Canon Rebel T7 EOS 1500D

[Ash89]

I bought the bundle and it came with some lenses I'm still learning them but I wonder if the telescope lens that came with can take pictures of the night sky if not I was wondering what lens do I need to get to take pictures of the night sky with stars any suggestions

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"If by "telescope lens" you mean a gizmo that screws on to the front of a regular lens and converts it into a "telescope", then do yourself a favor and toss the gizmo into the garbage.  If your camera came with other types of screw-on conversion lenses like macro or wide angle, then toss those things into the garbage, too."

Do that if you bought a camera package or kit from Amazon (some other places have them too but usually Amazon).  If that is what you did you got took.  The best thing to do now if you can't return it is to not use it.  Cut your loss right now.  These screw on adapters can damage the real Canon lens.

For night sky take a good look at this lens. It is reasonably priced for what it can do. Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens For Canon. You will need a good tripod, too.  If you got one in that package it is junk.

Sorry but we see this stuff all the time here.

[Ash89 · Accepted solution]

Then telescope lens It doesn't start with a G it starts with a T I don't remember the name of it but someone told me it's a really good lens for taking picture of the moon not much for the night sky

[Ash89 · Accepted solution]

Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera with EF 18-55mm with EF 75-300mm Double Zoom Kit Bundle with 500mm Preset Telephoto Lens, 32GB Memory Card, Tripod, Paintshop Pro 2018 and Accessories (10 Items)

This is what I bought everything that's in there I bought it came with

[Link removed per forum guidelines. Replaced with screenshots of what was found at the link's destination]

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@Ash89 wrote:
Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera with EF 18-55mm with EF 75-300mm Double Zoom Kit Bundle with 500mm Preset Telephoto Lens, 32GB Memory Card, Tripod, Paintshop Pro 2018 and Accessories (10 Items)
[ LINK DELETED ]

This is what I bought everything that's in there I bought it came with

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Oh, one of those.  That type of lens is very good at teaching you how to use a tripod.  I had the 650-1300mm version.  I bought an eyepiece for it, so that kids could use it like a telescope to look at the Moon.  That bit of excitement wore out pretty quickly.

Those lenses require a very stable tripod, and a T-Mount adapter.  The tripod foot tends to have a little slack and play in it.  It may wobble just enough when you are focusing that the Moon may move around the frame.  It will look like an earthquake is in progress.

The "Preset" part of the name means that the aperture is fixed, probably at f/8, and cannot be adjusted.   This is fine for taking shots of the Moon.  Use manual mode, set your shutter at 1/200 and ISO at 100.  Use the 10-second shutter delay time.  If that camera model has shutter lockup, then use that, too.  Use those exposure settings no matter what phase the Moon is in.

I wound up with some images of the full Moon that were not half bad.  It was hard to focus because the focus ring's "throw" was only 1/4 of a full rotation.  If the focus ring had 1/2 to 3/4 rotation, the lens would be MUCH easier to focus.  The only saving grace is the narrow aperture creates a deeper depth of field, so focus does not need to nailed spot on.  Practice focusing on really distant objects during daylight, and place some tape on the focus ring.

Your biggest enemy will be time.  The Earth and the Moon are both in motion.  Once you get the Moon centered in the frame, it can move completely out of the frame within a minute or two.  Now you have to readjust tripod, which I hope has a VERY good head on it.  

Many tripod heads suffer from what is known as "backlash".  This means that the position of the head may shift ever so slightly as you fully tighten it down.  This is not much of an issue with smaller, lighter cameras and lenses when you are aiming horizontally, which means the center of the weight is over the center of the head and tripod.

When you tilt the camera and lens toward the sky, suddenly the weight is off-center and backlash can become more pronounced.  The heavier the load, the worse the backlash becomes.  If you are using a ball head, you want one with a friction adjustment because this can help minimize backlash, and those that have it tend to be better built, too.

[Ash89 · Accepted solution]

Thank you

[jrhoffman75]

The lens has a range of f/8 to f/32. You can see the DOF markings on the barrel.

[Waddizzle]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

The lens has a range of f/8 to f/32. You can see the DOF markings on the barrel.

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You guys might be right about this lens. The specs agree with you.  I ignored the illustration of the kit.  The almost never show exactly what is in the kits, anyway. There are always substitutes.

I had the VIvitar 650-1300mm f/8 preset zoom version.  It had no aperture scale.  You could not adjust the aperture.  At 600mm the aperture was f/8, and it stopped down to f/16 by the time you reached 1300mm.

That has always been my understanding of preset, that the aperture was "preset" and could not be adjusted.  So, why would they describe a fully manual lens as "preset" if it has an aperture ring?

[jrhoffman75]

My learning was a "fixed" aperture was unadjustable. A "preset" aperture needed to be set before you started exposure metering. 

[ebiggs1]

I have had several of these lenses. They are hold overs form the film days. The haven't changed a bit in 50 years.  The optics are horrid but usable if you don't care too much.  They were designed for TTL film cameras where you looked through the lens and stopped it down to see DOF and right before you took the shot. It will be difficult, not impossible to focus it on a T7 Rebel but again doable.

I still have one very similar that I got back in 1970 or so. The "Girl Watcher". It is a 400mm f6.3 preset. It cost around $30 bucks way back in the (g)olden days.  It will take fairly decent pictures!

[Waddizzle]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

My learning was a "fixed" aperture was unadjustable. A "preset" aperture needed to be set before you started exposure metering. 

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Okay.  I guess that makes sense.  I always set aperture on my film cameras before I metered, or as I metered.  There was no stopping down at the press of a button.

I took a hiatus from SLRs when they came out with auto focusing lenses until the the mid-2000s mid-1980s.  Back in the 1980s, I was not prepared to toss out my entire collection of film camera gear to use AF lenses.  Besides, those disposable [cameras] at the drug store were good enough to take snapshots as I traveled around the country for my job.  

[I got back into cameras and digital photography in the mid-2000s with a point & shoot.]

[ebiggs1]

Don't want to beat this to death, everything you got in the kit with the word "Canon" on it  is good stuff.  Everything else is not.  Poor quality at best.

The SD card and Paint Shop are good, too. Don't screw those things on the front of your real Canon lenses.  Don't chance it even though if you do it carefully they will probably work.  

The 500mm f8 lens is a generic lens that is branded by several companies.  I have had a couple of them.  You can get a picture using one but don't expect much.  CA will be off the chart as will distortion and diffraction. Again usable but it depends on how critical you are.  For me, it would not meet my demands but that a a five dollar bill with get you a Starbucks.

My advice is still return it if that is possible. Than make a purpose buy from a known good retailer. A few might be B&H, Adorama, Roberts, Bestbuy, Microcenter or even a local camera shop. The ad says full Canon USA warranty?  You got a Canon USA warranty card in the box of the camera and one for each lens?  Good, that's important.

BTW, it will be difficult to impoosibile to get real sharp Moon shots with what you have.

[Ash89]

Yeah I don't really care for the tripod that it came with I have two really good ones once a heavy metal one and the other one is just perfect for traveling size it's pretty tall it's an orange Chrome looking what I just don't remember the name of both of my tripods but it's heavy duty on that one too really strong balance it's just the same quality as my metal one that was like 40 bucks and the other one was given to me

[Waddizzle]

I think you got a halfway decent deal because of the software, remote switch, and the blower

Just above the memory card I see that you have a couple of those "gizmo" lenses that screw on to the front of your regular lenses.  Do not use those for all of the aforementioned reasons.

[Ash89 · Accepted solution]

Thank you

[Ash89 · Accepted solution]

Thank you so much for the information even though I'm slightly a beginner photographer I'm learning more everyday so thank you so much for the info and this the information is a lifesaver