[VietChink]

A clear picture doesn't have anything to do with ISO and flash.. except in the case of grain from high iso. The best tip is to get better lighting. I wouldn't take pictures in a dark room and be forced to bump iso all the way up, unless it's an amazing photo opportunity. Turn on a light? Move some drapes? Something to allow more light into the room, and light for your subject.

If your subject is not completely in focus, use a higher f number. This will allow a deeper depth of field, allowing more of the subject in focus. If this doesn't solve your problem, you may need to look into how to use your autofocus more effectively. Also, if you're in a badly lit environment, you will inevitably bump up iso and also use a slower shutter speed. This also makes your pictures not clear because your hand will shake while taking the picture.

The built in flash is good to use outdoors as a fill flash, but for indoors as the main source of lighting, it's a bad idea, except in certain situations.

Your main issue is light. Just find more light?

[Ugly/Beautiful Me]

Gizmodo: Canon 7D DSLR First Hands On


hmmm

[DarkWaltz]

Oh, and can you guys tell me how I can possibly get a clear picture without having to higher the ISO/use flash?! All my pictures are either grainy or flash-y, thus creating ugly pictures. If not, they're not completely in focus-- unless I had perfect lighting. Help?

The easiest way to get sharp pictures is to get a lot of lighting. For example, the times when I get my sharpest pictures are usually outdoors with a lot of sun (around 2-3 PM) Having a lot of sun will allow your camera to use a faster shutter speed (less motion blurriness), and a bigger aperture (putting everything in focus). If you wanna shoot indoors, you'll need an external flash then set your mode on Manual with the above settings and experiment. The ISO just helps boost the sensor sensitivity/luminosity when you want to use settings requiring more light. I remember I was astonished when I got the sharpest picture I've ever taken with my cheap 50mm f1.8. I think the shutter speed used was about 1/1850sec and an aperture of f8.0 or so, but the sun was hitting super hard though. Hope that helps.

Gizmodo: Canon 7D DSLR First Hands On

hmmm

Wow, are you serious? Crop sensor? Nooooo way! D: I was expecting it to be a cheaper FF. Oh well. Upgrading everything else but staying at crop frame, that is just lol.

[[HyuNi]]

Yeah... just read the official specs of the 7D.
Why not full frame?! I was ready to buy if it were...

I like what the 7D has to offer, I really do! Like a larger pentaprism, wireless flash trigger, ISO expansion (and hopefully better noise reduction), and even without holding it, I feel like it will be better in the hands and really like the location of the on/off switch.

But WHY?!?!?! I would rather have a FF camera without video than to have another cropped camera. *sigh*
sadness... If you think about it, there isn't a current camera body that fills the gap between the 50D and the 5DmkII. Most people move to the 5D which was introduced YEARS ago. The pricing gap is enormous and the extra features on the 5DmkII (at least on paper) hasn't given me the motivation to upgrade.

I was really hoping the 7D would be like the 5DmkII, but without video and a few other bells and whistles.
What I'm looking for:
Full Frame (35mm sensor)
auto sensor dust remover
micro adjust
better noise control
affordability (something around +/-$1,500)

I don't need 8fps, weathersealing, better build, video, etc...
I think the main driver of Canon continuing with the 1.6 crop is because they refuse to give up on the EF-S lens lineup.
No doubt they are great because they're the balance between quality and affordability, but it shouldn't restrict them from offering a camera that will close the gap between cropped and FF bodies

--

anyways, here's my first attempt at light painting.
It was fun! Definately got my creative juices flowing


My parents are too cute They kept referring themselves as 'models' haha I guess they are ^^
This shot was a bit tricky... haha Had to keep running around to get this kind of photo.
I used my 1DmkII, 16-35L, 580EXII (off the hotshoe, but without wireless trigger), and a LED mini flashlight.


That's me conducting. heh

[kevykevvv]

^ Oh wow I love that picture of your parents, it looks like it would be the last picture in a scrapbook of a romantic tv show. and that picture of you makes you look so... mystical?

[dot1q]

^ Just as expected, the 7D would not be FF. It just wouldn't make sense in relation to the remainder of their line up today. If it was FF, why would anyone buy the 5dii? Some might even substitute it for 1 series. Basically you would get everything in the 5Dii plus more (from 1d and new functions) for 1k less? If it was FF, it would be a product in between the 5Dii and 1Ds not between the 50/60D and 5Dii. Let's just say that a relatively inexpensive FF with minimal features/functions to lower costs (which in itself doesn't make sense) is produced. It would eat right in to their primary market for people who buy FF cameras. People who buy FF cameras are not getting them for the movie features so that's a mute point. They would have bought the 5Dii with or without HD movie capability. In addition, the features and functions which you most likely can live without on the 5Dii would also likely be a shared sentiment among a lot of other people as well (as long as they can get the FF for a considerably cheaper cost). FF is the primary driver for 5Dii upgrades and to make it available for a smaller cost, many would jump on it over the 5Dii without a second thought. Canon made a camera in between the 60D and 5Dii, its just not FF but a very worthy upgrade in itself. The big eye catcher? It seems like the superior AF system. FF + AF edge = 1 series. You can't ask for both so Canon seems like they sacrificed one for the other to give you a complimentary model to fit the needs of pro/enthusiasts who don't need FF. FF will become more affordable one day, but I think it's still a ways off. I was actually surprised that the 5Dii was priced the way it was when it first came out (expected higher). I'm personally actually glad it's APS-C. The crop factor and high burst is awesome for nature/animal and high action/sports photography which I am very in to PLUS you get all the bells and whistles of accompanying functions/features. This is like a perfect compliment to the 5Dii without having to go to the 1D for crop. This is sort of like what the 1D is to the 1Ds. I was going to upgrade my 40D to a 60D anyway, but this is sooooo much better of a camera. Go Canon.

As usual, the movie mode is useless. Why do they insist on constantly hyping up this feature? I'd rather take 1 extra AF point than the whole entire movie function..haha.

[[HyuNi]]

haha I was waiting for you to respond to my comment.
I was going to bet my camera equipment that you were going to upgrade your 40D body to the 7D haha
I guess that's the difference between someone who already has a FF body and someone who doesn't.
I'm just belly-aching

It does make sense though. If the 7D were to be a FF body, not a lot of people would opt for the 5DmkII (btw, which is still oddly in short supply). But I still think it's a bit odd that the 7D is closer to the 5DmkII price point, than the 50D.

I think I'll be upgrading my body whenever my shutter fails, which might be years from now Go 1D series!
But if I do, I think the next logical step for me would be the 5DmkII. But by then there may already be a 5DmkIII or other FF camera that Canon may release.
5DmkII is yummy, but it has so much extras that I won't be using and the price is still out of my league.
But a guy can still dream, can't he? haha

[erure]

haha I was waiting for you to respond to my comment.
I guess that's the difference between someone who already has a FF body and someone who doesn't.

It does make sense though. If the 7D were to be a FF body, not a lot of people would opt for the 5DmkII (btw, which is still oddly in short supply). But I still think it's a bit odd that the 7D is closer to the 5DmkII price point, than the 50D.

I think I'll be upgrading my body whenever my shutter fails, which might be years from now Go 1D series!
But if I do, I think the next logical step for me would be the 5DmkII. But by then there may already be a 5DmkIII or other FF camera that Canon may release.
5DmkII is yummy, but it has so much extras that I won't be using and the price is still out of my league.
But a guy can still dream, can't he? haha

lol the 1D series last forever. Even if your shutter fails, it costs like $300 to get it replaced x) My photography mentor uses 1Ds Mark II and two 5D Mark II's and I think he's probably going to use his cameras until the end of time.

[dot1q]

haha I was waiting for you to respond to my comment.
I was going to bet my camera equipment that you were going to upgrade your 40D body to the 7D haha
I guess that's the difference between someone who already has a FF body and someone who doesn't.
I'm just belly-aching

It does make sense though. If the 7D were to be a FF body, not a lot of people would opt for the 5DmkII (btw, which is still oddly in short supply). But I still think it's a bit odd that the 7D is closer to the 5DmkII price point, than the 50D.

I think I'll be upgrading my body whenever my shutter fails, which might be years from now Go 1D series!
But if I do, I think the next logical step for me would be the 5DmkII. But by then there may already be a 5DmkIII or other FF camera that Canon may release.
5DmkII is yummy, but it has so much extras that I won't be using and the price is still out of my league.
But a guy can still dream, can't he? haha

Actually, I think your point about already owning a FF is dead on. I can see where you're coming from. I guess its perspective. Is the 7D closer to the 5Dii? I would imagine the new 60D would be $1299 for body only (even the 50D looks like its $1149). The 7D is $1699 for body only and 5Dii is $2699 for body only. Damn that's a hefty price difference just for FF where the 7D seems better at literally everything else and much more (the AF enhancements are drool but I guess we'll have to see how the new AF options hold out in real life).

At the rate Canon is churning out cameras, I doubt the 5Dii will see the 3 year life span the 5D did (actually I'm pretty sure it wont and I'll be happy even if it did for 2 years). The 5D was just a mega wonder of a camera which allowed it to hold it's own for so long. I mean, it hasn't even been a year yet since the release of the 5Dii and other than the fact that it's FF, even the Rebel series are getting a big chunk of the feature sets of the 5Dii and now this 7D just totally trumps it as well. In the future, it definitely does not look like I will be upgrading both my primary and backup at the same time. I'll likely stick with one new gen FF, keep one older gen FF, and alternate on the crop (skip a gen). I'll say one thing for a fact though, unless I make photography in to a living, I'll never buy a 1 series.

On a non related note, I just found out my company has a program to compensate up to 75% of tuition for any courses offered at an accredited college (credit earning or not). It has a limit of $3k per year, but photography workshops and classes don't cost that much to start with (usually under 1k). If I didn't have such a tight schedule, this would be a no brainer but I'm definitely trying to see what I can work out time wise to take advantage of this. Definitely interested in composition and portraiture classes. Not to mention Photoshop/Lightroom classes as well.

[[HyuNi]]

Ah, I think I was fed some inaccurate information
I read that it would be $2,400 for body only. Maybe that's the price of the camera with the new EF-S 15-85IS they announced. Now it makes a bit more sense!
*sigh* Looks like I won't be going FF for a while.
That's ok though... Once I understand exposure better, I want to get a Mamiya medium format film camera. One of my buddies has it and the photos are out of this world! I have to get better though, because I don't want to be burning money on wasted film and developing costs~ haha

That's awesome of you company to do that. In what line of work are you in currently? I work for Caterpillar, the heavy machinery company as an accountant and they pay for 100% of the classes, but only if it's related to your work... So I don't think photography classes would be covered. Boo~ haha I actually was thinking about taking a photoshop or post production class, too. I honestly have no clue about photoshop and barely use lightroom other than the quick adjust buttons. I'd say go for it! I wish I could

[dot1q]

^ I work in IT. We have option for 100% work related as well up to 7k but I don't see the point in it because we have separate budgets for professional technical training and education. Possibly, if I wanted to take a real college course for credit? Endure myself for a full semester with mid terms, homework, etc? NO THANKS~!.. haha. Been there and done that and don't need to go back again. But yeah, its cool how they give you the 75% option for anything.

I know a fair amount of PS for web work, but when it comes to photos, I only have marginal experience and just like you, I use Lightroom just for organizing my photos and basic functions. Would definitely be a great class.

[VietChink]

Hey guys, the school year's starting, and I want to make sure I have the lenses to take the pictures I need over the course of my senior year, 2010, baby!

I have a 50mm f/1.8 for my portraiture and the standard kit 18-55 lens. Could you guys suggest me another type of lens to take pictures of sporting events (indoor and outdoor), spirit activities, etc? The gym at my school has horrendous lighting, because the lights are on the ceiling and it's a really tall building, so the lighting doesn't even reach the subjects on the ground level when taking photos. I'm hoping for a <$200 lens. Thank you for your help! (:

Also, how does one take pictures like this?

[erure]

Hey guys, the school year's starting, and I want to make sure I have the lenses to take the pictures I need over the course of my senior year, 2010, baby!

I have a 50mm f/1.8 for my portraiture and the standard kit 18-55 lens. Could you guys suggest me another type of lens to take pictures of sporting events (indoor and outdoor), spirit activities, etc? The gym at my school has horrendous lighting, because the lights are on the ceiling and it's a really tall building, so the lighting doesn't even reach the subjects on the ground level when taking photos. I'm hoping for a <$200 lens. Thank you for your help! (:

Also, how does one take pictures like this?
http://i27.tinypic.com/vffr6x.png

Google panning shot.

[VietChink]

Googled. One further question, though, do I just turn the camera or do I have to physically move it (parallel to movement of subject) to follow the subject?

[Baatar]

Hey guys, I'm gonna be leaving on a trip to Hawaii next week for 7 days, and I was thinking of bringing my D80 with me. The thing is I don't know what kind of lenses I should bring. I only have a 28 f/3.5, 50 f/1.4, 135 f/3.5, and 70-200 f/4 (all lenses manual). I know its gonna be a pain not having a walkabout zoom lens. So any suggestions on what i should do? I'm also open to the idea of not bringing the dslr and just going with a P&S.

[boka]

I was wondering... do the smaller 4/3rds lenses expose similarly to their FF equivalent counterparts? i.e. if I had a 50mm f/1.8 on a FF DSLR and an equivalently spec'ed lens on a 4/3rds system, camera performance aside they should expose comparably at the same settings right? Just thinking the smaller lens would produce similar exposure due to the smaller sensor that it's working with.

I just saw the new lumix and am "kinda getting interested" but the 4/3rds thing is just new to me.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10322978-1.html
It looks good and I'd love to have something smaller that's not ridiculous to take with me for everyday outings.

I had a look around and see 2nd hand Zuiko OM-system 50mm f1.8 lenses for $50-$60... can I just use one of these cheap old lenses with the adapter? It could look a bit weird and I suppose AF wouldn't work but that's not so bad.

[[HyuNi]]

Googled. One further question, though, do I just turn the camera or do I have to physically move it (parallel to movement of subject) to follow the subject?

You have to physically move it with the subject you want to capture.
What you essentially want to do is to move your camera WITH the subject so that while the sensor is capturing the photo, the subject you want clear is in the same position the whole time.
It takes a lot of time and practice and will prove to be amazingly frustrating. haha

I've done a few panning shots, but none of them came out exceptionally well.

Hey guys, I'm gonna be leaving on a trip to Hawaii next week for 7 days, and I was thinking of bringing my D80 with me. The thing is I don't know what kind of lenses I should bring. I only have a 28 f/3.5, 50 f/1.4, 135 f/3.5, and 70-200 f/4 (all lenses manual). I know its gonna be a pain not having a walkabout zoom lens. So any suggestions on what i should do? I'm also open to the idea of not bringing the dslr and just going with a P&S.

If I were you, I would bring my widest lens (in this case the 28mm) for landscape shots and bring the 70-200 for when you want to capture things off in the distance or when you want to do some portraits.
Let me warn you... If you want to enjoy your time in Hawaii, I suggest you just bring your P&S camera. When I went to Japan, I spent so much time thinking about what to shoot and how, that I totally missed the point of actually enjoying my vacation -__- I'm not even kidding! Towards the end, I just put my camera down and had a lot more fun
If you want awesome photos on your Hawaii trip, bring yor DSLR, but if you want to have fun and not have to worry about lugging your camera around everywhere, having it stolen or damaged, or just plain being the camera nazi, then take the P&S and enjoy your vacation!

I was wondering... do the smaller 4/3rds lenses expose similarly to their FF equivalent counterparts? i.e. if I had a 50mm f/1.8 on a FF DSLR and an equivalently spec'ed lens on a 4/3rds system, camera performance aside they should expose comparably at the same settings right? Just thinking the smaller lens would produce similar exposure due to the smaller sensor that it's working with.

That's an interesting question... I'm not really sure. If the light hitting the sensor is the same intensity, it shouldn't matter how large the sensor is, because the given size of the sensor will be receiving the same amount of light, just in a smaller area.
Say for example a crop 1.6x camera like the 50D vs a medium format camera (3x4) like Mamiya. If both were set to 1/125" on f/4, and shot the same subject in the same light, I would assume that both would expose correctly.

[bubydub]

LOL you guys totally beat me to the 7D stuff bahahahaa~ sigh, I want it pretty badly now... Anywho! Since I'm selling my canon xsi+kit to get the 7D, I'll be stuck with only the 1.8 50mm. Should I spend 200 more and get the 7D kit or spend the 200 elsewhere on another lens? The kit lens in question is 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, and the range looks really appealing to me, especially after just shooting with the 50 prime and 18-55. What do you guys think? Sorry for asking again and again as;flaskfd

and lalala photos


sisterrrr



LOL probably doesn't belong here but window lighting diffused in sheer white curtains makes pretty lighting hahaha

[erure]

Hey guys, I'm gonna be leaving on a trip to Hawaii next week for 7 days, and I was thinking of bringing my D80 with me. The thing is I don't know what kind of lenses I should bring. I only have a 28 f/3.5, 50 f/1.4, 135 f/3.5, and 70-200 f/4 (all lenses manual). I know its gonna be a pain not having a walkabout zoom lens. So any suggestions on what i should do? I'm also open to the idea of not bringing the dslr and just going with a P&S.

I think for trips, it's good to just bring one lens and not carry too much (and worry about what lens to use when). I'd either take the 28 f/3.5 or 50 f/1.4. Actually, I'd probably take the 28 for the wide angle x)

[[HyuNi]]

babydub, although the 7D is awesome with all of it's features, if you only had the 50mm to use, I don't think it would be worth it. You know how they say glass before body? I think this is the case for you. I would rather invest in getting better glass or expanding your collection before you upgrade your body.
It makes sense. What would you be able to do on the 7D that you wouldn't be able to do on the XSi? I guess trigger strobes wirelessly is cool, but if you don't even have a flash, then there's no point. I think it's more wise to invest in more glass (maybe trade your 18-55IS with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8) or save a bit more for a telephoto lens like the 75-300 or 70-200 F4L. You'll have a LOT more flexibility to take different kinds of photos with a different perspective.

Buying the 7D and only using the 50mm will make you feel VERY limited, most likely.