budget tight. can I see some shots with the 300d Digital Rebel?

[miatawnt2b]

I am on a very strict budget, and I can get a real good price from a friend on an orig. Digital Rebel 300D. I tried shooting some shots last night, and found the results to be only so-so, probably given that I am not at all familliar with the camera, and don't know how to use it.

Anyhow, I was shooting in idiot mode, manual focus, which stores the images in jpg format. I filled the frame as much as I could, yet when I went to zoom in on the polyps and such, things quickly became fuzzy.

I am wondering if this is because of the jpg compression or the 6mp camera. Could you folks give me some pointers and show me some images taken with the 300D with details?

I am wondering if this camera is going to be good enough, or if I should go with a nice 10mp point and shoot like the Panasonic DMC-LX2S.

Another quick question. I know from my 35mm days that the higher ISO you shoot with, the more grainy the image. How does this translate to digital? The 300D is max 1600ISO. Do I get better images shooting at 400ISO with digital?

Thanks,
-J

 

[BlueCorn]

Re: budget tight. can I see some shots with the 300d Digital Rebel?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8656773#post8656773 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by miatawnt2b
I am on a very strict budget, and I can get a real good price from a friend on an orig. Digital Rebel 300D. I tried shooting some shots last night, and found the results to be only so-so, probably given that I am not at all familliar with the camera, and don't know how to use it.

The 300D is a very capable camera. Were you using the "kit" lens? Post a picture or two and we'll see if we can offer any additional help.

Another quick question. I know from my 35mm days that the higher ISO you shoot with, the more grainy the image. How does this translate to digital? The 300D is max 1600ISO. Do I get better images shooting at 400ISO with digital?
[/B]

Same concept. Instead of grain, you get "noise" at higher ISOs. Your best bet is to set it as low as possible to still get the shutter speed that you're after (assuming that your aperture is set right).

 

[jedininja]

The 300D is a great camera. If you never intend to blow your pics over 8x10, then its definatly good enough. The fuxxy pics can be due to a few things. If you are shooting in auto mode, and you want closeups, then its best to use the macro mode. Second, shooting macro shots, its extremely important to use a tripod. Also, different lens have different focal legnths, and if you try to get too close with a lens not deisnged for it, you will not be able to focus.

And yes, higher ISOs still hold true for digital.

 

[miatawnt2b]

OK, Here are the shots. As I said, they were taken in idiot mode and written as jpg. All of the shots were manually focused. Some of them were taken with the standard 18-55 lense (actually it's possible all of these were) and I took some with an 300mm macro zoom, but it was very hard to focus it, and it is a SLOW lense, so most of the shots were blurry. (not to mention I can't lock up the mirror as it doesn't have the hacked firmware) Every shot was taken on a tripod.

Full 90
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Full 90.JPG

Button Polyps
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Button Polyps.JPG

Green TaodStool
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Green Toadstool Frag.JPG

Mac's Monti
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Macs Monti Frag.JPG

Shrooms
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Shrooms.JPG

Spaghetti Leather
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Spaghetti Leather.JPG

Is this an LPS or a ZOA?
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Unknown.JPG

Unknown Acro
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Unknown Acro.JPG

These Zoa's Refuse to open
http://pmw.org/~millerjw/MarineTank/90 reef/300D pics/Zoas won't%20open.JPG

 

[miatawnt2b]

Jeesh... sorry about the HUGE images. Is there a way to have the post re-size them and let you DL the huge image if you want it?

-J

 

[jwedehase]

There's one major common problem in every one of these shots. You're not shooting perfectly perpendicular to the glass. Shooting an aquarium at any angle other than squared up with the glass will produce a lot more distortion than you'd think.

That camera is very capable of a great auto focus, let it do its job. Then, shoot through the glass squared up. Often, you can't get "the shot" you want without angling through the glass. Unfortunately with the aquarium, that means you won't get the shot at all.

Since you're shooting all corals (stationary items), try using a tripod, or rest the camera on something and use the timer. This will eliminate motion blur/camera shake.

And to your last question about ISO... it remains the same with digital. Higher ISO means more grain. I always shoot corals at ISO 100, but bump it up to 400 for fish.