Struggling with to get clear pictures with 1d m2, 10d takes clear pics

[AliAyson]

Ok..I feel like a complete idiot posting this, but I'm going to do it anyway. I bought a canon 10D a couple of years ago and fell in love with photography. I'm still VERY much a newbie at this, but I wanted to "spread my wings" so to speak, so I bought a 1d mark ii a couple of months ago.

I cannot get as clear a picture with my 1d as I can with my 10d. I'm sure it must be "operator error", but a small part of me is worried that something is wrong with the camera (party because the box was a bit banged up when the camera arrived and I haven't stopped obsessing about that).

I see the difference mostly with flash shots. Tonight as a test, I got a close up shot of a water bottle, zooming in on the tiny writing on the back of the bottle. My 10d was noticably clearer. Same lens, same aperature setting, same shutter setting, same everything (except the camera, of course).

To make sure that I wasn't biased I asked my husband to take a look at the shot of the water bottle taken with the 1d vs. the shot taken with the 10d, and I asked him to tell me which picture was clearer..he immediately picked out the 10d picture.

The difference is not glaring and I probably won't be taking a lot of flash shots with my 1d anyway, but I'm more concerned that something could be wrong with my 1d and that I should get it fixed while it's still under warranty.

The difference is so subtle though that I feel foolish. Would an authorized Canon dealer be able to check out the camera and tell me if something is wrong...if that something is extremely subtle (i.e. it's not something obvious like the shutter sticking or a huge crack in the side of the camera).

I'm driving myself crazy with this...

(FYI, the flash I'm using is a Speedlite 220 EX).

Thanks in advance for any advice

- obsessive, neurotic, newbie photographer :o

[GyRob]

From what i was told the 1dmk2 does produce softer images, mine does compared with my 20d ,it is only slight.
i have gone for plus 5 sharpness and plus 2 contrast on my 1dmk2 and im happyier now ,i do only shoot jpegs btw.
Rob.

[AliAyson]

Rob,

Thanks sharing your experience with your 1dmk2. I just tried upping the sharpness setting to +3 and I can definitely see a difference. I'm going to keep playing around with the settings and see if I can find the sharpness I like.

At least I'm feeling a bit less worried about the health of my 1dmk2. I wish the dang thing hadn't been packed so poorly when it was shipped or I wouldn't even be noticing all this stuff (putting it under the microscope).

Thanks again!

-- Alison

[cc10d]

as suggested by lancea,on another thread is some very good info about this sort of issue, is in this; http://photoworkshop.com/canon/EOS_Digital.pdf

[Croasdail]

You know, you should just call the canon service center. They are very helpful and will be more then glad to chat about the issue you are having before sending the camera in. And it is free.

[Tom W]

as suggested by lancea,on another thread is some very good info about this sort of issue, is in this; http://photoworkshop.com/canon/EOS_Digital.pdf

That's a good link, cc10d. There is a charton page 26 in that PDF document that shows the level of in-camera sharpening and color saturation of the various Canon DSLR cameras. Basically, the 10D, 20D, and D-Rebel cameras provide a greater amount of in-camera sharpening, color saturation, and standard contrast compared to the 1-series. Reason is that 1-series users are much more likely to want to use post-processing to control those parameters.

[AliAyson]

wow..this document was a huge help. Thanks for posting it.

-- Alison

[AliAyson]

I tried using Canon's email support, but never received a reply. I didn't realize that there was a number to call.

-- Alison

[Dante King]

Welcome to POTN aliayson!!!

[chris.bailey]

I went through the same thing when I went from 10d to 1dMkII and it took me a while to sort out my workflow to get the best out of the MkII. MkII images are initially softer but will take a lot more sharpening on post processing.

[Becca]

Are these settings available on a Canon 300D? I have searched every page of my manual, and I can find no reference to these settings.

If they are, can someone point me to information on how to set them?

I know I'm a real newbie with this camera, but I sure would appreciate your help!

[KevC]

Are you using Jpg or RAW? Shoot RAW, in both. That bypasses any post processing done by the camera. Then "develop" them the same, and check them out in Photoshop. I don't have a 1d Mk2 (though it sounds real sweet), but I know my 300D RAWs are slightly soft.

[jfrancho]

Are these settings available on a Canon 300D? I have searched every page of my manual, and I can find no reference to these settings.

If they are, can someone point me to information on how to set them?

I know I'm a real newbie with this camera, but I sure would appreciate your help!Check the manual again, look for parameters. It's in one of the menus. There are two presets plus a programmable one. I'll find the page# when I get home, later.

[lostdoggy]

Is the 220EX ETTL-2 compatible???

[Becca]

Thank you jfrancho! I found it!

[tim]

Is the 220EX ETTL-2 compatible???

ETTL-2 is in the camera body, all a flash does is flash as brightly as the camera tells it to. Short answer: yes.

[rich_yau]

ETTL-2 is in the camera body, all a flash does is flash as brightly as the camera tells it to. Short answer: yes.

Then why is it a benefit for the 580 to be ettl2?

[jfrancho]

Thank you jfrancho! I found it!Good, sorry I forgot to check when I got home...

[lomond]

Then why is it a benefit for the 580 to be ettl2?


The 580 is ETTL-2 compatible as are all EX Series Speedlites.
As Tim says ETTL-2 is down to the camera.

Regards,