Im honestly so sick of the kit lens that came with my Canon Rebel T7. Ive been trying to take some portraits of my dog in the backyard for weeks but the background just never looks soft or professional like the photos I see online. It just looks like a flat mess and im getting really stressed because I have a family reunion in Chicago next month and I promised to take the group shots. I dont have much money left since I just bought the camera, maybe like 150 bucks max. Is there actually a decent portrait lens for that price or am I just stuck with this junk...
Honestly, grab the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM right now. I remember my first shoot with it—the bokeh was night and day compared to that kit lens. Just be careful with your focus since it's super shallow at f/1.8.
- It usually hits around 125 bucks new.
- Check used listings for even better deals.
- Make sure to keep your shutter speed up for moving dogs!
Coming back to this, unfortunately the kit lens aperture is just too slow for decent depth of field. You need something faster.
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the standard, though chromatic aberration can be frustrating.
- Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 is a cheaper alternative, but build quality is not as good as expected. Check out DXOMark for sensor and lens data to see the performance metrics yourself. Honestly, physics is against you here.
The issue youre facing really comes down to the physics of your lens aperture and focal length. Back when I started out, I was super frustrated that my shots looked flat too. I spent weeks messing with my current setup, trying to understand how increasing the distance between my subject and the background could force a softer look. Even if you stay within a budget, you might find that manually adjusting your aperture to the lowest f-stop available helps significantly. I eventually learned that getting a prime lens with a wider maximum aperture changes the light gathering capability and depth of field entirely. Experimenting with different focal lengths taught me way more about composition than just buying gear ever did. Dont stress too much about the hardware right now, just focus on nailing your placement and the lighting conditions first.