upgrade from EOS Rebel T6i or learn?? I have lots of questions

[brepic]

Hey! I am looking to upgrade from an eos T6i. I have experience in the field, but just basic knowledge. I got the camera 4-5 years ago. I recently took pictures of an engagement for a friend and I noticed out of the 80 pictures I took in 3min, only 10-15 of them weren't blurry. I didn't know if this was user error or if it was time to upgrade. I know my camera is perfectly capable of taking great pictures, but I am wanting something that will do the job without me having to stress over if it will preform the way I want it to or not. The shutter speed is not ideal. and the AF is not to my liking. Like I said, this could be me. I just wanted to get on here and get advice from people with experience and professional knowledge. The engagement situation just sparked the idea of buying a new camera. I also took family pictures afterward and some were just grainy or they turned out amazing. I want a camera that will grow with me. I do not have a set budget, just under $2,500 if possible. I have been looking at the 90D and R10. This is just a hobby, but I would be open to it turning into more in the future. 

Please help! 

[Waddizzle]

If you do not know why your photos look the way they do, then I do not see any point in upgrading your camera at this time.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp-znpQge8HxrllwXwn9B0Xxf1f7BQnXC 

[brepic]

Thank you for responding and including that link!!! 

"I do not see any point in upgrading your camera at this time."

When will be a good time to upgrade and if upgrading was my only option, which camera would you recommend? 

[Waddizzle]

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@brepic wrote:

Thank you for responding and including that link!!! 

"I do not see any point in upgrading your camera at this time."

When will be a good time to upgrade and if upgrading was my only option, which camera would you recommend? 

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Check out the videos at the link I provided.  I am recommending that you do not upgrade because you will most likely get the same results that you are now.

[EDIT] I understood your question to be “upgrade or learn”?  I say “learn”.

[brepic]

Thank you so so much!!! I really appreciate this help!!! 

[Tronhard]

Good day: 🙂

Your question is a wise one: most people just upgrade without considering the alternative.

I would agree with my associates that learning is the most important thing.  Your camera is still quite capable of taking excellent images: you just need to know how to get the most of it.  If you invest in knowledge now, then you will make a wiser gear investment when you do make a purchase.  As Bill (Waddizzle) said, if you don't know what's wrong with your technique, then you still won't gain the benefits of better gear.

Apart from Bill's link, I would also suggest the following resources:
If you log onto your local library, do a search for an item called "LinkedIn Learning" or "Lynda.com".  This is a site that offers highly-professional educational videos on a host of subjects, including a huge resource on photography.  The lectures are conducted by professionals who know photography and how to teach.

If you find the item, it means  you have access to the site free of charge.  The link will take you to a screen where you can log on using your library credentials. From there, just do a search for Photography - a lot of subjects will come up, if you want to be more specific, search for Photography Foundations or Ben Long (the presenter).  There is a whole series of videos available from him and they should help.

Visit your local camera society of club - most will allow three visits to check them out.  During these sessions, don't go to competition nights - topics are normally listed on their websites, but try the educational sessions and talk to the members - you may well find someone to mentor you and offer hands-on help, which is priceless.

[rs-eos]

Some examples would be needed.  A few things come to mind for blurry images:

• You moved while taking the photo; especially when shutter speed is slower.
• Your subjects were moving (especially away from or towards the camera) after focus was grabbed.
• Shutter speed in general too low for what you're trying to capture.

Stabilization such as tripods can help.  A lens with image stabilzation (IS) could also help.

Having said that, you could be at the limits of what your camera/lens can capture (that's why details about your lens and sample images would be great).   e.g. you may be attempting to capture images in low-light conditions.  If your lens at the time say was using an aperture of f/5.6, you'd need to raise ISO and/or slow the shutter to attempt to get a good exposure.  This though could very well lead to either blurry images (shutter too slow) or very noisy images (ISO too high).

In terms of advice of learn vs. upgrade, that's not easy to answer due to not having all the information:

• If your equipment turns out to not be the issue, then definitely learn.
• If you are attempting low-light with an insufficient lens, then upgrading to a better lens may be the correct route.
• If you are beyond the limits of your camera/lens combination and have solid technique, then upgrading would make sense.

[brepic]

lens:18-55mm STM 

as for pictures, here are some examples. Im realizing it more than likely is me & I need to do some research. All of the advice is being noted!! Thank you all so much!

 

   

[brepic]

lens:18-55mm STM 

as for pictures, here are some examples. Im realizing it more than likely is me & I need to do some research. All of the advice is being noted!! Thank you all so much!

 

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

Just looking at your images:
Exposure - my first reaction is that your camera is over-exposing the subject, which is the people.  Most likely, it is getting a meter reading from the undergrowth at the back, which is darker than the people and thus blowing them out.  Looking at the EXIF data (your settings) that is because you are using Pattern Metering: where the camera derives its settings from across the frame and if you think of averaging out all of the image, then the people, who are wearing very light clothes, will be over-exposed.  So your task is to learn how to be more selective in what the camera meters on and to keep that exposure setting

Aperture: you have the most open aperture the camera can manage, which is ok, but demands that you precisely keep the focus on the people. and on at least one of them it has not done so.  So the second skill you need to learn is to be able to hold the focus on your subject despite distracting objects.

Shutter Speed:  You shutter speed was quite low, likely because of a combination of your low ISO value and because you camera was metering on dark background that demanded more exposure.  This suggests that some of the blurriness could be from your camera movement, and I suspect one of those photos has subject movement in it as well - all from slow shutter speed. As a general rule of thumb, your shutter speed needs to be about 1.5 times the value of your focal length: so a 50mm lens would demand a shutter speed of 1/75sec, 100mm, 1/150sec etc.
So, the thing to explore is how to use a combination of aperture, shutter speed and ISO together to get a correct exposure and the creative results you are seeking.

When I first started photography, I couldn't afford camera gear, so I purchased a book on photography (this is decades before on-line learning) and devoured it for the thick end of a year, using borrowed gear before I got my own cameras.  The benefit of the book was it not only explained the principles of photography and how the tech works, but it gave a large number of examples, and explained why the settings were as they were, and how the image was composed.  That is invaluable, and I poured over those samples to really analyze the images and learn from them.  I recommend that this is still a good way to go - you want to spend time with those images.

There are lots of books on photography out there and, again, the library is a good starting point as you can try different books out and learn from a range of authors.