August 26th, 2008 , 4 Comments »
This morning, the new Canon EOS 50D was announced. I won’t cover all the details of the new camera in this post. If you are interested in those, check this article by Rob Galbraith about the EOS 50D.
In this post, I want to write about some of the new features and what I think of them.
15 Megapixels: Probably the feature many people are most excited about is the new sensor with 15 megapixels. Compared to the EOS 40D, this is an increase of about 50% which is pretty huge. The 15 MP give you are lot more flexibility when cropping.
When I first read about the 15 MP I was worried that this can only mean an increase in noise due to the much higher pixel density compared the the EOS 40D. But according to Canon, the 50D should actually be better than the EOS 40 at high ISO settings (between 1 and 1.5 stops).
There are no detailed reviews of the camera yet, but if this is true, then Canon has really made a huge step forward.
The new sensor will demand even better quality lenses due to the high pixel density.
ISO 12.800: The 50D supports ISO up to 3.200 in 1/3 step increments and also ISO 6.400 and 12.800. If the last two numbers are of any real value remains to be seen until the first tests are available. But I don’t think Canon would have included those options if the image quality was just awful.
AF up to f5.6: No change here compared to the EOS 40D. I was hoping that the EOS 50D would allow AF up to f8, at least with the central sensor. That would allow sport and nature photographers who own lenses like a 4/500 or 4/600 to use Canon’s 2x extender and still have AF. So far it seems that Canon will keep this feature to the EOS 1D cameras only.
Compact Flash Cards: Some people feared that Canon would abandon CF cards with the 50D and only support SD cards. But they stick to CF cards which is good for all people who already have spent a lot of money an CF cards.
New LCD with 920.000 pixels: This is a welcome increase and should allow better evaluation of the images after shooting. But this is, of course, no substitute for checking your files later on the computer.
Creative Auto:. Couldn’t car less. I only shoot in AV and M mode and image quality set to RAW. But this may be interesting to other people who like to give more control to the camera but still be able to change settings.
Direct Print Button: This is probably the most useless button on any EOS camera. It would be great if Canon would allow a CF-Function to change it to support Mirror Lock-Up. But after all I’ve read, this can still only be accessed via the Menu settings. I wonder why Canon does not fix this, even after many, many photographers have complained about this for many years.
EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6: This new zoom lens looks very interesting and the large zoom range will be of interest to many photographers. I think it’s sad that it’s an EF-S lens, which means it won’t work on the EOS 5D, EOS 1D Mark III and EOS 1Ds Mark III. Another thing that I don’t like about this lens is the fact that it does not have an USM motor for fast AF. Maybe it’s fast enough without it but Canon integrates USM in almost all it’s lenses (including the cheap ones). So I don’t understand why this new lens doesn’t have USM.
Conclusion:
I think the new Canon EOS 50D looks like a great camera. If the Camera is as good as Canon says, then I think it’s definitely worth upgrading if you still own a EOS 10D, 20D or 30D.
If you own a EOS 40D (like I do), it’s still a significant leap but I am not sure if an upgrade is always worth it. Right now, I have no plans to upgrade. I will definitely wait how the EOS 50D performs in the first tests and what else Canon will offer either for Photokina in September or after that event.
My EOS 40D is great and that doesn’t change a tiny little bit just because the 50D is out. If you are not sure if you should upgrade, maybe it’s wiser to spend the money on a good lens, some good photography books or a photography trip.
If I buy the 50D I won’t sell my 40D but will keep it as a backup and 2nd camera for those situations when I need two simultaneously.
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
A DSLR has many advantages over a Point & Shoot camera and if you are serious about photography as a hobby (or even as a profession) than you need a DSLR. Here are some of the main advantages:
1. Interchangeable lenses
For most people this is the main advantage of a DSLR. With a Point & Shoot camera, you are stuck with the lens that is built into the camera. But with a DSLR you can change the lens and use the best for your current situation (of course only if you own such a lens, have rented one or a friend let you use his).
All DSLR manufactures offer a wide variety of lenses including wide-angle, macro or telephoto lenses. Canon and Nikon are the largest companies and offer the widest range of lenses. For example, Canon offers more than 60 lenses which range from ultra-wide angle zooms like the EF-S 10-22 to large super telephoto lenses like the EF 5.6/800L IS.
Beside the lenses from Canon itself, you can also use third party lenses from Sigma, Tamron or Tokina which are all available for Canon DSLRs (and of course also for Nikon and often also for the DSLRs of other manufactures).
Beside the flexibility to change lenses, the lenses for DSLRs are also of better quality than the lenses in most Point & Shoot cameras. Hight quality lenses like the Nikon 2.8/14-24 or the Canon 2.8/300 are way ahead of the lenses you will find in non DSLR cameras.
2. Better sensors
DSLRs have larger sensors than almost all Point & Shoot cameras. That is also true for sensors with a crop factor. The sensors in those cameras are still much larger than in non DSLR cameras.
Larger sensors mean better image quality and less noise. That’s why full frame cameras like the Nikon D3 or the Canon EOS 5D deliver amazing results at high ISO settings like ISO 1.600 or even higher. Those values are either not available on Point & Shoot cameras or if they are, they are not usable.
3. Full control
Although some Point & Shoot allow you to set many parameters including exposure compensation, they normally don’t offer all the features of a DSLRs, definitely not the possibilities of a pro DSLR like the Canon EOS 1D Mark III.
All DSLRs allow you to set the exposure in manual mode which is often necessary despite all the claims of the camera manufactures about how good their metering systems are. Beside manual exposure, DSLRs also let you configure other things like White-Balance or which AF mode you want to use.
Only with a DSLR do you have full creative control!
4. You keep the control over depth-of-field
Due to the very small sensors (and therefore large crop factors) of most Point & Shoot, they use lenses with a very small focal length, often below 10mm. This results in a very large depth-of-field which is often not what you want.
When shooting portraits, for example, you often want a calm background. Where you would use something like 15mm with a Point & Shoot camera, you would use something between 50mm and 150mm with a DSLR. The longer focal length makes it much easier to get a calm out-of-focus background because of the smaller depth-of-field and angle of view.
Portrait photography with Point & Shoot cameras is not fun at all as you just can’t get small depth-of-field.
The small depth-of-field is why many portrait photographers prefer full frame DSLRs over those with a crop factor.
5. DSLRs are faster
With a Point & Shoot camera, you often wait quite some times (sometimes several seconds) until the camera finally makes the image after you have pressed the shutter button. A DSLR works much faster and has only a very short shutter lag. That means, when you press the shutter button, the camera takes the image (almost) immediately.
Beside this, DSLRs normally allow you to shoot much more frames per seconds than a Point & Shoot camera. This is due to the more powerful processors and software in DSLRs. Professional DSLRs allow you to take up to 8 and more frames per second.
Even midrange cameras like the EOS 40D can shoot more than 5 frames per second.
To be honest, a DSLR also has some disadvantages like the normally higher price, dust on the sensor (although this has gotten much better with the recent cameras with self-cleaning sensors) or just being larger and heavier. A small Point & Shoot camera will easily fit into the pocket of your jacket.
But for me, the advantages of DSLRs are much more important than the disadvantages just mentioned.
If you are serious about photography and want full creative control, you need a DSLR!
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
The guys over at dpreview have just published their long awaited and very detailed review of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III.
If you want to spend around 8.000 dollars for a new camera or if you just want 21 MP, then read the review of the 1Ds Mark III to see if it is worth spending so much money.
For myself, I would love to have one but the price is just too high and for most of my work, the 10 MP of the EOS 40D are more than enough.
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
Moose Peterson, one of the world’s most famous wildlife photographers, has been using the D700 for a week and shot over 10,000 images with it.
He has written about his experiecne in a new blog post called A week of D700 shooting.
It’s a very interesting read, especially if you think of adding a D700 as a backup to your D3 or if you are currently trying to choose between a D3 and D700.
August 17th, 2008 , No Comments »
Photoshop Guru Scott Kelby has published his review of the Nikon D700. Scott seems to really like the camera (which is no surprise as I think the D700 is a fantastic camera).
Scott mentions that in order to get the best out of the D700, you may need to get some new (and expensive) glass like Nikon’s new 2.8/14-24 and 2.8/24-70 which are both superb but definitely not cheap. But hey, if you spend many Euros or Dollars for a great camera, it wouldn’t make much sens to put a mediocre lens on it. I would prefer the new Nikon 2.8/24-70 over Nikon’s 24-120 that can be bought together with the D700 as a bundle.
Read Scott’s Review here.
It will be really interesting to see what Canon’s answer to the D700 will be at the upcoming Photokina.
August 13th, 2008 , No Comments »
After reading this post’s headline, you may think that reading the camera’s manual is the most natural thing to do when you get a new camera. Many people probably do that. But many don’t.
About two month ago, I met a photographer who was trying to shoot birds in flight with his Canon EOS 40D and a 100-400mm lens from Canon. After talking with him for a while, I found out that the guy was shooting only in “One-Shot” AF mode which means the EOS 40D will focus and then keep the focus. It will not track the bird and keep adjusting the sharpness. This is what “Al Servo” is for with Canon cameras. The guy didn’t know that such a feature even existed. No wonder he was frustrated that most of his bird shots were not sharp.
He admitted that he only skimmed some pages of the manual when he got his camera several month ago.
This is just one example of people missing features of their equipment. I’ve seen this over and over again. Sure, many cameras have features you will never use. But at least you should know they exist.
So read your camera’s manual. You can also read it again after several month in case you want to see if you are still up to date. Also read all the manuals that come with your lenses, flashes and other equipment.
For some cameras, there are even books that often explain the features of the camera in more detail than the manual. Check your bookstore or the internet if there are books suitable for your camera model. Be careful to get a book that provides real value over the manual and not a book that just copies the manual.
Happy shooting!
August 12th, 2008 , No Comments »
There has been a lot of rumor lately about the upcoming Nikon D90. It is supposed to offer video capability, 12 MP, 4.5 frames per second and many more interesting features.
For a detailed list about the D90, check out the following website by digital photography expert and author David Busch, who has written many popular books about Nikon and Canon cameras and digital SLR photography:
Why the Nikon D90 is great by David Busch
I think Nikon will have another winner here. All that’s missing now is a confirmed report of another full frame camera with a larger resolution than the D700 and D3. Many expect a 24 MP camera to be announced at Photokina in September or some weeks before.
Exciting times!
August 12th, 2008 , No Comments »
I found some more interesting articles and reviews about the Nikon D700:
Moose Peterson on D700 vs. D3
David Busch on why the D700 is a great camera
ephotozine on the D700
Ken Rockwell’s D700 site
Tech Radar review of the D700
I use Canon and see no reason to switch, but if all my equipment were stolen right now, I would go for Nikon and buy a D700 and a D300 as a 2nd body.
Buy the Nikon D700 from amazon:
August 11th, 2008 , No Comments »
In this post, I want to give you some tips on how to choose the right camera for bird photography. If you are new to bird photography, it may seem hard to pick the right camera, as today there are more digital SLR cameras then ever.
You can got bird photographs with every current DSLR but it worth paying attention to certain features that may give you an advantage in some situations. For example, a camera that can shoot 8 frames per seconds (fps) has a higher change of getting a winner in an action scene than a camera that can only shoot 3 fps.
The following tips will help you to pick the right camera for you.
Which brand?
That’s an easy question. Canon or Nikon. Period. Although the cameras of other manufacturers are not bad, Canon and Nikon offer the best cameras and are the only ones who currently offer professional bodies (at the time of this writing Nikon has the D3, D700 and D300 and Canon the 1D Mark III and 1Ds Mark III). In addition Nikon and Canon have the greatest selection of lenses and other useful utilities like extenders.
Canon and Nikon are currently the only companies that offer a 4/500 with image stabilization. Sigma has a 4.5/500, but without stabilization and a much slower AF than the Canon and Nikon lenses. And the Sigma is also available for Nikon and Canon, if you want to use them. The 4/500 is one of the best choices for the serious bird photographer and I use a 4/500 myself for over 90% for my bird pictures. For more information about lenses, read my post Choosing a lens for bird photography.
If you are serious about bird photography and want the best equipment currently available, choose either Nikon or Canon.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow, EOS 40D, EF 4/500L IS + 1.4x
How many megapixels?
10 or 12 megapixels (MP) is the current standard of most consumer cameras and some professional models. Canon’s 1Ds Mark III even offers about 21 MP. It’s expected that Nikon will soon introduce another top model with around 24 MP, maybe at Photokina in September 2008.
I think for most cases 10 or 12 MP are enough. If you are also doing a lot of landscape photography, you might want to get a camera with more than 12MP to make large prints.
Crop factor or full frame?
Let’s use an example to demonstrate the point why I like a camera with a crop factor. Nikon’s D300 and D3 both have about 12 MP of resolution. The 1.5 crop factor of the D300 will give you the bird with the same size in the image as if the picture were taken with the D3 and a 750 mm (500 x 1.5) lens. That means, when you photograph a bird with a 4/500 with both the D300 and the D3 from the same distance, you will get much more pixels per bird with the D300 than with the D3. That will allow you to make bigger prints.
But keep in mind, that the full frame sensor of the D3 (and D700) has better image quality. You probably won’t notice this at all up to ISO 400 but above ISO 800, the D3 is the clear winner. That said, the D300 performs very well at high ISO values.
What else is important?
The camera should have a fast and accurate autofocus (AF). Canon and Nikon currently have both very good AF systems. As a rule, the more expensive camera often has the better AF. That’s because those cameras have more processing power and a more sophisticated AF system. A Nikon D3 will perform much better than a Nikon D60.
The camera should be able to shoot at least 5 frames per second (fps). That’s important when you are shooting action scenes like fighting birds or birds in flight. A camera with 8 fps will give you a much higher chance to get a good shot than a camera that can only shoot 3 fps.
The camera should have weather sealing, if you will be using it in difficult weather situations like heavy rain, or dusty areas like a dessert or at the ocean shore.
The camera should also deliver good image quality up to ISO 800, which is the case with most current Nikon and Canon cameras.
What do I recommend?
I currently use a Canon EOS 40D and am very happy with that camera.
If you use Canon, the EOS 40D is a great choice at a very attractive price. If you have more money to spend, think about the EOS 1D Mark III. Unfortunately, that camera has had bad press because of serious autofocus problems. I won’t go into details here as this is beyond the scope of this article. Check out this very detailed analysis by Rob Galbraith about the AF of the EOS 1D Mark III.
If you shoot with Nikon, I recommend the D300. It has a great 12 MP sensor, very fast AF, full weather sealing and can shoot up to 8 fps. If you prefer a full frame sensor, go for the D700. It’s almost as good as the D3 but much cheaper and it even has some features the D3 lacks like sensor cleaning or a built-in flash (which is not very useful for bird photography but still nice to have).
The lens is more important than the camera
Keep in mind that the lens is more important than the camera. It’s better to buy a Canon EOS 40D with a 4/500 lens than a EOS 1D Mark III with just a 4/300 lens. For more about the right lens, read Choosing a lens for bird photography
It’s the photographer - not the equipment
Although good equipment is important, a good camera alone won’t take good pictures. If you want to get great bird photographs, you have to learn about the life and behavior of birds and spend a lot of time in the field. This is much more important than your camera.
That said, it pays to invest in good equipment and learn how to use it.
Further reading
Have a look at dpreview.com for detailed reviews of many Canon and Nikon cameras. Another great resource is the review section at fredmiranda.com
Recommended books for bird photographers:
July 26th, 2008 , No Comments »
Today I have collected some reviews of the Canon EOS 450D (knows as Rebel XSi in North America)
This camera was introduced in January 2008 and is placed below the EOS 40D in the Canon product line, although it does offer a higher resolution (12.2 megapixels compared to 10.1 in the EOS 40D).
The reviews mentioned above are very positive and Canon seems to have produced a great entry level DSLR for a good price.
I personally think the EOS 450D is a great camera for people just starting with DSLR photography and want an affordable camera which still has lot’s of features and a great sensor which delivers excellent image quality.
If you are shooting lot of action scenes like sports or birds in flight, I suggest you get the more expensive EOS 40D which can shoot about 6.5 frames per second compared to only 3.5 frames per second of the EOS 450D.
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