New Canon 400D

Words · #1 (**permalink**) 29-12-2006, 11:33 AM

Well I bit the bullet and got myself a Canon 400D with the EF 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 DO IS lens. Now all I need is some dry weather to give it a decent workout! First impression? God it weighs a ton! No wonder everyone here bangs on about tripods.

As for the camera, I'm getting used to having to do more than with my Canon S2. Things like manual zoom, and having to dig into menus more frequently to tweak certain settings. I'm beginning to find some customized pre-sets though which will speed things up. The overall size/balance seems fine (I haven't tried the battery grip yet). I'm not keen on the use of the flash/strobe for the AF assist beam but I've yet to see how it will affect the foxes. I'm usually close enough to get a quick fix so it may not be a problem. Daylight focusing is excellent.

The weather's conspired to make it impossible to get any decent test shots to show off the lens, but even in the murk it seems to perform well (and will be a heckuva lot better when I learn how to use it properly). I've included a few sample shots.

Ollie · #2 (**permalink**) 29-12-2006, 01:54 PM

Congratulations on the new purchase Words, you won't regret it and they are very good shots for first time and murky weather like we have at the moment. Having to zoom the lens yourself was one of the things I found strange the first time I used a DSLR but it's something you soon get used to. Sure once you have had a few weeks to get used to things you will be well pleased with it.
Roger

Words · #3 (**permalink**) 30-12-2006, 10:29 PM

Thanks Ollie. I'm hoping to get a proper chance tomorrow to try it out. Slightly better forecast for the morning. But I've spent plenty of time reading the manual, and trying out a few of the settings. I'm still debating whether to shoot in RAW or not, but so far I'm fairly happy with the jpegs that it produces.

I was pleased with this handheld shot of the moon tonight.

ReynoImages · #4 (**permalink**) 31-12-2006, 01:48 PM

Loving the moon shot. How are you getting on with the 400D?

Words · #5 (**permalink**) 31-12-2006, 02:30 PM

Hi Reyno,

How am I getting on? Well I've negotiated the lower slopes of the learning curve (I think).

I spent this morning playing around with the AI servo mode to track gulls, with some success (for me anyway). I've also reverted back to using RAW only for now. The software that comes with it is pretty quick for selecting keepers/trash before doing any processing, and the standard jpgs it produces are decent.

Other things I've started experimenting with are using the manual focusing (great for getting at that small bird behind a mess of twigs), and settings. Current pet-hate is the AF assist beam (the flash unit) which will frighten any animal in a half mile radius. So have switched that off!

The 70-300 DO lens is great to use, though I've not got much to compare it with. The one drawback (which would have been worse with the 100-400L) is that you can't get physically close to what you're shooting. So I reckon I'll need to get another lens in the 28-70 range if I want to stroke the foxes while I photograph them

Gull taken this morning...