Need recommendations for camera + lens for shooting fast moving little one

Hey all,

I've been inactive in the forums for many years now. I got into photography as a hobby in 2009 as a broke college student and bought some beginner gear. Life happened a few years later and I kind of stopped shooting for the most part. Have kept a T1i and a Tamron 17-50 (non-VC) around as an all-purpose camera mostly for taking pictures at family events and what not. Don't use it much anymore as smartphones are more convenient for that.

Things have changed now that I have a kid though. She is constantly moving and phone cameras are too slow to capture the moment and often end up blurry. My T1i + Tamron is also pretty slow and the T1i pictures don't look great in low light (which I often find myself in). I prefer not to use flash as well.

Given my situation would you have any suggestions for a camera + lens setup that would do the job? I will probably try to buy used gear on this forum as I had good luck with that in the past. My budget is flexible but I'd like to keep it in the 1000-1500 range.

I haven't kept up with gear in the last 8-10 years either. My initial thought was to try and get my hands on a used 7D. Then I realized how old that camera is and that maybe I should ask here. Thanks!

P.S. I'm also clueless on the lens. I want fast and low-light. I've also never owned a prime before, but maybe now is the time, though I feel I may need more than one if I go with primes...

How about a used 1d iv or 1dx?

What price would they go for? My budget includes lens as well and I'd like to stay closer to the 1K end of it.
I was thinking of spending about $600 on the camera. I feel that would get me a used 6d or 7d mark ii. If it were between those two which do you think would be better for my use case?
Better alternatives in that range? Thanks.

The 7DII would be better for movement, over the 6D.

The 50mm f1.8 is only $125 or so

Used 6D, given your stated usage model. What you need is excellent low light (and hence, high ISO) capability for indoors, birthday parties, etc., which favors the 6D over the 7D2. You should be able to pick one up for your stated price easily.

Spend your remaining money on a good prime lens. The 35mm F2 IS would be my recommendation. Fast, has excellent IS, and has very good IQ. Again, should be available on the used market relatively easily. I have one and like it a lot.

Since you're saying you have better luck with a phone camera, I am thinking some of your issues are with technique. These days, phone cameras are really good at being automatic point and shoots. Recent DSLRs offer better resolution and sensor performance....along with more versatility. But if your main complaint is that your iPhone is better than your T1i, then my first reaction is that it's about workflow. It doesn't matter if even you spend lots of money to get the 1DX3: photographers who use the advanced features of new cameras are at one with figuring out what manual features they need to get the best photo. I think that maybe you can try to improve with your current camera to then decide if you need a new camera. You're mentioning blurry photos with your child: first reaction would be to raise shutter speed to not have motion blurr. When it comes to considerations, the suggestion of 7D2 would be good if you're into birding or wildlife (needing longer reach with fast fps and advanced AF). A 6D is the opposite as an intro full frame that's good with portraits, with AF that's pretty lacking.

Buy a flash first. It allows you tomfreeze motion and if you spend just a little time learning how to use it you improve your lighting as well

Used 1div is between 600 and 700 depending on condition. A 1dx over 1000

Heya,

Does it have to be Canon?

I would suggest looking into Mirrorless options too, its matured. Canon has its own mirrorless options, and they're decent. Otherwise, check out Sony & Fuji too. Serious offerings there. You can get used bodies for cheap that are very powerful and robust for your needs.

Getting a shot in low light without flash, where your cellphone is blurring is telling me that you're in very low light and that the cell's camera and ISO is going for a slow shutter speed. So, to deal with that, with a proper camera, you'll want a sensor that performs good with max ISO and still maintain somewhere around 1/100s shutter in low light. Today's sensors at high ISO handle it fine. But you need to freeze action to not have blur, and 10ms (or 1/100s) will be a good speed to capture a kid that isn't legit track-running. While a fast focal-ratio lens makes sense for this, the shallow DOF at close range can make it hard to get what you want in focus. So keep that in mind. There's always a compromise.

Look into the Canon M50 (APS-C) and Canon RP (Full frame, 35mm), and you can look at the available short, fast F2 flavor primes (go wider, something 28~35mm to 50mm maybe).

Look into the Fuji X-T3 and a 35mm F2 WR, or Fuji X100T or F, or similar as well. Also look into a Sony A7S II or A6500 or greater and similar lenses (28~35~50mm ranges)

Very best,

Thanks for all the reply's everyone. Here are some things for me to clarify:

- Lighting in my apartment is pretty poor in general, expecially in the places where we would get together to celebrate a birthday or an event etc.
- Blurring is the issue I get with smartphones in general because of low light (which is understandable I guess).
- With the T1i + Tamron 17-50 my issues are: 1. Hight ISO on T1i is very low quality. Even at 800. 2. The Tamron's auto-focus is very slow in low light and hunts around forever; the kid is blazing fast and I can't capture the moments because Tamron is still hunting.
- I have a 430 EX ii flash which has been pretty good for me, but with a little kid the flash takes their attention away from whatever they are doing and all my pictures end up being of her staring at the camera in utter shock. I want to get better candid photos.


As for the camera:
- Based on the comments above I'm getting the feeling that 7D mk ii has better AF but 6D would have better low light performance. Is this correct?

So far I'm liking the idea of getting a 6D + 35 f/2 IS.

EDIT: No strong reasons to stick to DSLR over mirrorless but I think I'll have better luck in the used market with DSLR, also haven't ever used mirrorless or done research into them to know the pros / cons.

TriggerHappyHaD wrote in post #19034967
Thanks for all the reply's everyone. Here are some things for me to clarify:

- Lighting in my apartment is pretty poor in general, expecially in the places where we would get together to celebrate a birthday or an event etc.
- Blurring is the issue I get with smartphones in general because of low light (which is understandable I guess).
- With the T1i + Tamron 17-50 my issues are: 1. Hight ISO on T1i is very low quality. Even at 800. 2. The Tamron's auto-focus is very slow in low light and hunts around forever; the kid is blazing fast and I can't capture the moments because Tamron is still hunting.
- I have a 430 EX ii flash which has been pretty good for me, but with a little kid the flash takes their attention away from whatever they are doing and all my pictures end up being of her staring at the camera in utter shock. I want to get better candid photos.


As for the camera:
- Based on the comments above I'm getting the feeling that 7D mk ii has better AF but 6D would have better low light performance. Is this correct?

So far I'm liking the idea of getting a 6D + 35 f/2 IS.

EDIT: No strong reasons to stick to DSLR over mirrorless but I think I'll have better luck in the used market with DSLR, also haven't ever used mirrorless or done research into them to know the pros / cons.

Regarding your 430EX II flash, are you pointing the flash's lens directly at your daughter? If so, I would suggest taking advantage of the flash's swivel head and instead pointing the head towards the ceiling. The light should be much less distracting (the little ones in our family don't seem to pay any attention), and your photos will look much better -- bouncing the flash gets rid of that harsh "flash photo" look.

As for the body, if you still want to use your existing Tamron 17-50 lens, then the suggestions for a used 1D series or 6D will not work well, as your Tamron is designed for a body with an APS-C sensor. I would suggest looking at either a 7D2 or the most current xxD model you can afford (90D, 80D, etc.). Such a body, along with proper flash technique and a fast lens, should be more than sufficient for your subject matter.

As for prime lenses, one thing to keep in mind is that you may have difficulty composing your photos properly when your daughter is moving around a lot. A zoom lens is much more flexible for toddlers in this situation. I tend to use a prime lens for our indoor family gatherings, but there are times I can't get all the shots I may want of the little ones (my fastest zoom is only f/4, as I use that type of lens primarily for landscapes).

TriggerHappyHaD wrote in post #19034967
As for the camera:
- Based on the comments above I'm getting the feeling that 7D mk ii has better AF but 6D would have better low light performance. Is this correct?

So far I'm liking the idea of getting a 6D + 35 f/2 IS.

EDIT: No strong reasons to stick to DSLR over mirrorless but I think I'll have better luck in the used market with DSLR, also haven't ever used mirrorless or done research into them to know the pros / cons.

The 6D is a good camera, but keep in mind, it's ability to AF in low light, while superior to the T1i or other cameras from that time frame is still dated and not a magic bullet in really, really low light. This is only the center AF point. It will be sensitive down to -3 EV. That's the key difference between it and other cameras around that time frame (and some of today's models even). A lot of cameras from that time period and similar are only able to get down to -0.5 EV or even just -1.5 EV on some of the better series.

That said, you can get more than that today. Even an older Sony A7S gets AF down to -4 EV and bests the 6D significantly, and the ISO performance of the A7S is significantly better than the 6D. You can get this camera used for a similar price too. Still full frame. This is a better camera for what you're trying to accomplish.

There's no luck to it. You'll get more of what you want output wise, if the tool can do what you need it to do (AF in low light and have cleaner max ISO). A used A7S is what I would go with. Pick any 28, 35 or 50mm F1.4 to F2 prime and you're set, with that full frame sensor.

And it's inexpensive today. Also, KEH link (KEH has warranty on used gear, awesome). You can put a used 35mm F1.8 with stabilization on it. Or there's a 28mm F2 as well that is very affordable. And of course, super inexpensive 50mm F1.8's with stabilization. You could build the whole system for about $1k or just under, and it's better in low light significantly with better high ISO.

And totally get the idea of flash being a distraction, this is true. I find this is also true of loud dSLR shutters, when the kid(s) know you're taking pictures. I love mirrorless with electronic (silent) shutter for this reason. They can't hear me taking images. Another thing to consider.

I highly recommend you spend some time in this thread:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1419800

It's the family photojournalism thread. It's one of my favorites, it's all about capturing candid moments in every day life. There's no single camera type or series that dominates. It's about capturing the moment. But it reminds of what's important and what to look for when making the photograph. It effected me to the point where I went from my 1D series to tiny mirrorless (I have both still) to be able to have more options to have a small, quiet, discreet, non-distracting camera to capture candid moments with our family, the kids, and it totally changes what's important about a camera and your ability to be in the moment and capture it, and not just loud clacking flapping camera shutters and flashes popping off. It's worth a look through.

Very best,

Thanks! You make a very good case for the Sony A7S. I've been reading up on it and I think I might be sold. Low light performance, which has been a huge pain point for me, seems to be pretty amazing with the A7S.
I'm looking up lenses for it and was thinking of trying to get one prime and one zoom lens. Any zoom lenses you'd recommend? I'm thinking I might get the zoom lens first and use it to figure out what focal length I prefer.