Upgrade Canon T3i

Tleray wrote:

I currently have a Canon Rebel T3i with the included 2 lenses ( 18-55mm & EF-S 55) and 2 additional lenses (EF 50mm F/1.8 & EF 85mm F/1.8). I use my camera for all things "kids" (indoor cheer competitions, outdoor cheer for school, indoor school dance team performances in gym, dance team performances on field, etc). My rebel has died and i'm looking for a new camera as the kids seasons has just started;) I have started using manual and AV modes playing with manual adjustments, very amateur.

I have looked at the Rebel 8i which had ok reviews but read everything is moving to mirrorless, so i looked at the Eos RP or R10. I rather invest in better technology as i do not upgrade cameras unless they break.

Most important to me is clear pictures (sometimes in low lighting or night) from far away for lots of movement (cheer and dance). This is not a camera for professional purposes but for family memories and scrapbooking. I need to make sure camera i pick has settings for an amateur and not something i can not figure out.

My budget is around $1,500

Well you obviously like documentary style of photography. Personally, its more about the glass when talking about IQ. Your 18-55 to be brutally honest is not worth the plastic its made from. Your 50 and 85 primes are pretty good lenses for the money.

Any modern day body has the potential to give excellent image results, but dont "Settle" for less than a good fast focus for what you shoot. I personally skip the RP, that is the lowest of what is offered in the R bodies. the new R7 (if in your budget) would be a good start into mirrorless. Plus you would be future proofed for a while.

I own the R5 but the R6 is a lot cheaper but has the better focusing of the R5. Can't say I ever tried the R7 but reviews are coming in and they seen to love it. It is a crop camera like your DSLR that broke. You will need an adapter to use your EF glass on canon's mirrorless R bodies.

My suggestion to you is learn the exposure triangle and how to apply it to your photography. Shutter Speeds ISO, and Aperture are the three things that control exposure and all work together. With cheer or dance, you need a faster shutter speed to freeze motion unless you want a little blur to emphasize movement. With your 85 and even your 50mm you can get a good background blur with a sharp subject. aperture controls that. The ISO is sensitivity of the sensor, The higher you raise the ISO the more grain you will get but will allow you to get faster shutter speeds in low light.

For Fast subjects, I start in TV mode and select a shutter speed approbate for the subject. Or I been lately using M mode for full manual and select my shutter speed and aperture and set my ISO to auto to let the camera balance the light out with the ISO.

Anyhow, between google and YouTube, you will not have any problems getting lessons on all of what I mentioned. Even if you use P mode, you should understand how exposures work and affect the image so when you do get images that are not very good, you know what went wrong so you know how to fix. Camera automation has come a long way over the decades but its still not perfect so knowing how a good exposure is made will up your photography by lightyears... Dont be intimated, it can seem like a lot at first but it really isn't. it will become second nature after awhile...