Advise Please

[Jom]

I have been reading and searching for info for at least a year, first off I am considering purchasing the 70D for its FPS and weather sealing, I haven't had one in my hands yet, I will be shooting ranch type work, normally dusty conditions, most shots will be of working dogs moving at times very quickly, I read somewhere that a pro used both canon and nikon dslr's
but never left his nikon in full auto, but could leave his canon in auto, my thinking i will be wanting to use auto while learning
I know it will take some studying and some practice, but do not plan on using full auto any longer then is needed.
I also read, that Canon's might be more user friendly then the nikon, menu's easier to navigate, I know both are excellent
cameras, in fact most reviews say the nikon has better image quality then comparable canon, but I also have read enough, to know post processing can fix most problems, and I have seen some awesome pictures taken with canons. I also know its the person behind the camera, so i know I have a lot to learn, and I am looking forward to it.
Thanks for any advise you can give me.

 

[Jom]

I am going with the longer STM kit lens, if that is what you good people recommend .

 

[JPAZ]

Try to go to a store where you can pick each camera up and hold it / use it. There are many happy users of each system out there. You can learn to use either menu system so ultimately buy whichever "feels better" in your hands. And, despite opinions, either will offer lenses that fit your needs. Then practice, practice, practice....

 

[Jom]

Thanks JPAZ that is what I will do, I have to drive several hours to get to a reputable Camera shop but prefer that to ordering on line .

 

[sagittariansrock]

I don't know if shooting on Auto will help learn though.
Frankly I shoot horribly on Auto, and that is since I ditched my last fixed focus film camera (means has nothing to do with using SLRs), and consequently have a hard time with smartphones and elph cameras.
Fast movement- go with Tv, auto ISO, auto WB at least. Try to shoot RAW if possible, or both- then you get flexibility of tweaking and practicing with some of the images while not holding up the pipeline.
My humble 2c.

 

[Jom]

Thanks, I appreciate these tips very much, I have a Mac book pro, and will be needing apperature I suppose. I have a great deal to learn, but can't wait to get rolling, I will be heading to Bedfords Camera shop monday in Oklahoma City.

 

[greger]

After going to a store and trying a camera and finding one you like go home and do a search. Enter the camera's name
and add reviews. You will find pages and pages on the web. I even add complaints after the name. That can bring up
some interesting information. As you might want to use this camera for a few years, the research ahead of time might
save you some grief. Good Luck making your purchase. I have been a Canon user since the 70's and am leaning in that
direction in my advice.

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

Each specific camera model has its advantages and disadvantages. You mentioned Canon 70D, and its direct competitor is Nikon D7100. I can say that the image quality is very similar in the two cameras, and any one of them is able to make good pictures. But ... To truly good photos, you need to make good adjustments, and is easier to adjust the settings with Canon. Why? The menus of the Canon cameras are more intuitive, and the buttons have written things in them that everyone understands. I have friends who use Nikon for decades, and when you buy a new model, get lost in the camera menu, and even the flash menu. Any camera will have better results with manual adjustments, or semi-automatic rather than fully automatic (green rectangle).

Strongly recommend you do not use full auto mode (green rectangle) , but start using the P (Program) mode in the first weeks , and when better understand the equipment, try the Av mode (Aperture value) , and Tv mode (Time value) . When you understand the operation of each mode , and track your results , then you should try the M (Manual) mode. Note that the green rectangle mode the camera becomes inaccessible many controls , and important settings from the menu disappear , preventing a consistent learning . On the other hand , the M mode makes all the adjustments available.

 

[surapon]

I have been reading and searching for info for at least a year, first off I am considering purchasing the 70D for its FPS and weather sealing, I haven't had one in my hands yet, I will be shooting ranch type work, normally dusty conditions, most shots will be of working dogs moving at times very quickly, I read somewhere that a pro used both canon and nikon dslr's
but never left his nikon in full auto, but could leave his canon in auto, my thinking i will be wanting to use auto while learning
I know it will take some studying and some practice, but do not plan on using full auto any longer then is needed.
I also read, that Canon's might be more user friendly then the nikon, menu's easier to navigate, I know both are excellent
cameras, in fact most reviews say the nikon has better image quality then comparable canon, but I also have read enough, to know post processing can fix most problems, and I have seen some awesome pictures taken with canons. I also know its the person behind the camera, so i know I have a lot to learn, and I am looking forward to it.
Thanks for any advise you can give me.

Dear Jom.
Yes, Any Canon camera with Kit Lenses that you have the most money that you want to start to pay for your new Hobby. But the most important thing to improve the quality of the photos are :
1) practice , practice and practice
2) If you live in USA. at your home city, There are Community college that offer the continueing education / Night Class = Photography classes, start from Photography for the Beginners, Up to the Advance in Photography + Studio Lighting---Yes, Take a classes as many as you want.
3) In your home city/ Home town, Ther might have the Camera/ Photography Club, and you just join them, to learn the new trick from the experts.

Yes, After 1 year of Learning and Practicing, You can buy more equipment according to your needs and your style of Photography---Such as, If you love to shoot the People portrait Photos = Get 85 mm. Lenses, If you fell in love with the photos of Butterfly or flower= Get good Macro Lens or The Tube and use with your Kit Lens----Yes, If you love Birds Photos= Yes, that are the big money to buy the Long Zoom Lens or High cost Prime 400, or 600 mm Lens.

Yes, The Best source to improve your Hobby Photography = To come to read and Learn from This Great CR. Web site---Yes, We have so many PRO, and so many High Level of the photography Expertise Members that can help you to understand the problems.
Good luck to your new Hobby.
Surapon.

PS. Yes, My son = 32 years old man, start to love Photography Hobby in last year, And He start like I write to you too. NO my son can not learn from ME, His Daddy---Ha, Ha, Ha---Because when I teach, He start to talk back to me, and I can not stand it. And I give up, and let him learn from some one else.

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

I have been reading and searching for info for at least a year, first off I am considering purchasing the 70D for its FPS and weather sealing, I haven't had one in my hands yet, I will be shooting ranch type work, normally dusty conditions, most shots will be of working dogs moving at times very quickly, I read somewhere that a pro used both canon and nikon dslr's
but never left his nikon in full auto, but could leave his canon in auto, my thinking i will be wanting to use auto while learning
I know it will take some studying and some practice, but do not plan on using full auto any longer then is needed.
I also read, that Canon's might be more user friendly then the nikon, menu's easier to navigate, I know both are excellent
cameras, in fact most reviews say the nikon has better image quality then comparable canon, but I also have read enough, to know post processing can fix most problems, and I have seen some awesome pictures taken with canons. I also know its the person behind the camera, so i know I have a lot to learn, and I am looking forward to it.

Yes, The Best source to improve your Hobby Photography = To come to read and Learn from This Great CR. Web site---Yes, We have so many PRO, and so many High Level of the photography Expertise Members that can help you to understand the problems.
Good luck to your new Hobby.
Surapon.

PS. Yes, My son = 32 years old man, start to love Photography Hobby in last year, And He start like I write to you too. NO my son can not learn from ME, His Daddy---Ha, Ha, Ha---Because when I teach, He start to talk back to me, and I can not stand it. And I give up, and let him learn from some one else.

Dear friend Surapon. I perfectly understand your opinion. No one can teach something to a person who is not willing to follow the advice of the teacher. I teach photography for individuals, and even then some do not evolve because they lack practice, and practice. Yes, someone with enough willingness to practice, you can learn amazing things here in CanonRumors, if you have patience and humility, as you Surapon.

I am teaching guitar to my niece, but she only practiced when no internet, no TV nearby. Maybe if she were in a formal school, she would practice more not to run out the diploma at the end of the year. :-X

 

[colvinatch]

Let me address your two main points:

Picture quality: I shoot with both Canon and Nikon (but mostly Canon), the picture quality between the two is not enough to make this an issue, I am aware that he dynamic range of Nikon's sensors is slightly better than Canon when tested in a lab, this does not prevent Canon cameras from taking great pictures.

Ease of use: I prefer Canon’s menu structure and on-camera controls. Probably due to the fact that is has not changed radically in a decade and seems much easier to use. I teach photography at a high school full time and at a local university as an adjunct and have done so for over a decade, it has been my experience that Canon camera's are easier to control and change the settings on quickly in the field. It is also my experience that student master the Canon interface (menu and on-camera controls) much more quickly than Nikon. Both are excellent camera systems, however in my humble opinion Canon has hit the sweet spot for ease of use.

 

[sdsr]

Each specific camera model has its advantages and disadvantages. You mentioned Canon 70D, and its direct competitor is Nikon D7100. I can say that the image quality is very similar in the two cameras, and any one of them is able to make good pictures. But ... To truly good photos, you need to make good adjustments, and is easier to adjust the settings with Canon. Why? The menus of the Canon cameras are more intuitive, and the buttons have written things in them that everyone understands. I have friends who use Nikon for decades, and when you buy a new model, get lost in the camera menu, and even the flash menu. Any camera will have better results with manual adjustments, or semi-automatic rather than fully automatic (green rectangle).

Strongly recommend you do not use full auto mode (green rectangle) , but start using the P (Program) mode in the first weeks , and when better understand the equipment, try the Av mode (Aperture value) , and Tv mode (Time value) . When you understand the operation of each mode , and track your results , then you should try the M (Manual) mode. Note that the green rectangle mode the camera becomes inaccessible many controls , and important settings from the menu disappear , preventing a consistent learning . On the other hand , the M mode makes all the adjustments available.

I quite agree with all of that. It's far easier to learn a camera when the controls and menus are clearly laid out, and while that's to some extent a matter of subjective preference, like a lot of people I find Canon far more user-friendly in that regard than Nikon (or just about any other manufacturer, for that matter). My first dslr was a Nikon D3100 - a bad mistake for me because like so many intro level cameras there aren't enough direct-access controls on the outside and I found the menus intimidating (I was always afraid I would change something and never be able to figure out how to undo it). The D7100, if that's what Jom is also considering, is probably better in that regard, but I still find Nikons fussier to use. As for which has better image quality, it may be true that the D7100 has less noise at low ISOs than the Canon, but it's also probably true that the Canon has less noise at high - and, more important, that any such differences will be trivial and may not affect your photos at all. The lenses will probably make more of a difference - a better lens on a Canon will make better images than an inferior lens on a Nikon (and vice versa) - so you should also consider which company makes better lenses for your purposes.

Also, it can make a significant difference in image quality if you set your camera up to create RAW files instead of (or in addition to JPEGs) and are willing to process the images yourself rather than relying on the camera to do it; much of the time the results may be the same or close enough, but at others they won't be, and it's far easier to edit RAW files than JPEGs if you want to tweak your images. For some reason beginners tend to be scared of RAW files; it took me a year or so to get over it, but I still have friends who, years later, simply can't bring themselves to try it. I hope that's not true of you too!

 

[Tanispyre]

I read somewhere that a pro used both canon and nikon dslr's
but never left his nikon in full auto, but could leave his canon in auto, my thinking i will be wanting to use auto while learning

I am not sure what you mean by Leave in Auto. I assume that you are referring to Auto Exposure (P,Tv, or Av) sometimes called Semi Auto, verses the Full Auto (Green Box usually on selector dial) or Scene Modes (the sports, portrait, landscape, or whatever mode they have on your dial).

If you mean auto exposure (P,Tv, or Av), then in that case, either the Canon, or the Nikon should behave well. Most modern cameras do a lot better job of metering a scene than we do. Learning to use exposure compensation for tricky scenes and letting the camera do its job is probably the best thing for fast action shots of things moving around a ranch.

If you mean the Full auto or Scene modes, then you might learn some things from how it sets up the camera and lens, to try and duplicate in the Semi Auto modes. But you still are not going to do much better than the camera will on its own. The biggest difference in my opinion between the semi auto and full auto modes is flash control. Full Auto will turn on the flash for you, while Semi Auto you have to pop it up manually if you want it.

If you were talking about Auto Focus, as in single point, vs AI-Servo, Continuous ... etc, then I would probably say that the focus algorithms on the Canons is slightly better than on the Nikons.

 

[sanj]

AUTO works just fine until YOU find it NECESSARY to override. Which may be rarely.

Nothing to feel inferior or insecure while using auto.

Menus are something one just gets used to, nothing to worry about.

 

[David_in_Seattle]

I'm planning on buying the Canon 70D to add as a support camera alongside my 1DX, 5Dmk3, and 60D.

I got back into photography and videography in 2010 with the Canon Rebel T2i, then upgraded to a 60D, 7D, etc.

Here are some of my thoughts and hopefully it answers your questions:

1) Image quality on the 70D is just as good as the 7D (if not better, but only slightly). Compared to the Nikon D7000 and D7100, it really becomes a toss up. The type of lens you use will be a more important factor than the type of camera.

2) The 18-135 IS STM kit lens is actually pretty good. It focuses really accurately and silently, even in Live view. It's a great starter lens for both photography and videography.

3) Full Auto mode (green rectangle) is truly for people that never used a DSLR before. Once you get use to the camera's buttons and menus I recommend learning how to use Av, Tv, then eventually M. There are many free guides on the Internet.

4) The AF system on the 70D is actually a step up from the 7D. Yes, they share the same 19pt setup, but the 70D has better Live View AF and a nifty touch screen for tapping on the area of focus.

5) The 70D's weather sealing is about the same as the 60D and a step down from the 7D. I've done some crazy and reckless stuff with my 60D. Last year I mounted it on the bow of a speed boat with only a UV filter added to protect against ocean spray and it never damaged the camera. I've used it often in the rain and snow with no problems...though I did break a EF 50mm f1.4 and a EF-S17-55 f2.8 IS (they're not weather sealed). The only thing I'd warn against is changing lenses in windy, rainy, or dusty conditions for any DSLR.

 

[sanfranchristo]

Thanks, I appreciate these tips very much, I have a Mac book pro, and will be needing apperature I suppose. I have a great deal to learn, but can't wait to get rolling, I will be heading to Bedfords Camera shop monday in Oklahoma City.

One minor suggestion - I don't think that many would argue that Lightroom isn't the better option over Aperture at this point. Unless you have a specific reason for wanting Aperture, I'd go with Lightroom (there are some good deals out there at the moment for the standalone version if you don't want to go the subscription route). I should also say that you don't "need" either when just starting out. Your camera will come with software to allow you to do basic processing of RAW files and preparation for web or print - Lightroom will come in very handy once you need more convenient editing and catalog management tools.

 

[ahab1372]

Thanks, I appreciate these tips very much, I have a Mac book pro, and will be needing apperature I suppose. I have a great deal to learn, but can't wait to get rolling, I will be heading to Bedfords Camera shop monday in Oklahoma City.

One minor suggestion - I don't think that many would argue that Lightroom isn't the better option over Aperture at this point. Unless you have a specific reason for wanting Aperture, I'd go with Lightroom (there are some good deals out there at the moment for the standalone version if you don't want to go the subscription route). I should also say that you don't "need" either when just starting out. Your camera will come with software to allow you to do basic processing of RAW files and preparation for web or print - Lightroom will come in very handy once you need more convenient editing and catalog management tools.

When starting out, even the included iPhoto is not bad

 

[e17paul]

I don't know if shooting on Auto will help learn though.
Frankly I shoot horribly on Auto, and that is since I ditched my last fixed focus film camera (means has nothing to do with using SLRs), and consequently have a hard time with smartphones and elph cameras.
Fast movement- go with Tv, auto ISO, auto WB at least. Try to shoot RAW if possible, or both- then you get flexibility of tweaking and practicing with some of the images while not holding up the pipeline.
My humble 2c.

That depends on experience. It's never best to learn everything at once, as a teenager I used an Olympus XA/2 which is fully automatic except for a choice of three focus settings (head and shoulders, full portrait, landscape). That allowed me to concentrate on the framing before moving on to my first SLR.

By the time I had my OM-10 I was thinking about composition and framing automatically, and started to experiment with aperture and focus. Everything else was automatic, it's an aperture priority camera. I did, when I was ready add a manual adaptor, so that I could push the boundaries further.

My point is that full auto may well be a good place to start, to get a feel for the camera. Then the semi automatic aperture and shutter priority modes, leading to full manual. Just don't get distracted by the scene modes. It's a journey.

 

[curtisnull]

+1 on using Lightroom over Aperture. I have used Aperture since the day it came out in 2005. I am in the process of switching over to Lightroom because it is far ahead of Aperture now. It seems that Apple isn't doing anything with it now except maintenance updates.

 

[Jom]

Thanks very much for all the advice, I am so glad I found this site, you guys are awesome. I hope to get to a shop tomorrow or Tuesday, I have no doubt that I will bring a Canon home .