This journal documents my experiences with a Canon 50D, my
first DSLR camera, purchased on Oct. 16, 2008. It has some of my
photographs taken with the 50D, comments about the camera's usability
and suggestions for improvement. It also has links to
photography-related sites which I found interesting.
My first digicam was the S30. I chose the Canon brand after
playing with a Canon EOS SLR camera (belonging to a faculty member in
the department). What amazed me about that camera was that Canon
developed technology that tracked your eye and focused the lens wherever
you looked (ECF, eye-controlled focusing). My most recent camera was the
Canon S60, which is in need repair.
Canon 50D First Impressions
"delusions of grandeur"
Thu Oct 16 22:02:13 2008
Yesterday, one of my colleagues came in with a Henrys flyer which
had a promotion where the purchase of any 50D body or body and lens
kit would get a Canon camera bag, a grip and an extra battery. So
this afternoon, I called the Toronto store to confirm they had one
in stock and I picked one up just after 5PM along with the 50mm
f/1.4 USM lens; my boss and my colleague walked down to the store
with me. During check-out, when the salesperson asked if I wanted a
UV filter, I turned to my boss quizically and he nodded and
suggested I get one— it's $50 protection for the $420 lens
from poking fingers of young children. As I was paying, the
salesperson asked if I was a student (I had earlier said that I was
calling from Ryerson when he had asked if I wanted him to hold the
camera for me); Ryerson has a popular photography program.
After I got back, I cleared my work counter and while the battery
was charging, I read through the manual. After the battery charged
(100 minutes to full charge), I had to call my colleague over for
help with attaching the neck-strap, as the single diagram showing
the procedure was rather cryptic. Fortunately, he is experienced in
this, as his wife has a Canon Rebel (film). Next, I tried to open
the battery compartment and I gave-up, as I turned to the manual;
he calmly reached over, opened it and inserted the battery. I took
the 1GB CF card out of my S60 and inserted it into the camera and
powered it up. I took a couple of shots and I was quite impressed
with the bokeh (photos will be uploaded later). The view-screen is
HUGE and AMAZING; it seems to have some sort of optical coating
where the oil from one's face that rubs-off on the screen, does not
seem to distort the image being viewed.
We had a difficult time configuring the inside of the camera bag
using the velcro partitions, to hold the camera. More on this
later.
The true test of this camera's capabilities will be in
low-light. I tried taking some in my darkened apartment and it had
trouble focusing on the far door; it instead kept focusing on a
near-wall (I tried manually focusing but the results were blurry; I
haven't figured out how to tell it to focus on something else.)
It's easy to take great shots in good light with this camera (in
full auto mode). I am now thinking of going professional, hiring an
extremely pretty female assistant (interested parties please
include a recent photograph with your résumé) to walk around and
take readings with a light-meter. Since Toronto Fashion Week starts
next week, I wonder where I can get credentials to be able to
photograph the models.
Time to watch Blowup again.
Update Thu Oct 16 23:16:43 2008: David suggested getting a
Gorillapod.
Canon 50D Second Impressions
settings
Sat Oct 18 10:48:20 2008
One of the problems I'm having, is adjusting to the weight of the
camera— my right hand and wrist are sore after a
shoot. Having become accustomed to holding my lightweight pocket
cameras in my right hand with my index finger extended over the
shutter button, I instinctively began doing the same with the
50D. However, since the 50D weighs 2+ lbs. and the body is taller,
it puts a strain on my wrist and hand. I have to keep reminding
myself to hold the camera with my left hand under the lens, relax
my right hand and index finger and only use it when i need to
compose and shoot.
Settings I have customized:
- Disable the beep (the camera would beep after achieving focus; I
prefer to watch for the AF point to hilight)
- Reduce LCD brightness -1 level from the default, to 4 (I would
probably need to increase this for outdoor viewing, but indoors, 5
is a bit bright)
- Enable Hilight Alert (blink over-exposed regions when
reviewing)
- Reduced photograph resolution from the default 15.1MP (~5MB files
average) to 8MP (~3MB)
- Disable the flash firing (the camera strobes the flash to meter
the scene in low light; this is not affected when flash is
supressed neither is flash firing using preset-modes )
I am finding the 50mm lens rather limiting for "landscapes" and
large group shots, requiring me to stand quite further back than I
am used to with my S60 and also not being able to get the same view
angles as with the S60. My next purchase will likely be a
wide-angle lens rather than a macro.
Update Sat Oct 18 16:34:15 2008: David responds:
The 50D has a 1.6x crop factor, so your 50 mm lens is acting like an
80 mm one--that's basically a portrait lens.
If you want a lens that has a field of view roughly as wide as your
eyes, you would need to get something like the 28mm (f/1.8 available).
Multiplying by 1.6, it will act like a 45mm lens; much closer to the
"standard" 50 mm view of the old 35 mm film cameras (and current full-
frame dSLRs).
If you're planning on doing more wide shots, it may be worth
considering getting a wider lens. In a lot of cases it's easier to
step in to get a close up than it is to step back to get a wide shot.
Also, you can always "zoom in" my simply cropping the picture to get
the proper framing that you want. If it's not possible to step back
any further you're stuck.
Update Sat Oct 18 21:45:58
2008: Eric
has a follow-up to David's comment above, about a, "lens having a
field of view as wide as your eyes":
Your eyes have an angle of view that might be as much as
120° (wiggle your fingers off to the side while staring straight
ahead to see what I mean). On the other hand, your perception of
detail anywhere but straight ahead is atrocious, and then of course
there's the "blind spot". So it's meaningless to talk about your
eyes' "angle of view".
I'm pretty sure that standard lenses are standard because: the
45° field of view happens (for reasons I don't understand) to be the
easiest lens to make so for a given price, the 45°-field-of-view
lens is the fastest and has the highest quality.
Lenses have easily-determined fields of view; it's your
eyes that don't.
Maybe I should start blogging on blogger.com so people can comment
publically. I had created a test blog some time ago but it remains
unused.
First 50D Photos
photos
Mon Oct 20 14:32:22 2008
Tell me exactly what you saw and what you think
it means.
—Rear Window
I have finished reading the manual once. I am planning to read it
again until I can explain the function of each button to anyone who
asks. I estimate about six months before I can shoot comfortably
with this camera.
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The second photograph I took (full auto)—
Jim reading the camera manual in my office. (The first one was
fine, but unflattering, so I deleted it.)
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(L-R) LEGO photographed with the built-in flash
and without. The purpose of this pair of photographs is to
demonstrate that use of the built-in flash even in the most
expensive camera should be limited to AF-assist only. Flash
photography should be done with the external flash bounced-off the
ceiling. The parquet colour on the flash photograph is closer to
the actual colour; however I prefer the muted, no-flash colour.
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Accidental bokeh: I was playing with the camera in
LiveView mode and the focus was locked to an earlier depth. When I
turned the camera to my window, the lace curtains and the lights
outside gave this nice shot. (This is the best of 4
photographs). The Bourne Supremacy has great examples of
bokeh.
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As noted in one of the reviews, this camera
displays chromatic
aberration under certain conditions. This appears as purple
fringing at the interface of the plant and the overexposed
background. This is particular example is quite prominent;
typically, this is only visible at 100% crops.
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Canon 75-300 mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Lens
lens
Wed Oct 22 22:10:03 2008
The New York State sentence for a Peeping Tom is
six months in the workhouse.
— Rear Window
Jim brought in his 75-300mm telephoto lens and I had a lot of fun
shooting with it today. He said this lens was purchased in the days
before there were digital SLR cameras.
First impressions (I have nothing to compare it to): the lens is
great for daytime shooting. I managed a few twilight shots but I
found that it had the annoying habit of losing focus completely for
no discernable reason (maybe because I was shooting through glass?)
which required me to manually recompose/zoom-in and focus again. I
was able to read the text on a letter-sized sign (in 48pt font?)
from half a block away. I was able to read the text in the
photograph; it was too shaky to read-it while shooting
hand-held. The best descriptor of the the zoom-ring would have to
be, "clunky with a bit of wobble". Update Wed Oct 22 23:51:38
2008: This is not an internal zoom lens; the length of the lens
changes as you zoom in, unlike
the EF
75-200 mm f/2.8 L IS USM (US$ 1700, that Eric
recommends, non
IS version US$ 1200).
I was hoping to catch someone undressing in front of their window
in the many apartments around the university, or a murder being
committed, but no such luck.
Update Fri Oct 24 18:36:20 2008: Photos now available.
Update Fri Oct 24 22:12:23 2008: David suggests some
alternatives:
What are you planning on take pictures of?
If you're going to take pictures of objects far away that you need to zoom
into, then the 75-200 would be useful (remember to multiple by 1.6x to get
the "true" length though).
If a good portion of your pictures will be indoors, or for close- to
medium-distance objects, Canon's 24-70mm may be of more use.
There are also 70-200 f/4 lenses (IS and non-IS). Both are about US$ 700
less expensive than their f/2.8 counterparts.
Choosing the 50 mm lens
lens
Wed Oct 22 22:22:57 2008
The article that convinced me to choose a 50mm prime lens over the
usual multi-function lens that Canon ships as a kit with the camera
body (Wed Jan 21 16:00:26 2009I noticed I had the wrong URL linked).
This review
looks at the three Canon 50mm lenses, el-cheapo, mid-range and
high-end; additional review sites are listed at the end.
And of course, there is the
famous Zeiss
50 mm f/0.7 lens that Kubrick used to shoot the candle-lit
gambling scene in Barry Lyndon, without additional
artificial lights.
What the Duck
comics
Thu Oct 23 03:51:36 2008
Jonathan sent along a link to a comic about
photography— What
the Duck.
EOS 3000
camera
Thu Oct 23 22:03:33 2008
Jim brought his EOS 3000 film camera with a 25-70 mm USM lens
(which cost ~$500 at the time); this Rebel model camera was first
introduced in 2002. The camera had 7 shots of ISO 200 film
remaining. At the 25mm end, the lens showed no noticeable barrel
distortion at the edges, while through the view finder. The other
noticeable difference was the camera weight; compared to the 50d it
was a feather. The lens also had trouble focusing in low light
(indoor office flourescents).
I'll be testing the lens on my camera at a later date. I didn't
get a chance to upload any photographs due to a meeting I had to attend.
75-300mm Photo Album
photos
Fri Oct 24 18:37:34 2008
The photos taken with Jim's 75-300mm lens
are now available.
Depth of Field Study
aperture f-stop exercise
Sat Oct 25 17:05:14 2008
This morning, I decided to do a study suggested in
an article
I read last night about understanding the concept of depth of
field.
I set-up three objects (a LEGO box, a vase and a LEGO object) in
a straight line, each about a foot apart, switched the camera to
aperture priority (Av), dropped the f-stop value to the lowest
setting (f/1.4), focused on the middle object (the vase) and took a
picture. Then, I changed the f-stop to the next highest setting and
took a picture, and continued until the maximum f-stop
(f/22).
Below are three selections of the study: a low f-stop, a higher
f-stop and a large f-stop.
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f/1.4: only the vase is in focus; the LEGO in the
foreground and the writing on the label in the background is
out-of-focus.
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f/2.2: a larger area around the base of the vase
is in focus and more of the label in the background is in focus.
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f/18: the text in the label is readable and the
LEGO piece in the foreground is in sharp focus.
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Reviewing the series of photos, I observed that at the lowest
f-stop only a small area around the focus-point was in sharp focus;
the rest of the photo gots progressively blurry. As the f-stop
increased, the amount of the photo that was in focus increased and
the shutter-speed decreased (stayed open longer)— at f/22 the
shutter speed was at 0.6s. I now have a better understanding of the
relationship between the f-stop, the "bluriness" and the shutter
speed.
(Aside: I think "depth-of-field" should really be called
"area-of-bluriness".) Eric noted that digital cameras make it easy
(i.e. inexpensive) to experiment like this and that an alternate
name is "circle-of-confusion".
First Shoot
Sun Oct 26 23:01:47 2008
Today, I got the opportunity to shoot photographs in the scenario
for which the camera and lens was purchased— three kids
running around indoors in low light. From the results, I have to
say that I LOVE both the Canon 50D and the 50mm lens. The shots
came out absolutely amazing (I shot all the close-ups (less that 3
feet) at f/1.4). The only minor complaint I have is that the camera
didn't detect the tungsten light and I had to manually correct the
white balance setting.
Todo: 1) figure out how to tell the camera to track a subject as
it moves through the autofocus points (I remember reading about it
but forgot how to do it.) 2) figure out a rule-of-thumb that
correlates f-stop to distance from subject and area of the circle
that is in focus (e.g. if I am 5 feet away, and I want everything
in the frame in focus, what f-stop do I have to dial;
alternatively, I could always switch to full-auto or program
mode).
I also took some closeups of a lit candle which turned out quite
nicely. Photos below.
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Candle at f/1.4 focused on the flame. I should
have focused on the candle body and not the flame. |
No photos please (f/1.4 again). |
A page from my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook
(unfinished). |
Beijing Press Box
360 panorama
Mon Oct 27 12:56:18 2008
Quicktime
VR of the Beijing Olympics Stadium Press Box, 30 minutes
before the 100m finals.
Stickers seem to be popular addition to lens hoods. I can't tell
what the most popular camera is (Nikon or Canon). I wonder if
the white balance is off as all the telephoto lenses are beige
rather than white.
Portfolio: Richard Reinsdorf
photos
Tue Oct 28 17:29:54 2008
Richard Reinsdorf portfolio;
the last photograph in editorial no. 11 is technically amazing.
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
lens
Tue Oct 28 17:31:42 2008
The Canon
EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM is on sale for $1250 at Downtown
Camera. Seriously considering getting it (but having second
thoughts after only shooting about 100 shots with the 50mm and that
the 24-70 weighs nearly a kilogram).
Need to shoot some more downtown landscapes with the 50mm to see
its limitations. Maybe I'll just get a 24mm prime used by the
backstage photographers featured on Behind the Lens.
Firmware Update
firmware
Tue Oct 28 18:34:08 2008
David sends news of
a firmware
v.1.0.3 update for the 50D. My firmware is 1.0.1.
Settings
settings
Thu Oct 30 16:14:17 2008
More settings I changed:
- [wrench2 menu]: enabled live view exposure simulation (in Live View
mode, pressing this button simulates what the exposure will look
like)
- [wrench2 menu]: enabled grid display (in Live View mode, a grid is
overlayed on the LCD (helps in aligning verticals and horizontals;
I found that my photos tend to lean down towards the left)
- [wrench3 menu]: INFO button displays Shoot Functions (I prefer to
use the LCD on the back to adjust my camera settings using the
scroll wheel and the cursor controller; the LCD on the top is less
than useless because of the number of buttons I have to press)
Fall Shoot
photos
Thu Oct 30 16:22:22 2008
I left the house early this morning so I could take advantage of
the beautiful fall weather which, at 6 degrees Celcius, was quite a
change from yesterday's high-winds and near-freezing
temperatures.
On the walk between home and work, I shot more than 100 photos. I
kept my camera in aperture priority at f/1.4 most of the time as an
experiment to see how photographs would turn out. I was expecting
some accidental surprises from shooting large vistas at f/1.4 but
naturally, they all came out
blurry.
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Channeling Bill Cunningham, NY Times street fashion photographer, at Bay and Front. |
On the GO train this morning. |
Fall bokeh. |
Beautiful maple tree in Port Credit.
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Update Sat Nov 01 11:15:32 2008: The fashion shot was the
only photo I took, just as the light turned green; the GO Train
photo was also a single shot; the red plant was one of eight; the
photo of the maple leaves was one of 18. I also increased the LCD
brightness to 2 notches above the default, to be able to review
photos in direct noon sunlight.