Why I love digital

mike regish wrote:
You'd be surprised (I know I was) at how simple the menu navigation and
intuitiveness is on this camera. Like I say, it looked daunting when I first
looked at it, but I'm already fairly proficient with it and I've had it less
than 2 days. And I'm not a real quick study, either. :-)

I got to pick up a Canon rebel when they first came out and I was surprised
at how light it was. I know most people probably prefer a lightweight
camera, but I like something with some weight to it and the 7D has some. It
just feels solid. I think that hanging it around my neck with the relatively
narrow strap will get uncomfortable after a couple of hours, but I will
either get a wider strap or a cushion for it. The handgrip has finger
contours and a textured rubber that just fits perfectly in the hand. All the
buttons you might need for shooting are right where your fingers can get
them. The dial controls on top have a locking button that you have to press
in order to turn them. I think I could live without these as you're unlikely
to turn them unintentionally, but this is about the only thing that's the
least bit clumsy on the camera. I also wish the strap had hooks because I
found that picking up the camera in the plane, I had to be careful to grab
it under the strap to get a good grip. I'd like to be able to remove and
replace it easier, but that's minor. I'll get used to it.

I noticed the price on the 6 meg Canon came down a lot. If this camera
hadn't come out with the anti shake, I would have gotten the Rebel, but for
aerial stuff that antishake is priceless. I was getting good shots with the
lens out to about 70 or 80 mm (105 to 120 equivalent) even in slightly bumpy
air. In calm conditions I have no doubt I can get the lens all the way out
to 105.

mike


I never have been able to deal with a neckstrap. For one thing, it
makes me feel hot all the time, and for another, I can't imagine hanging
a camera around my neck so that any time I bend forward to look as
something, the lens of the camera slams into whatever is below my
head... That's one reason I won't buy a camera I can't pocket.



--
Ron Hunter

mike regish wrote:
You'd be surprised (I know I was) at how simple the menu navigation and
intuitiveness is on this camera. Like I say, it looked daunting when I first
looked at it, but I'm already fairly proficient with it and I've had it less
than 2 days. And I'm not a real quick study, either. :-)

I got to pick up a Canon rebel when they first came out and I was surprised
at how light it was. I know most people probably prefer a lightweight
camera, but I like something with some weight to it and the 7D has some. It
just feels solid. I think that hanging it around my neck with the relatively
narrow strap will get uncomfortable after a couple of hours, but I will
either get a wider strap or a cushion for it. The handgrip has finger
contours and a textured rubber that just fits perfectly in the hand. All the
buttons you might need for shooting are right where your fingers can get
them. The dial controls on top have a locking button that you have to press
in order to turn them. I think I could live without these as you're unlikely
to turn them unintentionally, but this is about the only thing that's the
least bit clumsy on the camera. I also wish the strap had hooks because I
found that picking up the camera in the plane, I had to be careful to grab
it under the strap to get a good grip. I'd like to be able to remove and
replace it easier, but that's minor. I'll get used to it.

I noticed the price on the 6 meg Canon came down a lot. If this camera
hadn't come out with the anti shake, I would have gotten the Rebel, but for
aerial stuff that antishake is priceless. I was getting good shots with the
lens out to about 70 or 80 mm (105 to 120 equivalent) even in slightly bumpy
air. In calm conditions I have no doubt I can get the lens all the way out
to 105.

mike


I never have been able to deal with a neckstrap. For one thing, it
makes me feel hot all the time, and for another, I can't imagine hanging
a camera around my neck so that any time I bend forward to look as
something, the lens of the camera slams into whatever is below my
head... That's one reason I won't buy a camera I can't pocket.



--
Ron Hunter

I usually resize mine to 800x600 jpegs at 72 dpi. You can get quite a few in
10 megs that way.

mike

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

Posting a few digital images will exhaust 10 meg of storage in minutes!


--
Ron Hunter

I usually resize mine to 800x600 jpegs at 72 dpi. You can get quite a few in
10 megs that way.

mike

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

Posting a few digital images will exhaust 10 meg of storage in minutes!


--
Ron Hunter

That's what I thought. I was really impressed with all the info it displays.
That helps a WHOLE lot when experimenting with different settings. I used to
try to keep a written log with film, but that was a total pain.

And yes, the first thing I did was set the date/time. :-)

mike

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

EXIF is basically a record of the camera settings, manual and automatic,
for each picture, along with the exact time of the picture (assuming you
keep the clock set correctly).



--
Ron Hunter

I was looking at the IS lenses when the Rebel first came out. They're not
cheap, but when I saw that the Minolta had it built into the body, I was
sold...well, at least I was sold after reading several reviews. That makes
ALL the lenses I eventually collect IS.

I think for aerial stuff my 24-105 out to 105 will be about the max
practical focal length, but I want to get the 200mm f2.8 for airshows and
other ground based stuff- maybe with next years tax return. I figure that
should work well with the anti shake and a monopod, which I much prefer to a
tripod. After playing around with this lens for a while, I may also get a
fixed focal length somewhere around 80 to 100mm but a little faster for
aerial stuff. At about 80mm on this lens, I can stay at about 1500' and
still get a small area with good detail, but I'd still like more. That may
be more a function of megapixels than lens, though.

BTW, good rule of thumb for shutter speed/focal length. Thanks.

mike

"Andy" wrote in message
...



For aerial staff Canon has an army of Image Stabilizing ( anti shake)
lenses which covers every focal length starting from 17 mm to 600 mm.
Internal camera's anti shake system can not handle heavy lenses, so Canon
beats Nikon for a couple of stops. I also love Canon's Eye control system
available in many Canon's cameras. It allows me perfectly compose motion
pictures what is not possible with other cameras having automatic focus
system without manual prefocusing. My Canon 3 focuses for every thing I
look through my viewfinder, it perfectly tracks a moving subjects and IS
lenses help me reduce blurs caused by camera shake while handholding.
Simply amazing, I would not forgive myself if I invested in Nikon system
when I was making my final decision.

Regardless handholding. To avoid blurred pictures you should use shutter
speed equal or shorter than lens length. For example 1/60 s for 50 mm
lens. 1/125 s for 100 mm lens, 1/500 s for 500 mm lens....

I was looking at the IS lenses when the Rebel first came out. They're not
cheap, but when I saw that the Minolta had it built into the body, I was
sold...well, at least I was sold after reading several reviews. That makes
ALL the lenses I eventually collect IS.

I think for aerial stuff my 24-105 out to 105 will be about the max
practical focal length, but I want to get the 200mm f2.8 for airshows and
other ground based stuff- maybe with next years tax return. I figure that
should work well with the anti shake and a monopod, which I much prefer to a
tripod. After playing around with this lens for a while, I may also get a
fixed focal length somewhere around 80 to 100mm but a little faster for
aerial stuff. At about 80mm on this lens, I can stay at about 1500' and
still get a small area with good detail, but I'd still like more. That may
be more a function of megapixels than lens, though.

BTW, good rule of thumb for shutter speed/focal length. Thanks.

mike

"Andy" wrote in message
...



For aerial staff Canon has an army of Image Stabilizing ( anti shake)
lenses which covers every focal length starting from 17 mm to 600 mm.
Internal camera's anti shake system can not handle heavy lenses, so Canon
beats Nikon for a couple of stops. I also love Canon's Eye control system
available in many Canon's cameras. It allows me perfectly compose motion
pictures what is not possible with other cameras having automatic focus
system without manual prefocusing. My Canon 3 focuses for every thing I
look through my viewfinder, it perfectly tracks a moving subjects and IS
lenses help me reduce blurs caused by camera shake while handholding.
Simply amazing, I would not forgive myself if I invested in Nikon system
when I was making my final decision.

Regardless handholding. To avoid blurred pictures you should use shutter
speed equal or shorter than lens length. For example 1/60 s for 50 mm
lens. 1/125 s for 100 mm lens, 1/500 s for 500 mm lens....

It is clutzy for a while, but you get used to it. When I'm at an airshow or
some all day event, it's much easier to hang it, but you do have to be aware
that it's there. I guess that's another reason I like the weight.

mike

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

I never have been able to deal with a neckstrap. For one thing, it makes
me feel hot all the time, and for another, I can't imagine hanging a
camera around my neck so that any time I bend forward to look as
something, the lens of the camera slams into whatever is below my head...
That's one reason I won't buy a camera I can't pocket.



--
Ron Hunter

It is clutzy for a while, but you get used to it. When I'm at an airshow or
some all day event, it's much easier to hang it, but you do have to be aware
that it's there. I guess that's another reason I like the weight.

mike

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

I never have been able to deal with a neckstrap. For one thing, it makes
me feel hot all the time, and for another, I can't imagine hanging a
camera around my neck so that any time I bend forward to look as
something, the lens of the camera slams into whatever is below my head...
That's one reason I won't buy a camera I can't pocket.



--
Ron Hunter

mike regish wrote:

Out of 104 shots there were maybe a half dozen that were too blurred to use,
but I knew I was getting bounced too much for any stabilization system to
take it out. The shutter fires the instant you push it and the antishake
takes out all but the worst bumps.

The shutter has a delay of 100 - 200 ms. On the Maxxum 9 it is about
50-60ms.


If I ever figure out how to put up a halfway decent website, I'll post some.
This camera brings back the parts I missed about my Nikon 8008s, and it does
pretty much everything better than even that camera.

The 7D is an excellent camera for shooting. It is not perfect and I
hope K-M sharpen up on their next go around. My Kudos and complaints
are he and this will be added to as time goes on.


There are still a lot of options I've got to check out, but basic operation
with a lot of flexibility can be mastered in a couple of hours.

I've shot some 300 test frames and 1100+ phots in the past two weeks.
All in "M". All manual focus (except some of the test shots). IOW I
use it pretty much the same way as my film camera (in which I've shot
two rolls of slides in the same period). The only difference is chimping.

Cheers,
Alan


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