Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

[seth1066]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Agree on the color temp either from the camera metering and/or the time of day, but look at the tires and the wheel well area, leans toward underexposure in the old camera as compared to the new camera. This is why the colors are more saturated in the new camera photo, imo.

Old Camera


New Camera:

"This is why the colors are more saturated in the new camera photo, imo."

{ should read: "the colors are more saturated in the OLD camera"}

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Here's another shot I just took. My baby girl
Shot it in RAW, then did a little PP. Just playing with everything to see what each setting can do. What do you think?

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

And another one... Still looks a little soft though

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

And another one...

[seth1066]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

And another one... Still looks a little soft though

If you compare both cameras you will also notice that the old camera seems to have a sharper focus. If you have Firefox 3 on a Windows machine you can check this easily by leaving the ctrl key down and tapping the "+" key until the photo is fully zoomed
(ctrl and hitting the zero key will take the web page back to its normal size).

[ZoranC]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Still looks a little soft though

My offer is still standing

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

And another one... Still looks a little soft though

That is because you shot it at f3.5 and have a very limited depth of field. You need to use around f8 to f11. Not to mention a lens wide open (like f3.5) is rarely sharp. They need to be stopped down to increase sharpness, hence the f8.

Try this:
Av mode set to f11
ISO set to 400-640 if cloudy and low light and and use ISO 100-200 if fairly sunny
Evaluative metering

I bet you will see a huge difference! Try it and post the results so I can see the EXIF data and see what is going on...

Tim

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

That is because you shot it at f3.5 and have a very limited depth of field. You need to use around f8 to f11. Not to mention a lens wide open (like f3.5) is rarely sharp. They need to be stopped down to increase sharpness, hence the f8.

Try this:
Av mode set to f11
ISO set to 400-640 if cloudy and low light and and use ISO 100-200 if fairly sunny
Evaluative metering

I bet you will see a huge difference! Try it and post the results so I can see the EXIF data and see what is going on...

Tim

Alright, here is a picture with the settings you suggested. Looks better, but I still feel that it's lacking.

[seth1066]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Alright, here is a picture with the settings you suggested. Looks better, but I still feel that it's lacking.

Still seems to be not well focused.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Still seems to be not well focused.

And thats with it sitting on a table, me just pressing the button

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Alright, here is a picture with the settings you suggested. Looks better, but I still feel that it's lacking.

It is getting better, but here is the problem: looking at your EXIF data, your shutter speed is now 1/3" which is way too slow and will cause motion blur which what we are seeing here. Part of the reason is that it is quite dark outside so the camera is choosing a slow shutter speed. Therefore you must choose a numerically lower f stop number in order to increase the shutter speed. This is why when you used Tv in the first shot the camera chose f3.5 which will give you a very narrow depth of field (ie. not a lot will be in focus at that focal length and range)

Let's start from scratch...

1. Set the camera to Av mode and choose f8 this time

2. Make sure the shutter speed is at least 1/focal length. So if you are shooting at 35 mm length, make sure the shutter speed is at 1/50. To achieve this, you may need to increase the ISO to much higher than ISO 400 as your lighting is fairly dark.

3. If need be, turn on the flash which will act as fill flash in Av mode

4. Make sure that your lens is set to IS mode if it has it. If not, no problem

5. Set your focus area to center point focus. Do not let the camera's focus points choose for you. You will have to select it so that the center red box lights up only on your target

6. Set metering to evaluative

7. I am not sure if the Rebel has it but set the picture style to standard

8. Use One Shot mode


I think the problem may be a combination of things and hopefully I covered them all that may be the issue.

Tim

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

And thats with it sitting on a table, me just pressing the button

Whoa...that may be it! If you are resting it on a table and you have the IS on the lens turned on, then the lens may be creating the blur. Some lenses with IS recognize when IS is on and compensates when the camera is on a tripod others do not.

If using a tripod or using it on a solid mount of some sort, turn the IS off to be safe BUT use it when hand holding the camera.

Tim

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

OK, had to move indoors, as the light is now completely gone. I know this totally changes all of the settings you told me to do

But, here are your last recommended setting, only indoors and the king of the house instead of the van

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

Same settings, but with the IS off, and sitting on a bar stool...

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Playing with the new camera....I have a LOT to learn!

OK, had to move indoors, as the light is now completely gone. I know this totally changes all of the settings you told me to do

But, here are your last recommended setting, only indoors and the king of the house instead of the van

That looks quite a bit better, but your shutter speed is WAY too slow at 0.8". You need to have the speed at least 1/focal length that you are using.

Take another shot of your "model" but this time use the flash and place the camera in P mode. In Av mode, using the flash indoors tends to causes the camera to expose for the whole scene which makes things look a little dark. So use the P mode this time (Av outdoors). Place it on a table, with the IS turned off, use the center point focus (you will have to select it manually). Take a picture or two. Make sure you place the red center focus box on one of the cat's eyes.

Then try this, set the camera to manual, speed 1/125, iso 200 at f5.6 with the flash on (this again is for indoors only).

I want to see what the camera is doing in the different modes

Tim