Canon 50d and 17-55 f2.8 IS lens pics

[dk]

Well, went out in Marlow this morning to test out the new camera and lens, all the pics were taken within 10 minute walk from my apartment.

When I got back I was a little nervous, have spent a lot of money on this kit and needed to get used to it for my trip to peru on thursday and also didn't need a dodgy lens or camera.

So while I had my lunch I played them on my laptop, thought I would use vista's slideshow, big mistake, nearly started crying when all the pics looked terrible, all soft and out of focus and really looked bad. Was wondering what i should do, try another lens to rule out the body etc. I just decided to view a single one in the picture viewer and i looked fine, looked at all the others and they were all fine too, so point to note, never use vista slideshow to view your photos, its s**t!

Anyway, please let me know what you think, be as critical as you like, need the feedback etc. I am normally a motorsport and portrait photographer so am not used to taking scenery.

Bigger sizes can be seen here:

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/davidkn/Canon 50d 1755 2 8 IS Marlow 08/

Is this Marlow or Barbados? Very wierd, never noticed these before in the village centre.

 

[ukaskew]

The close-up of the swans head/beak is as good a test as any, and on viewing the full size image it doesn't look like you have anything to worry about from a technical point of view (I assume if anything Photobucket makes things a whole lot worse anyway)

Are you using a CP Filter? Skies look lovely, nice deep blues which I imagine will be quite important where you are going.

Hard for to comment on the general pics, not something I would normally shoot either, but they all seem fine to me, nothing obviously wrong with composition or anything.

 

[Clart]

whilst they are all ok photos, i dont think any of them scream "expensive kit" and tbh could probably have been taken on a much cheaper setup. I think you need some better subject matter to test to equipment.

IMO of course!

 

[dk]

yeah, the swans head was a difficult one, he kept bloody moving it for a start plus with only 55 i was struggling to get close enough to fill the frame, as we all know those things can get pretty vicious if you annoy them so I didn't want to get too close. If I was taking a shot like that normally I would be using the 70-200 F4L anyway so would be much further back, I had to crop this shot a little.

I am using a Hoya purple UV filter, was told not to bother with a digital one as they don't make enough of a difference to warrant the extra money. Have to say, I too was impressed by the blue sky's, they have really come out nice.

Thanks for the feedback, I know the pictures aren't really that interesting but it was just an hour walk around town really to get used to the newweight and options etc.

Must say, am happy with the camera, the AF is much better than the 350d, i feel more confident with the camera, I was using it on AV mode and had it on auto ISO ( a god send IMO) and just messed with the aperteur and metering etc.

Got to try out the 10-22 now and also see what i can get out of the 70-200 too before i go so that i am confident with all three lenses. I don't think I am going to take the 50mm with me, will just have too much choise then, was considering not even taking the 70-200 but i'm sure that if i don't i'll need the extra reach, will mostly be using the 17-55 though and then the 10-22 for the landscape shots of macchu picchu.

 

[dk]

whilst they are all ok photos, i dont think any of them scream "expensive kit" and tbh could probably have been taken on a much cheaper setup. I think you need some better subject matter to test to equipment.

IMO of course!

i totally agree, just couldn't think of anywhere to go this morning so walked into town, the real chance will be peru.

Just wanted feedback on composition and whether i am using my DOF correctly etc.

I promise to come back with more interesting photos in 2 weeks, and lets face it, if I can't do it there, I have no chance and have wasted my money!

I really wanted to take pics of people, but i had no-one with me and i felt like a poedophile along the river as it was with kids playing around etc and i couldn't muster up the courage to ask people sitting on park benches if I could take their pictures etc.

Also, really, the way the 50d and this lens shine are in low light conditions, not daylight, i was amazed at the shot i was able to take last night when it was 7:30 and nearly dark, the camera and lens combo definitely shon then.

 

[Tigger]

Lovely photos mate

How do you do this one?

I like the way the background is out of focus but the post is really sharp - I've tried similar things with more frustration than luck lol

 

[dk]

thanks!

the post is what is known as Depth of Field (DOF)

This is where you focus on an object but the focus area is very small, so anything behind or in front of the object falls out of focus. On the camera, you need to set the aperture to a low number, the lower the number the shallower the focus are, the higher the number, the more that will be in focus on the photo.

So for things like landscapes where you want everything visible to be in focus you set a high number menaing the DOF is very wide so things closer to the lens and far away are both in focus (this is the f number you see on the camera, normally can be set between 2.8 and 22). I think that post was taken using an f number of 5.6, it will depend on the lens as to how low you can go. So my 5.6 meant that when i focused on the post, anything that was infront of it (which was nothing in this case) or behind it (the swans and ducks in this case) would be out of focus. Had I taken the same shot with an f number of say 22 everything in the picture would be in focus. I took one at 2.8 too and the rear was even more out of focus but i prefered this one.

I'm not very good at explaining it but have a look at this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

Oh and ofcourse, take a look at the resident photography guide which also explains it well

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=192165

 

[Tigger]

You got it in one mate, thanks
Trial and error is the best way it seems

 

[MaLicE]

dont use auto iso... it can be soooo hit and miss, learn to understand what iso you need it on... you will be pissed if it wacks it to 1600iso on a image you want to look crisp and sharp... then you get home and its grainy as fook, its really not hard to work out, and if your out shooting for an hour or so, really you shouldnt need to change the iso that much, on a day like that where is nice weather with a good light source stick it on 100 or 200 something low... if you need it faster then bump it up a bit, but you really should be able to work it out fairly easy and it is something i would want to be in control of!

 

[Andy.]

I think auto ISO only goes up to 800.. could be wrong though.

It is easy to change it though, just spend a couple of extra seconds to check what settings you have on, WB, ISO, etc etc. It becomes a habit and before you know it, no more mistakes. Auto WB is another one to move away from if you are only shooting JPG and not RAW with PP. Manual settings nearly always get better results for me for WB.

 

[Anim@l]

whilst they are all ok photos, i dont think any of them scream "expensive kit" and tbh could probably have been taken on a much cheaper setup. I think you need some better subject matter to test to equipment.

IMO of course!

Totally agree. They are all ok. Tbh, I would probably struggle for inspiration around my local area, but they are all good test shots. I personally never leave home without my Hoya CP's. Also invested in some different grads for a Cokin filter holder. 0.3, 0.6 & 0.9, hard and soft and they to avoid blown out highlights. Now they are a godsend! I wouldn't use auto ISO either tbh, 100 or 200 would have been fine for days like today. Would love to go to Peru at some point and will be very interested to see your pics of Machu Pichu.

 

[dk]

whilst they are all ok photos, i dont think any of them scream "expensive kit" and tbh could probably have been taken on a much cheaper setup. I think you need some better subject matter to test to equipment.

IMO of course!

Totally agree. They are all ok. Tbh, I would probably struggle for inspiration around my local area, but they are all good test shots. I personally never leave home without my Hoya CP's. Also invested in some different grads for a Cokin filter holder. 0.3, 0.6 & 0.9, hard and soft and they to avoid blown out highlights. Now they are a godsend! I wouldn't use auto ISO either tbh, 100 or 200 would have been fine for days like today. Would love to go to Peru at some point and will be very interested to see your pics of Machu Pichu.

yeah, no pressure, this is the only time i will ever go in my lifetime i am guessing so i NEED to get some bloody good shots, will be testing out the 10-22 and knowing my luck it will be raining so i won't get anything. Luckily we are going twice, once in the afternoon for sunset and then again very early the next morning to get there before the main tourist rush.

The Auto ISO thing, I know what you guys are saying but its something I keep bloody forgetting to set, so i have had days where i have been out in sunlight and shot at 800 because i forgot to change it.

The auto iso goes up to 1600 on the 50d, but having said that, at 1600, the pictures are still bloody good, the noise is not that bad at all.

Since getting the 50d, I am messing a lot more with the settings though like the metering etc.

I do tend to keep it on auto iso and AWB at the moment, don't want to run before i can walk, will get a lot of use out of it in peru so hopefully that will give me time to get used to going fully manual, i was very much an auto everything man with my 350d.

One thing I do love is the rear screen though, it is SOOOOOOOO good with 920k res, such a difference from the pokey thing you get on the 350d, you can actually use it to see if your shots are any good, and liveview could come in handy once in a while being a short ass too, it works quite well but seems wierd using it like its a step backwards towards PAS, anyway, only used it once and don't intend to use it often, just when the need arises.

thanks for the advice though guys, it all helps!

 

[dk]

I think auto ISO only goes up to 800.. could be wrong though.

It is easy to change it though, just spend a couple of extra seconds to check what settings you have on, WB, ISO, etc etc. It becomes a habit and before you know it, no more mistakes. Auto WB is another one to move away from if you are only shooting JPG and not RAW with PP. Manual settings nearly always get better results for me for WB.

hmm, was considering shooting JPG and RAW as i am starting to get into a bit of photoshop work, never edited my photos before but the only problem is that with 15mp the RAW pics are 25-30mb a shot, plus the JPG at 5mb means my cards will be used up way too quickly on a trip like this.

I'm taking 1x2gb and 2x4gb, which I am hoping will be enough with just JPG!

 

[unofficialPete]

Be selective about what you shoot with, oh and buy more memory, its cheap. I've always shot in RAW just in case when going on 'shoots'. I've been able to go back and do amazing things that I couldn't do at the time that wouldn't be possible with Jpeg. Just turn on RAW when you're waiting to shoot something really special.


p.s. great combo, played with it in Jessops the other day, need to shift some primes to get the 17-55 for my 40D.

 

[Clart]

tbh DK, if you've never edited photos you are missing out on A LOT! Get a copy of CS3 and you can easily make dull photos seem a lot more interesting.

 

[Bash]

Nice DK its all about Marlow Best Kept Village!

 

[dk]

i have bought more memory, only had a 2gb with my 350d, have bought 2x 4gb for the trip which should 'hopefully' arrive tomorrow.

I am taking my laptop though so i 'should' be ableto transfer most of them while i am there to free it up.

Will probably take raw at certain points like you said, can't wait to get all the really colourful clothes they wear, but also very nervous that i will mess it up!

 

[dk]

tbh DK, if you've never edited photos you are missing out on A LOT! Get a copy of CS3 and you can easily make dull photos seem a lot more interesting.

i've got elements 6 on my vaio so started using it yesterday, have just started reading a 450 page ebook on how to use it, thought i would start with that as it seems to have most of the option cs3 (or CS4 now) has for digital photography.

I have always just relied on the bare photo before, not even cropped anything before either.

 

[dk]

Nice DK its all about Marlow Best Kept Village!

I didn't include the years below, but they have won it quite often! last one was last year.

People have been saying they are boring, which i can understnad, but considering this was all shot a 10 minute walk from my apartment, theres probably not many people that could come up with such a variety of shots like that subject matter i doubt, i am lucky.

Just need to get more edgy and move outside of the old comfort zone!

 

[Bash]

Well you could of taken more pictures of the sheer amount of fit girls that go out in Marlow on Friday and Saturday night but the swan will do for now. The reason why Marlow is the best kept village is because they have more bins then people.WTF every 3 meters there is a bin!

 

[dk]

lol, never really noticed, although its a good thing to have bins, does my head in when i am in london and have to carry my s**t around as they have no bins.

 

[ukaskew]

yeah, no pressure, this is the only time i will ever go in my lifetime i am guessing so i NEED to get some bloody good shots!

Some people like doing this and others don't, but for a bit of inspiration check out some Peru pics on somewhere like Flickr, at the very least it may give you some inspiration or some slightly odd ideas you may not have thought of.

 

[dk]

yeah, no pressure, this is the only time i will ever go in my lifetime i am guessing so i NEED to get some bloody good shots!

Some people like doing this and others don't, but for a bit of inspiration check out some Peru pics on somewhere like Flickr, at the very least it may give you some inspiration or some slightly odd ideas you may not have thought of.

cheers ears, although some of those are bloody good and now i don't think i am up to the challenge!

There are 35 of us going and I know of about 5 keen photographers going so I know there is going to be plenty of competition, one of the guys has jsut bought a D700, flash git.

 

[Rasclart]

Dont get a hard on about beating other people DK. Photography is meant to be enjoyable mate, just take the pics you like and have fun rather than trying to compete.

 

[Clart]

i think DK's camera has become an extension of his (tiny) penis

 

[Anim@l]

Yeah, as said, have a look at some pics for inspiration. I did when I first started taking landscape shots and it helped a lot. The camera used is only as good as the person taking the shots imo and for all the shots that I have taken that I love, I have taken 30-50 or more that have been poor. I know for sure that I am my worst critic! Don't get me wrong DK, but it sounds to me that you are already expecting to possibly fail, in your opinion. The times I've expected that, I have!

Just go over there, have a great time, relax, take it all in and you will find that getting good photos just seems to flow. Sorry, sounds really corny and cliche as I'm typing this, but when I go out on a photoshoot with high expectations or aims of getting top quality images, I end up with nothing much in the way of results. Just a couple of my thoughts anyway, hope it helps.

 

[dk]

i'm going for the shoot s**t loads to get a decent few, have 14gb of cards now so can shoot around 2000 in jpg, might do a few raw, going from jpg to raw+jpg takes a 4gb card down from 590 to 130 though so a big difference, will just do raw on the important ones i think.

I am normally all right before a shoot but the combination of a fantastic location, new camera and new lenses has just loaded the pressure, don't want to have spent 2k+ on equipment to have me fail etc. I'm just not confident enough with the new stuff like i was with my trusty 350d, kit lens and 70-200 only having this lot for a week and not having even tried the 10-22 and the 70-200 on the new body yet..

If I shoot enough i'm sure i'll get something decent though, just after a single keeper of Machu to blow up and mount really for a talking point in the lounge to go opposite my NY night shot i'm so proud of.

Again, thanks for the advice, just got to get out there and do it now!

 

[bully]

Nice DK its all about Marlow Best Kept Village!

I didn't include the years below, but they have won it quite often! last one was last year.

People have been saying they are boring, which i can understnad, but considering this was all shot a 10 minute walk from my apartment, theres probably not many people that could come up with such a variety of shots like that subject matter i doubt, i am lucky.

Just need to get more edgy and move outside of the old comfort zone!

Some sound test photos there DK, the more you use it the better you will get and get an eye for pics too. Im still a useless cnut as im too lazy to get stuck in. I am one of those people who could come up with a variety of shots 10 mins from my gaff....but im too lazy ;-)

Looking forward to your Peru shots, you seem to be putting pressure on yourself...just chill mate. Who cares if you only get one awesome pic out of 1000? Thats all you need.

Enjoy.

 

[McBunny]

i want to go to peru the wife mentioned about going for my 30th but we shall see

 

[ukaskew]

Looking forward to your Peru shots, you seem to be putting pressure on yourself...just chill mate.

I agree, for my last New York trip I would say I spent about one hour in total over the week with my camera out actually taking photos, and most were a case of seeing a potential pic coming up, getting the camera out whilst walking, standing still for a second, grabbing a shot and then catching the missus up. I rarely actually got the camera out, and never bothered spending more than a few seconds (mainly for the night shots) 'setting them up' (which consisted of finding a hard surface to put the camera on).

It was a holiday most importantly, but I had my camera by my side just incase, and I think my photos were the better for it.

 

[dk]

i'm definitely going to enjoy it, a guy I am going with has spent 10k this month on a d700 and some lenses he reckons (something like 17-24, 24-70 and then 70-300 plus a flash, bag and tripod etc), so at least there will be more pressure on him to get the best pics. Quite like a bit of healthy competition, and if my pics are s**t and his are great, I will just nab his and shoe them to the family as if they are mine

 

[Revels]

Its all very well spending lots of money, but "all the gear, no idea" comes to mind. Obviously he might have been doing it for years but £10k is a major chuck to blow in month for a non-pro, well it is to me anyway.

You could give me all £10k's worth and give Chris a D40 with a kit lens and im sure he'd take better pictures.

There comes a point where talent over-rides what you can spend.

You dont take a bad pic, Dave. I wouldnt worry about trying to compete, just enjoy yourself and see how your pics come out.

 

[dk]

hes one of those rich sales people at work (probably earns well into 6 figures) so just fancied a new camera this month, not sure if hes even had a DSLR before.

 

[Clart]

10k? i doubt that. A D700 is only £1600

 

[dk]

well, he showed me his insurance hes taken out and its for 10k, he has a few lenses though (more than what i said), a decent flash etc and some fancy filters.

 

[MaLicE]

lol u could get a d3, a 200-400f4 70-200f2.8 a 10-20sigma a 30mm f1.4 and a 50mm f1.8 and a sb900 for under 10k!!!

 

[bully]

Any rat on the trip? pics if there is please....as long as its decent.

 

[dk]

Any rat on the trip? pics if there is please....as long as its decent.

lol, certainly is, probably the 4-5 fittest girls of the company are going, ages between 19 and about 26.

I'll see what i can do, theres no real beach time though (were are up mountains don't forget) and one of them's fiance is going, booooooooo.