canon 1000d review

Conclusion - Pros

Great results even with default settings
Good tonal response and dynamic range
Picture styles provides good control over image output (and prove consistent across models)
Typical Canon CMOS noise-free images, remain detailed even at high sensitivities
Optional High ISO NR removes all chroma noise without too much detail loss
Comprehensive bundled software adds to camera's value
Offers most features that a first-time users will find themselves needing
Reasonable battery life
ISO indication in viewfinder
Lots of external controls including ISO button give instant access to commonly changed functions
Contrast-detect focus in live view (though see cons, below)
Excellent fine-focus confirmation in live view
Live view can be controlled and viewed remotely
Configurable "My menu" system makes the interface fast and friendly

Conclusion - Cons

Continuous shooting ability in RAW very limited (small buffer and low speed)
Average automatic white balance performance, still very poor under incandescent light
Comparatively small viewfinder
Limited exposure compensation range (+/- 2.0 EV)
Live view only useful for specific applications
Contrast detect AF so slow it's only useful in a fixed tripod situation
Metering can overexpose when subjected to high-contrast conditions
Default JPEG output may be a little 'over processed' for some tastes (raw more flexible)
Flash must be up for AF assist lamp (although AF is good even in low light)
Automatic AF point selection unpredictable (use center AF, it's safer)
Small, awkward grip and inconveniently-placed Exp comp. button
Auto Lighting Optimizer has limited effect
No mass storage USB support
No IR remote

Overall conclusion

Having helped create the 'affordable' DSLR, Canon has taken a while to respond to the latest, comparatively wallet-friendly offerings from the likes of Nikon and Sony. The 1000D is a pretty convincing response - it does just about everything it needs to do, and everything it does, it does well. It can produce great images at any of its ISO settings and, viewed as a whole, makes a great first DSLR.

Cameras are not just the product of engineering, they are also the result of marketing considerations - creating a product people will want to buy at a price they find attractive. The result is that many cameras in this market segment are shorn of some of the features of their big brothers in the name of 'product differentiation.' It's a reality that can upset some people (often the owners of more expensive cameras), but we, like the marketers, need to consider whether the removed features will have an impact on the buyer the camera is aimed at. For example, it's been a Canon tradition to miss spot metering off its least expensive DLSR. This is annoying (it's certainly a more useful feature than the bracketing function removed from the baby Nikons), and worth highlighting but probably not a big issue for the majority of users.

In every other respect, Canon seems to have gently toned-down the specification so that it rates slightly less well in all the metrics that appear on shop shelf tags - pixel count, continuous shooting speed, number of AF points and screen size. The only one of these to have any real impact on the user experience is the continuous shooting speed, which has been pruned back a little far. If you regularly find yourself shooting bursts of images, you're going to have to look elsewhere.

The 1000D is a difficult camera to judge while its price still hasn't adjusted to a realistic market level, as it's not a camera that stands out enough from its competitors to justify a major price difference. However, ergonomic foibles aside, it's a solid little camera that is easy to use and produces consistently good images across all of its sensitivity settings. That's the thing that most people will be looking for from this camera, and it's what Canon has traditionally been very good at.

Canon's lead of the entry-level market has slipped in recent years (in certain markets) and the 1000D doesn't stand out from the competition as much as previous models. It's certainly a safe bet and one of the most consistent offerings in the sector (it has few annoying quirks or niggling loose ends) and its all-round competance, excellent high ISO performance and class-leading image quality will win it a lot of friends.

Source by http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos1000d/page34.asp

Canon 500d Close Up Lens

Canon 500d Close Up Lens

A Review The Canon 500D Close Up Lens is a small double element lens attachment that easily fits onto your Canon 450D non-macro lens and allows you to take close up (or very similar to macro) shots.

The lens attachment has a number of advantages over a standard macro lens most noteably that it is a lot less expensive than the macro lenses available. It is also faster to attach to your lens than changing to a macro lens so is very useful when you need that close up shot quickly.
How does the Canon 500d Close Up Lens Perform?It is important to remember that this is a lens attachment and not a true macro lens so generally you should not expect the same level of results as a true macro lens. However, it is much cheaper and can be a very easy route to getting started with macro photography. In tests the lens attachment performed very well using a variety of different Canon lenses such as the standard 17-55mm and my trusty 300mm Canon telephoto lens. Most of the shots were very good but some loss of detail was noticeable towards the edges of the photographs. Overall I would recommend the Canon 500D Close Up Lens as a low cost way to get into macro photography.

Another Advantage of the Canon 500D Close Up LensThere is another advantage of this lens attachment that macro lenses cannot compete with and this is entirely because it attaches to an existing non macro lens. This means you can attach it to any Canon lens and get a closer shot than you would otherwise do, very useful when shooting wildlife!

source by http://canon450dreview.com/

Canon EOS 7D Review

Canon's X0D series was, for many years, essentially the default choice for keen enthusiasts, professionals and aspiring-professionals who wanted top-level image quality and functionality without the bulk (or price) of a pro-level camera such as the 1D series. The 10D, 20D and 30D were hugely successful and popular cameras, and you didn't have to spend long shooting with them to understand why. However, like every other sector of the DSLR market, there are some very competitive rivals, in terms of both price and features. Cameras such as Sony's A700 and Nikon's D200 and 300 have meant the most recent X0D EOSs have been held to higher standards and have found it a little harder to stand-out.

Which brings us to the 7D, a camera that seems determined to wrestle back the king of APS-C crown. At first glance it looks a lot like the EOS 50D - it's unmistakably a member of the EOS family - but a closer look shows that this is far from being the gentle refresh that we're used to seeing in this range. And indeed, this is intended as big brother to the 50D, rather than as a replacement for it.

For a start, the camera is built around a new 18MP sensor, but the thing you're likely to notice before you even fire a shot is the impressive new viewfinder. 1.0X magnification and 100% coverage offers a noticeable improvement over the 0.95X, 95% finder in the EOS 50D and puts the camera on the same footing as the D300S (Its 0.94X finder ends up essentially the same size, once the focal length multiplier effect of its fractionally larger sensor is taken into account).

However, the 7D isn't just a 50D with a new sensor, viewfinder and revised body - other headline changes include a new AF system with a dedicated processor, dual Digic 4 processors and a new shutter mechanism to allow 8fps continuous shooting, and the ability to control groups of external flashguns using its built-in flash. However, the updates extend beyond these big-feature changes to include a variety of tweaks, refinements and additions. Make no mistake, Canon wants to be the default choice again.

Key features
18MP APS-C CMOS sensor
8 frames per second continuous shooting
1080p HD video recording with manual controls
3.0 inch Clear View II LCD screen with 920,000 dots
19-point AF system (all cross-type)
1.0x magnification and 100% coverage viewfinder
Wireless flash control
Environmental sealing


Source by http://www.dpreview.com/

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS

The Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS is an affordable answer to a need for a lightweight, responsive camera that is easy for the amateur to use, but has enough features for the more knowledgeable photographer to get a precise shot.

FEATURES OVERVIEW

This camera comes with a number of features that make it easy to use. With Canon's newer DIGIC 4 processor and 10.0 megapixels, it is well-equipped to take on any casual photographic occasion. Focally, the camera has a 3x optical, 4x digital, 12x combined zoom, which gives the photographer anywhere from 35 to 105mm zoom. This is not much zoom power, but is plenty for the amateur photographer. The camera also features a sizable 2.5 inch 16:9 widescreen LCD screen, making it easy to view shots and show them off to others. The SD1200 still has an optical viewfinder.

The SD1200 has a feature called Smart AUTO, which intelligently chooses the camera shot settings based on a list of 18 predefined shooting situations. This feature allows the beginner photographer to get a good shot without having to change settings based on the situation. I tested this feature out and it is responsive, but it often took some time to recalibrate based on what the sensor found.

Some of the features of the SD1200 include:

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  DIGIC 4 processor: The DIGIC 4 processor offers the ability to recognize faces and compensate for lighting and focus based on the positions of the faces in the photo. I tested this feature as well and found that in high light situations it was easy for the sensor to pick up faces. However, in situations where the faces were at an angle or in lower lighting, it was more difficult for the sensor to determine facial features. The faces did not have to be still, however, as the camera picked up moving subjects well.


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  Shooting modes: The SD1200 has 18 preset shooting modes including P or Program mode, which allows a more advanced photographer to set ISO speed, white balance, and metering. Two interesting modes are the Aquarium setting, which allows photos of underwater life with no glare off of aquarium glass, and Underwater, which takes photos underwater with a low backscatter (with the proper waterproof case). Other modes include Digital Macro, which allows for close-up shooting, Long Shutter for artistic blur, and Kids & Pets for speedy focusing and fast shooting.


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  Movie Mode: The SD1200 can take VGA movies at 640 x 480 and QVGA at 320 x 240 resolution. These videos can be replayed on a computer, or the camera can be hooked up to a television for replay. The camera can take a limit of one hour or 4GB worth of video.


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  Face Detection Self-Timer: When in self-timer mode, the camera will continue to pick up extra faces in the shot so that the photographer can add him or herself to the frame. The shot will not be taken until the camera detects the extra face.


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  I-Contrast: The Intelligent Contrast Correction system (i-Contrast) will automatically lighten dark areas within the shot without over-brightening the light areas. This is a good setting when the main subject of the photo is dark. i-Contrast can be applied either while the photo is being taken, or in playback mode after the shot is finished.

PERFORMANCE

Auto Focus

The SD1200 has two auto focus modes: center and Face AiAF. Face AiAF mode is connected to the Face Detection technology, meaning that the camera looks all over the frame for faces and then focuses based on what it finds. Center will focus only on the center of the shot.
This camera has Canon's newer AiAF technology, which allows the camera to detect faces while setting the white balance, exposure, and focus of the shot. I like how this technology works, although sometimes the camera had difficulties finding faces that were not straight on.
I found the camera to be very fast in finding its focus. It did not have to do a lot of maneuvering to find focus for a shot, and as the timing tests show, it has a very fast rate of focus. I was pleased with how the camera performed in a number of different settings, including night shots.

Lens and Zoom

The SD1200 has an optical zoom of 3x, but the digital zoom of 4x gives the camera a combined 12x zoom. This zoom gives you a focal length of 6.2-18.6mm f/2.8-4.9, which is 35-105mm in 35mm film equivalent. This number is not too shabby and means that the camera can get anywhere from wide angle to short telephoto lens coverage. The aperture range is well-balanced for this camera, with the 4.9 maximum being about the limit of the short telephoto lens range.
The zoom of the camera is quiet and speedy, and the lens does not make the unit unwieldy even when it is in motion. A neat feature of the camera is that the lens retracts into the body when I am reviewing photos, which kept me from accidentally touching the lens while I was handling the camera. The only problem I found with this feature is the camera turns itself off when you are finished looking at photos, and I had to turn it back on again in order to get my lens back!

Flash

The unit comes with a built-in flash. It has four flash modes: auto, on, slow synchro, and off. Auto will choose whether to use the flash or not, on means that the flash is always on, slow synchro gives the photo a fill flash that works well for dark situations, and off means that the flash does not fire when a photo is taken.
The flash has a stated range of 14 feet at a wide angle setting, and 7.9 feet when telephoto. This is pretty standard for most ELPHs, and the flash works well although it is not an outstanding feature of the camera. There is a high-power flash unit available for purchase that goes with the unit if more flash power is needed.

Image Stabilization

This camera has an internal image stabilization system that gets rid of the "shaky hand syndrome" that many photographers have, including yours truly. Image stabilization works by means of a small component within the lens of the camera. This component recognizes movement on horizontal or vertical planes, and moves the lens to compensate.
There are four Image Stabilization modes that can be chosen from, including continuous, shoot only, panning, and off. Continuous means that the camera is always running the IS feature, even when just framing the shot. This option is somewhat draining to the battery, so I suggest only using it sparingly. Panning is used for horizontally moving subjects, so that the IS lens moves to correct shake on a horizontal plane. Shoot Only only activates the IS when the shutter is half-depressed, which is probably the best setting to have for normal shots.

Battery

The SD1200 uses a 3.7 volt 1000 mAh Lithium-Ion battery. This battery is rated for 260 shots with the LCD on and 700 with it off. I found that the battery lasted about the amount that it is reported to last, although I did not test it with the LCD turned off, as I find no use in the viewfinder.

source by www.digitalcamerareview.com