sandpiper wrote in post #16806755
Wow.
Rmanncobb, I don't know if you are still reading this but this is intended as a helpful reply.
Firstly, the electronic sizzling sound is perfectly normal, it is simply the camera not having enough light to focus and so using a rapid burst of flashes (one flash does not last long enough) to add light to the scene whilst the camera focuses. This is not a fault. If you keep the shutter button pressed down it will do the "sizzling" bit as it focuses, then take the shot. If you hear the sizzle and take your finger off then it will just have to start again when you press it again. A quick glance in the manual where it describes the onboard flash function would have clarified that, and you could have used the camera just fine.
The blurriness could be down to many things, but it sounds like you were using one of the basic modes, which all default to "all AF points active". This means the camera uses all the autofocus points and focuses on whatever it thinks may be the subject. Very often this is not waht YOU think is the subject. There are also many other ways that blur can occur and they are normally due to user error in one form or another.
Yes, blurriness can be down to faulty equipment, but 98% of the time it is just down to user error. As your initial post (rant) showed little understanding of the camera you were using, it is natural for people to think user error is far more likely than a faulty camera. Nothing you described that camera doing is a fault, it is all normal behaviour which is explained in the manual, had you read it.
You complain that, when you used an external flash, the camera made you miss the "good" shots because it wouldn't shoot and said "busy". Again, that is normal, flashes need to recharge, the image buffer gets filled and needs to be emptied etc. When the camera says "busy" all the time you are simply shooting too fast, slow down and wait until the good shot comes along, THEN take a shot and wait until the next good opportunity. Blazing away at the poorer opportunities, then complaining because the camera is busy when the good ones occur, is (and I hate to say it) user error again.
You need to be aware that a DSLR is a much more complex beast than a cheap point and shoot, but that does not mean that it will give better results automatically. In fact, the opposite usually applies as P&S cameras have much greater depth of field, which makes focus issues far less significant and so reduces blurriness from missed focus, especially at wide apertures. P&S cameras are usually aimed at doing everything for the user, where DSLR cameras tend to need much more user input to get good results. If you just stick a DSLR on full auto, or in a basic mode, then it will quite possibly not do as well as a P&S in the same situation. Take control of the DSLR yourself though and, with a little practice, it will blow the P&S out of the water. You do need to learn how to use it though.
This forum is a great resource and many people find "issues" like yours when they first get a DSLR. They come on here and ask for help and quickly get taught what they are doing wrong and how to correct the problems they are having. Many go on to become very accomplished photographers who then help out the next generation of newbies.
I know it isn't what you want to hear, but the problems you had are typical for a new DSLR user, had you come on here a year ago and asked for help, and not insisted that the camera is faulty and it can't possibly be user error, then you would have been able to take good pictures and not lost all that time taking bad ones. If it WAS the camera at fault, then people would have looked at the issue and your pictures and figured out what you needed to do.
The professors who taught you how to use the camera should have said straight away that the sizzling flash is just normal AF assist working, and how to get out of the basic zones and into the creative modes and take control over what your camera is trying to do. The fact that they did not is astounding if they actually teach photography. Surely, they can't teach photography and let you leave it on auto.
Coming along and ranting about faulty equipment, then slagging off those who try and help you by pointing out your errors will get you nowhere in life. It was pointed out that, if you thought the camera was faulty you should have got it exchanged or asked for help at the start. You chose to carry on with something that either wasn't working, or you needed some help in using, without dealing with it. Now you blame your grades on the bad camera. At some point in your life you will need to accept responsibility for your own actions / decisions and accept that you aren't so smart that you cannot be doing things wrong. You blame your bad photography on a "bad camera", then your bad grades on the "bad camera", then you come here and say that everybody is working for Canon because they say the "bad camera" sounds normal and maybe you were just doing something wrong.
People on here are normally very polite and he;lpful and go out of their way to diagnose problems and whether they are due to faulty equipment or user error. People helped then go on and change the faulty gear or learn how to use the perfcetly good gear that they had all along. Sure, some people were less than their normal polite selves to you. Once again, you cannot see that this was caused by your attitude, because you cannot be at fault it must be a faulty forum and so you leave.
If you stick around, and take a more humble attitude and show a willingness to learn how to use your camera then sure, post up some pictures with the exif intact and I am sure that people will be willing to help you out. Continue with the same attitude though and it will just be bounced back at you again.
