In about November of last year I finally decided to replace my Olympus C-5050 digital camera. I bought it in 2003 when Emily was born & used the crap out of the thing (when it was all said & done I think I'd taken over 15,000 pictures with it).
Anyway, the battery cover wasn't working anymore, the hand grip was long gone, and, well, it needed to be replaced....
Enter the Nikon D40.
As I started researching camera's, I became enamored with the Nikon D40 DSLR. Mainly because of a website that just gushed with praise over it (http://www.kenrockwell.com) and others....
Anyway, my main goal for a camera is for product photography. I really don't care about lenses, flashes, or all the other things they can do. I just need a camera that can take a super crisp, super sharp picture for my business (http://www.utahbio.com).
Initially, the D40 seemed to be doing well, but I kept noticing super fuzzy images no matter how hard I tried to focus the thing.
Lot's more reading & studying.....
Enter the ultimate product photography camera.
The Canon Rebel XSi!
Holy Crap! This thing is just amazing!
It comes with an 18-55 Image Stabilized Lens and a sweet camera body.
The Nikon is a lot easier to use, feels better in my hands, and just feels a little more substantial. The menu's are easier to use too on the Nikon....but...and this is the important part....the image quality from the Canon just blows the Nikon clean out of the water!
Within a couple of hours I was able to shoot some of the most amazingly sharp pictures I'd seen. Now THIS is what I'd wanted!
Another really cool feature about the XSi's (and most of Canon's camera's) is the ability to "tether" them to a computer to shoot with.
In otherwords, imagine the camera up on a tripod, USB cable hooked to it & the other end into a computer. On the computer you load software that allows you to control the camera. On the monitor you're able to see what the camera's seeing. Apparently, most Canon digital camera's can do this (even the small point and shoot ones). Don't know, haven't tried those yet.
But here's where the XSi REALLY shines!
You can Micro focus it with a computer!
So imagine that your now looking at your laptop that's hooked up to the camera and you're seeing what the camera see's on the laptop. With a quick click of some buttons you can manually adjust the focus on the camera. MUCH, MUCH more accurately than any human hand could do (I mean these are MICRO movements!).
I set up a shot, turned on the lights (I have special photo lights), put the product in front of the camera, turned on the laptop and was just amazed at how clear I could get the photos! "Now THIS is cool!"
The XSi also has LiveView on it too (meaning you can look at the screen & see what the lens is seeing. This is kind of rare in a DSLR, but a really nice treat. While many of you may be familiar with point & shoot digital camera's where live view is standard, DSLR's don't normally have that feature (because there's a mirror that has to get flipped up in order for the sensor to see through the lens).
Anyway, having that feature plus being able to hook it up to a computer & see the photo on a much bigger screen now allows me to shoot much, much more sharp pictures that are in focus.
So, if you're looking for a camera that's ideal for shooting product photography (you know, stuff you may want to sell online), this thing is the cat's meow!
I'll be getting a 50 mm Prime Lens for it soon as well as I hear that's even sharper than the cheap kit lens that comes with it, but man, I'm totally sold! Just utterly amazing!
Soo.....with that, Hello Canon! Good-bye Nikon!
It's good to have a tool that works again!
-Graydon
Canon XSi fan!
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1 comment:
I can't wait to see some awesome pics taken with your new camera! That is exciting!
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