350D / Rebel XT - first shots and impressions

Fujifilm XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS

03/18/2005 03:14:59 PM · #1

The Street Seller

The Drinking Man

Imitations

an unedited, 100% crop

My impressions? I'm in seventh heaven, to be honest, particularly with the 50mm 1.8 - used for all but the 'Drinking Man' above, which is with the kit 18-55mm. To be honest, I can't really offer you a comparison - my previous Nikon 5400 was a great little camera (note the unconscious past tense - I just can't imagine using it again), and I've manged to produce some shots I'm pleased with with it, but this beastie just puts the whole process into a different league. It's fast, accurate, with the 50mm 1.8 - well, see the 100% crop for yourself - it's almost presentable as it is, and with a little editing I'm sure it actually would be.

I had an animus against Canon stuff - the hegemony of it, the over-enthusiasm here and in other forums - but I finally decided that that CMOS sensor had to outweigh my reluctance. I have no complaints so far, for sure. One happy photographer.

E

Prof_Fate

03/18/2005 03:21:51 PM · #2

Congratulations! I got my Rebel 300 back in January after using a Fuji S602z for about 16 months, and yeah, i cannot imagine going back!

That little 50mm lens is great. I found this site and they have ratings for almost every lens there is, and the 50mm 1.8 Mk 2 rates a 3.86, right up there in L glass territory. (on a 0-5 scale)

Welcome to the canon side of the fence, where the grass really is greener!

buzzrock

Fujifilm X-M1

03/18/2005 03:22:45 PM · #3

The biggest debate I've seen in various threads seems to be the size.
Just wondering how it feels in your hands?

Kylie

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35

03/18/2005 03:23:14 PM · #4

Now THIS is an example of a GREAT phtogrpaher behind a GREAT camera. Jeezzzzzzzz, I am speechless!

EDIT- oops, this was supposed to be in reference to e301's last post . . . .

Message edited by author 2005-03-18 15:23:49.

fstopopen

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/18/2005 03:24:47 PM · #5

okay, I don't mean to offend by this post. Actually I am heavily considering purchasing a rebel xt next week. To me these pics look a little soft. I am viewing them on my laptop now which tends to do this, but they seem softer than most. Is this because you have set the sharpness/contrast low in order to fix them in PS? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? I guess what I am asking is, does the sensor of the 350D look as sharp as the 20D? By the way, those are amazing pics. I love the drinking man. The light spilling onto him is great.

drake

RickH

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/18/2005 03:29:05 PM · #6

I just got my XT Black body only. I had held it at Best Buy and wasn't very impresses. I really waivered between the 20d and xt. Decided on the XT with another lens and who knows maybe I'll upgrade to 30d when it comes out. Anyway, when I got mine home I was surprised by the build quality and the design. I think the size is perfect. It is very inconspicuous and quiet. With a lens on it the balance is right on and I feel very at home. I had my doubts, but I could not be happier that I chose the XT with a 10-22mm lens over the 20d.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

03/18/2005 03:29:55 PM · #7

Originally posted by Kylie:

Now THIS is an example of a GREAT phtogrpaher behind a GREAT camera. Jeezzzzzzzz, I am speechless!

EDIT- oops, this was supposed to be in reference to e301's last post . . . .

Flatterer ;-) I am quite pleased with them, though.

Tim - i have absolutely no complaints with the feel of it, so far ... but then, it being a brand new thing, I expected it to feel a little strange, to say the least. Things that bug me at the moment:

It's so much heavier than I'm used to - this won't be a problem after a week or so, I suspect.

The strap: I prefer to carry the camera over one shoulder, and the broad non-slip strap is a pain - though easily changed.

That's it, really. I've found it pretty easy to gget the hang of allround - though I should say that I've trained myself out of the habit of using the screen to shoot with my P&S cameras, so it isn't that much of a shock in that sense.

e

marbo

Nikon D5000

03/18/2005 03:31:42 PM · #8

Great shots Ed. I`ll put my money on you to be the first to ribbon with this camera. 21 owners but no challenge entries yet.

03/18/2005 03:33:19 PM · #9

Originally posted by fstopopen:

Your only real reference on that matter is the 100% crop image - that's direct from camera, contrast set to minimum, saturation set to minimum (I think), and in-camera sharpening set to minimum.

E

03/18/2005 03:35:35 PM · #10

Originally posted by marbo:

Great shots Ed. I`ll put my money on you to be the first to ribbon with this camera. 21 owners but no challenge entries yet.

As far as I know, it was first in shops on Monday, so we'd have had to be really really quick with it to get into a challenge that's had results yet ;-)

Bored or Stock will be my first, but I would expect entries before that.

e

fstopopen

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/18/2005 03:35:57 PM · #11

makes sense. Thanks. I didn't mean to be insulting, just wanted to know how good the sensor is. I can't wait to get mine.

drake

ScottK

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

03/18/2005 03:38:33 PM · #12

I went to Best Buy last night and held one. But I had to make them open up a box and take one out - they didn't have it on display yet. So I just felt the body - no lens - and had no power, so couldn't really try it out. My first impression was that it really did feel small. I didn't really expect that, since some had complained the 300D was too small, and it seems just right, or even a little big, to me. So I was sort of expecting that the talk of the 350D might be over stated - but first impression, its not.

I'm going to go back over there at lunch and hopefully they'll have it hooked up with a lens so I can have another go. Hopefully, with a lens it will feel more balanced and full sized.

03/18/2005 03:40:36 PM · #13

Originally posted by fstopopen:

makes sense. Thanks. I didn't mean to be insulting, just wanted to know how good the sensor is. I can't wait to get mine.

drake

FWIW, I agree that the first and third images look soft (camera shake??). The Drinking Man looks fairly sharp and the 100% crop is as good as you will get from a camera costing 4 times as much, IMO.

Message edited by author 2005-03-18 15:40:59.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

03/18/2005 03:50:29 PM · #14

Hmmm ... this is interesting; you see, The Drinking Man looks borderline oversharpened to me, and the other two acceptable - though given the work necessary to bring that statue out from the background in post I'm surprised that it works as well as it did.

I do notice a certain sharpness to my monitor every time I come back to it ... perhaps I should learn to compensate for that?

Are you 'softness' noticers viewing on CRT or TFT screens?

E

peecee

Canon EOS-5D

03/18/2005 03:51:52 PM · #15

Great looking shots Ed, the drinking man is superb.
I personally don't see any problem with the sharpness on the crop, a little tweaking in ps could pick that up I'm sure.
Looks a great camera, I am slightly bias, I have the 1.8 myself and love it.

Paul.

03/18/2005 03:54:16 PM · #16

e,

I'm on an somewhat well calibrated (using tone bars at the bottom of DPC images) CRT. I wouldn't worry about it though. From the looks of that 100% crop the camera is perfectly capable of capturing the best the 50mm lens has to offer.

Prof_Fate

03/18/2005 03:56:22 PM · #17

Originally posted by e301:

The drinkin man looks the sharpest, the last one the softest. What you may find is what you ahve been doing for PP needs changed. My sharpening routine on my Fuji screws up the pics from the rebel. I had an action for color adjustment and other things...now i gotta start all over!

And it never fails - as soon as i think it looks good, the next person to see it points out something obvious that needs tweaked.

03/18/2005 03:59:05 PM · #18

Oh, not worried Brad - not at all. It's interesting to get an idea of what others actually see when they look at one's images, though. I'm having trouble believeing how almost-useable that 100% crop is.

Here's the Drinking Man at 100% - this one's with the kit lens.

Moose101

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

03/18/2005 04:02:38 PM · #19

Congratulations! Nice Shots, can't wait to try mine out got the body but just picked up the 50mm 1.8 about an hour ago, the other lens are in the mail.

Now I'm excited, after seeing a few examples and reading all about this camera (for a man with a budget) you can't go wrong with this one.

Thanks for sharing.

03/18/2005 04:20:06 PM · #20

Originally posted by e301:

Kewl.

e, just for my own curiosity and the benefit of this thread, could you post a 100% crop of the "Street Seller" of the subject's nose/mouth area? This is where I see some softness due either to camera shake or focus being somewhere else (on his sleeve perhaps?).

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/18/2005 04:38:10 PM · #21

By all means :-)

Brad - you're absolutely right. That's something I'm going to have to get used to - with the 5400 and other cameras the exact point of focus wasn't quite as important as that, so long as one was in the approximate area. With the 50mm set at f1.8, and the larger sensor, I'm going to have to be more precise :-)

e

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

03/18/2005 05:46:47 PM · #22

Originally posted by e301:

oh, this is just great...not only does he have a killer camera, he's actually going to start paying attention to what he's doing with it...

;-)