I received my 40D about 2 weeks ago (?)...shot a few frames at a wedding with it last Saturday (used my 5D 99% of the time) but haven't seen the results yet, besides that I haven't had a chance to use it. And so I finally pulled up some images I shot yesterday (a few quickies of the usual suspects) and my God am I impressed with the IQ...more so than I though I would (Having a 5D and all). Here are a few examples with the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4, I'll post more later. Oh BTW they are practically straight out of the camera...PP=Slight adjustments in DPP+RAW Conversion+Resize. 85 85 50 85 85 Hopefully I get some time soon to really use it.
The second shot is a bit on the warm side, but those are extremely sharp and clear, nice shots too. The 85 and 40D certainly seem to make a good combination.
Thanks, Brett. The second image was taken about 3 minutes before the sun set, it is straight of of camera with AWB. As for sharpness there was no additional enhancement, only in camera set to 4. The only thing I may have done in DPP is push the levels adjustment a tad (right or left depending), other than that these are pretty much how the camera saw them.
It is a nice camera, isn't it. I'm glad you are pleasantly surprised, rather than surprisingly disappointed. -monkey
I'm absolutely loving the perspective on #4, though that's not the camera's doing I think you've got me convinced now, intentional or not. You had to post on payday
Thanks guys, great camera indeed...extremely happy with the purchase (I still think you should get the glass, Eric ). Jamie, Ill make an attempt to get those to you tomorrow...had a long day shooting and am in some serious need of some drinks...very very very stiff drinks.
I really like that last one. His head is almost floating That camera body really retains detail well. And those primes kick ass. The bokeh is silk smooth. Shadows and light are well caught (again). Do you make sure to have the sun a certain place when shooting or? (I know you're not moving the sun but I think you know what I mean ) Now I have to ask: How much of it do you lug around? (sry couldn't help it. /me is slightly jealous of all the fine equipment)
OleJ, Most of these were taken between 5:15-6 while the second image was taken at exactly 7:55 (the sun sets at 8), Note how the quality of light changes significantly. This is the best time of day to shoot IMO (6-8). As for framing I try to position myself where the sun casts a decent amount of shadow on a subject in order to gain some contrast and for the most part I make sure the sun/light source is at my back. As for how much I carry, it all depends on what I plan to shoot. For hikes I generally take my 5D (now both bodies) 24-105, 100-400, 150macro and If I'm feelin frisky possibly one of my primes and a tripod. Its a lot of weight, but I'd rather man up than miss a shot. For a zoo trip I'll pack very light taking only my 40D, 24-105 and 100-400. Right now my bag is packed with both bodies, 24-105, 70-200, 50, 85, 150macro, flash and some other small goodies...this is more or less what I always pack for events and general shooting. Needless to say its a tad heavy/I need a bigger bag
Here are a few more with a 100-400... These are practically 100% crops with some PP (NR, levels etc etc) Eastern Bluebird House Finch
Thanks for the answers Vers Hmm isn't the highlights burned in that 2nd bird shot? Lighting wise and burn-wise that's how an incredible lot of my shots turn out. I think I'll go back to manually taking it down 1/3 stop on my camera. That will hopefully let me get more midrange and better high. The 1st bird shot is beautiful. I love the color contrast.
No, the highlights are not burnt out. The whites/creams may seem a bit hot, but seeing as though I shot both images around 12 in the afternoon it would look that way. Anyhow, thats why I use highlight tone priority in situations such as those.
So HTP really works then? What's it effectively doing, anyways? Surely it's something along the lines of internally knocking down the ISO half a stop or something on the bright end... Is it more effective than just hitting the highlight recovery in PP?
It basically boosts the dynamic range a bit...metering off highlights to make sure they are exposed correctly. It works in some situations, but obviously not in all. If you blow the image of the House Finch up you will see there is absolutely no loss in texture/detail within the light areas of the feathering. It is actually perfectly exposed, just as your eyes would see 'IRL'. Highlight 'recovery' doesn't actually recover full detail/texture rather it automatically tones blow outs down.
Cool thanks for clearing that up. Highlight tone priority you say? Which cameras have this? (I don't remember seeing it in my 350D?)
I believe only updated 1 series, 40D and 450D have HTP. Check this link out if you want more info about it: http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/canon_eos_40D_review_6.html
Thanks for the info. Seems to me that software still isn't really taking full advantage of 12/14-bit RAW to some extent then. Though of course I've no idea how the extra data corresponds to a greater potential dynamic range being captured (ie does 14-bit capture two stops greater range than 12-bit, etc). Well, if it's just black magic... so long as it works, I'm happy.
Some lovely photographs . . . not to take credit away, but helped by the lenses and the subjects. Two little issues with the second dog photo down, it seemed to be a little soft in focus (mainly due to too shallow a depth of field, too big an aperture), and a little too on the warm side. But overall the set is very nice. Quality glass always shows
