Squirrels and Waterfalls

Soooo I just got a 300D, a 100-400L, an 18-55 (kit), and a 75-300 USM with a 1.4x teleconverter and some other stuff (filters, extra batteries, whatever) and have been taking photos for... not very long. I'd like some advice on anything and everything.

1.

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You might also want to give thought to the 24-105mm f4 IS L if you do a lot of outdoors/nature stuff. Often that little bit of 30mm extra at the long end is good to have over the f2.8 wide aperture that the other offers.

Also generally speaking I'm a lenses before camera body guy and would say focus and push on your lens setup and lighting first. Have a pick through some of the bird misc galleries here:
http://www.juzaphoto.c​om/eng/photo_galleries​.htm
and see what older camera bodies mixed with good skills and pro glass can achieve.

That said the 300D is very dated by todays standards - a 7D would be a fantastic upgrade for you if you went for it, but you could also go for a 550D and still get a big working upgrade and have some more budget spare to play with.

It really depends on how you feel about your gear however as to how long you hold out on a new body whilst upgrading glass, flash, tripods, etc..

The images show that the camera is working fine I think. The limits are not so much the 6.3 meg as they are the range of options available for focus, metering, and control. You have the 100-400 which is a terrific tele and the 18-55 kit which can be very sharp above say f6.3. That's good for a while.

Your animal shots look real good. The landscapes are dark which is probably the metering mode on the 300D.

If you are comfortable with the physical size of the 300D you will probably find the new Rebel line a bit on the small side. The 60D or 7D would be more equal in physical size to the 300D and probably blow you away with the range of options. I'd go for an upgrade to the body.

Titus213 wrote in post #11201907
The images show that the camera is working fine I think. The limits are not so much the 6.3 meg as they are the range of options available for focus, metering, and control. You have the 100-400 which is a terrific tele and the 18-55 kit which can be very sharp above say f6.3. That's good for a while.

Your animal shots look real good. The landscapes are dark which is probably the metering mode on the 300D.

If you are comfortable with the physical size of the 300D you will probably find the new Rebel line a bit on the small side. The 60D or 7D would be more equal in physical size to the 300D and probably blow you away with the range of options. I'd go for an upgrade to the body.

Ok, call me lame or old fashioned, but I use the center AF point at all times. I focus on what I want to see in the picture and then frame it accordingly.

Metering? Is that how it decides to expose and control other aspects of the camera? I'm not familiar with it.

b-rice wrote in post #11206062
Ok, call me lame or old fashioned, but I use the center AF point at all times. I focus on what I want to see in the picture and then frame it accordingly.

Metering? Is that how it decides to expose and control other aspects of the camera? I'm not familiar with it.

You would be surprised at the number of folks that let the camera select the AF point. Selecting it yourself is a big step in the right direction in my opinion.

The 300D has 3 metering modes. While it does have Evaluative, Partial, and Center Weighted Average, there is no definitive way to set them. Evaluative is the default. Partial is set automatically when you do an AE lock function in the creative zones. And fortunately the center weighted average system is automatic in manual mode.

Later Canon cameras allow you to specifically set the metering mode. And the 7D has a multitude of AF methods.

I have the 300D/Drebel and it is a very limited camera for features and performance. You could even look for a good used 40D, which would be a huge jump from your 300D.

^^^ +1, Sell the 75-300 and the 300D and get a 40D.

ChuckingFluff wrote in post #11210899
^^^ +1, Sell the 75-300 and the 300D and get a 40D.

So what should I ask for the 75-300 and the 300D? The 75-300 isn't USM. I'm just new to the whole photography thing, is the depreciation rate on camera stuff as bad as say... cars? No idea on how to price them.

As for the 40D, new they are suggested at ~$1300 with lens. The lens isn't a bad one (to me at least) so what if I sold the 300D, the 18-55, and the 75-300?

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1288738​915&sr=8-7

You can sell and buy used here. Heres some ideas of prices. Lenses tend to hold their value better than bodies.

40D
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=953670
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=947289
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=953393

300D
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=936933
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=934878

Not sure the model of your lens but you can try and find it locally, ebay and here to see what it's going for.

Love the squirrel shots, the landscape shots are underexposed and I think they could have been better composed. Keep at it.

dynamic03 wrote in post #11214218
Love the squirrel shots, the landscape shots are underexposed and I think they could have been better composed. Keep at it.

Better composed, yes, but the underexposure I don't know how I could have corrected out there. Is this where post processing will save me? Or is that capture just a dud that I should throw away?

b-rice wrote in post #11213120
So what should I ask for the 75-300 and the 300D? The 75-300 isn't USM. I'm just new to the whole photography thing, is the depreciation rate on camera stuff as bad as say... cars? No idea on how to price them.

As for the 40D, new they are suggested at ~$1300 with lens. The lens isn't a bad one (to me at least) so what if I sold the 300D, the 18-55, and the 75-300?

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1288738​915&sr=8-7

Those amazon prices are highly inflated and none of them are actually from Amazon.com but their "partners" instead. You should be able to find a good used one from $600 to $800 without lens.

b-rice wrote in post #11216912
Better composed, yes, but the underexposure I don't know how I could have corrected out there. Is this where post processing will save me? Or is that capture just a dud that I should throw away?

Switching the camera to manual mode may have helped the exposure. Manual mode on the 300D automatically sets the center weighted average metering mode. Your image was shot using the evaluative mode which averages the whole scene - the bright sky and the white water most likely caused the issue.

While in camera is the preferred method for correct exposure and composition, post processing certainly can help you. I know it helps me a bunch.

Titus213 wrote in post #11217872
Switching the camera to manual mode may have helped the exposure. Manual mode on the 300D automatically sets the center weighted average metering mode. Your image was shot using the evaluative mode which averages the whole scene - the bright sky and the white water most likely caused the issue.

While in camera is the preferred method for correct exposure and composition, post processing certainly can help you. I know it helps me a bunch.

Ah I see. Sounds great, will try to go manual from now on! Seems intimidating haha :/