post some pictures in the forum. When it comes to new bodies too 3rd party lens compatibility is hit or miss. It would mount but not function correctly and cause error messages or cause other weird things to happen.

[jrhoffman75]

Canon has the R100 refurb available for $400 and the EF-R adapter refurb for $80.

Good package as long as you can be assured that the lens will work with the adapter.

Do you have a store you could go to to try?

[ebiggs1]

"Yes, a newer camera body (R-series line) will indeed provide you much better ISO performance."

This may be true on the surface but not in practice. A better or newer camera with newer tech is no guarantee you will get better pictures. Especially if you continue to use incorrect settings.

"I have a Canon Rebel t3i and recently purchased a used Tamron SP 70-200mm f2.8mm Di VC USD lens ..."

Your combo is pretty decent and will provide you with good results but we need to tweak your settings. First admit that sometimes the camera is smarter than you think.

"I shoot in manual at f2.8 ISO1600 1/500 shutter speed in Al Servo."

Why? Let's try something different. Set the Rebel T2i to Av mode, now in Av mode you need to select an aperture so let's try f4 but you may need to alter that depending on lighting in the gym. The T3i will now selects the correct SS for correct exposure. Set the ISO at 1600 but again be prepared to adjust it up or down depending on light. Now very important never use Ai-servo always use One Shot and just the center focus point. Turn the other off. I suspect that is the main cause you aren't getting real sharp pictures. In One Shot the T3i locks focus but in Ai-servo it doesn't.

You sound like you probably know your way around the T3i to do these setting corrections but if you don't consult your manual or come back here and ask how. At least let me know how it goes. OK?

"Another parent shoots with a Nikon 70-300mm f4.5 and gets as good if not better results."

I am/was a Nikon user for many years and I suspect she has a similar Nikon to your Rebel. Like a D3500 also with kit lens? I can confidently tell you, you have a better outfit than she does, by far, better. I would take yours over hers without doubt.

[ebiggs1]

Now if you really want to have the best photos of anybody, you need a photo editor.

Canon offers DPP4 and it is free. I prefer Photoshop. An editor is more important than any camera or lens. Matter of fact it is the most important part of photography.

If given the choice of the best camera and the best lens made in the world today and no Photoshop or a bottom of the line camera and lens with Photoshop, I would choose the latter with Photoshop every single time. No question.

You can d/l the very good DPP4 form the Canon web site.  Its a free d/l.  In addition set the T3i to use raw format and not jpg which I suspect you are doing now. Raw files have way more info in them but you can't make use of it unless you have an editor like DPP4 or PS. Nice think about DPP4 is, it will automatically u/l your images to your computer another thing I suspect you are already doing. Raw can give you as much as a 3or 4 stop advantage over jpg so if your shots come out a bit dark no problem DPP4 or PS will correct them. If the color balance is off, DPP4 or PS can fix that, too. Plus many other edits like cropping to get the perfect perspective you like.

Try all this before you spend money on stuff that may not do any good at all. What I have suggested is totally free so you don't have anything to lose. D/l DPP4 right now!

[Tronhard]

If the images are grainy, and you are otherwise happy with the performance of the camera, I would suggest looking at a piece of software like Topaz Denoise AI.  It comes on sale from time to time and is a very effective means of reducing noise in existing images.
As to the sharpness issue: the best thing is to post a sample of your images via a link (like Dropbox) of your original files, as shot.  We can have a look to try to see what the issue is.  It could be one or more of several factors, so saying anything definite right now may be speculative.

[wq9nsc]

Wrestling is not my forte, I have only shot it once as a favor to a graduating football player so I don't have any expertise with it.  One question is how much cropping are you having to do in editing because that is where noise (aka graininess) and loss of detail from noise reduction are going to be killers?  Get as close as you are allowed to the action so that the scene comes close to filling the sensor.

You have to make the best tradeoff between sensor noise and motion blur when in a low light indoor setting and 1/500 is going to be on the ragged edge for motion blur in wrestling with any fast movement.  The one meet I shot, I settled on 1/640 because it was in the gym I referred to as "the cave" at the time because of poor lighting that was later upgraded.  I was using 1DX and 1DX II bodies at the time and using 135 and 200mm f2 lenses with ISO set to auto resulting in ISO 1600 to ISO 4000 depending upon where I was in the gym.

With any gear change you make, don't go to a slower (narrow aperture) lens than your f2.8 because regardless of body a wider aperture lens is key to low light sports.  A newer higher performance sensor is a move in the right direction but don't cripple it by going backwards by purchasing it with a slower lens and/or one that requires additional cropping.  One of my early favorite lenses for low light sports was Canon's EF 85 f1.8 which was inexpensive and focused quickly.

For sports photography, you are going to be restricting the focus system to a single point or a very small array of points because until we are replaced by AI it is up to the photographer to understand the sport and focus upon the point of interest.  And wrestling moves slowly enough that choosing that point is pretty easy.  So a good servo AF system is needed but you and not the system will be choosing the spot of prime interest.

Bottom line, get close so you don't have to crop excessively; shoot in RAW if you aren't already so that DPP or whatever editing software you use has the best chance at good NR without excessive loss of detail, and make sure your tradeoff between motion blur and ISO/noise level is the best for that venue.

Hopefully someone who specializes in shooting wrestling will be able to assist more with specifics for that sport.

Rodger

[Vannoyes182]

Thanks so much for your input. I will look at the EOS R100. 

[Vannoyes182]

Thanks for your input. Yes, I’m having trouble in low light. It does seem like the lens cannot keep up when auto focusing. I am still in the return window so it could be returned if needed. These photos are straight from the camera. 
ISO1600  f2.8  1/500s  200mm

 ISO 1600 f2.8 1/500s 75mm