Canon 450D users, please share your experience


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have you guys tried the monochrome mode? find the pictures rather grey. tried to correct it with varied contrast and sharpness settings but still cant get it right though. help!?
 

have you guys tried the monochrome mode? find the pictures rather grey. tried to correct it with varied contrast and sharpness settings but still cant get it right though. help!?

Check out www.blackandwhitedigital.com for tips on B&W photography for the digital photographer. B&W conversions work and look better than shooting monochrome from the camera.
 

Check out www.blackandwhitedigital.com for tips on B&W photography for the digital photographer. B&W conversions work and look better than shooting monochrome from the camera.

thanks alot. so you mean i should just shoot it in colour and then photoshop it? im from a design background but i just dont quite like to edit my photos, except to crop them. compromises the 'look' of the picture, but at least not the 'soul' of it. ha, does that make any sense to you guys?
 

thanks alot. so you mean i should just shoot it in colour and then photoshop it? im from a design background but i just dont quite like to edit my photos, except to crop them. compromises the 'look' of the picture, but at least not the 'soul' of it. ha, does that make any sense to you guys?

From an engineering standpoint, once you shoot digtal, you are already 'compromising the soul of the photo'. :) If you understand the Bayer architecture of digital sensors and how the manufacturer needs to guess the exact color of light that is incident on each pixel, you realize there is no such thing as real 'untouched' digital photos. You are merely accepting what the camera makers dish out to you after they have 'tinkered' with the scenes captured in your shots.

Besides, even famous black and white film photographers (e.g., Ansel Adams) from several decades ago tinker with the camera output. Dodging and burning are commonly carried out during the film development stage. In the colored film era, landscape photographers love to use Velvia film to give their photos more punchy colors.

Newbies and folks who are not into photography are often ignorant and misled in this regard. :)
 

thanks alot. so you mean i should just shoot it in colour and then photoshop it? im from a design background but i just dont quite like to edit my photos, except to crop them. compromises the 'look' of the picture, but at least not the 'soul' of it. ha, does that make any sense to you guys?

The very action of making an exposure is already a manipulation of shutter speed and aperture. Like it or not, you never get what you see on a photo. Do you see things in B&W?
 

From an engineering standpoint, once you shoot digtal, you are already 'compromising the soul of the photo'. :) If you understand the Bayer architecture of digital sensors and how the manufacturer needs to guess the exact color of light that is incident on each pixel, you realize there is no such thing as real 'untouched' digital photos. You are merely accepting what the camera makers dish out to you after they have 'tinkered' with the scenes captured in your shots.

Besides, even famous black and white film photographers (e.g., Ansel Adams) from several decades ago tinker with the camera output. Dodging and burning are commonly carried out during the film development stage. In the colored film era, landscape photographers love to use Velvia film to give their photos more punchy colors.

Newbies and folks who are not into photography are often ignorant and misled in this regard. :)

used to do alot of dodging and burning and adding of magenta back in the darkroom. good times. yup so at least that makes me feel easy about editing my photos. D.I artists can keep their jobs then.

oh with regards to if i view things in b&w... i dont, cause im not colour-blind. it was just meant at editing photos in general.. yup.

thanks guys!
 

used to do alot of dodging and burning and adding of magenta back in the darkroom. good times. yup so at least that makes me feel easy about editing my photos. D.I artists can keep their jobs then.

oh with regards to if i view things in b&w... i dont, cause im not colour-blind. it was just meant at editing photos in general.. yup.

thanks guys!

Viewing things is B&W is not the same as being colour blind. It means you understand tones and how they are rendered when the image is converted to B&W.
 

Hi guys, paiseh to TS i tompang a bit on this thread.
I want to get a 450D with kit lens and additional ultra wide angle lens.
i wanted to shoot landscape. I did consider using a normal lens and "stitch" the photos
using the software. However, i don't know which is better. Use normal lens and stitch the photos or get a ultra wide angle lens?
if i do go for option 2, any recommendation for ultra-wide angle lens?preferably with IS feature, if there's any.
Thanks a lot everyone.
 

Best wide angle lens is the EFS 10-22mm; I got it for my 450D and its performance is superb; it uses L grade elements eg asperical and super UD. I doubt you will need IS for UWA lenses, since the focal length is short (unless you shoot at night).
 

Best wide angle lens is the EFS 10-22mm; I got it for my 450D and its performance is superb; it uses L grade elements eg asperical and super UD. I doubt you will need IS for UWA lenses, since the focal length is short (unless you shoot at night).

If you are shooting night landscapes, you should be using a tripod any way.
 

A good, affordable tripod is Velbon CX-444 series (CX-888 here). It could support 450D just nice with Tamron lens and costs around $80 at John 3:16.
 

Best wide angle lens is the EFS 10-22mm; I got it for my 450D and its performance is superb; it uses L grade elements eg asperical and super UD. I doubt you will need IS for UWA lenses, since the focal length is short (unless you shoot at night).

Hm..ic..
how about if i use EF 17-40mm f/4L USM or EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM instead of UWA lens
or the kit lens? will it make any major difference?
btw, stevenc do u find any distortion while shooting landscape with the 10-22 mm lens?
Distortion is also another issue for me. If the distortion is really bad, i might opt to use a
standard lens and "stitch" the photo?any suggestion?..
thanks again.
 

Hm..ic..
how about if i use EF 17-40mm f/4L USM or EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM instead of UWA lens
or the kit lens? will it make any major difference?
btw, stevenc do u find any distortion while shooting landscape with the 10-22 mm lens?
Distortion is also another issue for me. If the distortion is really bad, i might opt to use a
standard lens and "stitch" the photo?any suggestion?..
thanks again.

16mm and 17mm is pretty close to what your kit lens will deliver. If you're shooting landscape, you'll be shooting stopped down, so going for the L glass doesn't make all that big a difference.

These were shot at 10mm (only with a Sigma 10-20, not a Canon 10-22. Both handle barrel distortion quite well). I have sinced sold the lens, having moved up to a 1.3x crop camera.


Regularity__by_k_leb_k.jpg


Afternight__by_k_leb_k.jpg


Kinda_Grey__by_k_leb_k.jpg
 

Hm..ic..
how about if i use EF 17-40mm f/4L USM or EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM instead of UWA lens
or the kit lens? will it make any major difference?
btw, stevenc do u find any distortion while shooting landscape with the 10-22 mm lens?
Distortion is also another issue for me. If the distortion is really bad, i might opt to use a
standard lens and "stitch" the photo?any suggestion?..
thanks again.

I find the 17-40 or 16-35 not wide enough (unless you will be intending to go Full Frame). But if you are happy with the 450D or 40D series, I will recommend the 10-22mm.
Distortions are not noticeable, unless your subject stands very close to the camera, I use this at times for the fun of it (the person will have a big head and small body);p
Shouldnt be an issue when shooting landscapes, you have to know how to manage the composition in some cases when using UWA lenses.
 

Nice pics Caleb! The 2nd one is fantastic and can really feel the warmth of the sunset. To achieve this, I guess you just have to tweak the Tv settings?
 

I find the 17-40 or 16-35 not wide enough (unless you will be intending to go Full Frame). But if you are happy with the 450D or 40D series, I will recommend the 10-22mm.
Distortions are not noticeable, unless your subject stands very close to the camera, I use this at times for the fun of it (the person will have a big head and small body);p
Should be an issue when shooting landscapes, you have to know how to manage the composition in some cases when using UWA lenses.

ic2..well i've used the sigma 10-20 mm on my A100 and i agree there is distortion to a certain extent when i use it for indoors. I'll be shooting mostly either buildings (photographed from a great height) or scenery (forest, mountains, nature..etc) also from a great height. And since its for business puposes, i can't possibly give a distorted image to the client. So if there is distortion, i might opt for using the kit lens or 16-25 or 17-40 and "stitch" the photos, u can do that right? anyone have used the photostitch software from Canon? is it easy to use? or u guys have better software to recommend?
 

Nice pics Caleb! The 2nd one is fantastic and can really feel the warmth of the sunset. To achieve this, I guess you just have to tweak the Tv settings?

You have to underexpose slightly. For landscape I usually shoot on Manual mode and manually underexpose by about one stop. You have to be accurate with your White Balance too. The safest is to shoot RAW - it gives you slightly more leeway with your exposure and white balance, and allows you to correct some things that are not totally within your control. The thing about sunrise is the colour temperature changes drastically as the sun comes up.
 

You have to underexpose slightly. For landscape I usually shoot on Manual mode and manually underexpose by about one stop. You have to be accurate with your White Balance too. The safest is to shoot RAW - it gives you slightly more leeway with your exposure and white balance, and allows you to correct some things that are not totally within your control. The thing about sunrise is the colour temperature changes drastically as the sun comes up.

Thanks. Points taken. :)
 

Hi all,

I might be opting for the 450D kit for my first DSLR. At the moment, I've only almost always used P&S on auto mode. Would be interested in taking shots of dogs and inline skaters in low light conditions (ie. night due to work committments). Do I need to purchase extras lens or flash?

Also, is the Canon450D book a good read for newbies?

Thanks in advanced! :)
 

Hi all,

I might be opting for the 450D kit for my first DSLR. At the moment, I've only almost always used P&S on auto mode. Would be interested in taking shots of dogs and inline skaters in low light conditions (ie. night due to work committments). Do I need to purchase extras lens or flash?

Also, is the Canon450D book a good read for newbies?

Thanks in advanced! :)

You will need a large-aperture lens that can take photos in low light. A cheap and simple option would be getting a 50mm f/1.8. It only costs $130 new, and is useful for portraits and candids, among other things.

Here are some samples shot with the 50mm f/1.8:

Some examples for you:


d70bac1abe61825546b6f8a058b7e474.jpg


15f2abe056afce66a2b398ba47c68bb2.jpg


9183ec3b5ce8837f.jpg
 

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