New Camera

[nikkilouise]

One more post im afraid!

We had Professional Wildlife Photographers Steve and Ann Toon come in to talk to us yesterday about their work and what they do, and they mentioned that with Wildlife photography you should be working with cameras that are at least 10MP

I have a Canon 350D, I got it about 3 years ago and it is a very nice little 8MP camera.
I have been looking at getting a new camera anyway but when they said that I thought it would definately be worth having a look at a different camera.

I have been looking at the Canon 40D and was wondering if I could get your opinions on the camera before I really consider buying it

Thanks

Oh, one more thing, I dont know if its just me having really shaky hands, but every photo I take handheld turns out blurry
Not necessarily when you first look, but when you zoom in they just dont look good at all
I know that canon camera sensors are meant to be more sensitive than others, and someone on my course told me to set the Flash Exposure Compensation 2 stops down, which seemed to make a slight difference but they were still quite blurry.
I try taking photos on other peoples cameras and they always turn out sharp, so I don't know whether it is me, or something to do with the settings on the camera? I cant use a tripod for every photo so I would like to sort it out

[Gaza]

What lens's are you using, and at what length are you photographing at ?
Are your lens's IS ( image stabilized ) ?

[nikkilouise]

Originally Posted by Gaza

What lens's are you using, and at what length are you photographing at ?
Are your lens's IS ( image stabilized ) ?

I'm using a Tamron 18-200 Macro lens and no its not IS
Currently thinking of a new lens aswell though, so you think that could be the problem?

[Gaza]

Depends on the range.
If you are photographing nearer the 18mm end you should be perfectly okay, but if you are shooting nearer the 200mm end, you have to have very steady hands
A lot of photographers can do this, But a lot of photographers will tell you, that you need to use a tri-pod at this length
I tend to use IS lens, as i am not very steady handed. This works well for me
Gaza

[nikkilouise]

Ok then I'll have a look at some more lenses =]
Thanks for your help!

[big bill]

Hello nikkilouise the rule of thgumb for hand held shots with a telephoto zoom is to keep the shutter speed at the same setting as you have the lens ,so say you have the lens at 200mm then your shutter speed should be 200sec or faster to avoid camera shake its nothing to do with needing a new lens.
What you can do is use either a tripod or monopod to give you the extra stability this will allow slower shutter speeds.If hand held increase your shutter if you cannot get a fast enough shutter speed increase your ISO setting until you get a suitable speed ,,hope this helps.
Your other about the Canon 40D its a good enough camera but in the past there was problems with a sticky shutter release do not know if Canon has rectified this fault but it is something to be aware of I have the 400D and its a superb camera

[glsammy]

Not sure why you need 10 megapixel, unless your trying to submit shots to top quality libraries. Your 350D is quite capable of taking excellent shots that will be perfectly good enough to print or view on any computer screen.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Not sure why you need 10 megapixel, unless your trying to submit shots to top quality libraries. Your 350D is quite capable of taking excellent shots that will be perfectly good enough to print or view on any computer screen.

I totally agree!

It's good business for manufacturers to get photographers to join the 'megapixel chase'.

I'm surprised your 'experts' didn't say anything less than 20Meg wasn't worth having!

An 8 Meg camera with a good lens will produce results barely distinguishable from a 10 Meg one with the same lens. You should also be able to get a decent A3 print from it. You'd probably need a magnifying glass to see the difference on a print!

In your case, I would think the limiting factor is the lens. If you want to stick with Canon, get a recognised good lens for the camera and at a later date you can always buy a better body to go with it, and sell the 350D with its original lens.

Jim

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

remember that they are professional wildlife photographers and to them megapixels "do" make a difference. It means less interpolation to get up to larger sizes , more detail for calendars etc and the fact that they are in competition with other pro and amateur wildlife photographers so they have to get every last bit of quality out of their images.
For normal use for prints etc 8mp is more than enough so don't worry about your 350d
The 40d is a great camera and at just over £500 (with canon cashback) it's at a good price too.

neil

[matt_xyz]

I agree with the comments above. You only need more than 8MP if you're planning to submit to stock agencies or if you need to crop your images heavily. It's far more important to work out exactly how to use your 350D, which is a perfectly capable camera. Your images are soft almost certainly because your shutter speed is too slow and/or you're not holding the camera steady. Using some flash can help as it might allow a faster shutter speed but setting the flash exposure compensation (FEC) 2 stops down is simply turning down the intensity of the flash. This will actually lead to a slower shutter speed (compared to using flash without -2 stops FEC), so I'm a bit confused by this.

Lenses are far more important than the camera body, so I'd spend your money on those before buying a new body

Matt