Rebel T7 10x lens blurry and other questions

[LilBit]

Good morning everyone,  I am brand new to the rebel T7.  The most photography experience I have is my phone. I have a few question I  was hoping for some help on. 

1) What would be the best book to get to help me learn my camera? I saw a few specifically for the T7. 

I have the $600. kit with multiple lens. I was trying out different combinations.  I got to my 10x lens. No matter what combinations I try it's still blurry when combine that lens with any other. I was trying to get a photo of a cardinal that was a short distance away. 

2) What combinations can I use to use for the 10x lens so it's not blurry?

I was told a Zoo is a great place to learn to use my camera.

3) What is the best lens for long distance shots? How do I get an up close picture of something that is far away. 

I am also a star gazer. So I am hoping for great night shots. 

4) What is the best lens to get moon shots? 

Will any combinations of the lenses I have accomplish that? If not what lens could recommend to purchase? 

Thank you in advance for your help 

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

The cameras manual is the best place to start.  

Youtube is also very helpful.  

Please be careful when buying "kits".  Unless you're purchasing from a Canon authorized reseller, they are often filled with junk, low quality optics, accessories and gear that is used to boost profits, not your photography.  

It might be helpful for us if you tell us what you purchased?

Zoos are a great place to practice and learn.  In many cases your subjects are captive and don't move around much.  Please start with your manual.  These are thoughtful, well written guides that provide the most information about your camera.  

[LilBit]

 The kit was bought from Walmart,  I've downloaded the manual. I'm slowly familiarizing myself with all the functions. 

[stevet1]

LilBit,

I looked at the picture from the web page that you provided, and there are a couple of items in there that will come in handy. You've got a couple of batteries and a charger, a lens hood, a couple of memory cards and the remote control cable and a camera bag.

The tripod will help you get started, but I think it's probably aluminum and you'll probably want to replace it down the road with something that's a little sturdier. The flash unit is probably a slave flash, which means you'll need line of sight, and it will only work when your camera flash goes off.

As the others have suggested, I wouldn't mess with the adapters (like the 10X). Stick with the 18-55 lens for now and use it to "learn the ropes". Down the road, you can save your pennies and buy a longer reach telephoto lens. The 55-250mm IS STM lens is a pretty good lens and is only about $300. now.

The Canon 55mm f/1.8 prime lens is an excellent lens and one should be in every photographer's bag. It only runs about $125. It's well worth the money. You can't use it to zoom in on things, but you can use it for close up work by widening the aperture (f/1.8 or f/2,8) and isolating your subject.

You have a lot of wonderful experiences ahead of you and I wish you happy shooting.

Steve Thomas

[Tintype_18]

I have the T7 and downloaded the manual at the beginning. Good way to learn the basics and then move to more advanced things. The nice thing about DSLR is you don't need to shoot miles of film. I like to experiment with camera settings in a particular scenario. I took some photos at our local Greenway which runs along a creek. Lot of flowers, ducks, squirrels, etc. Some sections have deer in the morning and evening. Well...I could look at the photos and play with the settings to get what I wanted. In the olden days of film, we could say we will see what develops. 😉

10X an adapter for a lens? Some will help here. Zoos, parks, etc. are good places. Our church has a landscaped area.  Best lens is an open question again. I bought a Sigma EF150-600mm lens for wildlife, birds, etc. but it's a bit pricey. Have taken some moon and cloud shots with it but its weight requires a tripod. Good to have you as part of the community. There are many more experienced photographers who can go into more detail than me.

[Waddizzle]

You have two learning curves to climb. One, how to use a camera. Two, the basics of general photography. 
Downloading the User Guide checks the first box.  Next I recommend this video tutorial from Canon USA.  
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp-znpQge8HxrllwXwn9B0Xxf1f7BQnXC&si=xeCS56_KtgzhgrwQ o

[normadel]

If you are saying "10X lens" to mean one of the adapters (is the other one a wide adapter?) the ad shows....these things are really inferior optics assembled into kits designed to make the novice think they are getting lots of really great stuff.

Learn how to use the camera with the 18-55 lens it came with.  It is a versatile focal-length range. Only then should you think about investing in other LENSES, based on what kind of subjects you want to shoot. You can get wider-angle lenses to very long telephotos. The Sigma 150-600 mentioned is highly recommended on this forum, but be aware that the longer focal length a lens is, the harder it can get to hold a camera steadily enough to focus and avoid motion blur. This is what is happening with the 10X adapter, besides it not being a quality optic.

[normadel]

BTW, is the camera a US-market one that came with a Canon factory warranty card? Or is it a "gray-market" camera that does not have a Canon warranty?

[zakslm]

LilBit,

Your experience with buying a "kit" loaded with accessories and "stuff" that may or may not include a camera and lens that is grey market is a newer variation on and old scheme – i.e. the numerous advertisers in photo magazines of the day and the many shops in NYC selling cameras at “too good to be real” prices. 

I wish that Amazon/Amazon Marketplace/Walmart Marketplace, etc. would be more transparent, less ambiguous and more fully disclose what you're really getting when you buy a kit and accessories that includes the stuff (most of which is of little or no use or value - particularly to someone new to DSLR's and non-smartphone digital photography) included in the "super value" packages.  It is a disservice not to do so.  

The reality is that the camera and kit lens (18-55) are probably genuine Canon maybe without a USA warranty card and will be fine.  If the SD cards are genuine Sandisk cards (and not counterfeits that are difficult to detect) they should be fine too.  Some of the other items may be OK if used properly.  However, I would refrain from using the accessories lenses and anything other than maybe a UV filter or clear lens protector from the kit that must be screwed into or mounted on the front of the lens.  

Others have suggested YouTube tutorials to help in learning the camera and by all means, download the manual, keep a digital version of it handy and go through it!

Good luck!

[Tronhard]

Hi Lilbit and welcome to the forum! 😊

As my colleague Waddizzle and others have observed, you have two areas of learning to deal with.

1. The principles of photography:   Unlike a cell phone, a dedicated camera has features to gauge the amount of light coming to the camera, and then control that not only set the camera up for a correct exposure but in doing so impact the composition of your images.   The result is that you need to learn about the 'holy trinity' of control: the ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture.  All three can be used to achieve the correct exposure, but each has a different impact on the resultant image.   While this may demand a higher degree of understanding of the physics and art of photography, by learning them you will dramatically increase your control over the images you create.
As well as the series of videos by Canon that my respected colleague Waddizzle suggested, here is a link to a tutorial by National Geographic photographer Chris Bray:

2: The Camera Interface: When you are not familiar with the function and operation of the various controls and interface options the camera will seem to get in the way of your efforts.  You need to be able to know enough of the controls to eliminate that issue, and the better you know the interface the more efficient as a photographer you will be.  The ultimate level is when you know the controls so well you don't have to think about them - and comes with time and practice.

You should definitely download a PDF copy of the manual for your camera.   You can use this as a reference as required and it has a word search feature on the PDF menu bar. Link:  eos-rebelt7-1500d-im2-en.pdf (c-wss.com)

To help, here is a link to the first of three that form a series of videos on the interface of the T7:

Let's discuss your gear...  As my colleagues have alluded to, there is a trap in getting a bundle such as you now have.  What seems a great deal may be made up of 'Grey Market' i.e. cameras imported from overseas that have no Canon support, or even refurbished gear.  The hook is a bunch of accessories that may or may not be useful.  Still you have them, so let's go from there.

The 10x magnification lens is NOT a good idea - it's a cheap optic that will render, at best, mediocre results.  If you want a lens for things like wildlife then you need the correct lens, not a booster.  While I laud your desire to capture wildlife (that has been my specialty for decades) it takes the right gear, and some further study on top of the stuff you need to learn for general photography.  So, my suggestion is to learn to take good images with your 18-55 lens and learn the principles of exposure and composition that you will need to take with you as a basis for those skills specific to wildlife - you are building a foundation of knowledge at this point.  You need to be patient and enjoy the process - it's not a fast process, but it is worth the effort.

So, please use the videos we have suggested and as you learn the controls, go out and take images - a lot of them!

Some points of note:
1. Your 18-55 lens has a switch for MF-AF.  Do NOT attempt to manually focus the lens without switching that to MF, otherwise the gearing mechanism will get desynchronized and you will not get AF to work properly.

2. Always turn your camera OFF, when taking out the SD card, and the light by that card should not be lit, if it is, the camera is still writing to the card and that can corrupt it.

3. Similarly, if removing the lens, turn the camera OFF and point the body angled, lens down, to avoid dust getting into the camera body.  Dust is attracted to the recording sensor and will appear as annoying spots on your images if it gets to the sensor.  If you are taking off the lens for a while, always put the body cap on the empty lens mount.

The most reliable way to see your images on a computer is to:
1. Turn the camera off
2. Remove the card and place it into an SD card reader attached to your computer (in-built or USB connected)
3. The card will be seen as a removable drive, so you just copy the files from the folder DCIM to whatever folder you want on your computer or device.
4.  When done, eject the card (Windows has an Eject command via the right mouse button) and remove the card
This makes sure the card is not being used by the operating system, if it is the Eject command will let you know.  I don't know about Macs.
5. Remove the card, return it to the camera, and use the camera's own Format command to clean the card off for another shoot.  Don't just delete files en masse.

To process your images, you have free access to a post-production program called DPP4 (Digital Photo Professional), you can get access to this, plus other software via the Canon support site for your camera:
The link below is for Windows 11 operating system, if that is not yours, change the settings at the top.
Canon Support for EOS Rebel T7 | Canon U.S.A., Inc.

This is a lot to digest, so suggest you mark this, and other posts you want to get to again with a bookmark from this site.

I hope this is helpful to you!