Which Canon Lens to Use For School Dance Team
(With a Canon t7i)

by Pam
(Bismarck, ND)

"I have a Canon Rebel t7i. I take pictures of my daughters school dance team. Competitions are held in school gymnasiums(poor lighting). I take continuous photos for the 2 -3 minute performance. I end up with about 500 pictures per dance. I try to get the entire team & then zoom & crop afterwards to also get individual pictures or smaller groups. I’m looking for a better lens than the kit lens I currently use. The coach also reviews all the photos to help correct dancer errors within each performance which is why I try to get the entire team. I’m looking for a lens that takes fast auto focus continuous pictures in low light fast action (dancers really move fast) that when I zoom & crop afterwards are still in focus & not blurry. Have any suggestions?
Pam LM"

Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for your question about the best lens for shooting indoor dance team photos with your Canon t7i. You have a lot of good lens options to go with your APS-C, crop sensor Canon camera. I've narrowed down to what I think are your 2 best options with the information your provided me.

First of all, congrats on getting a Rebel t7i-it's really a lot of great technology packed into a fairly compact DSLR. The t7i should be able to shoot about 6 frames per second once good focus has been achieved.

My quick answer is that I think you would be very happy with a 24-105 f/4 as a significant upgrade to your 18-55 kit lens. It's a "pro" lens, somewhat faster (f/4.0) than a kit lens, and has a larger zoom range (4x instead of 3x). It definitely would give you much better magnification, at 105mm, for close-up shots of individual dancers.

My concern with recommending the 24-105 is that its angle of view on your t7i at the wide setting (24mm) might not give you enough room for wide group shots. On your camera, that gives you the equivalent view of a 38mm lens on a full frame camera.

Looking at the "Indoor Dance Team-Photo 1" above, can I assume you didn't shoot that at the widest 18mm zoom setting on your kit lens. You'd have to back up a bit with a 24-105 in the indoor location to get the same composition if you did shot that photo at 18mm. Also, I have no idea if you have a specific budget for a lens for your t7i. You can get a used 24-105mm lens in excellent condition for less than $450.

Two Prime Lenses for your Canon t7i

Another possibility, you could go with 2 really fast "prime lenses" such as a 24mm f/2.8 for group photos, and switch lenses for close-ups with an 85mm f/1.8. Combined, you could get both of these lens in excellent used condition for less than a used 24-105. I absolutely love the sharpness and super fastness of the 85mm f/1.8 when you shoot wide open. That would give you an equivalent angle of view as if you were shooting with a 135mm telephoto lens on your t7i.

Using a lens at its widest aperture and shooting at a fairly high ISO will give you the fastest shutter speeds to freeze the action to the sharpness levels you want. Also, pre-focusing to the right distance will speed up your focusing performance when you're shooting a sequence of fast moving subjects.

Feel free to email me directly if you'd like further clarification or if you want to give me more details of the settings you've been using so far in this shooting situation at bruce (at) canoncamerageek.com

Canon 85mm
All Canon Lenses
Canon 24-105

Good Luck,
Bruce

p.s. Canon does make a much faster 17-55mm f/2.8 lens if you're happy with the zoom range on your kit lens.

Canon ESO 350d Lens Compatibility

by David Tree
(UK)

Can the 350d accept EF lenses?

Hi David,


Thanks for asking about the use of an Canon EF lens on a crop sensor camera, like the Canon 350D. The quick answer is yes. The 350D, known as the Rebel XT here is the USA, is an APS-C "crop" camera and will take the EF (full size) lenses, as well as Canon's EF-S, crop lenses.

The EF lenses are much larger, provide a much larger image circle and thusly can transmit light to cover the entire full frame sensor, and more than the needed area of the smaller APS-C sized sensors.

The Canon XT, along with its long line of successors, the XTi, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3i, etcetera, all have the APS-C sensors can take either the smaller EF-S lenses or the large full-frame EF lenses.

To get the 35mm equivalent focal length, multiply whatever EF lens focal length numbers you're using by 1.6. For instance, if you have a 50mm lens, multiply by 1.6 and you get 80mm as the equivalent focal length and it's narrowing angle of view.


Thanks,
Bruce

Canon EF-S 18-55 Lens Versions

by Tim Court
(Carmel NY)

"I have a question? Just bought a new 18-55mm lens for my camera. Since one on left does not manual focus any more. Now why does one on right, when focused at 18mm sticks out, while old one on left is flush against lens. Also focused at 18mm. Old lens is EF-S 18-55mm 1:4:5.6 IS STM. While new one is EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 IS II. Will the new one be a problem with my camera?
Thanks, Tim"

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your question about comparison of your two Canon EF-S 18-55 lenses. It can be confusing when you have two lenses, made by the same company, and with the same zoom range.

versions of Canon 18-55 lens

Canon has made 9 different versions of the 18-55. You'd probably find all 9 versions out there in the market if you looked hard enough. Five of the versions are now discontinued. The newest version (2017) has a smaller maximum aperture (to make it smaller and lighter to keep up with that trend) at f/4-f/5.6.

extending lenses while zooming

The reason some lenses extend and some don't during zooming or focusing has to do with whether it has lens elements move internally within the lens when adjusted.

You will NOT have any compatibility issues with using your new Canon EF-S 18-55 lens on your Canon DSLR camera.

Thanks again,
Bruce

Canon Lenses

Canon Lens Adaptor For Film Camera Lens to Digital EOS Lens

by Enrica
(Italy)

"How to use old Canon fd lens in my new t6 canon.
I know is not the best thing to do and that is way easier to buy new lens but I have 3 old lenses, one of which at the time was super expensive and I'd really like to not waste them.
The lens I have are:
1.FD 300mm 1:5.6
2.FD 28mm 1:2.8
3.FD 50mm 1:1.8
I used them for a canon T70.

Last summer a bought a Canon rebel T6/ 1300d in USA. I'm looking for an adaptor that would help me use those lens in my new camera. I am not looking for perfection, I am not a professional photographer and I don't know much about photography yet. I thought using those lens would help me shoot vintage photos which I would really like and also I can't really afford to buy so many lens of that quality right now so I'd really like to use those.
Searching on internet I found a Photodiox adapter https://fotodioxpro.com/products/fd-eos-pro-fc10
Is not too cheap nor too expensive. I'd be willing to invest 50 dollars if I'm 100% sure that would work for me.
Do you have anything else to suggest me? What fictions would I be able to keep and which I'd have to do manually? Could I possibly have autofocus?
Thank you so much."

Greetings from the USA, Enrica

Thanks for your question about adapting old Canon film lenses to be used on modern digital cameras. First of all, just wanted to say that the Canon T70 was a cool camera.

Sounds like you know that digital lenses are constructed differently, and not ideal for digital cameras. They're made specifically to focus the light rays perfectly perpendicular to the sensor on a digital camera. Although there are some shortcomings, in the end, I think you'll be really happy to keep using your collection of Canon film lenses.

I've never used a converter like this because I didn't become a Canon shooter until a few years into the digital camera age. My last 35mm camera was actually a Minolta and I shot all portrait work with medium format Mamiya cameras when I turned pro.

Fotodiox has a good reputation with their products and I'm sure you'll make out just fine with the FD-EOS-Pro-FC10 Canon adapter.

Please let me know how you like it once you purchase it and try the lens adapter out.

Bruce

Canon Lenses

Canon 300 Ed lens & canon 3200 slr camera

by Maggy pugh
(Peoria il )

I just bought the canon 300 ef off of eBay, my camera I own is a canon 3200 slr, the 300 lens doesn’t fit my camera, is there an adapter or an I out of luck? I want to use if for my daughters sports Hi Maggy, thanks for your question. Did you misspell something? I don't know what a Canon 3200 SLR is. Did you mean Nikon D3200? Did you buy one of the Canon EF 300 lenses.
Let me know,
Thanks,

Bruce

canon t2i compatablility

Hi I have a canon rebel t2i, and am wondering if an FD Zoom Lens will work on it?

Thanks for your question.

I don't know the answer. You may have to get an adapter.

I am not a fan of using old film camera lenses on digital cameras. Digital camera lenses are designed to focus the light on sensors perpendicular to the sensor for the best effect on the pixels.

Light from film camera lenses hit the film plane at a variety of angles.

Good Luck!


Canon Camera Lenses

Canon M6 Mark II Tele-xtender Compatibility

by Bob Carroll
(Cocolalla Id USA)

Is the canon m6 mk ll compatible with the 1.4 tele extender? Can I use it with a 100-400 lens and will it still focus?

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your question about using a 1.4x tele-extender with your Canon M6 Mark II and a Canon 100-400mm Lens. The quick answer is yes and yes-I'm assuming you have the adapter to mount a Canon EF tele-extender or lens to your M6 mirrorless camera body.

The 100-400 is right on the edge of being fast enough to maintain auto-focus. F/5.6 is the magic number that allows auto-focus to work with tele-extenders. The 1.4x tele-extender will take away about 1 f/stop of light. The 100-400 EF IS II is a great lens-I love the sharpness I get with mine.

Canon M6 Mark II Lens Magnification

Bob, it sounds like you will be shooting wildlife or sports. Without using the 1.4 tele-extender, you're already getting the equivalent angle of view as a 160-640mm lens. That's a lot of magnification and a lot of pixels (33MP) on a nice-sized APS-C sensor, even without a 1.4 tele-extender. With a 1.4x tele-extender, your angle of view will be that of about a 220mm-900mm lens.

I'd love to know your plans-Please let the Canon Geek readers now how it works out. Of course, I have no personal experience with using a 1.4x tele-converter on a M6 Mark II personally, so you should Call USA Canon directly and talk to one of the techs to verify.

Good Luck,
Bruce

Canon Macro Lens EF100mm And 5d Mark II Compatibility

by Raymond
(Sydney NSW Australia.)

"will it work well with my 5d mark 2?"

Hi Raymond!

Thanks for visiting the Canon Geek website and thanks for your question. You've got two of Canon's capable tools for some fun and high-quality image capture.

Yes, the EF 100 macro lens and the 5D mark 2 are 100% compatible. Of course, the only way to see if you're going to get perfect sharpness is to use your specific 5D Mark II and your specific Canon EF 100 combination together.

Although both of these Canon products are more than a decade old, both will facilitate taking some great images. The 5D Mark II just celebrated it's 11th anniversary. The original Canon EF 100mm Macro was introduced in 2000 and the upgrade Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens was introduced in 2009. Whichever version of the Canon EF 100 Macro you have, the 100mm focal length is a great lens for shooting close-ups.

review of the Canon EF 100m f/2.8L

For an in depth review of the Canon EF 100m f/2.8L and a sample photo taken with the 5D Mark II and this lens go to The Digital Picture.

To see a video on a way to calibrate your micro focusing on the 5D Mark II watch this video on Youtube.

Have fun
Bruce

P.S. Here's my post, on the Canon Geek website about the Canon EF 100mm Lens.

How Do I Calibrate
My Canon 750D (t6i) With My Lenses?

by Boston Paul
(Taiwan)

"How do I calibrate my canon 750D with my lenses?"

Thanks for your question about calibrating your Canon lenses with your Canon EOS 750D, known as the T6i here in America. Hopefully, you're not experiencing any significant sharpness images to start with and you just want to make sure you get the ultimate in sharpness. I also recommend you make sure you are using the best technique for sharpness (outside of calibrating focus) with regards to camera movement, choosing the best focus spot, and shutter speed.

Here's a post from another blog I contribute to about the two major causes of blurry photos: Avoid Blurry Photos. That's a fine camera, by the way, and I'm sure you'll create some fantastic images with it combined with whatever Canon lens you use.

Rather Than give you a lengthy article to read here, I am providing you with two resources on calibrating focus to your 750D, T6i. First Canon has a short written tutorial which will give you a great starting point: Canon Lens Calibration T6i. You can buy special lens targets to photograph to help with your calibration, but I think using a wooden yardstick or measuring tape, at a 45 degree angle to the camera, works just fine.

Here's a 12 minute video on adjusting the micro focus. It's not on the 6ti-750D specifically, but it's done practically the exact same way: Micro Focusing Lens Adjustment

Thanks again,
Bruce

All Canon Lenses

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KEH: WHERE I BUY CANON GEAR
"I've found that the condition of the used equipment from KEH is excellent and a whole lot cheaper than buying new" - Bruce, the Canon Camera Geek