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Two Blues and a Red Bird

  

Category:  Photography & Art

Via:  a-macarthur  •  11 years ago  •  11 comments

Two Blues and a Red Bird

6790_discussions.jpg Blue Jay Portrait #1 ( A. Mac)

6791_discussions.jpg Blue Jay Portrait #2 ( A. Mac)

6792_discussions.jpg Cardinal Female ( A. Mac)

One of those lucky (photo) days.


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A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

Just one of those lucky days.

Click on the pic for best view.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago
Where the hell is everyone?
 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

Really! Does everyone have me on "ignore"?

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   Kavika     11 years ago

I'm here Mac, and no your not on ignore. I sometime put myself on ignore but never you.Smile.gif

Love the photos.

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Expert
link   Perrie Halpern R.A.    11 years ago

Hi Mac,

I don't think you are on ignore. I count 22 views and only 10 comments, so maybe people are just dropping by and not posting.

I love your first shot. He has quite the expression on him!

 
 
 
Neetu2
Freshman Silent
link   Neetu2    11 years ago

What a thoughtful-looking blue jay we have here! Really impressed me. Thanks for sharing these, Mac - great images, as always!Smile.gif

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

Mike,

This is a link to used Canon Xti DSLRs in various used conditions

...

For the 18-55 lens, again used

I think the zoom lens may be 75mm - 300 rather than 70mm-300, but check to see

Canon makes a number of battery chargers check if yours is here (did you get a battery as well I hope so)

...

This will give you some idea based on condition, how close you are on price.

With a 10 Megapixel camera, you will want a memory card (or several) that are more than 1 GB depending on whether you shoot large jpegs or smaller ones.

Naturally, if/when you obtain these items, assuming they are all functional and clean, it will be a good starting outfit for digital photography beyond point and shoot.

Any help or information I can provide regarding photography, you can feel free to ask; I'll be happy to help if I can.

See if this is the camera you're considering.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

Thanks for coming by -- I was beginning to get concerned.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

EOSRebel XTi 400D.

Let me check some used prices for that an see if there's a review.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

What's the performance difference in the 70mm-300 and the 75mm you mentioned to check on

Sorry in fact Canon does make several 70-300 lenses. But I can't tell from the picture which one is in your package.

The EF 70-300mm lens is a telephoto zoom lens made by Canon Inc. The lens has an EF mount to work with the EOS line of cameras.

Three Canon EF telephoto zoom lenses carry the 70-300mm designation. These are the EF 70-300mm f /4.5-5.6 DO IS USM , EF 70-300mm f /4-5.6L IS USM and the EF 70-300mm f /4-5.6 IS USM . All versions offer IS and USM and have nearly the same maximum aperture of 4/4.5 to 5.6 over their entire focal range . The optics of the Canon EF 70300mm f/45.6 L USM lens include 19 elements in 14 groups, two of which are ultra-low dispersion (UD) glass.

I have lenses with image stabilization capability but I never use the feature; I prefer to do all my shooting on a tripod rather than hand-held. I recommend a tripod always.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
link   seeder  A. Macarthur    11 years ago

Mike, for comparison

...

And this package doesn't seem to include the 70-300 lens.

Canon EOS Rebel XTi / 400D Review

With each iteration of the Digital Rebel family, Canon raises the bar on image quality and camera features while lowering the introductory price . This iteration brings us the Canon EOS Rebel XTi / 400D, an entry level-priced DSLR with professional level image quality and capabilities. The EOS Digital Rebel XTi (USA), EOS Digital Kiss X (Japan) and EOS 400D (everywhere else) is easy enough for a beginner to use but powerful enough to get the job done for many professionals. In 18 months, Canon sold 1.2 million 350D/Rebel XT DSLRs . The 400D/XTi will take its place in the market. Note: Canon seldom discontinues updated DSLRs when new models come out. The old models are reduced in price for a period of time - and then become unavailable.

XTi Top View

Leading the XTi's improvements list is the brand new Canon-designed 10.1 megapixel CMOS image sensor . Since this sensor retains the same format size ( 1.6x FOVCF ), a more-dense pixel spacing is required. A denser sensor often results in lower image quality per pixel - and more noise. While the XTi does not deliver not the ultimate low light performance - its high ISO results are good . To accomplish this result, spacing between the on-chip microlenses is now approximately half that of its predecessor. A higher percentage of each pixels surface area is now sensitive to light. The output amplifiers have also been optimized. The second-generation, on-chip noise reduction circuit minimizes random noise and removes fixed-pattern noise. Canon digital SLRs have been renowned for their clean high ISO results. And, the new 400D is looking very good from this perspective. Remember, to properly compare ISO noise levels, the comparison exposures must be identical. The following images were shot in RAW format, output to 16-bit TIFF files, cropped & combined in Photoshop and saved as a very high quality JPEG image.

Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi ISO Noise Compared to the EOS 30D

Any differences in results above are not enough for me to be concerned with - I'll take the extra resolution. Use the extra resolution for improved image quality/detail - or to have more headroom for cropping. The denser pixel placement results in greater reach for your lenses (when cropping down to a lower resolution-equivalent image) - Wildlife photographers understand this well - think feather detail from farther away. The only downside I can see is that the denser pixel placement demands more from lenses in term of optical quality. In actual use, the additional resolution is visible, but it is not vastly different . I'll definitely take it, but I'm not sure it is reason enough alone to justify an upgrade from one of the 8.x megapixel DSLRs for most people. Use the mouseover feature on the following pages to see the 400D/Rebel XTi's extra resolution over the 30D's 8.2 megapixel sensor...

30D / 400D Resolution Comparison using Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens
30D / 400D Resolution Comparison using Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Lens

The above link shows the same crop sizes (700x250 pixels) taken from nearly identically framed images. There is about a 1% difference in the actual framing of the sample shots due to what the respective LCD panels show during image review. The 400D/XTi LCD shows about 99% of the image, the 30D shows about 98%. None of these figures are enough to matter.

This newly-designed sensor has another benefit - it shows less vignetting . Apparently the new microlenses with their tighter spacing are better-capturing angular light than the previous design. Use the mouseovers on the following links to see the difference.

30D / 400D Vignetting Comparison - EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS Lens
30D / 400D Vignetting Comparison - EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Lens

The dust shaker ... Sitting on top of the new sensor is another of the Canon EOS Rebel XTi / 400D's major improvements - a self-cleaning, sensor-sealing low-pass filter . Canon has attached an ultrasonic vibrating unit directly to the low-pass filter - negating the need for additional potentially-image-degrading glass in the optical path. Shaken-off dust adheres to a dust-holding material surrounding the low-pass filter - preventing it from getting back on the sensor. I wonder - does this material ever fill up? An indicator appears on the LCD while this cleaning is taking place and a faint noise can be heard. The 400D/XTi user has full control over the timing of the sensor cleaning with the default being very logical - at startup and at shutdown.

As all of Canon's Digital SLRs are designed to be shooting-priority (if you press the shutter button, the camera immediately readies itself to take a picture), the sensor cleaning can be interrupted at any time to catch a shot. The frequent cleaning prevents some dust from becoming sticky - which requires a manual cleaning procedure.

I currently get more email regarding sensor cleaning than any other specific question. If this works as advertised, the self-cleaning sensor feature is going to be greatly appreciated by everyone. I say "If" because I will need a longer period of time to draw my own conclusions - I am not anxious enough to evaluate this feature to purposefully let dust into my camera.

Ironically, my 400D/Rebel XTi came with the dirtiest-from-the-factory sensor I have seen yet. And no, the self-cleaning sensor didn't make a difference. After using the XTi for a reasonable period of time, I will say I have noticeably less dust on my sensor but the system is not perfect.

The XTi implements a secondary dust-fighting feature that Canon refers to as " Dust Delete Data Detection ". DDDD uses an OOF (out of focus), narrow aperture photo of white paper (or anything similar) to determine where unshakeable dust remains. It then maps the dust out of the resulting images. This is certainly not as elegant of a solution as the self-cleaning sensor, but it is available. Of course, the good old fashion manual methods of sensor cleaning can still be implemented to remove this stubborn dust.

Canon EOS Rebel XTi / 400D Back View

Yet another major change (improvement) in the XTi revolves around the new, larger, brighter, 2.5" LCD display. The new LCD is 40% brighter than Canon's prior 2.5" LCD displays featured in the 1D II N, 5D and 30D and features a wide 160 viewing angle. The LCD is definitely nice, but at the highest brightness settings (brightness level is set using a menu option), gamma is increased enough to make exposure hard to determine. Use the histogram for this purpose.

If you look at the back of the Canon EOS 350D/Rebel XT and visualize the 1.8" LCD being replaced by a 2.5" LCD without changing the body size, you quickly see a problem. There is no room. To resolve this issue, Canon removed the monochrome LCD panel and moved its functionality to the main color LCD. Current settings are now displayed in a black-on-white format on the 2.5" LCD. The XTi takes advantage of the additional available LCD real estate by displaying more information than the XT's mono LCD displayed. It didn't take me long to get used to the new display - and I like it better than the 350D/Rebel XT's small mono LCD.

To prevent the white info display from being a distraction to picture taking (it is just below eye level), an infrared proximity detector (seen just above LCD in photo above) turns off the LCD when the photographer looks through the viewfinder. The LCD can be manually turned off as well. With this display off, the only way to tell that the XTi is powered on is to look at the power switch - or the new green power-on indicator LED located right beside it. The new power-on LED has proven unnecessary to me - the white display works much better. I suppose it might be helpful to those that keep the display turned off.

An RGB histogram is a very useful new LCD-related feature - now you can watch all channels individually for blown highlights or blocked shadows.

The XTi has inherited the 30D's high-precision 9-point autofocus unit . A sophisticated dual-precision/cross-type sensor in the center AF position is supported when f/2.8 or wider lenses are used. Focusing performance under low light has been improved by 1 stop (EV -0.5). My experienced focus hit rate has been very good with this lens - including the results from sports action at several soccer matches. The AF improvements are very welcomed.

I'll let the following chart speak for itself regarding the frame rate and improved buffer capacity of the 400D/Rebel XTi. Remember that we are getting higher resolution files from the XTi, so the same rate is actually better performance ...

 
 

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