New Camera
A few days ago I got my very first DSLR camera. Some of you have asked me which brand/model I got on Twitter, and I said I’d write a post about it, so here it is.
It’s a Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Camera, with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. A week ago that would’ve been gibberish to me. I like taking pictures, but I know very little when it comes to photography. This camera + lens was actually recommended to me by 3 different friends as a good combination for someone starting out in photography because it gives me all the functions I will ever need for a good price and should last me several years. The funny thing is, every camera that has ever been recommended to me as been a Canon. I don’t know if that’s just a coincidence or if Canon is just that good, but based on my experiences with the two point-n-shoots below, I had no hesitation dropping $1000 on my 3rd Canon product.
My first Canon camera was a PowerShot S230. It looks and feels like a brick nowadays, but this thing was impressive when I got it in high school. People were starting to switch from film to digital at that time, so my friends were jealous that I could take and preview my pics instantly on school trips while they had to wait for their pictures to be developed. This camera has been with me to British Columbia, Germany, Italy, Austria, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. I was very upset the day I dropped it in a parking lot in Seattle and it stopped working.
After my S230 broke, I got another PowerShot, the SD1000. This is superior in every possible way to the S230 and has served me well these past several years. Every photo on this blog up until this post has been taken with the SD1000, so I’m sure you’re all familiar with its quality. It’s also very small and fits nicely in my pocket. This camera has travelled with me across the Canadian prairies and to Malaysia, Brunei, and Japan (I think another trip to Europe is long overdue). I can’t remember who recommended the SD1000 to me, but I’m very glad that they did.
So if I was so happy with my point-n-shoots, you’re probably wondering why I decided to get a DSLR. While the S230 and SD1000 took nice pictures, it was sometimes frustrating trying to get them to focus on the right object, zoom in close enough to read something writing on the side of a building, or change some of the settings. The problem with point-n-shoots is that they do everything for you and are small so you can’t zoom in very much. With a DSLR, I can now change the settings to what I want. The obstacle I face now is learning about everything that my point-n-shoots used to control automatically. Take, for example, the picture below that I took yesterday.
I’ve noticed that some of my outdoor photos have a reddish colour to the side of objects that are in front of the sky. If you look closely at the left-most pole, there is some red to the right side of it and green to the left side. I don’t know what causes that, so if anyone can explain it to me or offer some other tips and tricks, I would appreciate it.
After I’ve figured out how to use my new camera properly, I’ll be doing a lot of figure reviews (tips and tricks for that are welcome too). Here’s a preview, in no particular order, of what will be coming up:
Of course, the photos I’ll be using in the reviews will be much nicer than these ones (hopefully).
Lighting looks horrible xD
1Looking forward to the reviews =D
Hmm… another Canon? No love for Nikon apparently, yeah I think I only know one other person with a Nikon within this community. I find it interesting that you got a 18-135mm lens, most DSLRs usually come with an 18-55mm lens.
Anyways, I learned that at the end of the day to get nice looking pictures on a DSLR three things are important. The first is using the correct white balance, carrying and index card to set it manually or messing with the different preset options. The second is setting the correct ISO and the third is getting the right exposure time.
Nothing beats experimenting yourself and trying out different settings to see what happens. Another thing I like to do is looking at people’s exif data on flickr.
That aside, I look forward to seeing your first full fled shooting with this camera.
2Miette-chan recently posted..Don’t you love it when you get a new toy
Grats on the acquisition!
Canon is solid so I’m sure you should enjoy it. I personally prefer Prime lens to zoom, but that’s just a personal preference. :p
Not sure if I’m supposed to comment on the shots since you said yourself the real ones are going to be nicer haha…Ah I’ll just say the lighting is probably what you want to focus on improving.
Looking through your old reviews it’s very harsh and seems to vary too much from shot to shot. Make sure you put a diffuser on your lights and use at least 2 – 3 lamps. Some sort of reflector also helps a lot to even lighting out across the figure more.
I’ll leave it at that because I’m not an indoor photographer so I’ll let someone more qualified talk about that haha.
3Ashlotte recently posted..Chag- Miku and the Great Outdoors!
Cool you decided to pick up a DSLR too ^^. It should be fun getting to understand and use all the settings.
I believe (and could be wrong) what you are seeing with the red/cyan pole is “Chromatic aberration” – where the lens is unable to focus all colours on the same spot. You mainly see it when a thin or small object is present on a white background (notice the pole regains it’s correct colour towards the bottom with the grass background). That’s from an optics point of view – to fix it you could try to reduce the focus on the poles (notice the out of focus tree doesn’t have this effect) or reduce the f#. I believe there is a “Defringe” option in photoshop if you have it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration
I look forward to seeing what you do with your reviews.
4I actually thought all your previous figure reviews’ photos were taken using a DSLR >.< I'm not really good in photography but I love seeing great pictures. Looking forward to those figure reviews from you!
5Hoshiko recently posted..When Minami Meets Peter Drucker
I don’t know much about camera and photography and stuff but a friend of mine own a Nikkon DSLR camera, roughly the same price as yours I guess, not sure about the model and spec though. Geez, everyone is getting a DSLR camera nowadays. But anyway, looking forward to your figure reviews. And wow, you’ve been to Malaysia? XD
6Ryo_kun recently posted..Dog Days Episode 5 & 6 – All The Good Things Happen
Welcome to the Canon DSLR :D
I also own one. But not the 550D like yours, the 500D. And with a 18-200mm zoom.
Maybe soon with a 50mm lens too. Also 18-55mm lens kit.
Actually it was for me very frustating handle those Digi-cams. I had one but after only use them some months (maybe it was just good) I was kinda annoyed and wanted a DSLR badly.
Also I would say get a tripod. Good for night/dark shoots like figure photography.
7GREW recently posted..Doujin Buy NSFW
Oooh, new camera for a figure blogger and nice choice of camera! Canon’s image quality is second to none and the 550D especially is supposed to be nice. But man, your other cameras are well traveled although I suppose your 1000D will still get some use yet if you can’t be bothered lugging around your dSLR.
8Umm, tips.. To light indoor figure review shoots with black backgrounds, I use 2 desk lamps with tissues taped over them (to diffuse the light) and snoots (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-cereal-box-snoots-and.html) made from black poster paper (to control the light) to give my figures nice lighting without leaking light onto my background. Looking forward to your new shots!
Luth recently posted..Review- Figma 095 KOS-MOS
Ah congrats, you will have a lot of fun with that thing ;) the brand isn’t that important most dslrs are reliable and good, even the less popular Sony Alpha’s, I was just curious who you would give your trust to ^_^
9As Ashlote suggested for Indoor photography you need a good light setting
Maybe for the beginning you should also get a book who explains the basics.
Fabienne recently posted..Review Morishima Haruka by Max Factory
Even after more than a year’s worth of figure photos, I’m still pretty clueless when it comes to the technical side of photography (I only read the manual the other day, in fact!), so I can’t give ya many tips, but here are a few off the top of my head:
- Always adjust white balance settings before shooting — this may save you a lot of trouble during post-processing. An index card would be an easy way to do this.
- Shoot in RAW format: this hogs up a lot more room, but it gives you a lot of flexibility during post-processing. Being able to compensate exposure during editing is a lifesaver!
- Experiment with aperture and shutter speeds in manual mode. Adjusting the aperture can widen or narrow the field of depth. The out-of-focus areas will be blurred, which can make for some great effects. Careful to not overdo it, though — I see a lot of people blurring out most of their subject because they narrow the field of depth too much.
- Multiple light sources: use at least 2 to avoid a strong shadow. I started off using 1 light on either side of the subject, but I’ve started to use an overhead light recently as well. I find that an overhead light + a side light often makes for a great effect. You gotta diffuse the lights, though, but that’s not too hard (just tape some tissues over your lights like Luth).
I hope you find at least some of that helpful, and I’m sorry if you already know about some of these points. Congrats on the new camera, dude — I can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it!
10Chag recently posted..Review- MG Shenlong Gundam Endless Waltz ver
Canon cameras are really good, whether it’s DSLR or their powershot. I think one of the reason why Canon is well recommended is because it’s easy to use (I’m comparing it to Nikon). In terms of adjusting your camera, I think it’s more of how you focus your lens, or perhaps try to play around with the exposure. Anyway, love your collection and looking forward to your next shots.
11abscissa recently posted..Social Bodies Behind the Comedy- Contextualizing A-Channel and Panty & Stocking Ep4
Congratulations! Welcome to the DSLR world!
That reddish color you’re seeing is Chromatic Aberration. It’s no fault of yours, but fault of the lens. Different lenses have different quality of handling this, among other things. Usually, Chromatic aberration is worse when the lens has a high range (in your case 18-135). Large range lenses also experience barreling and other problems.
Usually, people get a variety of lenses to cover different ranges for this purpose. You get an overall higher quality.
You may also want to invest in a prime lens (Canon 50mm 1.8f). It’s cheap at $150.
Also http://dpreviews.com is your best source for camera reviews.
Enjoy, because it’s damn fun! :D
12That looks like a very nice camera, but I’m sure I’d be totally lost with it, haha. The extent of my skill is really just…uh…point and shoot. Though I do like to think I take fair pictures with the crappy little thing I have.
Congrats on the nice, shiny new one!
13@Key-Fan:
Haha, I know, I’m working on getting the lighting just right for my first review with the DSLR.
@Miette-chan:
I was intending to get the 18-55mm lens, but my friends recommended the 18-135mm because it would let me experiment with more things. I haven’t heard of an index card for white balance before so I’ll have to look that up.
@Ashlotte:
Thanks for the advice, I’ve read the same things on some photography sites so I’ll give it a try.
@BioToxic:
Ah, so that’s what it is. I’ll have to try changing the focus the next time I go out to take some pictures.
@Hoshiko:
Nope, they were all with my little point and shoot. It gets some pretty decent shots.
@Ryo_kun:
I have relatives in Malaysia so I’ve been there a few times. The only thing I don’t like about it are the mosquitoes x.x
@GREW:
The point and shoots were easy for me to use which was why I liked them, but I can see why you would want a DSLR instead. I’m looking for a tripod right now so I should have one soon.
@Luth:
Glad to hear that Canon was a good choice, I don’t know much about cameras so I have to rely on others’ opinions. Thanks for the advice, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a snoot.
@Fabienne:
I assumed as much considering almost all DSLR pictures look good, but I figured people who do photography would know better.
@Chag:
I don’t think I ever finish reading the manuals for anything I buy…
One of my friends gave me the same tips as you, so it looks like that’s the best way to go. I guess you’ll see the results after my first figure review.
@abscissa:
I’ve been hearing the same thing from other people, and I found their point and shoots easy to use, which was why I went with Canon.
@radiant:
I keep hearing that zoom lens aren’t as good as prime lens, so I guess this is an example of that. I’m not planning on taking too many outdoor shots though, so I might wait a while before I invest in a prime lens.
@Arianna Sterling:
14Don’t worry, that’s pretty much the extent of my skill too. Hopefully I’ll learn a few things after playing around with this one.
Awesome get!
15Ive been thinking of acquiring a new camera since im stuck to the pre-historic eos1000, maybe a new lens..but they are so costly, im looking for to the reviews and dont worry about quality, lighting, colors etc it will come through time ^^
@Fabrice:
16Cost certainly is a big factor, it’s a shame that these things aren’t any cheaper.
If you’re taking mostly indoor shots, you will definitely benefit from a prime lens. Trust me. Here’s a photo I took of some food using a 50mm prime.
17http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/229745_10150249169190269_587325268_9482349_8251906_n.jpg
radiant recently posted..Boomslank – Trendy Otakuwear!!
Welcome brother nopy! to the photography world! Tip, I think you need to amp up the lighting on those figure shots
18dreaming Artemis recently posted..Busy busy busy!
@radiant:
That looks really good (photo-wise and yummy-wise). I’ll look into getting a prime lens, still don’t know much about them.
@dreaming Artemis:
19Yeah, from what I’ve read, lighting seems to be really important.
Hey Nopy,
Congrats!! Happy for you. I love DSLR after using them. IMHO, they have more functions and easier to produce better photos though I do agree that compact camera can produce great photos too. I was too using a compact camera prior to a new DSLR :)
So, I’d expect to see more beautiful photos from you huh :)
20@softwerkz:
21You should be able to see the results of my new camera soon :)
Nice score! I’m a big photography guy myself. However, I’ve never bought an expensive camera before. A sad predisposition to being clumsy has insured that I will not make that jump. So I tend to just stick with $100-200 digital cameras.
22kgods recently posted..Generic placeholder title
Very nice. Bought one of the first EOS Digital Rebels for my wife about 10 years ago. She loves the thing, still uses it everyday.
23You won’t regret it, ever.
@kgods:
I’m a bit clumsy myself. I usually keep the strap wrapped around my hand for my small cameras. As for my new one, I have it hanging around my neck at all times so I don’t drop it.
@skyhack:
24That’s good to hear, I hope mine lasts for 10 years too.
Congrats on the DSLR, hope you get to use it to its full potential. You might want to invest on a tripod or a flash unit as well =D
25duqs recently posted..Hi-Nu Gundoom Review- Part 2 and Beyond!
This is a crazy deal with all of that extra equipment! Anyone who’s interested in the camera shouldn’t think twice about it. I have the same camera and trust me you won’t be disappointed. As for the price, that’s how much I bought just the camera + kit lens.
26Haven recently posted..Fun Anime Games
Every time my pictures don’t come out how I’d like I want to blame my camera…so I’m really jealous of yours. But in the end I think my issue is I’m not good at lighting my subjects indoors.
27lovelyduckie recently posted..On Order- Arms- Mullets- Horror- and Cats
@duqs:
I got a cheapo tripod off ebay, I think it should last a while. I’m not sure about getting a flash though.
@Haven:
That sounds good, everyone’s been saying this is a good camera.
@lovelyduckie:
28I’ve been trying out different lighting recently and it does make a difference.
Congrats! And from later posts, I see you’ve already put this to good use. ^ ^
29Yi recently posted..A Touch of Battle Girls – Textures in Sengoku Otome
@Yi:
30Of course, wanted to try it out asap :)