Canon Rebel XTi problems

A few months ago I got an XTi through the trade up program (i had an old point and shoot that wouldn't power on). From the beginning, I had two issues: it ALWAYS takes dark pictures, and the pictures are very blurry unless taken at high shutter speeds.

After much talk with Canon, they told me I had to get used to a DSLR.'

So I did, crank the iso up and hit up the shutter speed.... then I happened upon a Nikon D60...

My nikon can take non blurry pictures at 1/10... the canons are absolutely crap at this speed.

The nikons pictures are MUCH brighter with all settings being equal. The canon always looks like it has a dark film over it. I tried a night shot with 30 second exposure on both cameras, the nikons was nice and bright, while the only thing you could really see on the canon was lights.

At this point, I believe there is a problem. Both cameras have lenses with the same specs, both are entry level DSLRs, in fact, the canon has more features... I tested them in the same conditions, same settings, side by side... the nikon takes 10 times better pictures...

What do I do?

Post a picture with the details (EXIF).

how do i get exif??

if you can post a picture straight out of the camera that should have exif intact.

on the way, thanks

heres both, the canon is in highest quality, the nikon is in lowest... for some reason, nikon gives you RAW + Low Quality JPEG, while Canon gives RAW + High Quality JPEG

Canon
Nikon

I had a quick look but I noticed right away that your Nikon set your exposure at f/13 for your 30 second shuter while the Canon set the exposure to f/29 for its 30 second exposure. I think that pretty much explains the difference in the photos. The nikon was set to allow quite a bit more light in. The smaller the number the larger the aperture (more light comes through)

Metering the shot (determining the exposure) is one of those things that cameras often do well but often also make mistakes. Many cameras also offer different metering modes. This is regardless of brand. You might consider reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson to help understand exposure. More short term, you can head out put your camera in manual on both your canon Nikon and make the exposure EXACTLY the same (aperture, shutter, and ISO) and see what you come up with.

I did some reading on exposure the other day,,, I totally forgot that I had them in S (or TV). Ok, well, then thats the problem. The canon ALWAYS meters darker.... why is this?

Do you have any exposure compensation set by any chance?

Nopers, no compensation.

I did it again, now the canon is brighter... both f 5.6

Canon
Nikon

Apparently I had the canon zoomed in a bit.

Glad you've got it somewhat figured out. All cameras have their way of working, it's very clear that both Canon's and Nikon's can make great images but metering is what it is. Getting the correct exposure can be a challenge depending on the situation, but that's what makes it fun.

The XTi manual should have a section about metering modes, may be worth looking into.

Hope I helped

yeah, you made me not get mad and sell the canon :P So, is there any way to change the auto metering so it goes a bit brighter all the time? Usually both these cameras are used for snapshots... my cat mainly. hes usually indoors and running around... so I let the camera do most the work.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!! what about the blurry issue? the nikon always takes sharper pictures

Canon
Nikon

cokewithvanilla wrote in post #9089211
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!! what about the blurry issue? the nikon always takes sharper pictures

I'm a DSLR novice, but to me the Canon pic looks very much like camera shake

Do both lenses [Canon & Nikon] have Image Stabilization?

Ok, this thread has caught my interest as I have an XTi and had no problems with it. Couple of questions:
- Are you using a tripod?
- What's the camera's shutter speed?
- Metering mode?
- AF mode?
The blurriness is due to camera shake. Either your hand holding for the shot and the SS is not fast enough or there's something going on with camera shake if it's on a tripod.
Sorry if these questions are answered via EXIF but I'm at work

Having looked at the images linked from this thread, this is an odd comparison.

The main point is that the sample images come from circumstances where few people would ever try to resolve a usable image - in the dark with little light. The EXIF data from the images, readable by a web browser with the correct plug-ins, show that both images were taken around midnight. It's obvious that both images were produced with minimum light, in a room that most photographers would consider to be dark at best. Looking at the EXIF from the pictures of the doorknobs:

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Image Date: 2009:11:27 00:16:31
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 48.0mm
CCD Width: 22.28mm
Exposure Time: 0.100 s (1/10)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 100
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)

Camera Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D60
Image Date: 2009:11:27 00:26:43
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 52.0mm (35mm equivalent: 78mm)
Exposure Time: 0.100 s (1/10)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 100
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)


You can't get a usable image in the dark at ISO 100 and 1/10 second. These are conditions for a light-amplifying night security camera, not a DSLR. If most members of this forum were trying to get a picture of a doorknob in a dark room at midnight with these cameras, at the very least they'd use the cameras' pop-up flashes to get enough light on the subject.

There's a chance the D60 images came from one of Nikon's vibration reduction lenses. The EXIF data doesn't specify the lens that was used on either camera.

The sample images, including the pictures of the apartment building at night that's illuminated by only a couple of street lights, are taken under unrealistic circumstances. There's no way they can show the real performance of either camera.