As I mentioned in the Random Photo thread, I am considering a new SLR camera.

I am currently tossing up between a Canon 550D or a Nikon 3100D / 5000D.

Reading the PC Pro review of the Canon, they claim that the high ISO (above 3200) was very noisy and detail was lost. Coming from a film background, I used 100 or 200ASA most of the time with 400ASA for sport photography. My old film camera can cope with a maximum of 1000ASA.

Is this a fundamental difference between film and digital, that they need really high ASA / ISO numbers? Given normal photography, how often would you need such high ISO rates? I would assume, based on film experience, shooting at night with no moon? ;?

My Ixus somehow got stuck on ISO 3200 the other day and the pictures were unusable, as they were just white, no detail no colour (sunny day, where ISO 200 would have been acceptable on a film camera)...

What size of memory card is recommended? And is speed a significant factor? Is it worth the extra money for a super fast memory card?

PC Pro said, that if you don't plan on getting separate lenses, there is no point in getting the kit lens (18-55mm) as the quality isn't good enough for the sensor, or get the EOS 1000D entry level. Does anybody have this (550D/18-55mm) combination and can comment, or are they being overly anal?

What are good quality lenses? Where should I be looking?

I've generally had Canon cameras over the years, but my last SLR was a 2001 EOS 500 film camera.

I still have all my cameras and most of them still work:

Praktica MTL3 (29mm (f.28), 50mm (f1.8), 2x and 3x Telephoto convertor, Macro convertor)
Olympus Camedia C2020Z 2.1MP digital ca. 1995
Canon EOS500 N with 28 - 200 Sigma lens
Canon Sureshot S1
Canon Ixus 110IS

Plus a really old Cacora 80mm camera.

I am guessing, that I would find transferring to the EOS easier than going for a Nikon...

Can I use my Sigma lens with the 550D, is there a convertor? When yes, I would probably buy the 550D with the kit lens and have the Sigma for long range photos - with the Praktica, I found 90% of my photography was done at 300mm, with both teleconvertors connected in series, although I do like doing Macro stuff on the Ixus.

the 55mm of the kit lens seems a little low, but I suppoose it is compensated by additional detail over the Ixus, which means better cropping opportunities, once the photos have been downloaded onto a computer.

Do I need to also invest in Lightroom or Appeture, if I get a DSLR? I use iPhoto and Windows Live Gallery at the moment, but I assume I will need to convert the RAW images into JPG, at least under Windows, before these entry level programs can use the images? Or does the accompanying camera software provide a RAW codec, which allows the OS to access the images natively?

Wow, where do we start?

For memory cards you want to get one that has a write speed same or greater than the camera, otherwise you may be held up when shooting continuously. I've seen that some cards are designed specifically for certain camera models/brands but haven't checked out any of the supplied data to see if it is significant. The size you want will depend on usage, such as whether shooting in RAW or being away from a suitable storage medium for some time. Once you decided on the amount of storage you require then choose how many cards you want it spread over, I'm happy with a single 8Gb but others would prefer 2x4Gb for example.

For software Lightroom rocks, have it for a trial and decide for yourself if it is worth it. I had to find a codec for windows explorer to view RAW files as I don't think it came with the camera supplied software from Nikon, but no big deal really.

There have been the odd occasion that I'd like to have gone higher than 1600 (my 500D will go up to 6400, or 12,800 in software, but what's the point? It's a mess), but that's my upper limit really.
As you say, unless you're likely to be trying shots somewhere very dark, not a huge factor for 90% of the time I'd say.


Just as would probably have happened if you were using the equivalent speed in a film camera.
Hell, if it's sunny, I'd be tempted to go down to 100.



I'd suggest getting a few 4GB cards. They're a convenient size to back up to DVD, and better to have a few cards on a trip, rather than one big one. All your eggs in one basket and all that.
A super fast card is nice if you're intending shooting video, or a lot of burst photography (perhaps if you're covering motor sport?).
I'm not that convinced (at the moment) that a Class 10 card is significantly better than a Class 6 card, certainly not in the bodies you're looking at. Yes, you can look at the numbers and go 'Class 10 has higher I/O than Class 6' but I'm not convinced it translates into the real world. Also, I have a Class 10 card by Transcend - my Class 6 Sandisk cards are faster.
So, simply put, I'd try and stick to a good brand (Sandisk, Samsung, Lexar for instance), and don't worry too much about having a Class 10 card.



I have the 500D 18/55mm combo. The sensor in the 550D is slightly improved, and yes, on my body there are times when it does frustrate. Especially compared to the 50mm. You will get some (minor) distortion at each end of the lens, and it's not especially fast. Chromatic aberration does occur as well the closer to the ends of the lens you get.
However, that in mind, I don't hate it.




It should fit, certainly, but beyond that I can't say! Don't know whether it'll auto focus or not, and remember that you're effectively extending it's range - it'll become similar to a 320mm on a 35mm frame.



Both the Nikon and the Canon will shoot in RAW & JPG, or just JPG, or just RAW. If you don't think you're likely to get into major edits, I think it's quite acceptable to just shoot in the best JPG format and edit in a Photoshop equivalent, like Pixelmator.
As for native RAW support for those cameras under OS X - I think the short answer is yes. Windows I can't say.
Of course, if you're going to get in a little deeper, and want the file management opportunity that something like Lightroom offers, then of course think about getting LR or Aperture (the App Store version seems to be a great deal).


My tuppence worth, I'm sure others will help too.

Thanks guys, that was a good start.

I'll give Lightroom a whirl, I can play around with the 2500 old photos for now...

Alex, thanks for the reassurance on ISO. Given that I took some 1 second exposures, hand held, with the Ixus, I don't think I'll really need the high-end ISO speeds for my general use.

We bought a batch of around 60 Transcend SSDs and I'm not very impressed, so I'd probably stick with Sandisk or another premium brand (we've had to swap out around half of the drives under guarantee, because they keep failing).

If I can get the Sigma to work, that would be useful, although I don't know how good a quality the lens is, when joined with the 550D sensor.

First question is whether you would trust the review of a computer from a camera mag? I'm not saying PC Pro are inaccurate with their findings but get yourself on the tinterweb and check out the photography forums.

You will only need high ISO in low light if you require a fast shutter speed - to capture something moving for example. I seldom use ISO400 and only then to photograph aircraft on a grey/rainy day where the end result is a low contrast flat piccy. Having said that, there are some great noise reduction progs out there (I use Noise Ninja). It's always best to use the lowest ISO setting and have the shutter open longer for night shots - moon or no moon...


Agree with Alex - it's how comfortable you feel with all your eggs in one basket. I use 4Gb Sandisk cards but beware of fleabay examples as they are known to be not genuine


Don't have either of these but the kit lens would be a start would it not? Sometimes it can be cheaper buying the camera and kit lens than body only. There are decent lenses out there (without red rings) and again the photography forums search facility is where you should be headed.


Possibly. Get yourself a cheap card and head to the camera store for some touchy-feely time...


If your Sigma lens was autofocus on the EOS500 N then it should be ok on the 550D - the convertors may not be though. I can't get a 1.4x convertor to work with my 100-400mm lens and they are both Canon made....


I would suggest either certainly but you should get software with the camera for converting RAW files. Lightroom would be my first choice but as with all software, different progs tend to leapfrog each other with features as they are updated.

Just remember this decision is likely to determine what make you stick to in the future, having invested in all the best glass..... All the best with your choice.

Al

The Canon will come with Digital Photo Professional software (Canon's own RAW software).
I can't say I use it myself as I tend to go for Photoshop + Camera Raw. I'd certainly give Lightroom or Aperture a try but my Mac is a little on the creaky side to try the latest versions.
Apple seems to be pretty good at keeping its converters reasonably up to date in OS X so that you can use Quicklook even on RAW files (the CR2 files from my 50D work in 10.5.8 without any problems).

I'd have a look at the reviews of the cameras your thinking of on DPReview. For example - EOS 550D Review. It'll be a lot more comprehensive than the PCPro one.

A thumbs up for SanDisk memory cards here. I've got a couple of 8GB cards and they can hold about 290 (RAW + L/Fine JPEG's) images (15MP) which I suspect is more than I could take with the full charge of the battery. If you do lots of sports/burst photography then having a larger card that won't fill up too quickly is a bonus but it's still a good idea to get a couple so you can swap them out. A quick look at the dpreview review of the 550D shows they were able to shoot at the cameras maximum (3.7 fps) in Large/Fine JPEG pretty much continuously when they used a SanDisk Extreme III 8GB SDHC card (3.4 fps for 5/6 shots then about 1 fps in RAW with the same card).

I'd defintely worth going to a shop and having an actual try of the cameras. As Al points out it's worth taking your own memory card with you. I tried out a 50D in John Lewis and they had a 32MB card in it . Next to useless at anything but the lowest settings.

Just in case you werent aware the Canon 600D and Nikon D5100 are both out now

Also just a little shout out for the largely ignored Pentax K-r. The specification for the money is very good and the kit 18-55 is said to be a better construction than those included in some competitors bundles (metal mount, non-roatating front element). There's a review here: http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/ ... onclusion/ and on WarehouseExpress for a bit less than the Canon 550D you get the K-r, 18-55 and 50-200 lenses. And of course in body shake reduction means all your lenses benefit.

Memory cards: I use this in a 14MP DSLR and it's spot on CLICKY

Grr! I was just thinking that the 550D had been out nearly a year and I wonder when they will release the next version...

The 600D came out in Feb.

Read a good long review of the 600D, apart from the hinged screen and some advanced post-processing features, it doesn't seem to offer much over the 550D.

Looking at the 550D with 18-55 and 55-250 lenses and the 600D with the same lenses, the 600D costs a third more. For a hinged display and a couple of extra trickery options, I'd probably never use, I'm thinking of going for the 550D option.

Having looked at the Nikons, I think I will be more comfortable with the Canon, as I already know the basics of the Canon interface.

If you can, go to a local shop and have a fiddle. See how they feel to use.

Will try and get to a store at the weekend. Nearest electronics store which has a good range of cameras is about half an hours drive away, in the opposite direction to work.

Had a play wth an EOS550D, with different lenses and a Nikon 5100. The salesman showed me a lovely macro lens for the Nikon, which cost an extra 500€ or so 90mm fixed focal length, the images were stunning...

But using the two side by side, the Nikon felt better in the hand, but the controls felt more awkward to use. The EOS is much lighter, but the quick selection of ISO speed etc. made it much more intuitive; probably party due to me having had a SureShot S1 and an Ixus as previous cameras.

After much umming and ahhing, I finally went for the EOS550D body plus a Sigma 18-255mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS lens. That should cover most of the bases. The battery is charged and I've made a bunch of test pictures in the garden, now going through them. Some look stunning, but getting a lot of "average" images, compared to the Ixus, but I guess / hope that the number of good images will climb as I get used to the camera...

It didn't help that I strained my achille's tendon climbing the steps in the back garden, so I'm limping a bit and not as flexible as I would like to be, for getting in close. That said, got a nice picture of a ladybird on the apple tree... I didn't even see him, until I uploaded the picture and then zoomed in to look at the detail.

Edit: Got a bit further through the photo set and the clarity and detail is stunning on most of the shots I'm now looking at! Well worth the money.

Hmm, not impressed with the Canon software. The raw image editing tool can't load the raw images produced by the 550D!

I de-installed the Mac software and I'm back to using iPhoto, which displays the RAW images just fine. The same pretty much on Windows, I'm using Live Gallery. It can't display the RAW files, but there again neither can the Canon software.

I will have a look at Lightroom later - I will probaby go with Lightroom over Apeture, because it runs on my Windows PC, which is several times faster than the iMac, which also seems to be on a go-slow at the moment.

Edit: Hmm the price of Lightroom is horrendous, for a hobby photographer...

Looks like I'll have the option of buying Apeture cheap through the Apple Store and running at it as snails pace or fork out a small fortune for Lightroom to run it at a decent pace...

Question: Lightroom is for Window & Mac (1 CD, 1 licence). Does that work like the CS3 suite? 1 copy for work, 1 copy for home / laptop? I could, theoretically install it on the iMac and my Windows laptop...

First EOS550D test von wright_is auf Flickr

One of the first photos I made with the EOS550D

Tried Lightroom, but it doesn't seem to offer much that Live Gallery or iPhoto don't offer, apart from working directly with RAW files. It was much easier to quit Lightroom and create an Export for Flickr manually than to try and fathom out what the hell Lightroom was trying to do - I thought I had configured it, but it only seemed to want to upload the full sized RAW file to Flickr... I'll give it another try, when I have some time.