Author Topic: Canon 400D / Rebel XTI (Read 8746 times)

mwp1969 · « **on:** February 19, 2008, 14:22 »

Hi all. I am seriously considering the 400D as my first body for a DSLR set-up.

I know it has an LCD but can it be used for other than to review what you've previously shot or other than for the menus? A friend says she has this camera and she's never been able to "view" what she shoots on the LCD (however, she's technically challenged so I imagine its just her not having gone to the manual to figure out the right set of buttons to press or menu settings)

If the camera has this capability ... could someone please let me know the steps so that I may pass them along to her?

Also any information about your experience with using this camera for stock would be appreciated.

Mark

sharply_done · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2008, 14:53 »

The Canon 400D/Rebel XTi cannot be used in the same manner as a point-and-shoot camera. The LCD screen on this camera cannot be used as a viewfinder. You can view the images you shot using the screen, but you have to look through the viewfinder in order to take them.

If you want to use the LCD screen as a viewfinder, you will have to purchase a newer model camera such as the Canon Rebel Xsi or 40D.

mwp1969 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2008, 15:03 »

Thanks Sharply_Done. I will pass that information on to my friend who it appears really bought more camera than she would ever need. I will admit to my friends and my own ingnorance on that one as I thought any camera that had an LCD would have that capability ... thank you for telling me the 400D does not. I had not heard of the Rebel Xsi. I wonder if that's a 450D? in Europe when it comes out?

Any other comments about using the 400D / Rebel XTI's for my first body are welcomed ...

Mark

GeoPappas · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2008, 15:23 »

Quote from: mwp1969 on February 19, 2008, 15:03

I had not heard of the Rebel Xsi. I wonder if that's a 450D? in Europe when it comes out?

Yes, the XSi is the same as the 450D. As far as I know, it hasn't hit the stores yet.

You can read about the XSi here:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012403canoneos450d.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012404canoneos450dhandson.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012415canoneos450dchanges.asp

Quote from: mwp1969 on February 19, 2008, 15:03

Any other comments about using the 400D / Rebel XTI's for my first body are welcomed ...

I think that the 400D is a great camera to start with. It is 10 MP and has almost the exact same chip as the 40D, but for a fraction of the cost ($520 vs $1150). If you are strapped for cash, then you might want to consider the 350D which is 8 MP ($400).

boatman · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2008, 15:28 »

Mark, I started out with the 350d as it was good value because of the then new 400d. They both use the same kit lens which is not great, but the starter lens have been covered in another thread. I found it perfectly ok, so the 400d will also be ok. I eventually bought L glass for it which improved things, and then eventually got a 40d which is great. I still use the 350d at times, as its so small and light which can be useful at times. On a budget, the 400d and the 50mm 1.8 ( mine cost $69) will work well, and you can grow as the money becomes available.
Best of luck.

zorki · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2008, 15:36 »

Your friend wouldn't be the first that bought way more camera than they needed. I have many friends that have been bitten by the DSLR bug and just turn out crappy snapshots...

Waldo4 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2008, 15:37 »

I've always wondered if the LCD on the few DSLR's that actually have live view if even useful for anything other than framing and possibly exposure (hard to tell how accurately it shows the exposure). I cannot see how the resolution would be good enough to determine focus, I remember pointlessly trying to manually focus my PnS, even with the magnified area it was basically useless, the autofocus could always outperform it. Though it is amazing how easy it is to see focus in the little viewfinder on a DSLR.

Actually it seems when people get DSLR's just to have the best, but really have the skills of an auto PnS shooter (and don't develop them), their pictures get worse. Shooting in .jpeg hurts some of the gains in range that a DSLR has, and DOF is hard for beginers to grasp, it really doesn't exist in PnS cameras except in extreme cases, but it often shows up, the wrong way, with a DSLR. I've had my camera at a few parties, everybody that picks it up and puts it in auto thinks that things are going good, but they don't realize I have it set to only look at the centerpoint for focusing (most pictures thus are out of focus), and auto likes to pick the fastest aperture of the lens, generally f/1.8 at parties. Anything other than a portrait at that speed likely has some problems because of the DOF, especially if multiple people are involved.

lbarn · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2008, 16:31 »

Mark, I use the 400d for the past 10 months after using a 300d for a couple of years. I think that the 10 mp is enough and still leaves some room to crop images if necessary. I am interested in how the new XSI fairs when some sites get one to review, I would think the live view would be useful for isolated object photos.

At the time when I bought the body, I purchased a 28-105 3.4-4.5 and the 50mm 1.8. I had read all the reports on the 50mm or "nifty fifty", and just couldn't believe that a 75 buck lens could be all that grand. They were right, it has amazing sharpness and color for a "cheap" lens.

Although I have had many shots accepted at the big 5 with (just started with StockXpert) with the 18-55 kit lens, I recently upgraded to their new budget IS lens the 18-55 IS, which is also good for the $179 price tag. I may get flamed, but I think for starting out their new 55-250 IS may be excellent for the suspected $279 price tag when released. Some recent posts over at DPreview have linked to some images that appear good and photozone.de reviewed it and gave it relatively good marks. Although these budget lens won't work on a full frame camera, their low price should allow one to get more shots accepted to save up for some "L grade" glass.

The only site I struggle with sometimes is IS and their amazing ability to find artifacts that most other sites either ignore or don't see, and I suspect that this is more of a problem in postprocessing or exposure, than a specific problem with the camera.

Lee

araminta · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2008, 17:30 »

I've a 350D now and I'm extremely pleased with this body. I skipped the 400D, but I will purchase the 450D: going from 8Mp to 12Mp is indeed interesting for a microstock contributor as the commission is higher for larger photos.

You may consider purchasing the 450D instead of the 400D for that sole reason: 12Mp is enough for a XL license at IS while 10Mp is not: this is a 50% increase in earnings!

Anyway, whatever the body you choose and whatever the lens, going from a compact/bridge to a DSLR will give you an immediate benefit: noise is FAR less present with a DSLR which is a must for a stock protographer.

GeoPappas · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2008, 17:58 »

Quote from: araminta on February 19, 2008, 17:30

going from 8Mp to 12Mp is indeed interesting for a microstock contributor as the commission is higher for larger photos.

You may consider purchasing the 450D instead of the 400D for that sole reason: 12Mp is enough for a XL license at IS while 10Mp is not: this is a 50% increase in earnings!

With all due respect, I think that this point is quite overblown. Less than 2% of all of my sales are for an XLarge size at IS. Most (> 85%) of my sales are derived from XSmall -> Medium sales. A Medium size image at IS is 2 MP! A large size image at IS is 5 MP!

Granted, others might have more XLarge sales than me, but I doubt that they are dramatically different.

If I were strapped for cash, I wouldn't spend the extra money for a few more % of sales. Especially since larger images have a higher likelihood of being rejected for artifacts or noise.

araminta · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2008, 18:14 »

Quote from: GeoPappas on February 19, 2008, 17:58

With all due respect, I think that this point is quite overblown. Less than 2% of all of my sales are for an XLarge size at IS. Most (> 85%) of my sales are derived from XSmall -> Medium sales. A Medium size image at IS is 2 MP! A large size image at IS is 5 MP!

With all due respect (

), I also have illustrations and 3D pictures at XXL size and 50% of my sales (in value) at IS are L-XL-XXL licenses while none of my 8Mp photos are available as XL/XXL licenses.

Being able to propose XL downloads for my photos seems quite interesting to me.

And with the recent price increase, I think that this percentage will increase too in the near future.

As soon as you get a few $3-$4 XL or XXL sales, you don't like at all $0.25 sales for XS pictures!

It may depend on the type of picture however.

GeoPappas · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2008, 18:27 »

Quote from: araminta on February 19, 2008, 18:14

I also have illustrations and 3D pictures at XXL size

But I don't think that you can create illustrations or 3D images with a camera

BTW, you have some great images!

araminta · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2008, 18:36 »

Quote from: GeoPappas on February 19, 2008, 18:27

But I don't think that you can create illustrations or 3D images with a camera

As far as I know, you are correct

I just try to explain that I have XL and XXL pictures in my portfolio and they do sell quite well. But they are not photographies indeed.

Quote from: GeoPappas on February 19, 2008, 18:27

BTW, you have some great images!

Thanks

le_cyclope · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2008, 19:27 »

Quote from: Waldo4 on February 19, 2008, 15:37

I've always wondered if the LCD on the few DSLR's that actually have live view if even useful for anything other than framing and possibly exposure (hard to tell how accurately it shows the exposure). I cannot see how the resolution would be good enough to determine focus, I remember pointlessly trying to manually focus my PnS, even with the magnified area it was basically useless, the autofocus could always outperform it. Though it is amazing how easy it is to see focus in the little viewfinder on a DSLR.

In fact, the only time that I use the Liveview function on my 40D is when I do studio shots and my camera is on a tripod and connected to my computer.

But then, believe me, you can have the view on your computer screen, magnify it up to 10 times and adjust the focus «manually» but from your computer. Wow, imagine being able to browse through your photo and pinpointing the focus on your 22 in screen. And it works!

But I agree with you that for any other kind of photography, it is more a gadget then a useful feature...

Claude

madelaide · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2008, 20:02 »

Quote from: GeoPappas on February 19, 2008, 17:58

With all due respect, I think that this point is quite overblown. Less than 2% of all of my sales are for an XLarge size at IS. Most (> 85%) of my sales are derived from XSmall -> Medium sales. A Medium size image at IS is 2 MP! A large size image at IS is 5 MP!

I don't keep stats of these figures, but I also observe that trend. XS-S-M make the vast majority of my sales. So size itself would not be a reason for me to upgrade when I already have a good camera. Of course other advantages apply, such as having room for cropping without losing final size much.

Regards,
Adelaide

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Author Topic: Canon 400D / Rebel XTI (Read 8746 times)

mwp1969

sharply_done

mwp1969

GeoPappas

boatman

zorki

Waldo4

lbarn

araminta

GeoPappas

araminta

GeoPappas

araminta

le_cyclope

madelaide

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