Monday 29 June 2015

Fun with my new camera!

I spent some time getting to know my new Canon 700D DSLR camera this morning. Although I've had it a month or so now I have still been using my trusty iPhone 5 for my blog entries as I am not completely confident about all the new control options on the Canon. Well, I made some progress and took a few snaps today that I'm fairly pleased with.

The lens used is the standard 18-55mm that comes with the Canon by default, so it's not specifically a macro lens but I think the results were OK?





[Top: Airfix 1/72 Standard Utility Vehicle, 'Tilly'. Bottom: Zebrano 1/72 Yag-6.]

I'm still not anywhere near a competent photographer, I still have to figure out so much but I'm quite pleased with these early shots and their clarity.

6 comments:

  1. Nice photos! (And models!)

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    1. Many thanks Leif, that's very kind of you.

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  2. I'd be very happy with those nice clear photos if it were my camera.
    Did you use an artificial light source or daylight?
    I always have to tweak my photos with software to get them right- did you have to do that for these?

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    1. Hi J,

      Hi, cheers! I'm still experimenting...

      In this case there was one general soft light and I used the Canon's pop-up flash (which turns out to be not to bad). The downside of this is the flash is a little harsh, so I did have to 'fix' this in Photoshop a bit - next time I will use a diffuser over the flash...

      I will also try adding some small side lights to help combat the shadows. I'll look into LED lighting as I don't like using flash really, it seems to make things a little over-contrasty sometimes and can make reflections you don't want...

      It's a bloomin' hobby on it's own! :)

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  3. I think the photos and models have turned out very well. Is it a difficult thing to use? I ask as I'm thinking of replacing my rather battered 'point and click' camera...

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    1. Hi Tim, I won't fib and say it was plain sailing, I pretty much didn't touch the extra features on my old point and click camera. But you do have to learn to use a few controls when you up to a proper DSLR...

      At first there is a phase where there are a few frustrations as you work out how to do things that 'just worked' on your old camera. You WILL need to look at the manual or watch a few YouTube tutorials unless you just use the 'Program' setting (but then why upgrade if you are just going to do that).

      But honestly, it's worth the small effort as when you see the sharpness that the bigger lens produces it makes up for the temporary frustrations.

      I'm buying one of those Dummys guides' from Amazon for my new Canon as I want to understand depth of field controls better.

      Overall I'm really happy with the camera PLUS I now have the option to change lenses so I can now buy a specialist Macro lens if I wish.

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