13 replies to this topic

[lonestranger]

I recently gave up on my Olympus gear because I found the noise issues with their sensor to be too much of a handicap. I decided to go with the Canon lenses and started off with the 400 5.6 L paired with the EOS 7D. My first impression was one of awe as the first few random test shots were tack sharp, even if they were just shots of static furniture. Although the lens is superb, it's the camera that has me in awe, what a fantastic tool. I have delved into the menu system and I'm starting to become somewhat familiar with the buttons and controls but it's like learning to walk and talk all over again. I know that with time I will stumble across more and more of the hidden powers of this camera, but if anyone wants to toss out some tips or suggestions to help me adjust to the new system, it would be greatly appreciated.

I kept one of my Olympus bodies with the 14-42mm kit lens to fill some of the void from 0-400mm until I can get more Canon lenses to go with the 400mm, but I plan to build a single system and just keep the Olympus camera as a back up. Does anyone have any experience with the very reasonably priced, 55-250mm 4-5.6 IS lens? Is it worth pairing it with the 7D as a small starter lens or should I wait and save my money for a similar lens in the L series? At less than $400 I could probably get the 55-250 as a second lens before I go away for vacation next week, but I don't want to waste my money if the lens is going to be a disappointment. Any thoughts?

[canon eos]

Congratulations, LS, on your new purchase! The Canon 7D is very good indeed. There are comparable DSLRs in other brands but the 400L lens is a jewel as you will discover.
I might suggest holding off on a 2nd lens purchase until after your vacation. You still have the Olympus for coverage. A lens decision should take a fair amount of time; it's as important as the body, if not more so. The Canon 55-250 is a decent lens, but you may want coverage a little wider, and the canon 15-85mm is an excellent lens in that regard.

Good luck, and have fun

[Joejr14]

Well, it's sad day that you picked Canon over Nikon (just kidding, well, kinda sorta ), but I'm sure you'll appreciate the step-up from Olympus. If you're really wanting a 2nd lens to shoot with for the vacation, why not rent one? Plus, you can then try to sort out whether or not the L is worth it for the lower focal ranges.

I'm not sure what you're looking for when it comes to a mid zoom, or perhaps you're looking for a wider zoom, but here are some options from Lensrentals.com.

Canon 24-105mm f/4L- 5 days @$34.25
Canon 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS- 5 days @$35
Canon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS- 5 days @$29.25
Canon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS- 5 days @$97.50

There's lots and lots of options and it lets you try out some L glass and compare it with the 'non' L glass for relatively cheap.

[VinnieJ]

At that price range your options would be limited. If it were me I would get a cheap prime first until you know for sure what you want. The new 40/2.8 pancake lens would be a great start.....just zoom with your legs.

[lonestranger]

Thanks for the lens advice, folks. I think I'll hold off until the funds have a chance to replenish a bit before I make another lens purchase. I'm going to look into a rental for my vacation though, the idea of having to use my old gear when the new camera is so much better, just doesn't sit well with me.

Any tips for prefered settings on the 7D regarding noise filters, contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc?

[VinnieJ]

Thanks for the lens advice, folks. I think I'll hold off until the funds have a chance to replenish a bit before I make another lens purchase. I'm going to look into a rental for my vacation though, the idea of having to use my old gear when the new camera is so much better, just doesn't sit well with me.

Any tips for prefered settings on the 7D regarding noise filters, contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc?

If possible, shoot in raw format. Then you can adjust all your settings afterward on your computer and make the pic your own instead of having the camera process it. Get Adobe's Lightroom or Apple's Aperture. Both are great and intuitive for editing raw files.

[Joejr14]

Thanks for the lens advice, folks. I think I'll hold off until the funds have a chance to replenish a bit before I make another lens purchase. I'm going to look into a rental for my vacation though, the idea of having to use my old gear when the new camera is so much better, just doesn't sit well with me.

Any tips for prefered settings on the 7D regarding noise filters, contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc?

Can't really help you out much here with specifics since I don't shoot Canon, but I'd just recommend to try and keep your ISO as low as possible. Obviously when it comes to noise v sharpness, take the noise every time. But if you're shooting at ISO 800 and 1/5000, you'd be better served dropping ISO to 200 and having your shutter speed at 1/1250.....if any of that makes sense.

I agree that renting is a good option. Lets you try out different types of gear for cheap. Also, when it comes time to buy another lens, check our Adorama and KEH.com's used sections. Great bargains!

[canon eos]

Any tips for prefered settings on the 7D regarding noise filters, contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc?

Yes, I would agree to shoot RAW. The Canon DPP RAW editing software that came with your camera is as good as any for primary editing, then you can save to a TIF for further editing.
I would also suggest not straying too far from the Canon defaults as they are quite good, and too many folks get into territory that just confuses the process. For example, the default centre point AF is very effective. Use Av at f5.6 (wide open) with that 400L lens as it does not need stopping-down. Use AIServo focus control; that combined with your 400L works very accurately.
As far as noise goes, that series of Canon sensors is very good to 800 ISO and in good light to ISO 1600. The Canon 7D may exhibit a little more noise than my T2i (you can Google that technicality!) especially in skies, but the RAW image is also containing more data. Again DPP can help attenuate the noise. I use Auto-ISO, capped at 1600.

[JimB]

Congratulations Lonestranger on your 7D purchase, I'm also a 7D user and find the camera to be very capable of producing outstanding images. I also use Canon's DPP software for my RAW editing ( I downloaded the latest version which has some significant upgrades including HDR..and it's free!) My standard ISO is 400 but I don't hesitate going to 800 if needed. Check out the custom settings, you can save up to three different camera settings (C1 - C2 - C3 on the top dial) for instance, C1 can be set for BIF; high ISO, wide aperture, high speed continuous shooting, AI Servo, etc.. then C2 can be used for landscape: low ISO, mirror lock-up, single shot, etc. and maybe C3 for macro or HDR. So with the turn of a dial all the cameras settings will change to meet your different shooting situations.

The noise reduction in DPP is very effective because it's designed specifically for the Canon sensors.

READ the manual!

[lonestranger]

Thanks again for the feedback, everyone. I always shoot in RAW but thought that fine tuning the camera might save me from some of the post processing, which I hate doing. Having said that, I know that I need to start doing more in depth processing if I want to capitalize on the camera's capabilities so I will be exploring DDP a little more thoroughly.

I have already started using the custom functions and presently have C3 set up for birds in flight. I'm not sure how I will configure the other two custom settings, but I'll probably wait until I have tweeked my BIF settings.

I would particularly like to thank JimB for making me laugh. Reading the manual is something else I hate doing, but I always read through my camera manuals. I find the second read more helpful after having explored the camera a bit and get a basic understanding of things that the manual often confuses me about first read through.

[Joejr14]

Thanks again for the feedback, everyone. I always shoot in RAW but thought that fine tuning the camera might save me from some of the post processing, which I hate doing. Having said that, I know that I need to start doing more in depth processing if I want to capitalize on the camera's capabilities so I will be exploring DDP a little more thoroughly.

Unfortunately shooting raw necessitates post processing even if it's just sharpening. There's so many little tweaks you can do that can make your images pop with just a little investment.

Why do you have PP so much? What are you currently using software wise?

[lonestranger]

I use an assortment of software, Joejr14. Most of it is never used to it's potential, basically because I haven't educated myself well enough on how to use it. I'm lazy like that, I usually stumble across a feature and try to figure out what it does instead of reading the help files through and learning how the program works. Besides being lazy about learning a good workflow, one of my biggest stumbling blocks is a terribly slow computer that just doesn't like working with these large raw files. It's not much fun editing your photos when you're already frustrated from just waiting to view them.

[David Case]

I use an assortment of software, Joejr14. Most of it is never used to it's potential, basically because I haven't educated myself well enough on how to use it. I'm lazy like that, I usually stumble across a feature and try to figure out what it does instead of reading the help files through and learning how the program works. Besides being lazy about learning a good workflow, one of my biggest stumbling blocks is a terribly slow computer that just doesn't like working with these large raw files. It's not much fun editing your photos when you're already frustrated from just waiting to view them.

I have been shooting in both RAW and JPEG to save some time. I use the JPEGs to look over the images to see which ones that I want to keep and work on further. Once that is done I keep the RAW files for the keepers and toss everything else. Alternately, DPP in the new version has a 'Quick Check' tool that opens the RAW files very quickly but still not as fast as it will handle JPEGs. You can also use this to screen your shots. I also find that Lightroom 4 handles the RAW files for my camera more quickly than DPP does.

[Joejr14]

I use an assortment of software, Joejr14. Most of it is never used to it's potential, basically because I haven't educated myself well enough on how to use it. I'm lazy like that, I usually stumble across a feature and try to figure out what it does instead of reading the help files through and learning how the program works. Besides being lazy about learning a good workflow, one of my biggest stumbling blocks is a terribly slow computer that just doesn't like working with these large raw files. It's not much fun editing your photos when you're already frustrated from just waiting to view them.

I find that unless you're looking to sell images or do some serious dodging, cloning, etc, you can pretty much do most of your edits in Lightroom. If you haven't given that a shot you can download it from Adobe's website and try it free for 30 days.