old school digital: canon 400D
Today a piece about my first digital reflex camera.
I had the luck that I was raised with film and reflex cameras around me. My father, grandfather, uncles, everyone had a reflex and it was great to learn and even more to use to make some pictures. But there came a time I had other things on my mind and school took more time, activities outside school took up a lot of time to so photography ended up in the fridge. But it didn’t extend the flame. Later on I started getting more time and digital compact cameras became very affordable. After investing in a HP compact digital camera and later a canon powershot A75 wit 3,2MP. It all came back and it didn’t take very long before I bought myself my first real digital reflex, DSLR, from canon. The end of 2007 came in sight and my sights were on the canon EOS 400D, also known as the rebel XTI, with two kit lenses and a carrying bag.
canon powershot A75
used from wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wassily
Canon EOS 400D:
canon eos 400D/rebel XTI
By User:Atorero (ru:Участник:Atorero) – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2213733
The specifications were:
- APS- C CMOS sensor with 10.1 MP resolution
- digic II processor
- A nine point auto focus system
- A burstrate of 3 frames/sec.
- 2,5″ LCD screen
- A proximity sensor below the viewfinder to disable the LCD
- Status bar inside viewfinder
- Viewfinder with 95% coverage
- EOS integrated cleaning system
- Shutterspeed from 1/4000s to 30s in bulb
- X-sync speed 1/200
- ETTL-II popup flash
- ISO speed 100 – 1600
- Evaluative, center weighed average and partial metering
- Whitebalance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Light, White Fluorescent Light, Flash, Manual, user-adjusted
- 1 memory slot supports compact flash cards type I and II
- Batterytype: NB-2LH – 500 shots without flash, 360 shots with flash
- Body weight: 510 gr
- EF and EF-S mounts for lenses
- Connection: usb 2
- Software included in the box:
• Zoom Browser EX
• PhotoStitch
• EOS Utility
• Digital Photo Professional
(sources: my camera, canon manual, wikipedia, dpreview)
In the kit I had the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 and a 55-200mm 4.5-5.6 USM lens. The downside of the kit lenses was that they are kind of noisy when focussing and not that fast. But as a starter those two just got the job done.
Later on I bought the BG-E3 grip. It gave me a more stable feel to hold the camera. But I didn’t bought an extra battery because I started looking at glass. From there I got me the plastic fantastic 50mm 1.8. A very cheap yet fantastic lens to work with. With the F 1.8 I discovered that I could work without flash in lower light conditions. From there I started looking forward. The photography bug did bit me really hard and my eye was looking at a full frame camera. But first I wanted a good lens that covered most of what I needed.
It did exist and I bought the 24-70 2.8 L-lens. I still use this one as my most important glass. It just does what I want. From there it didn’t take long to pick up the canon EOS 5D mark II but that’s another story.
The canon EOS 400D was a great camera that did teach me a lot and got the fire burning which created the firestorm I love up to today. It allowed me a much greater control on creating my images. I started to learn about white balance, light, composition, for me the snapshot era ended there.
I also got involved with the fire-brigade Wervik. They gave me the chance to make great pictures and try out what my camera could do.
At that time I joined the local Photography club where I have been thriving and enjoying the great people I meet, talent I see. We learn from each other and try to get better. It has and still is a honour to be member of the club, I went from just a member till years later an active part of the organisation and administration. Doing some workshops and lessons about basics of photography and flash.
It also got me more outdoors and involved in the community. I started out with my dog and nature as my subjects and bit by bit started working with people, studio, concerts, …
It was a big step not only in learning to use a digital reflex but also in how I used the camera to create what I wanted to show. My love for canon also started then. Everyone has an opinion what is the best camera or best manufacturer. For me it was and still is canon, although I’m also getting into Fujifilm.
Some examples from my photography 2007-2009 with the canon EOS 400D:
—
Wim