Cameras

Review: Canon Rebel T7i

Chris Gampat
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09/04/2017
4 Mins read
camera deals

Last Updated on 02/03/2020 by Brett Day

If you’re a person who has been looking to just get into photography, there’s a strong chance you’ve considered the Canon Rebel T7i. The Canon Rebel lineup of cameras often sell well due to Canon’s name, their bundles, and aggressive marketing/pricing. They’ve always been considered very entry level and they really still are. But one thing that I’ve always been fascinated by is the fact that their image quality is pretty good when you’re looking at other cameras, comparatively speaking. The Canon Rebel T7i is surely better than your smartphone and has much more capabilities in some ways.

But at the same time, there are arguably better options available from the likes of Sony and Fujifilm.

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Lightweight
  • A fair amount of creative options
  • Not bad autofocus
  • Not bad image quality at high ISOs
  • Good colors
  • Touchscreen
  • Fantastic battery life
  • Tilt-swivel screen

 

Cons

 

  • No way to edit the RAW files within the camera in the same way that you can with the higher end cameras.
  • Canon’s sensors are starting to fall behind.
  • Not a whole lot of dynamic range

 

Gear Used

We tested the Canon Rebel T7i with the 18-55mm kit lens.

Canon Rebel T7i Tech Specs

 

  • 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 3.0″ 1.04m-Dot Vari-Angle Touchscreen
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • 45-Point All Cross-Type Phase-Detect AF
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • Up to 6 fps Shooting and ISO 51200
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC, Bluetooth
  • HDR Movie and Time-Lapse Movie
  • Movie Electronic IS, Feature Assistant

 

Ergonomics

The Canon Rebel T7i is a small APS-C DSLR camera that is only one of the many entry level options Canon offers. So when you look at it without the lens off, you’ll spot that uber vulnerable area: the mirror and sensor. Otherwise there aren’t a whole lot of buttons.

PS: Don’t expose the sensor like this for prolonged periods of time.

Come to the top of the Canon Rebel T7i and what you’ll find are these dials and buttons. To change the focusing point you’ll use the button right by the ISO button. The On/off/video switch has a new option too–one that I literally just mentioned within this sentence.

Move to the back of the camera and what you’ll find is this giant tilt-swivel LCD screen that is also touch capable. Then there are buttons such as WiFi access, playback, drive, white balance, etc.

Here’s the Canon Rebel T7i’s tilt-swivel screen in action.

Build Quality

The Canon Rebel T7i is the company’s entry level option; well, one of them. As such, it feels entry level. It isn’t that solid but it isn’t bad either. And no, it doesn’t have weather sealing.

Ease of Use

Beyond the dials for controlling parameters like the ISO and shutter speed you’ll need to remember the Av button to change the aperture of the lens. But otherwise, Canon’s best feature continues to be its menu system, which dominates a lot of the rest.

Autofocus

The autofocus on the Canon Rebel T7i is fairly decent. Part of this has to do with the very good STM lenses offered. They’re good and in most situations will please most people. But when it comes to tracking kids running around or something of the sort, I wouldn’t totally rely on it. The 77D may be a better option then.

Image Quality

The Canon Rebel T7i has overall good image quality. The colors are nice and so is the high ISO output. But what you get is a lack of dynamic range. Canon’s sensors, with the exception of the Canon 5DS, haven’t always had the best dynamic range for a few years now.

JPEG Output

Lots of folks are bound to shoot the Canon Rebel T7i and only use JPEG mode. And for the most part the JPEGs are very nice. I never had an issue just throwing them up on Instagram, providing that I nailed the shot to begin with. But I mostly nail the shot.

High ISO Output

At ISO 4,000 the Canon Rebel T7i isn’t too shabby. It’s good for a screen but I wouldn’t print this photo very large. In fact, I printed it using the Canon Prograf 1000 at 13×18 and wasn’t that impressed with the print.

RAW File Versatility

What’s been annoying me about Canon’s sensors is the fact that they really don’t retain a whole lot of highlight detail. You’re best off underexposing and pushing the files in post.

Extra Image Samples

Conclusions

 

Likes

 

  • Nice colors

 

Dislikes

 

  • Canon has too many Rebels and APS-C DSLRs

I’m pretty torn on the Canon Rebel T7i. Is it a bad camera? Absolutely not. Could Canon have done much better? Yes. This APS-C sensor has 24MP and isn’t quite up to what Fujifilm and Sony put out. But for some odd reason, Canon just chooses to not try a whole lot harder out of fear of cannibalizing their own products.

Would I buy the Canon Rebel T7i? Probably not because I much prefer the color output that Fujifilm gives off in the APS-C world. But if I were just getting into photography, I’d strongly consider this camera or something from Sony. A buddy of mine just got a Sony camera with two lenses for pretty much the same price as Canon’s Rebel T7i. That Sony camera has the potential to outlast a Rebel because it’s at a higher tier of camera.

Again, I’m torn here; but the Canon Rebel T7i isn’t a bad camera, it’s just not particularly exciting.

The Canon Rebel T7i receives four out of five stars. Check out the latest prices over at Amazon.

autofocus bundle Cameras canon Canon Rebel T7i color dynamic range fujifilm high iso image quality review sony
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.