Looking to bring my phtotgraphy to the next level

[bethanyanna]

I have always enjoyed photography. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a camera!
I currently have a point and shoot Sony Cybershot. It does good, for what it is. But now that I have children, I really want to hone my skills. I can take decent stills and landscapes all day long, but I want to get nice portraits without having to pay a photographer.

So I've been doing some research, and I think I've narrowed my search to the Canon EOS 7D. It seems to have gotten pretty good reviews, and it looks like it would be a nice middle of the road camera to get my feet wet with.

I think I read that it shoots in RAW, but I honestly am not going to even pretend that I know what that means. lol

So before I go drop a grand on a camera, I would love some feedback!

Thanks for the help!!

[bethanyanna]

Well... I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago. At the end of the day, after handling all the cameras, talking with the folks at the camera store, and listening to everything y'all had to say, I ended up with 70D, and I absolutley LOVE it!!! It's a phenomanal peice of equipment and I'm enjoying learning how to use it. I've already taken some great photos, as well as some fairly decent portraits/candids of people! I still have a lot to learn, but with this in my arsenal, I have no doubt I'll get where I wanted to go with my photography! 🙂

Canon was running a promotion, so it came with a 32M SD card, a 18-135mm lens (a great range for me to start with), and a bag (which is probably larger than I would have purchased, but it will work).

And with it... if you purchased the camera, you got a $350 rebate if you got either the pro-100 ($349) or pro-10 printer ($379), (you also had to purchase a $50 pack of 11"x13" photo paper to complete the bundle). It kinda seemed like a no brainer to me! So I went for broke and got the pro-10. It's large, and as I have no idea where I'm going to set it up yet, it's still in the box... but it's been calling my name everytime I walk by it, so I might just have to set it up this weekend.

Anyway... thanks and happy shooting! 😄

[jazzman1]

---

@bethanyanna wrote:

Well... I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago. At the end of the day, after handling all the cameras, talking with the folks at the camera store, and listening to everything y'all had to say, I ended up with 70D, and I absolutley LOVE it!!! It's a phenomanal peice of equipment and I'm enjoying learning how to use it.

---

Good to hear you found a camera you like.  Good choice.  Have fun and come back if you need help.  

[ebiggs1]

Great to hear.  Beware, the Pro-10 has a steep learning curve and is best controled with Lightroom or PS.  It is a very fine printer but like anything in this class, it will need some commitment.

[bethanyanna]

oooo.... they didn't tell me that! hmmm.... that worries me a little. I've already got quite a steep learning curve ahead of me! lol

[jazzman1]

---

@bethanyanna wrote:

oooo.... they didn't tell me that! hmmm.... that worries me a little. I've already got quite a steep learning curve ahead of me! lol

---

Depending on where you got your gear you should have a 30 day return policy.  If you test it out and don't think it's for you don't hesitate to return it for exchange or full refund.  I deal with B&H and have had no problems with returns and refunds.  I get most of my gear there and think they're tops in customer service.   There's other places that rate well also, but B&H have served me so well I have'nt had to go anywhere else.

[TTMartin]

---

@bethanyanna wrote:

oooo.... they didn't tell me that! hmmm.... that worries me a little. I've already got quite a steep learning curve ahead of me! lol

---

Canon printers also work well using Canon's provided Digital Photo Professional. I wouldn't get too worried about it.

[ebiggs1]

While the printer can print from any software you wish, I have found PS or LR are the best.  But that is up to you.

I have had three of these type printers.  Starting way back and I have the Pro-100 right now.  One advantage with the Pro-100 over the Pro-10 is the ink can sit unused for a longer time period.  Since I am retired now I don't print as often as I used to.  For instance I get busy right now with Senior photos but less when that is over.

A plus for the Pro-10 is its B&W ability.  The Pro-100 can not print true B&W.

I have had so many rquests from people not being able to get a good print from these printers, I made a document I copy and paste each time somebody asked me.  Here it is.  You may want to print this out a refer to it when you start. 

You can not set the printer to match the monitor.  You must set the monitor to match the printer.  

First, you must not let the printer set anything.  Turn off every bit off control it has.  You can do this with the Canon My Printer under the Printer Settings tab.  Do you know how?  I will guess, yes, for now but if you don't get back to me.

Second, you need to have your photo editor (like Photoshop) handle all the print settings and color matching.  You know how to do this? I prefer Photoshop and I use AdobeRGB color space.

And lastly, it is essential you get some settings on your monitor that somewhat matches what the printer is printing.  Your printer may be doing exactly what you are telling it to do and you have no idea it is, because your monitor is so far off.  If you don't do this step, you can forget the other steps.  However, there are only a few things that you need to be concerned with. You don't need any fancy extra add-on to do this.  No additional software or gadgets, etc.  No monkeys, no spiders, nothing!

Most people set their monitors too bright.

You must get the gray-scale very close.  You need to get the brightness very close and you need the contrast very close.

After you do these things you can make adjustments to your prints by just looking at your screen.  Because you know the monitor and printer are on the same level.  One more point, you can NOT get a printer to print every color exactly the way you see it.  It isn't possible as all colors and adjustments effect all others.  My goal is to get the skin tones right.  That is what people notice most. Remember you are dealing with two different disciplines here.  One is colored light and the other is colored dyes.  They are not the same thing.

For instance, I know my Pro-100 tends to print slightly darker than what I see on the monitor (typical).  So, I automatically know to set it's prints 1/2 to one stop brighter in Photoshop, in my case.  It also prints with a slightly warn tone.  Most of the time, with portraits especially, this if OK but sometimes it is not.  In that case I adjust the "temp" setting slightly cooler in PS.

All the Canon photo printers I have ever seen have this warm/magenta cast.  Canon engineers must prefer this look.  It can not be changed.  You need to "fix" it in post.

Make sure you have the correct ICC profiles and you are using Canon brand ink and paper until you get good with the printer.  Very, very important, otherwise you don't know if the printer is doing exactly what you are telling it to or not.

Important is, use the USB connection until everything is right.  You are just adding another issue when you try to set up the printing and the wireless all at the same time.  Just like using Canon branded products until it is a go.  Use a real printer USB cable.  Not just any old USB cable. Get everything right before you explore.

[TTMartin]

---

@bethanyanna wrote:

I have always enjoyed photography. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a camera!
I currently have a point and shoot Sony Cybershot. It does good, for what it is. But now that I have children, I really want to hone my skills. I can take decent stills and landscapes all day long, but I want to get nice portraits without having to pay a photographer.

So I've been doing some research, and I think I've narrowed my search to the Canon EOS 7D. It seems to have gotten pretty good reviews, and it looks like it would be a nice middle of the road camera to get my feet wet with.

I think I read that it shoots in RAW, but I honestly am not going to even pretend that I know what that means. lol

So before I go drop a grand on a camera, I would love some feedback!

Thanks for the help!!

---

For a general use camera I would choose the 70D over the classic 7D.  The 70D is very close to the classic 7D in its performance feature (fps, 19 focus points, etc) and adds some nice features for general use like the tilt swivel touch screen, much finer more even noise characteristics, and Dual Pixel AF for video.

As for lenses, Canon really upped the image quality when the updated their consumer lenses with the STM motor. The STM lens line matches the image quality of the first generation IS L lenses. No reason to look any further than the STM lenses. In fact the STM lens line is one of the big reasons to choose Canon over other brands, no one else offers that level of image quality at the same price level.

[bethanyanna]

"If I were you, I would look for a deal on the 7D and a white box EF 24-105mm f4L lens.  You will likely need a little wider lens for your "decent stills and landscapes".  Possibly a EF-s 10-22mm.  The camera and thoes two lenses would be a killer combo.  Plus you need not buy all at once"

So would it be bad if I just started with the 28-135 mm Kit that comes on the camera out of the box first? Which lens would gain me the most usability when it comes to portraits?

"For a general use camera I would choose the 70D over the classic 7D"

... that's kinda the point... I'm not looking for something general use. I really looking to bring my photography to the "next level". I'm looking to be able to create professional quality portraits.

[TCampbell]

You specifically mentioned wanting something nicer for portraits.  Of course any camera can take a "portrait" (even a phone), so when someone mentions wanting something "nicer" it occurs to me that you might be thinking of the effect in which the subject has tack-sharp focus and yet the background is beautifully blurred.  

If this is what you had in mind when you said you wanted nicer portraits, then lens selection certainly factors into the results.  The effect is created as long as the camera has a reasonably large image sensor (due to the physics of how it works, you can't get much of this blurred background effect if the sensor is tiny.)  You also need a lens with a long-ish focal length (wide angles can't produce much of the effect) and it should also have a low "focal ratio" (This is the size of the opening in the lens through which the light can travel as compared to the overall focal length of the lens.  If a lens can provide a focal ratio of say, f/4, ten it means that the focal length is four times longer than the aperture diameter.)

A 50mm lens can do this, but the effect isn't particularly strong.  It's much stronger with an 85mm lens and anything over 100mm does very well -- and all of this assumes a low focal ratio.  One of my favorites is my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM with the focal length out near 200mm and the focal ratio down near f/2.8 or f/4.  I also use an EF 135mm f/2 lens which has an intensely strong effect.

The variable focal ratio zooms (like the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6) don't have a very strong effect because as you zoom to the longer focal lengths, the focal ratio increases to f/5.6 -- which isn't very low.

The EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM can do this, but you'll need to zoom to the 105mm focal length, use the f/4 aperture (at f/4) place your subject very close to the camera, and make sure the background is quite a bit beyond your focused subject.  The longer the focal length of the lens and the lower the focal ratio, the stronger the effect is.

7D vs. 70D wont effect the look of the image.  The cameras will handle differently but they both have the same sensor size.  The 70D is better at video (if you're interested in using your camera for video -- some people don't use video.  I am one of those people who have really only switched on video mode once or twice just to toy with it, but I really don't use it.)