Easy newbie Canon Rebel XT 1st questions

Today Paul Furman commented courteously on the subject at
hand

Another solution would be get a Maxxum 7D instead as the
Maxxums (7, 9, 7D) have exceptionally bright viewfinders
compared to the majority of SLR's. The data is clearly
and brightly presented both in the VF and on the rear LCD
monitor.

Thanks, Alan. Now, please tell me what a Maxxum 7D is!
grin That's a brand/model I've never heard of.

Minolta. Inexpensive and includes image stabilization in
the camera body as a way of getting longer exposures
without a tripod. Perfect for your situation.

That's probably the camera the Ritz manager showed me first.

Didn't like it for 3 reasons: larger than Rebel (D70 size?),
heavier, and questionable image quality, noise and flash
(questionable to me, anyway). She talked about IS, but that
really isn't a biggie for me. I really am nutso right, Alan?

Seriously, with the Rebel going to ISO 1600, reputedly with
low noise, I'll at least be able to give it a whirl in
available light. If the noise is too high and/or I still can't
enough shutter to avoid shake, maybe I'll trade it in on the
Minolta.

Google for "cognitive dissonanc", Alan. People tell me I have
it (means a pathological refusal to accept new information
that conflicts with current "facts"). I am still adamant that
it /is/ possible to get decent car pics in a museum.

Hell, I used a (then) state-of-the-art 4 MP Fuji 4900 for 4
years with only its puny built in flash, and exposures weren't
that bad. Then, cameras and flashes got "smart", except they
fall over themselves in car museums, as I've described enough
times.

I'd say my pictures are about 2/3 daylight and 1/3 museum.
Even with good exposure and ISO 100, I got noise with the
Nikon. I expect to do much better with the Rebel.

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the
pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre

All Things Mopar wrote:

3) Finally, the viewfinder is very dim compared to a P & S
optical finder or an EVF, and is pretty hard for my 58 year-
old eyes to see the status stuff.

You should have gotten a Pentax ist-DS or DS2, the only "cheap" DSLR with a
real glass pentaprism as bright as most film SLRs. My eyes are 71 years old
and love the Pentax. I tried a Nikon D50 in a store, but it was like a tiny
dark peep-hole by comparison.

--
Anti-Spam address: my last name at his dot com
Charles Gillen -- Reston, Virginia, USA

"Charles Gillen" wrote in message
...
All Things Mopar wrote:

3) Finally, the viewfinder is very dim compared to a P & S
optical finder or an EVF, and is pretty hard for my 58 year-
old eyes to see the status stuff.

You should have gotten a Pentax ist-DS or DS2, the only "cheap" DSLR with
a
real glass pentaprism as bright as most film SLRs. My eyes are 71 years
old
and love the Pentax.

My Dad gave my Mom a DS for Christmas because her film SLRs are Pentax. And
the viewfinder is considerably nicer to look through than my Rebel XT's.

Greg

All Things Mopar wrote:

It looks like I will be able to get a fast judgment of all
this stuff with the 2 second LCD playback, and if I see
something that is amiss - including a bad composure - I can go
into playback mode and look longer. I'd certainly like to be
able to change the playback time,

You can adjust the time to 4, 8 seconds, as well as Hold in the Menu
optins. Additionally, if you don't want to change it in the menu just
hit the Trash Can button while the picture is showing in the LCD; this
will put it on Hold indefinitely till you half press the shutter. Just
ignore the OK/Cancel box when it pops up.

The little $1000 camera is capable of a lot... give it a chance; you
might be surprised.
_____
Slack

You know how the price of E-bodies has gone through the roof the past
decade?
Well, it's not going to happen with the Rebel 18-55 kit lens. Chuck
it, and get something
faster to brighten up the viewfinder.

"All Things Mopar" wrote in message
...

Paul, for a couple of months, I entertained the notion of
asking for advice again on this NG instead of the more general
rec.photo.digital but just didn't. This time I was going to
concentrate on just the D70s and Rebel which seemed to me to
be the top contenders. Then, I saw almost the same kinds of
questions being asked a few days ago.

Except for my strange requirements shooting cars in museums
with a flash, the debate was right on topic for me.

I took a half-dozen shots around my house and garage with a
PSP shaded crop rectangle showing the aspect ratio danger for
me. And, I've already started learning how to focus manually
again. I'll be going to the WPC museum a number of times in
the next week. I'm a Chrysler retiree so I get in free, and it
is only 20 minutes from my house. I think I'll take some
pocket size printouts of the aspect ratio cropping
"nightmare" and see if that helps me up the learning curve.

As you recall, my main issue with 2 EVFs was inconsistant and
often severely underexposed images from the "smart" flashes
hitting something that reflected the pulse. Naturally, the
Rebel has that problem with tail light reflectors, reflective
license plates, etc., but my quickie tests show it is much
better, and when it does several stops under, the noise is
/far/ less that that POS 5700.

It looks like I will be able to get a fast judgment of all
this stuff with the 2 second LCD playback, and if I see
something that is amiss - including a bad composure - I can go
into playback mode and look longer. I'd certainly like to be
able to change the playback time, but there's a limit to what
I can/should expect in a camera of the Rebel's quality for
only $1,000.

Thanks for your positive reinforcement.

--
ATM, aka Jerry


Actually, I've had pretty good luck shooting cars in museums with my 28-135
IS on my 20D. You're right, it is a problem getting far enough away, in
some museums, to use a 50mm f1.4, but there are some 35mm f1.4 lenses out
there, and the (if you don't mind paying a ton) 24-70 f2.8L can be great in
that situation. All of these will get you enough light through the
viewfinder to brighten in noticeably.
And that playback time is pretty fast, considering the file size...

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

"All Things Mopar" wrote in message
...
Today Alan Browne commented courteously on the subject at
hand

Is there a way to "brighten" the finder?

A faster lens.

Very helpful. I said Kit Lens and also asked what other
owners do about it other than spend big bucks on a faster
lens. I thank you for the fast response, but I'm not any
smarter.

In your OrigPost to which I replied you made no mention of
"Kit lens" nor that you didn't want to spend money. A
"fast" prime, such as a 50 f/1.8 is not at all expensive
and would probably work quite well for the planned sujbect
if there's enough room around the subject. OTOH a fast lens
won't help with the viewfinder data at all but at least you
would see your subject better.

My bad. I went back and looked. Sure enough, I didn't say that
I bought the kit lens, so I apologize for my smart ass retort.
I am also interested in the Canon 28-300 equivalent but I'll
wait on that until I decide if I'm keeping the Rebel. The
biggie is that at this store I can return it. At my fav local
store they won't let me return a Rebel (or maybe not a D70
either) allegedly because the folder names and image numbers
don't reseet to 0001 again (or, so the sales manager claims).

The fast prime is obviously a cheap fix for the viewfinder
brightness, but I'll learn to get around that in time. I was
looking for some quick advice and I'm delighted on how many
people have responded with what is and is not realistic and
how to potentially get around perceived annoyancess.

But, I just can't survive in a museum with a fixed focal
length lens and don't want to haul several different lenses
around, not to mention increasing chances of dust getting on
the sensors from all the changes.

When I go someplace locally, it isn't a biggie except for
drive time and admission, but at any distance it is fatal if I
die before I complete all the cars. It is not unusual for me
to shoot 200-300 pictures in a 2-3 hour period, you know what
they say - digital is free (although it gives you vomit of the
image real fast, but with cars, multiple views and multiple
detail shots are highly valued). As you can imagine, that
leaves no time to savor the excellent exhibits, I have to wait
to look at my pics to see what I saw. And,when I get home,
it's a little late to fix composure, cropping, focus and other
challenges.


Thanks, Alan. Now, please tell me what a Maxxum 7D is! grin
That's a brand/model I've never heard of.

--
ATM, aka Jerry


You might find the 28-300 isn't fast enough for your purposes, and it might
be a little soft, even if it an "L" lens, and it is expensive. If you want
speed, and have the budget for it, a 24-70 f2.8L and a 70-200 f2.8 L (IS or
non IS) might be the ticket. Or the f4 triplets, 17-40 f4L, 24-105 f4L IS
and 70-200 f4L, totals up to about $2400, or slightly more than the 28-300
f4.5-5.6L IS does, with more width, albeit with less reach.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

All Things Mopar wrote:
[]
I bought it from Ritz Camera and verified that I have 10 days
to return it for full charge credit so long as there's no
visible dings on the camera and I don't open the software. So,
worst case, I'll take it back.

Jerry,

Did you look at the Sony R1? If its built-in 24 - 120mm lens does the job
for you, it may be a cheaper alternative to the DSLR with equivalent
lenses. It uses the same size sensor as many DSLRs, so you have the
advantage of a lower-noise, or higher ISO camera, but it also has the
bright EVF you like. The lens aperture is f/2.8 (wide) to f/4.8 (tele).

David

Today "Slack"@ commented courteously on the subject at hand

It looks like I will be able to get a fast judgment of all
this stuff with the 2 second LCD playback, and if I see
something that is amiss - including a bad composure - I
can go into playback mode and look longer. I'd certainly
like to be able to change the playback time,

You can adjust the time to 4, 8 seconds, as well as Hold in
the Menu optins. Additionally, if you don't want to change
it in the menu just hit the Trash Can button while the
picture is showing in the LCD; this will put it on Hold
indefinitely till you half press the shutter. Just ignore
the OK/Cancel box when it pops up.

I found the playback "preview" last night reading the manual.
Thanks for the other tips, I didn't see them.\

The little $1000 camera is capable of a lot... give it a
chance; you might be surprised.

Slack, I said no-thing negative about the XT, I was asking
questions and I commented a number of times that I had a
learning curve to climb and believed I would be well satisfied
in a few days.

As I was reading the manual last night and playing with the
menu options, I found dozens of "buried" advanced photometric
and other functions that weren't immediately obvious, some of
which are unavailable in certain shooting modes. It pays to
RTFM. Having said that, it must've been written by some
Japanese tech writers. I spend mucho time trying to figure out
something as simple as manually setting AF points, then
turning auto back on. I just couldn't see the icons in the
book and match them up with the camera.

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the
pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre

Today Skip M commented courteously on the subject at hand

Actually, I've had pretty good luck shooting cars in
museums with my 28-135 IS on my 20D. You're right, it is a
problem getting far enough away, in some museums, to use a
50mm f1.4, but there are some 35mm f1.4 lenses out there,
and the (if you don't mind paying a ton) 24-70 f2.8L can be
great in that situation. All of these will get you enough
light through the viewfinder to brighten in noticeably.
And that playback time is pretty fast, considering the file
size...

I've got 3 problems with this kind of recommendation, even
though it is 100% accurate and helpful: 1) by the time I buy a
longer zoom and a Canon 460 external flash and a battery or 2,
I'll be in the $2,000 range, about $500 above my budget on my
retirement pension. But, I figure it'll be well worth it. 2) I
really don't want to carry several lenses around my neck and
keep changing them as shooting situations change. Besides
increasing risk of dust on the sensors, the camera, lens, and
flash are heavy (for me) when I'm on a fast shoot. 3) I've
done my last "Japanese tourist" look and need one lens that
covers the shooting situation du jour. That'll probably be the
Canon 28-200, even though it is big, heavy, and expensive. As
I mentioned earlier, when I can't get far enough back, I often
shoot over the top of another car and need a decent zoom lens.
And, at outdoor car shows, the same thing can happen, plus
there's always a need for just plain long shots.

One the other hand, I can do this another cheaper and lighter
way: I plan to shoot generally at 4 MP, that's plenty for my
needs. But, until/unless I buy a longer lens, I can always
change to 8 MP and get an effective digital zoom without
destroying the image quality.

Thanks for the suggestions and tips.

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the
pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre