Getting wife a new DSLR camera

[klynam]

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

Being completely manual is truly liberating. I don't have to worry about a crappy meter screwing up my pictures.

I agree and personally shoot fully manual most of the time. However, in many situations, the nature of the light can change dramatically in seconds depending on your point of view. And I'm not THAT fast.

For instance, this past weekend I shot a wedding with the bride preparations in a small room. For all of these shots, I was shooting wide open (or mostly) for nice selective focus and around 1/160th to freeze any motion from slight camera or subject movement.

One entire wall had frosted windows. Shooting from the window wall into the room, yielded one exposure. Shooting into the window wall is a completely different exposure. As I followed the bride (et al) around I was constantly checking/changing/checking/changing my ISO to keep the exposure somewhere in the ballpark. Because of constantly chasing the ISO setting, I missed several key moments and suffered a lot of mis-focused or mis-exposed shots. Auto ISO would have dramatically improved that.

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

My experience is that it does not lock. It merely focuses. Then when you press it down again to release the shutter, it will refocus. Now then, turning off the half click focus is the first thing I do every time I buy a camera. I can't handle it.

Then I and my wife MUST adopt the back-button focus (and exposure lock...and...lol)

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

The ISO on the 7D is not spectacularly better than the 40D. I'm not sure it is worth $1000. I would stick with a second 5D Mark I unless you plan to shoot sports.

Probably going the second 5D-mk1 route...

[Dobick]

On the back button focus thing -- for me interacting with the camera to take a photo is a three part decision/process, step one is exposure, step two is focus, step three is shutter release. I shoot in manual most of the time, so I find the light that I want and the exposure to get the feel that I am looking for (to include the DOF or motion blurring, etc) then I dial in the appropriate settings. Next up is the focus. I use focus as a separate step from the shutter release, hence the reason that I like the focus to be a separate button from the shutter release. It is not so much that I want to "lock focus" as much as it is that I only want the camera focusing when I tell it to. I want the camera to only do what I tell it to do when I tell it to do it.

The local newspaper editor once told me that he was not a fan of the new digital cameras because they went and tried to make them way too automatic, and in the process made it harder for him as a photographer to make a good image. I was new to photography at the time and didn't understand what he meant. I do now.

[David Whatley]

I just started using the back focus button, and it took about 100 shots to get used to it. I now like it better, but the jury is still out on # of keepers, but I am betting it goes up.
There is always the chance, that no matter how careful you are, when you move to recompose, you could let off the trigger enough to lose focus using the shutter button. Hence the OOF shots.

[doctahjones]

Originally Posted by David Whatley

There is always the chance, that no matter how careful you are, when you move to recompose, you could let off the trigger enough to lose focus using the shutter button. Hence the OOF shots.

-very- true. or when moving you put a tad more pressure on the shutter button while half cocked and you accidentally take a picture. it's happened to me occasionally.

[RRcoleJR]

Originally Posted by David Whatley

I just started using the back focus button, and it took about 100 shots to get used to it. I now like it better, but the jury is still out on # of keepers, but I am betting it goes up.
There is always the chance, that no matter how careful you are, when you move to recompose, you could let off the trigger enough to lose focus using the shutter button. Hence the OOF shots.

That is why I love the new multi-controller on my 7D. It is really easy to reach with your thumb and you can set it to move your focus point. So I frame my shot and while doing that I use the multi-controller to cover the spot I want to focus on, then focus/shoot. I just find it a lot easier to move the focus point then to focus with the center the spot and then re-frame my photo. Mostly because I do this while in the process of framing the photo and because of it have gotten photos I would have missed doing it any other way. It also helps with missed focus shots (especially at shallow depth of field shots) because you are not moving the camera after you get your focus.

Ronnie

[wclavey]

Now that this is well into its second page, I do not fear that my comment will be a hijack...

Every time this thread would come to the top of the list, my eyes would read it as: "Getting New Wife With DSLR" - - and no matter how many times it came up, I thought the same thing... what's wrong with the old wife??? ...no DSLR?

[klynam]

Originally Posted by wclavey

Now that this is well into its second page, I do not fear that my comment will be a hijack...

Every time this thread would come to the top of the list, my eyes would read it as: "Getting New Wife With DSLR" - - and no matter how many times it came up, I thought the same thing... what's wrong with the old wife??? ...no DSLR?

LOL - now dat's funny rite 'der....

Guess I put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle

[toverman]

I get a lot of keepers when I'm shooting, and I don't know that it has much to do with my camera bodies (five+ years old) or my superhuman ability (I'm experienced, but far from perfect). I'd say familiarity and knowledge of my equipment has been the biggest difference. No flame here, just count me as one that suggests that this problem can't be solved with money. Unless, that is, there are some calibration issues with the lenses you and your wife are using or with the bodies themselves.

[klynam]

Originally Posted by toverman

I get a lot of keepers when I'm shooting, and I don't know that it has much to do with my camera bodies (five+ years old) or my superhuman ability (I'm experienced, but far from perfect). I'd say familiarity and knowledge of my equipment has been the biggest difference. No flame here, just count me as one that suggests that this problem can't be solved with money. Unless, that is, there are some calibration issues with the lenses you and your wife are using or with the bodies themselves.

Agreed, and hoping to send lenses off this week for calibration. 40D is for sale so I can replace w/ another 5D classic.

[L Stegall]

Originally Posted by wclavey

Now that this is well into its second page, I do not fear that my comment will be a hijack...

Every time this thread would come to the top of the list, my eyes would read it as: "Getting New Wife With DSLR" - - and no matter how many times it came up, I thought the same thing... what's wrong with the old wife??? ...no DSLR?

Well, as an "old wife WITH dSLR" - that made me laugh!