Canon T2i DSLR

For my wife's birthday, I decided that I would spoil her a little by getting her a new camera. Her photography skills are beyond compare and I figured that she deserved to have a better camera at her disposal. She had been using a Canon Rebel XS for a little while and although a decent camera, some of the improvements made in the last couple years really dated her current device.

I settled on the Canon T2i for several reasons. The first and probably most important in my opinion was the transition from 12 bit images to 14 bit images; for the mathematically challenged, that may seem like a small change, but it's the difference between 2^12 number of colours versus 2^14 number of colours. That's an enormous difference for sure. Secondly, the T2i also includes HD video capabilities, at full 1080p resolution, with adjustable frame rates. That feature alone makes this camera far superior to the previous model. Thirdly, the improved speed of autofocus, startup, continuous shooting and more, really improve the camera's user experience.

Looking forward to seeing some more results from this camera, but as it was a gift, I guess I will have to wait and see what my wife will do with it; no doubt it will be amazing!

Update on Wedding Photo Project - Gen and Dave

Well, the wedding was a great success. Elena and I shot a little more than 2500 images (although almost 500 were deleted on site for various reasons) and had a very long, but very productive day. Elena had rented some equipment, more specifically:

• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
• Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L
• Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash

I got to use the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens all day and here are a few things I would like to point out concerning this lens: it is very, very heavy for all day use! It might have been tolerable had the temperature stayed below 38C, but that was not the case. But that was really the only downside!

The image quality is out of this world. The lens is very, very sharp and produces accurate colours in most situations. It is very quick to focus and quiet as well and the IS system is really helpful when trying to handhold this lens for varying situations. I was also surprised by the reasonable minimum focusing distance of this lens, which I expected to be much further than the 1.4m that it focused at.

I got a chance to shoot a few hundred images with the 24-70mm f/2.8L and although I found it very sharp, with great colour as well, it just wasn't a focal length I was really comfortable with and that is an entirely personal thing.

Now we are going through the images, selecting the appropriate ones for the package to hand in to my wife's customer. I'm looking forward to hearing their feedback, but I'm certain they will be blown away!

PS: I've finally seen the final selection of images after some masterful editing and cropping by my very talented wife. I'm blown away and I am certain the clients will fall heads over heels in love with the images.

A new option from Canon

This year, Canon released a new camera that has not received the attention it should have. I'm talking about the new PowerShot D10:

They say that an image is worth a thousand words, and I believe that the above image has a lot to say about Canon's entry into a field that was dominated at the amateur end by Olympus and at the professional end by Nikon. Of course, the D10 is a point and shoot camera and nothing more, but it is designed to be rugged and waterproof, while maintaining Canon's basic PowerShot features.

The D10 is designed with the following parameters:

Waterproof to 10 meters (33 feet)
Shock resistant 1.22 meters (4 feet)
Minimum operating temperature -10 Celsius
Dustproof

This should make it an ideal solution for active people. Personally, I think it's a nice solution for everyday picture taking. Don't get me wrong, it's no replacement for my Canon SLR, but it's got decent functionality, and some pretty good specifications for the price:

Canon PowerShot D10 specifications:

Sensor
• 1/2.3" Type CCD
• 12.1 million effective pixels

Image sizes
• 4000 x 3000
• 4000 x 2248
• 3264 x 2448
• 2592 x 1944
• 1600 x 1200
• 640 x 480
• 320 x 140

Movie clips
• 640 x 480 @ 30fps [L]
• 320 x 240 @ 30fps [M]

Maximum clip length
• Upto 4GB or 1 hour [L or M]

File formats
• JPEG (Exif v2.2)
• DPOF 1.1
• MOV [H.264 + Linear PCM (Monaural)
• WAVE (Sound Files)

Lens
• 35 - 105mm (35mm equiv)
• 3x optical zoom
• F2.8-4.9

Image stabilization
Yes (Lens-Shift)

Digital zoom
up to 4x

Focus
TTL

AF area modes

• Face Detection AiAF / 9 point
• 1-point AF (center or Face Select and Track)

AF lock
Yes (On/Off Selectable)

AF assist lamp Yes

Focus distance
Closest focus distance 3 cm

Metering
• Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame)
• Center-weighted average
• Spot (center or linked to Face Detection)

ISO sensitivity
• Auto
• ISO 80
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
• ISO 800
• ISO 1600

AE lock
Yes (on/off selectable)

Exposure compensation
+/- 2EV in 1/3 stop increments

Shutter speed
15-1/1500 sec

Modes
• Auto
• Scene
• Movie

Scene modes
• Program
• Portrait
• Night Snapshot
• Kids & Pets
• Indoor
• Sunset
• Fireworks
• Long Shutter
• Beach
• Underwater
• Aquarium
• Foliage
• Snow
• ISO 3200
• Digital Macro
• Color Accent
• Color Swap
• Stitch Assist

White balance
• Auto (including Face Detection WB)
• Daylight
• Cloudy
• Tungsten
• Fluorescent
• Fluorescent H
• Custom

Self timer
• 2 or 10sec
• Custom or Face Self Timer

Continuous shooting
• Approx 1.1fps

Image parameters
My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color)

Flash
Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Red-Eye Reduction, Slow Sync
• Face Detection FE compensation
• Flash exposure lock
• Range (30cm - 3.2m (W) / 2m (T)
• External HF-DC1 flash (optional)

LCD monitor
• 2.5" TFT
• 230,000 pixels
• 100% coverage
• Adjustable

Connectivity
• USB Hi-Speed
• AV out (PAL / NTSC switchable)

Storage
• SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus

Power
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-6L

Weight (no batt)
190 g

Dimensions
104 x 67 x 49 mm

After some time with my Canon 40D

I've been using my Canon 40D for a few months now, and I can safely say that I have been extremely satisfied with the performance of this camera. It has performed without any issue for over 5000 shots now, and I keep finding new ways to use it every day. I'm glad that I made the decision for a smaller than full-frame camera body; I find that I enjoy the 1.6x factor on the lens I use. Of course, this does have an effect on the overall width of any wide angle lens that I use, but I did expect that.

I have noticed dust buildup on the sensor, and since I have not yet purchased a cleaning system, I tend to keep my shots at wide open aperture, to reduce the appearance of dust. I highly recommend to every DSLR user to use a nice clear sky to their advantage and take a shot with the aperture shut as tight as possible. The resulting image, when focused on infinity will bring out all dust particles on the image sensor (well, actually, on the filter over the image sensor assembly!). Here is a result, after months of use, with a zoom lens, which acts like a "dust vacuum":


Take a closer look at the image above to see the dust particles, particularly on the top left side of the image. I will need to investigate the various cleaning systems available to clean DSLR image sensors. But that's a topic for another day.

As I mentioned, the 40D has performed without any problems, but this does not mean that there are not things that I might change to improve this already fabulous camera. My number one complaint has to do with the power button, which I find inconveniently placed, and with the two positions, I find myself a little more confused than anything. My second concern is with the placement of the operation buttons below the LCD screen. I find that the buttons have a tendency to get pushed when the camera is worn on a strap. I think that this could be resolved by returning the buttons to the left side of the LCD. I have also sided with others with regards to the LCD itself. It was nice of Canon to include a 3 inch display, but it would have been nice for them to include a high resolution display. As things stand, Nikon's LCD displays are FAR superior, for the same level of camera. In a future version of this camera model, I expect that this will be changed.

I will continue to use this camera with great pleasure, and will comment on further use in the future. Bye for now, I'm off to take some night pictures!

Picked up my camera!!!

My apologies for the lack of posts in the last 2 weeks... But I have some news to report; I've picked up my new camera, courtesy of Henry's in Ottawa!!! After extensive research, I was a little torn between the Rebet XTi and the 40D, but finally decided that the extra expense was worth it, and got the Canon 40D. It's the successor to the very popular Canon 30D, and so far I am very, very impressed!

For those who are familiar with DSLR cameras, the 40D is a real treat! Fabulous construction quality, with a solid feel and weight. And the camera's still OFF!!! Powered up, it's like a sports car; fully loaded with all the options one could possibly want and more. Here is a good shot of the front of the camera:
and the back:

Several very complete technical reviews have been done on this camera, so I will spare you the details, but is still recommended. Here is an image by Canon, providing an inside view of the camera components:

More to follow later!