My EOS-70D Journey

* I think this in the right place, if not, MOD's can move it to the appropriate area *

Going from a Canon PRO-1 to the EOS-70D has been quite an experience. And I didn't want to slam the new owners thread in the 70D about my crappy shots. So I made this.

I mastered the PRO-1 after I got it and kept shooting with it for 6 years. I was being limited by the camera and the night shots I normally take and wanted a REBEL or EOS line so I finally caved and pre-ordered the 70D. I consider myself a beginner and after using the 70D I have a new found respect for people that shoot proficiently with an EOS/Rebel line.

Yesterday I was awaiting the arrival of the 70D and was asked to accompany my mother to the Dr's for test results. Turns out she has lung cancer. That's how my day started so it was total chaos from the time that was explained to me until 5am when I actually fell asleep this morning.

NOW ONTO MY JOURNEY.....


After 5am I finally passed out after taking nearly 200 or so pictures in the dark. And let me tell you, it's not right when I pass out and dream about: "Did you check the F-stop?" or "If you adjust the ISO you'll get a better shot." I hope I'm not the only one to have that dream.. Because if I don't dream about some half dressed chick tonight.......

I have a lot more reading to do, and questions to ask and hopefully I'll master the 70D in time.

SIDE NOTE: I rarely open the images in Photoshop to "adjust" them. So what you see is exactly what was shot. No edits unless it's HDR. I don't feel my shots or skill is at the level that deems it necessary.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96135​23963/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96135​88495/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96089​81155/

Two things spring to mind:

First, if you're not shooting RAW, you should be. The true power of the 70D is best realized through RAW images.

Second, if you are shooting RAW, then you should always do sharpening in post-processing. RAW doesn't sharpen in-camera—JPEG does—and you need to sharpen to compensate for the anti-aliasing filter. Shooting RAW allows you to select and control the sharpening, among a whole cornucopia of other things.

That first pic is not bad at all for ISO 5000.

Sorry to hear about your mother. Cancer sucks.

20Droger, thanks for that info. I do shoot in raw most of the time, but I had no idea about the raw sharpening!

Keep the tips and info coming. I've learned a lot from the posts on this site.

M_six, thanks

One more thing comes to mind. Your dreaming of half dressed chicks? Now that's a problem. Get rid of the other 1/2 and all will be fine.

Don't worry.....I'll find a reason to get one of my hot female friends naked for a photo shoot. Oh the perks. Baha!

But in all seriousness, I need to get more books despite my ADHD and inability to focus on a *SQUIRREL!* set thing for very long.

Here's the results from today.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96151​67091/

Doing more reading, and using the zoom/magnify to focus in auto focus mode and fine tune it I was able to almost double the quality of the image

(I shot these in RAW+JPG and will upload them to dropbox for people to tinker with in the morning)

If you compare the first night shot above with this one, you can see a obvious IQ increase.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96278​73040/

Here's the RAW image for the above.

https://dl.dropboxuser​content.com/u/23243612​/IMG_0233.CR2

Ranger187 wrote in post #16248123
But in all seriousness, I need to get more books despite my ADHD and inability to focus on a *SQUIRREL!* set thing for very long.

I don't think it's ADHD, I think your problem is well documented...

Ranger187 wrote in post #16248123

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96151​67091/

Lay off the energy drinks and you might even be able to fall asleep before 5am.

HAHA!

I only started drinking that a few months ago.

Hmmm.... Kinda like giving coffee to Twitchy....

Are books really a solution. Are you looking for solutions that are camera specific, photoshop or related to photography. If it is the latter then you might glean something from books. If it is Photoshop then it is possible to get alot of instructional types of books. You really should be able to learn your camera by using it and keeping the manual handy as a reference. I received my 70D a couple of days ago and have shot some things around the house and yard in CR2 only. I find them to be just fine using the 24-105L lens. I have always found that it takes a little time and experience with a new body to dial in all the custom functions the way I want and simply to get used to a new body. Don't be too tough on yourself or the camera for the first few shots. If you are going to shoot JPG then one needs to play with the in camera processing parameters to get the look you want. I shoot a combination of CR2 or JPG but never at the same time, it depends on what I am shooting and the intended and use of the image.

Good luck with the camera, I'm sure it will serve you fine. I got mine so that I had something smaller to pack around when I was traveling.

Ssim, I shot in JPG only for the first day. I started dialing in the settings now and have since gone to RAW+JPG now since I'm more comfortable.

I know how to edit, and process, not the actual workflow process of doing it other than tinkering with it until I find what I like, but it's mostly by *chance* not by expertise.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96290​45607/

First off..congrats on the 70d, slightly jealous but i'll just keep shooting with my 60D until it dies or the price drops on the 70D...whichever comes first

Second..Terribly sorry to hear about your mom

Thirdly...As far as editing, i too try to keep mine as simple as possible. Typically only the sharpening as there is a softening effect when you convert to JPEG. Occasionally also have to lower the saturation on some pics but try and keep them as true OOC as i can.

Looks like you're off to a good start, keep shooting and enjoy

Thanks.

Slowly getting a better grasp of my mistakes and the settings....

Shots from today.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96373​32563/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96405​26902/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/ranger187/96405​34022/