Jack M Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I know there's some fellow digital camera geeks lurking about here. Landed a new job last week so I went out and finally got a DSLR, which I've been wanting for years. Picked up the Canon 30D with 17-85IS-USM lens. Really thrilled with it so far. Can't wait to get it on the slopes and put the 5fps continuous drive to work. I don't really have a point here, just wanted to gab about cameras while I'm now a "short timer" at my soon to be ex-job. Yeehaw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'm not a camera geek (yet...), but congrats on the new job! You're a mechanical engineer I think? What kind of job (if you don't mind me asking)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks! Actually, I have a bachelor's in ME, but I've been a software developer for the past 5 years and am almost done with a master's in CS. New job is programming for a company in the health care industry. Although there is a distinct possibility I could go back to engineering someday if all the stars align. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I know there's some fellow digital camera geeks lurking about here. Landed a new job last week so I went out and finally got a DSLR, which I've been wanting for years. Picked up the Canon 30D with 17-85IS-USM lens. Really thrilled with it so far. Can't wait to get it on the slopes and put the 5fps continuous drive to work.I don't really have a point here, just wanted to gab about cameras while I'm now a "short timer" at my soon to be ex-job. Yeehaw! I love those self-presents for really big accomplishments, like quitting a job... You really are a shopaholic, Jack.... Congrats on the DSLR-I've looked at the Canon, too, but the price tag's still a bit too high for an item that will probably turn out to be a snapshot taker for all my best intentions..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 What can I say, I am a gearhead. Boards, cameras, motorcyles, home theater.... there was considerable sticker-shock, but photography is a quasi-serious hobby of mine and the camera will be put to good use. The kids are only going to be young once, may as well have the best possible pictures of them! Here's a sample... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Good move on the DSLR Jack! The rapid response and the 5fps will be great. I'm envious! Best of luck with the new position. I'm getting laid off next week after 13 years with the same company. I wish they had waited another half dozen years and then I could afford to retire. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Sorry to hear that Pat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Nice shot. Is that mud or poo :rolleyes: on his hands. Love the 1,000 yard stare. Nice work on the cam. I am a Nikon guy 3 digis, five film bodies and a Hasselblad, but a lot of photog friends here are really happy with the Canon. Good luck with the new job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Dold Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Good choice of cameras Jack. For a minute I thought you had purchased a D30 which is a 3 MP from a few years ago (still a great camera). I bought a 10D about two years ago and love it, the ergonomics and ease of operation are great, but what really impresses me is the lack of noise that shows up as speckles in blue sky. I can jack up the ISO setting to 400 and it's still acceptable for almost everything I do. I'm sure the 30D is at least as good. The IS lenses are awesome, they even come in handy for things you might not expect, like indoors where a flash is not allowed (like a museum). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Nice shot. Is that mud or poo :rolleyes: on his hands. Love the 1,000 yard stare.Nice work on the cam. I am a Nikon guy 3 digis, five film bodies and a Hasselblad, but a lot of photog friends here are really happy with the Canon. Thanks, yes that's my son, with MUD on his hands. Bob Jenney is a Nikon guy, so I have already been given my ration of crap! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoasticerider Posted April 23, 2006 Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 Nice thread.....Are many of you camera guys shooting and using the RAW mode much. It seems like thats going to become the industry standardd soon....Adobe and Apple are working together?...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted April 23, 2006 Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 That's a great shot of your son Jack. It wasn't until I got my newest Olympus that I could get that effect of a soft focus in the background. Here's an example I shot of my wife at Yellowstone about six weeks ago. I'm using an Olympus C-770 and have been pretty happy with the results but I can't stand the slow response time when shooting action shots. If I'm firing off rapid fire shots I have the added disadvantage of losing my view briefly because its true Through The Lens and writing to the disk blocks the view momentarily. When following the action, I use an older model of Olympus that has the fixed viewer like the old rangefinder cameras. My wife has the non-digital Canon Rebel and I understand the digital version will accept her lenses. Tempting to get one but I guess I should worry about securing employment first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Nice thread.....Are many of you camera guys shooting and using the RAW mode much. My 30D came bundled with some pretty nice software, including a RAW viewer/editer/converter, so I'm going to get into it. Up to now I've been turned off by the extra post-processing time required, but the Canon software is pretty straightforward and works well. My understanding of working in RAW so far is that it basically allows you to change "camera settings" after the fact - most significantly white balance, sharpening, and color tones. The benefit here is that you get to work on the image <i>before</i> any JPEG compression is applied. As the guy in the camera shop said, when you shoot in RAW, you're shooting negatives. When you shoot in JPEG, you're shooting slides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 That's a great shot of your son Jack. It wasn't until I got my newest Olympus that I could get that effect of a soft focus in the background. Here's an example I shot of my wife at Yellowstone about six weeks ago. Thanks. Nice shot, looks like it will be a real winner after some Photoshopping. I'm using an Olympus C-770 and have been pretty happy with the results but I can't stand the slow response time when shooting action shots. Are you prefocusing? If you do that, the response should be almost instant. My wife has the non-digital Canon Rebel and I understand the digital version will accept her lenses. Tempting to get one but I guess I should worry about securing employment first. Yes, the Digital Rebel will accept all Canon lenses. The Rebel has really come down in price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 No....a buffalo at Yellowstone Actually, we saw so many of them last summer, I couldn't wait to eat some buffalo burgers.... How well do any of these adapt to a visual back of a telescope.....and yes, I do know that they make CCD cameras for astronomical purposes....it's just that's all you can use them(CCD's) for, plus, you need a computer to recontruct the images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Apparantly there are widely available adapters called "T-mounts" that allow you to attach a DSLR to a telescope. Then if you want to get really serious, Canon makes the 20Da which is a 20D modified for astrophotography. Go here, and then click the link for the 20Da: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=10464 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 No....a buffalo at Yellowstone The Park Ranger corrected me when I called it a buffalo. I'm told they're bison. Anyhow, you don't want to get too close to them: Once in a while I can time a sports shot right. This was taken at the CT Senior Games this year: I really would like to get a DSLR. Only so many toys I can justify at one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Apparantly there are widely available adapters called "T-mounts" that allow you to attach a DSLR to a telescope. Then if you want to get really serious, Canon makes the 20Da which is a 20D modified for astrophotography.Go here, and then click the link for the 20Da: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=10464 The T-mounts are model specific--I had one for a Nikon-the ex- took it with him I have one for the mechanical Pentax my husband has....they don't sell the Techpan film anymore-the one you could "hype" in a gas chamber up to 3200..... Thanks for the link, Jack... Bison-smison.......they are good on a bun...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirror70 Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 I have a 30D, too. Great camera. Just make sure you get a multi-GB CF card for when you shoot sequences. My 1GB card has proven to be far too small for shooting at 5fps. <img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/pano%20thumb.jpg"> <img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/loaf/Pat%20sequence%20thumb.jpg"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted April 29, 2006 Report Share Posted April 29, 2006 Jack, Congrats on the new job and the cool toy. I looked at that body before I bought my Nikon. If lenses were interchangable from both branks, I'd be looking at a Canon body next. Both make great equipment. The Nikon chips provide the added zoom, but the Canon's give you more wide angle. It just depends on what you want to get out of the Camera. Here's a couple photos I've taken in the last week. Summer time... Time to go shoot photos all day long. <br>These two were busy for over an hour.<br><br> These baby Great Horned Owls live in a tree about 2 miles from my house.<br> <br>Bar Lake and some trees. Here's where a Canon would come in handy or a super wide angle other than my fish eye.<br> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirror70 Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 No cameras in that price range are full-frame. The Nikons (D70/D70s) and D200 are both 1.5:1, while the Canons (D20/D30) are both 1.6:1. So, with the same length lens, the Nikons actually provide marginally wider angle shots. Both companies make great cameras. The Nikon lenses are superior but the Canon bodies are better than those from Nikon. The general way to pick between the two companies is if you already have Nikon glass, get a Nikon body; if you already have Canon glass, get a Canon body. If you have neither, decide which feature set you'd like since they don't completely overlap. I went with the Canon because I wanted faster continuous shooting and both my brother and a friend have Canons so I could borrow their lenses. That last pic is really neat, btw. Love the fish-eye effect. What lens did you use for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 those owls are amazing, here a few from today, the puppy is Muji our new German Shorthair and the riverfront is the RI/CT border looking at RI. I like architecture in B&W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 No cameras in that price range are full-frame. The Nikons (D70/D70s) and D200 are both 1.5:1, while the Canons (D20/D30) are both 1.6:1. So, with the same length lens, the Nikons actually provide marginally wider angle shots.Both companies make great cameras. The Nikon lenses are superior but the Canon bodies are better than those from Nikon. The general way to pick between the two companies is if you already have Nikon glass, get a Nikon body; if you already have Canon glass, get a Canon body. If you have neither, decide which feature set you'd like since they don't completely overlap. I went with the Canon because I wanted faster continuous shooting and both my brother and a friend have Canons so I could borrow their lenses. That last pic is really neat, btw. Love the fish-eye effect. What lens did you use for that? Interesting. I usually read the debates over the two and it's pretty common to hear complaints that Nikon doesn't make a camera with a full size chip, so I assumed (what an @$$) that all the Canons had full size chips. I think I read quite a bit about complaints that the Nikon digital glass will never work with a full size chip, so your comment that their lenses are better is interesting. I know from experience that I find my Nikkor lenses produce crisper images than the one Sigma lense I have. However, since I switched from Photoshop Elements to Nikon Capture that seems to be much less of a problem. The lense inventory as a motivator to buy specific bodies is a pretty strong one though. That's probably why I never pay much attention to the actual specs on Canon bodies. I'd considered buying a D200 this summer, but I think I'm going to invest in more lenses instead. I haven't had a need for more resolution yet, but would really like a macro lense and a super wide angle. I have a D2H, so I've got plenty of speed. The 8fps is the reason I chose the Nikon over the Canon. It was substantially more expensive though. The Fish Eye is the Nikkor 10.5mm. This shot of Mooner was with the same lense. <br> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirror70 Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 $-wise, the Canon-equivalent of the D2H would be either the 5D or the 1D Mk2. The 5D has a full-frame chip and is a pretty awesome body. The 1D Mk2 isn't full frame, but has a feature set which is very close to the D2H (including 8.5fps shooting). The two companies both make excellent gear with products positioned pretty evenly. It's a lot like BMW and Audi: both are great cars that are priced and perform the same, so you can't really go wrong with either. One thing I do prefer with the Nikons over the Canons is the control setup. The two wheels on the Nikons are much easier to operate than the two on the Canon. I really liked the controls on the D70 and am not particularly impressed with those on my 30D. I also like the removable screen protector on the Nikons, which the Canons completely lack (they don't even have a place to attach one). Oh, and damn - that's another excellent shot. I think you've just forced me to add a lens like that to my bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 I was a diehard Canon fan for years until I had a EOS620 die on a crime scene shoot in the middle of the night. I switched to Nikon shortly afterwards and first thing I noticed was the location of the controls was more natural for me. Mind you this was with film cameras but Nikon doesn't change their layout(ok excluding the F4)pick up a nikon and you know where everything is on every nikon. I now have too many Nikon lenses to change back (love my 12-24) but I doubt I will since I will live without technology for convenience. Something I read a few years ago, is that true duplication of film/chrome won't be reached until camera's reach the 18-20MP range. Canon is 16MP, Kodak is at what 14MP Nikon and 12MP but that's the top end and those are both slow and expensive. Memory limits are a bigger issue than camera speed I know I slam into the write buffer with a 6MP D70 and it's worse with bigger cameras. While the speed of the cameras and CCD's (floveon/CMOS/Whatever) is increasing even the fastest most expensive compact flash card will be hard pressed to keep up with BIG file sizes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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