A BIG CHANGE:From the 400D to the 40D

Hmh, where to start?
The followers of my stream already know that I have a new Cam now. I bought a wonderful Canon EOS 40D three weeks ago. In this post I will tell you about my personal opinion and experience after using it heavily for two weeks ann shooting about 2500 images with it.

 

I thought about buying a new DSLR for some time now but I always wanted to buy it not before my 400D breaks down. I am still very happy with the 400D but since I am planning a big trip to Chile in July I had the plan to buy a second body so that I can definitely shoot during the whole trip. I am really afraid of a camera breakdown during the trip because this would mean that I couldnt shoot from that point on by any chance.
Thats why I started looking around for a second body that I could take with me.


After reading MANY reports and forums on the internet I became sure and surer that the 40D would be my choice.
To me it seemed like all the new Canons are compared to the 40D especially in terms of autofocus. This somehow convinced me. The other differences to my 400D such as liveview, 6.5fps instead of 3.5, ISO 3200 and the metal body also convinced me to take this one.

When I compared the prices on the internet I was quite surprised how expensive this body is. I planned to spend 700€, not instantly but rather in April or May. Nevertheless I started searching ebay and other sites and as soon as a couple of days later I had found MY camera. It was offered as "practically new" and that it had only been used one time for a couple of shots.
It even has warranty until January of 2011!!
So I bid the minimum bet of 599€ and began to wait until the end. Nothing happened and it was mine.
Pretty easy isnt it?
That way I got a 800€ camera for only 600.

So what is my experience now?

When I first got it in my hands I felt at home.
Everything is bigger and feels more qualitative. Its also a bit heavier.
The whole way the buttons are placed is different and it makes you going loco....the first two hours. Then its just great. The hardest part was it to get used to the display on the upper side.
The 400D shows ALL settings on the LCD Display so this still feels completely "unnormal" to me.
I even thought the battery was empty after putting it in for the first time because the LCD display didnt show anything. I recharged the battery and THEN I realized how this baby works.

Now I want to tell you about the image quality. Since its a 10MP camera just like my old one(400D) I wouldnt have expected such a big change.  The biggest differences are the good high ISO results (at least up to ISO 1000) and a perfectly working focus. Most images dont look really sharp on the LCD until you zoom in. I only use the middle focussing point and it really is spot on. Even in real low light situations its on spot most of the times. This was one really negative point with the 400D which is not at all good in these low light things. For me it is a bit like when I got my first DSLR and had to play with it 24/7.  I used my 400D with my 18-55mm most of the times since I wanted to be spontaneous. Now I store it in my bag with the 50mm in 99% of the cases because I just love to play with it in low light situations. Of course the more expensive Canons are much better in that but in this class its one of the best IMO.

To sum up: Its a really good, high quality camera with many advantages to the 400D and its worth to change since its better in almost all points.

The only exception from that is the ON-OFF Button which is shit. How should I use this fucking small switch for example when I am wearing gloves. Its impossible. And I also think that it is likely to break when used too often. This is why I decided to not switch the cam off when its not in use but leave it in standby. This way its always ready!

Battery Grip:

I bought a Phottix Battery Grip shortly after buying the cam. I did it because this camera is too big to shoot portrait format comforably without one. I wouldnt have thought that these 65€ would be such a good investment. This battery grip really makes the camera even more handy and grippy,  And I can now shoot portrait without having to straighten every image in postpro. Its just possible to shoot symmetrically now. And thats wonderful. So get yourself one and try it out. You will love it. I swear!

criticism:

What I loved most about my 400D was its reliability. I knew that I could trust the battery indicator and that it was possible to shoot up to 500 frames with one charged battery. The 40D is not as reliable as this. Its battery shows the almost empty sign already after 100 frames or so and from this point on it will blink for another 300 or 400 frames. You never know when its going to die. Thats pretty fucked I think.

So this is what I think about my camera. I will update this post if I have new information or experiences.

Keep on Clickin'

Before/After "four stylish baldheads by H&M"

Before/After for my most recent shot.
I tried to create a studio like atmosphere by brightening the whole image and stamping away everything that distracts the view.
The whole postpro took me about 45 minutes.

Before/After "watching the ants and feeling alone"

This is the Before/After of my most recent shot "watching the ants and feeling alone".

To achieve this night effect I started processing with rendering a HDR from 3 single exposures that I took using exposure bracketing function of my Canon EOS 400D.
After finishing this I applied some curves and color filters to get this purple sky and city toning.
Then I thought about adding a human element by adding me sitting on the platform in the bottom right corner of the shot. I then decided to not add a person but a heart to show that you are not alone even if you are standing there in solitude.

I wish you some nice and hopefully relaxing days!!

KEEP CLICKIN'!!!.

My first Interview

Interview

I have recently been interviewed by happyphoton.de. I was very surprised when they asked me to anwer their questions because I thought that my style is not at all one that would qualify me for being interviewed. I always had the feeling that the only artists that get the chance to say what they think are the ones that are very good in a specific style of photography for example BW, Portrait or Photoshop or something like that.
I was more than happy when I got the mail because earlier this week I got the getty sales statement that I already blogged about.

All the german readers of this blog can read the interview here.

Since most of the readers here are non-germans (at least I believe so) I will translate it for you now:

 

INTERVIEW

 

What are you doing jobwise (if photography is not your profession)?

I am at the age of 20 and I just started an apprenticeship in an marketing agency in September. Before that I served my civilian service where many of my images came into being (too much free time and too many ideas).

 

What role does photography play in your life?

Since I started shooting photography has become more than a hobby for me. It is my balance in the freetime. Those shooting moments are the ones that let me relax most. And I ALWAYS take my camera with me because what I hate most are situations and moments that I cannot capture. I happened to me several times that I left my camera at home. I regretted it most of the times.
Besides that the contact with other photographers is a very educational and interesting thing which lets me see photography as a medium for meeting people.
I have met several photographers which I got to know via flickr and I still am in good contact with many of them. There are also friendships that emerged from that.
Among those meetings there have been many international experiences with people from other countries such as Switzerland, chile and the USA.

 

How did you start photographing?

When I started with photography it was more like a means to an end than an appeal or something like that.
I have always been interested in getting along with digital image processing and someday I started getting into that and teaching myself everything I needed to know with the help of online tutorials, books etc.
I had no person to ask.
When I became better at processing it wasn't sufficient to process images from the web anymore because I couldn't say that those were "my artworks".
So I took the 5MP compact cam from my parents and started shooting flowers in the backyard and processing them. The results fascinated me.

 

What equipment are you using?

From that time on I got out again and again, played around and only two months later I had decided to buy me a DSLR. I had the money for doing this and so I bought my Canon EOS 400D + 18-55mm + Canon 50mm f/1.8 + Tamron 70-300mm. I am still using this combo.
When I decided which lenses to buy I didn't pay attention to tests. I only decided according to price and focal lengths. I found it senseless to buy lenses for more than 150 euro since I was a beginner. This attitude did not change since that day. I am more than happy with my selection.

 

What is the most difficult thing when you are shooting?

Focussing in the darkness and shooting portraits of people. But I am working on both.

What inspires you?

I am getting my inspiration from everything. I view many images on the internet, I am very attentive when going through the streets or I just play around with all day stuff on rainy days. And in many cases I just start shooting and the ideas emerge while doing so. I just point the camera towards everything I find interesting and almost every time there is something good resulting from that. Old things are very inspirational too

 

Have you got a favourite place?

There are many. I have a special affection for old buildings which are spread over berlin in uncountable numbers. I love it to imagine the stories, looking through old papers and just absorbing the atmosphere of those places. The biggest difficulty is it to capture this atmosphere because images only appeal to the eyes. The special things on location are the different smells, the spiderwebs, the darkness and somehow the illegality and the danger that is present everywhere since there are holes in the ground, fragile walls, brads etc. Ccapturing all this in an image is a big challenge and it always makes me happy when it works out.

 

A film that has changed your worldview?

I would name those two:

1. The Counterfeiters
2. From Lions and Lambs

 

What tips can you give to beginners?

Try around and just do it! Dont let yourself be restricted by the expectations of others.
Have fun! This is the most important part and one can recognize that when viewing the results.
Aside from that its very important to know your equipment. This does not mean reading the manual but that in some situations its just irreplaceable to know where the important buttons are situated. As often as I had to change lenses or settings while standing in pitch-black rooms I now feel that I really KNOW my camera.
Besides that this preserves you from missing moments because you dont know how to adjust the exposure time.

Getty Images: My first sales

As I already wrote on Flickr I have had my first sales on Getty. I have started there about 5 month ago so it really took a while until I sell my first stuff. In fact I dont like to speak about numbers(you may understand) but I can tell you some other details about this sales.

In fact I had three sales:

This one has been selled one time. Pretty reasonable I think because its very stock-like and a very good shot of mine.

 

The other two customers bought this:

This was a big surprise for me because in fact this was not more than a snapshot and I was very unsure about publishing that one. At the end I decided to do it since I had never seen such a door before and found it a catchy image at least. It didnt receive too much feedback and I would have never thought that this might earn money one day.

One the right hand side of this page you find a link that leads to my getty page. At first it was hard to understand that it hasnt been the artistic shots that have been selled but this one that is really one of the worst (or least artistic) in my stream.

Nevertheless I am glad that I decided to upload this one.

My aim for the two years of the getty contract is to earn as much as I have spent on my equipment. Those first sales made this goal become a bit more realistic. Its all depending on the next month so I will keep you up-to-date whenever something is happening.

Before/After "bygone days and what has changed"

This is the Before/After of my most recent shot "bygone days and what has changed". I am loving RAW format in moments like these!

Prints

Panorama

As I told you on Flickr recently I ordered prints. They just arrived and I am more than satisfied with the result. I ordered some standard size prints and a huge 150 cm x 25 cm one.

The quality is amazing and its just as I wanted it to be.  I have been disappointed by prints from different online services many times but in this case there is no criticism from my side.

When I decided to order such a panorama I had the problem of finding a printing service that offers prints in this size and this aspect ratio (1:6!). Finally I only found one that offered what I was looking for.

www.europoster24.de is only shipping inside germany so I guess most of the readers of this blog cannot use it. If you know some international printers that ship to other countries please leave a link in the comments. Thank you very much.

Moo

I also ordered Moo cards. Even though many of you will know Moo already I give a little introduction to all the others.  Moo.com is an international printer that is offering a mass of photo products. Their speciality are business cards with a really good price/benefit ratio and awesome printing and paper quality. They are printing in London and Rhode Island and are shipping the whole wide world.

Not long ago they celebrated their 3rd birthday and gave out 10,000 free business card packs to flickr users. I used this offer and ordered such a 50 pack. I also ordered the free 10 pack that they offer everyone who registers an  free account there.

This is a little selection of my ones. Even though I am only an amateur photographer I like that I now have something professional to give out with my flickr page on the backside.

I can only recommend to try it. Order the free 10 pack and see what I mean.