Above is my new camera the Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens, as of yesterday.
I started taking photos at a very early age when black and white film was popular and later color slides. Now in the digital era, photo cameras have come a long way. Along my way of photography I have learned a lot about techniques, lighting and composition, the technology etc. While digital photography is almost a new world in photography, one must understand the technology behind it in order to master the same 35mm techniques when it comes to lighting and composition.
With 35mm film, you could have a sophisticated P/S (Point and shoot) and get the same quality photo as a more sophisticated SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
While in a point and shoot you normally look through a different window to see your photoframe, in a SLR you see through the actual lens from your viewfinder mastered with a complicated mirror technology.
Now in the digital age, things have become more complicated, film is gone, now instead of a moving film we have a sensor either CCD or CMOS depending on the manufacturer. In P/S cameras the sensor is about as large in area as your thumb nail, in order to save space, yet there are 10 and more million pixels crammed onto that little sensor. The SLR now DSLR (Digital SLR) in comparison, has a true frame sensor of 35mm (36mmx24mm) like the Canon EOS-1D or 5D. Some consumer models Canon 40D, XTi or Nikon D200, D70 or D40 have a slightly smaller sensor with a 1.5 (for Nikon) or 1.6 (for Canon) crop factor of 22.5mm x 15mm also called APS-C (Advanced photos system type C, the image sensor format is approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System “classic” size negatives sensors) that center around the “sweet spot”.
Typical sensor size of digital - Typical sensor size of digital SLRs
compact cameras
The above diagrams show the typical sensor sizes compared to 35mm film. The sensor sizes of digital SLRs are typically 50% to 100% of the surface of 35mm film. Digital compact cameras have substantially smaller sensors offering a similar number of pixels. As a consequence, the pixels are much smaller, which is a key reason for the image quality difference, especially in terms of noise and dynamic range.
While I love sophisticated P/S cameras with lots of options to manually select your settings for your photo composition like the new Canon G9, the quality of the image never really satisfied me, you can see the difference between a 10MP P/S or 10MP DSLR in quality with the naked eye, it does not need a magnifying glass to differentiate the two and see the graininess of the photo from the P/S and the clarity of a DSLR photo. This becomes more and more visible the dimmer the lighting conditions get like under sunset or night conditions and your ISO speed has to move up to 400 and higher as high as 1600. Also the speed of a DSLR can be up to 10 frames per second, the 40D shoots at 6.5fps the XTi at 3fps, while a even sophisticated P/S may only take up to 2fps. If you take action photos like in a Formula One race or go to the Olympics this can be critical. But the lag of speed never bothered me as much as did the image quality.
I have tried many pro P/S cameras by now the Canon S70, S80, Canon SD900 (for its nice size), and lastly the G9. Neither really satisfied my taste. Last year I briefly had a Canon 30D, a very nice camera, but because of removable lenses, dust sticking to the sensor became an issue for me. Now Canon has developed a “dust shaker” technology that rids most of the dust every time the camera is turned on or off. The EOS integrated cleaning system, a very nice feature.
click the thumbnail to view the video.
After being fed up with the Canon G9 and Canon now having a “dust removing” technology I bought a Canon 40D with Canon’s 28-135mm USM image stabilizer lens. I really like the new large 3″ LCD and all the new and improved functions. Now with a Canon DSLR you can have a “Live view” and see the actual image on the LCD before you shoot. I always liked a Live view in a Pro P/S camera seeing my image on the LCD before you take your photo, now you can have the very same with the Canon 40D.
Since digital cameras became 2MP I’ve been “upgrading” my camera every other year to the latest mode,l but in the last 2 years I had 4 different cameras. I hope and think that my new 40D will bring me the joy for many years not just 2, but at least 5 years. Yes it is heavy to lug around but the image quality I get in return is something I don’t want to miss any longer especially on my planned RTW trip. All I need now is a good underwater housing Ikelite Housing #6870.40 for my Scuba diving endeavors.
My photos are my memories and it is a joy to look through “old” photos and remember the sights of my past trips. Photos bring back memories and can relief from daily stress or bridge the gap to my next great adventure more easily as I imagine how to compose my next shot of a lifetime.
