canon 30D good or bad

[stevenup]

I have had a 30D for 16 months. It replaced a mislaid (dont ask) Nikon D70 which I liked.
The Canon, I dont think I do. Especially the price drop. I paid 1,500 Euros and it is now available for around 500 which made it a crap investment.

I have 3 major complaints.

First is the image quality. The images just aint as sharp as they should be from this sort of kit. At first I thought is was the standard lense so I brought an EFS 17 - 85 image stabalizer. the results with this are still dissapointing.

Second is the slowness of the shutter reaction. I have missed many pictures due to the computer wondering what exposure-shutter-iso to use while I am hammering at the shutter release. Even swithing to manual doesnt always bypass this.

Thirdly, it often gets the exposure totally wrong! Especially when using studio flash or moving from a bright space to a light or visa versa.

From the publicity blurbs this sort of thing is impossible. I real life it does or am I the only one?
Steve

[JimC]

stevenup wrote:

First is the image quality. The images just aint as sharp as they should be from this sort of kit. At first I thought is was the standard lense so I brought an EFS 17 - 85 image stabalizer. the results with this are still dissapointing.

Chances are, it's something you're doing wrong. For example, trying to shoot with an aperture that's too wide for the desired depth of field. It could also be the default sharpening settings in the camera. Most advanced dSLR models don't sharpen the images as much in camera, so a bit of sharpening using USM (Unsharp Mask) is usually a good idea (unless you just want increase the sharpening settings in the camera's menus instead and hope that it doesn't overdo it).

Second is the slowness of the shutter reaction. I have missed many pictures due to the computer wondering what exposure-shutter-iso to use while I am hammering at the shutter release. Even swithing to manual doesnt always bypass this.

What do you mean by "hammering the shutter release"? The correct approach in less than optimum lighting is to half press the shutter button and wait for a Focus Lock, then reframe as desired and the press the shutter button the rest of the way down.

With most cameras you can also press and hold the shutter button (as long as you don't need to reframe after a lock), and it will take the photo as soon as focus is locked. It sounds like you're just using it in less than optimum lighting (so the AF sensors are not getting enough light to focus well).

A brighter lens (with wider available apertures, represented by smaller f/stop numbers) can help out with AF speed if you are using one in low light often (and indoors in typical lighting is low light to a camera). Make sure you're not using a filter that's causing light loss, too (for example, a typical polarizer may block a couple of stops of light, depending on how it's rotated).

Thirdly, it often gets the exposure totally wrong! Especially when using studio flash or moving from a bright space to a light or visa versa.

The camera is probably going to expose for ambient light and won't know how much light your studio flash is contributing (since the camera will not meter the scene during the flash exposure). With a non-dedicated flash, It's up to you to calculate the correct aperture and ISO speed needed for best results (depending on the flash being used and it's settings/power level, since I'm assuming it's not a dedicated flash). Manual exposure is usually a good idea in a studio setting.

As for other exposure issues, check your metering mode to make sure you are not doing something like using Spot and metering on a darker or brighter area (if you meter on a darker area, you'll probably get an overexposed image, and if you meter on a brighter area, you'll probably get an underexposed image using Spot).

You may want to give members here a better idea of your exact setup (what studio flash, how it's connected, etc.) for tips.

You may also want to downsize and post a sample or two of problem images so that members can see what might be going wrong.

[rjseeney]

I paid 1,500 Euros and it is now available for around 500 which made it a crap investment.

Whenever you buy towards the end of a products life cycle in a rapidly changing market, you can expect value to slide pretty quickly, especially when an updated model becomes available (in this case the 40d). The D70 you previously had can also be had cheaply....around $400 USD, less than half its original price. DSLR bodies are almost disposable, and none hold their value very well.

[airbrushjohn]

hi steve,

its hard to say what is going on wiht out you posting photos. i work for a photographer who uses nothing but canon so i have a fair knowledge of th the 10d 20d and 30d. i have used them in many areas school portraits, grad portraits, sports action as well as individual and group, under many different lighting situations. you don't really say what settings you are using.

i have gotten some reely great shots with the old ragged out 10d. mods i'm not thread jacking just using this as an example, i had to use manual exposure because the old 10d was on its last leg. please post some shots so we can get a better understanding, and leave the exif in the shot. take a basic shot maybe use aperture mode with the correct iso and white balance and please post up! best regards, john