Apologies for the long delay. I'm starting my masters' studies so the posts will be more rare than I had hoped...

Anyway, I wanted to write about HDR panoramas - These can be extremly tough to get right, but can result in impressive photos.I will describe the easy process, the problems that can arise, and at the end create a summary :)

First off, one needs to find a good subject - one where it's worth to do a panorama or a really-large-resolution picture. A tripod is also crucial for stable results, as is a cable release. A camera that allows auto bracketing helps make the job easier and cleaner. (see a list of cameras and their auto-bracketing capabilities here)

Next, choose a good stable place to place your tripod (or yourself). Take bracketed photos - or if you don't have autobracketing, take 3-7 different exposures around the normal exposure at which you would take a normal photo. Now rotate the camera keep some axis (horizontal, vertical, ...) fixed. If you're on a tripod, this will be done automatically. If not, don't just move your body, as this also <b>moves</b> the camera - try to just rotate the camera. The take another picture with the SAME bracketing/exposure settings.

Sounds simple enough(ish)... but if you tried this, you may notice that you get differences in focus, colours, etc when you stitch the photos (which i'll describe in a sec). Here's an example:

• One can see how the image varies in blue-intensity as you move horizontally. The idea is that the camera has various other settings that, unless manually set, it will automatically set for each frame you take, and it may set it differently. So It is your duty, starting with the first shot, to set your White Balance (you can do some test shots, or choose RAW), your focus & DOF, and your ISO.
• Make sure your different exposures within the same frame are as perfectly aligned as possible - if your frames are slightly different, some software may account for this and align the images for your, but you shouldn't always depend on that as it does not always work well.
• Another problem that can arise is that you overlap the different frames in the panorama too much or too little. If you overlap the frames too little, there isn't enough information (usually, so-called SIFT features) for the software to understand where your frames are positioned. If you align them too much, you might get some artifacts when the panorama is blended together, as your angle change between the frames is most likely not done perfectly, or subjects in the overlapped region move slightly, etc.

Finally, you will want to create the HDR Panorama via software. Whether you want to create and HDR of each frame, and then blend the frames together - OR - you want to create several panoramas, one for each exposure, and then blend them together - is up to you. I recommend the first option as you will have less problems with varying and alignment.

Photoshop CS3 has the capacity to do both HDR composing and panorama creation via the file->automate->(Merge to HDR/Photomerge) , But until we become more knowledgeable I recomment using Photomatix for HDR processing and Autopano Pro for Panoramas. (There are several programs available for each task, but these are my preferences from all that i have experimented with). Photomatix even has a batch processing mode - fairly simple to use. Simply select 'batch processing', select your folder in which you have all your pictures (if, for example, you have 3 exposures per frame and 8 frames you should have 24 pictures in this folder), select the appropriate settings you would have in a normal HDR processing, and click batch! I recommend perhaps playing with one frame-HDR before batch processing to know which settings to choose for the batch job.

AutoPano Pro is quite intuitive as well - load the HDR of your frames (so, in our example, you should have 8 HDR jpgs), and click play. After the preprocessing is done, you can click ont he big rectangle button on the right pane, just left of the merged image, to get more settings before you create your final panorama - such as doing different projections (Spherical, Planar), or cutting your panorama so that you omit the black (non-covered) areas.

Here's my best result so far:

So, in summary:

• Choose a good subject
• Useful: Tripod, Cable Release and Auto-Bracketing.
• Set tripod in a stable place.
• Find a good setting for White Balance, ISO and Focus - they shoud work for all frames! Set these, don't let them on manual.
• Take the same exposures for each frame of the panorama - for example, take 3 exposures as you move left to right via 8 frames.
• Create an HDR of each frame (for e.g. using Photomatix) and then stitch these together (for e.g. using utoPano Pro).
• Ta-da!!! You should be done :)

Apologies for any spelling & other mistakes, i don't have much time to read this over. I hope this helped, and I'll be happy to entertain comments and ANY suggestions/opinions. I will strive to add more pictures to my post to help with my explanations :)

Stumble It!

Tror faktisk jeg foretrekker det i B/W...

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]]> http://nuztorad.wordpress.com/?p=81 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:35:56 +0000 nuztorad http://nuztorad.wordpress.com/?p=81 ...(sic)...

Huhu, da har jeg endelig kommet tilbake igjen, og bildene fra det nye kameraet mitt (Canon Rebel XSi/450D med 18-55mm linse og 75-300mm telefotolinse) er endelig blitt lastet opp. Det tok meg en stund å venne meg til at det er et ufattelig bra kamera, for jeg har ikke vært noe særlig borti det før. Jeg leste hele bruksanvisningen mens batteriet ble ladet for første gang, men følte egentlig ikke at jeg visste hvordan jeg skulle bruke det. Jeg føler fortsatt at jeg ikke mestrer det helt, men noen funksjoner og begreper har jeg fått inn. Tv- og Av-funksjonene er helt geniale; man kan ta helt utrolige bilder med dem, så lenge man har de rette instillingene. Jeg har fortsatt ikke forstått helt hva "aperture" er (har ikke sjekket wiki ennå), og jeg vet ikke helt hvordan man velger "exposure time" (genialt å kunne. Jeg tok ved en tilfeldighet en del bilder med lang eksponeringstid (er det dét det heter på norsk?), og resultatet ble ofte veldig stilig).

Uansett; den første bildeserien er av grillen på campingplassen (ja, vi campet en uke. Aldri mer). Jeg tok dem i Av-modus, som kort sagt er "lukkerprioritet". Etter å ha skrudd på hjulet og prøvd litt forskjellige hva-det-nå-var og ulike ISO-hastigheter, fikk jeg endelig tatt noen helt vanvittig stilige bilder, om jeg får lov til å si det selv. :) (Klikk på bildet for full størrelse).

De minner meg litt om Burger King-reklamer.. :S

Jeg har utrolig mange flere bilder av flammene, men det blir mye av det samme, så disse tre får holde. Disse tre bildene er tatt med ISO på 800-1600, og eksponeringstiden på de to første er 1/1000 sek, og 1/500 på det siste.

For photography with point-and-shoot ease, look no further than Canon's EOS Rebel XSi. The EOS Rebel XSi brings staggering technological innovation to the masses. It features Canon's EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, a powerful DIGIC III Image Processor,

and a 12.2-megapixel CMOS Sensor with Optical Image Stabilizer. The EOS Rebel XSi's refined, ergonomic design includes a 3.0" LCD monitor, compatibility with SD and SDHC Memory cards and accessories that enhance every aspect of the photographic experience.

Image Format - 22.2mm x 14.8mm 3 - 2 Horizontal - Vertical Aspect Ratio Color Filter System - RGB primary color filter Low-pass Filter - Located in front of the image sensor, non-removable Recording Format - Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 Image Format - JPEG, RAW (14-bit Canon original) RAW+JPEG White Balance Settings - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent Light, Flash, and Custom Focusing Modes - One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF,

AI Focus AF, Manual focusing (MF) Metering Range - EV 1-20 (with EF50mm f/1.4 USM lens, ISO 100) Exposure Compensation - Manual 2 stops in 1/3 or 1/2-stop increments and AEB 2 stops in 1/3 or 1/2-stop increments AE Lock - Automatic when focus achieved with evaluative metering and One-Shot AF, and Manual by AE lock button Shutter Type

Electronically controlled and focal-plane shutter Shutter Speeds - 1/4000 seconds to 1/60 seconds, X-sync at 1/200 seconds, 1/4000 sec. to 30 seconds, bulb Self-timer - 10-seconds, 2-seconds delay or 10-seconds delay plus continuous shooting Brightness Control - 7 levels provided Body Dimensions - 5.1 x 3.8 x 2.4 (128.8x97.5x61.9mm) Weight - 16.8 ounces (475 grams) body only Lens Dimension - 2.7 x 2.6 (69x66.2mm) Weight - 6 ounces (190 grams)

• 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail for poster-size, photo-quality prints
• Large 3.0-inch LCD display; includes Canon's EF-S 18-55mm, f3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens
• DIGIC III image processor provides fast, accurate image processing; improved Autofocus and framing rate
• EOS Integrated Cleaning system, plus Dust Delete Data Detection in included software

Product Description
Manufacturer Description
For stunning photography with point and shoot ease, look no further than Canon’s EOS Rebel XSi. The EOS Rebel XSi brings staggering technological innovation to the masses. It features Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, a powerful DIGIC III Image Processor, plus a new 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor and is available in a kit with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens with Optical Image Stabilizer. The EOS Rebel XSi’s refined, ergonomic design includes a new 3.0-inch LCD monitor, compatibility with SD and SDHC memory cards and new accessories that enhance every aspect of the photographic experience.

Canon EOS Rebel XSi Highlights

New Technology for Outstanding Images

New Canon 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC III image processor Canon's CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor captures images with exceptional clarity and tonal range, and offers the most pixels in its class. It offers many of the same new technologies to maximize each pixel's light gathering efficiency that were first seen with the professional EOS-1D Mark III model. It's an APS-C size sensor (22.2 x 14.8mm), and there's an effective 1.6x increase in the lens’s marked focal length when attached. Canon’s DIGIC III Image Processor dramatically enhances image quality and speeds up all camera operations for intuitive operation. It works in concert with the EOS Rebel XSi’s sensor to achieve unprecedented levels of performance in all lighting situations.

14-bit A/D converter With the EOS Rebel XSi, analog to digital signal conversion is executed by a 14-bit processor, which generates digital data with incredibly smooth tones. Formerly a feature only present in top-of-the-line pro digital SLR cameras, the 14-bit conversion gives incredibly smooth transitions from light to dark colors, with far less risk of "banding." A sky at sunset is a perfect example. With this rich 14-bit gradation the EOS Rebel XSi offers RAW images of the highest quality that can be processed with Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software. Even JPEG files, which are always finished at 8-bits per channel, use the full 14-bit conversion initially to generate the best possible color and tonal detail. Another huge benefit of the 14-bit conversion is the Highlight Tone Priority option, which allows critical shooters to increase the level of detail in bright areas of a scene up to one stop, without affecting overall exposure.

Auto Optimization The EOS Rebel XSi’s Auto Optimization is yet another image-quality tool that comes to the rescue in tricky lighting conditions. It can actually lighten dark areas of a scene while ensuring that bright areas maintain tonal detail. It's now available in all shooting modes, including P, Tv, Av, and Manual.

DIGIC III image processor Developed to maximize performance between the capture and recording stages of digital photography, the EOS Rebel XSi’s latest-generation DIGIC III Image Processor works in concert with Canon’s CMOS sensor to achieve even higher levels of performance. The entire electronic system is totally redesigned, giving the camera its incredible combination of speed and image quality. Digital noise is significantly reduced in shadow areas, and color reproduction is superior.

Speedy, Precise Operation

Excellent performance with 3.5 fps continuous shooting, up to 53 full-resolution JPEGs or 6 RAW images in a burst The EOS Rebel XSi operates with such effortless speed that operation is nothing short of intuitive. With instant startup times, speedy autofocus and minimal shutter lag, the EOS Rebel XSi is one of the fastest cameras available today. It can shoot up to 3.5 frames per second, in bursts of 53 JPEGs or 6 RAW files, so you’ll never, ever, miss a shot.

See the image in large LCD with Live View Function The EOS Rebel XSi has a huge, bright 3.0-inch TFT LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels and a viewing angle of 170 degrees. It’s perfect for Live View composition or viewing camera settings like AF, ISO, Metering, AF Point selection and flash options. And the maximum brightness of the EOS Rebel XSi LCD monitor is about 30-percent greater than its predecessor, which is a big benefit when you're using the camera in bright sunlight.

Live View Function Live View Function enables you to view your subjects directly on the huge 3.0-inch LCD monitor. It's easy to magnify any part of the scene 5x or 10x for precise manual focus. And now, there are two ways to use Autofocus along with Live View Function in the EOS Rebel XSi. You can even choose a grid overlay, perfect for keeping straight lines in your subject straight in your pictures. In the studio, Live View Function can be used remotely via a computer through the EOS Rebel XSi’s USB connection.

Fast 9-point AF system, and two types of AF during Live View Function The EOS Rebel XSi has a high-precision 9-point wide area AF sensor for fast, accurate focus even in dim lighting. It has a number of focus modes, including One-Shot AF, AI Focus AF, AI Servo AF and Manual. In Live View Function, the EOS Rebel XSi has two AF modes: Quick mode, which uses the camera's standard 9-point AF system, and Live mode, which is a contrast-based AF system that reads the sharpness of subjects right from the imaging sensor, and can be overridden by pressing the AF mode selection button. A familiar feature in PowerShot cameras, Live mode AF uses similar technologies to achieve focus, while Quick mode is more appropriate for capturing action or for shooting in low light.

Compatible with compact SD and SDHC memory cards The EOS Rebel XSi is the first EOS Digital SLR camera to use popular SD and SDHC memory cards only. Compact, inexpensive and available in increasingly large capacities, SD and SDHC memory cards are a perfect complement to the EOS Rebel XSi’s compact and lightweight body design.

Shooting and Sharing Made Easy

Includes EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilizer lens The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens features the wide-angle to mid-range zoom flexibility of its non-IS predecessor with the significant advantage of Canon's true optical, lens-shift image stabilization system that yields up to a full four stops of image-shake correction.

Fully compatible with over 60 EF/EF-S Lenses and a wide range of EOS System accessories EOS Rebel XSi is compatible with all Canon lenses in the EF and EF-S lineup, ranging from ultra-wide angle to super telephoto lenses. Canon lenses employ advanced optical expertise and micron-precision engineering to deliver unprecedented performance in all facets of the photographic process. Special optical technologies, such as Aspherical, ultra-low dispersion, or fluorite elements are featured in the universally acclaimed L Series lenses, and Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology are featured in select lenses to minimize the effect of camera shake. Through Canon lenses, photographers can truly maximize the quality and liberating performance of the EOS Rebel XSi.

Customer Reviews

Great camera, one of the best low(er)-end DSLRs on the market, April 23, 2008

By Hyun Yu

My journey with DSLRs began back in 2003 with the original Digital Rebel. DSLRs changed my photography for the better like nothing else. Five years and some 25,000 shots later, it's still going strong. Along the way I upgraded to the Canon 30D, which is a fantastic camera as well. When the 40D was announced, I decided to wait until the 50D sometime in 2009, but wanted a newer backup/second body for my photography needs. So when the XSi/450D was announced, it sounded like a perfect fit for my needs.

I got it from Amazon.com three days ago, and have given it a pretty good workout since then, having shot about 650 shots under a variety of shooting conditions and with a number of different Canon and third-party lenses. The following are my impressions.

The build feels very good. The camera feels wonderfully light yet well built. I'm 6ft tall with average size hands, and the camera feels good in my hand. The battery grip, to me, defeats the purpose of having a small, light DSLR, so I opted for a Hakuba/Opteka grip (it's a plate that screws into the tripod socket that enables you to use the excellent Canon E1 hand strap with it) and I couldn't be happier. I'm not a fan of neck straps, so this works well for me (see the uploaded photo for the configuration).

Most of the menu buttons on the back feel different from the ones on the original Digital Rebel and the 30D; the XSi buttons feel more tactile and have a definite "click" to them when you press them. The exception are the Exposure Lock (*) and AF selector buttons, which have retained the deeper, softer feel of the older cameras. Just different, not better or worse, for me.

The LCD is now 3" with 230K pixels. The playback images look great, and probably because of the higher resolution of the sensor, there's a very slight delay when you zoom in to 10x while the image loads and displays properly. People coming from other cameras or brands might not even notice it--I only did so because of the difference between it and my two other Canon DSLRs (which have lower resolution sensors). The viewing angle of the LCD screen (how clearly you can see the screen from side and up and down) is excellent; you can still see the screen holding the camera almost straight up for an overhead shot (more on this later). I'd estimate the viewing angle is about 160-170 degrees both horizontally and vertically.

The Digital Rebel has a separate status screen above the main LCD screen, and the 30D had one on top of the camera, so I wasn't sure if I was going to like the big LCD acting as the status screen and no top screen. I'm happy to say that this arrangement works well, at least for me. The back screen makes it really easy to take all the settings at a glance. The viewfinder is much larger and brighter than that in the Digital Rebel. A humongously welcome feature for me is the always displayed ISO value in the viewfinder.

The camera is only 1/2 of the image quality equation, the other being the lenses being used. Coupled with my favorite lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L telephoto lens, the XSi turns out fantastic images. The supplied kit lens is very light and compact for being an image stabilized lens, and turns out good performance. The IS is certainly very useful.

Two features that used to be missing from the Digital Rebels and found in the more expensive DSLRs are now featured in the XSi: spot-metering and flash exposure compensation (these may have been available in the previous Digital Rebel model, the XTi, as well). The inclusion of those two features make the camera a much more complete and compelling photographic tool. The timer function now has a custom mode, where it'll count down from 10 seconds then take a number of shots (specified by you) in succession. No more running back and forth to reset the timer after each shot! There's also the traditional 2-second timer.

Let's talk for a minute about sensor and the ISO values. XSi/450D has five ISO values you can choose: 100 (best image quality), 200, 400, 800, and 1600. Higher ISO increases the camera sensor's sensitivity to light, thus you can achieve faster shutter speeeds for a given lighting condition. However, the trade-off is that the sensor "noise" (think grain for film photography) increases with higher ISO, so you get a degraded image quality in return for less blurred photos from hand shakes (thanks to faster shutter speed). This may come in handy in situations where flash photography is not permitted, such as a museum or a concert or theater. HOWEVER, compared to point-and-shoot digital cameras, the larger sensors of DSLRs, including the XSi, means that even at ISO 800 and 1600 you get very usable images right out of the camera. Running the images shot at those ISO settings through any number of third-party noise reduction software will improve them even further.

This ties in to another very useful feature of the XSi/450D that makes life easier for the photographer: The Auto ISO function. By default, Auto ISO sets the ISO (the sensor sensitivity to light) between 100 and 800 (by using custom functions, this can be changed to 200-1600). If you are, for example, shooting your kid's indoor basketball game and you know that you need a shutter speed of at least 1/200 sec to "freeze" the action, then you can set the camera to Tv (shutter priority mode) and set the value to 1/200, and set the camera to Auto ISO. Then the camera will match the aperture and the ISO to achieve proper exposure at that shutter speed. With my other DSLRs, setting the camera to shutter priority only allowed the camera to adjust the aperture value; ISO setting had to be adjusted manually. With the XSi/450D, the ability for the camera to adjust the ISO value automatically makes it one less thing for you the photographer to worry about.

I've only tested the Live View function to see how it works, but I can already see how useful it's going to be in studio and macro shootings. Just a note, you can't half-press the shutter to autofocus while in Live View mode. You can either manual focus, or use one of the two autofocus methods, quick (the mirror flips up, the LCD goes dark for a short while, and flips down with focus locked) or live (the camera uses the LCD's contrast detection to achieve the focus--this method is slower than the quick method), both by pressing the exposure lock button (*) while in the Live View mode. Using either the RS-60E3 wired remote or RC-1 wireless remote in Live View mode will ONLY trigger the shutter, and has no bearing on focusing.

Some people seem to be under the impression that the inclusion of the Live View feature will enable them to use the XSi/450D as they do point-and-shoot digital cameras, to compose their shots. That is not the case. You can't really make a functioning use of the Live View feature unless the camera's securely mounted on a tripod or on a flat surface. Both Live View focusing modes, while precise, are too slow to be used for hand-held shooting.

Having said that, there is one use of Live View in hand-held shooting that I've come to value. When shooting overhead or over an obstacle, I can, with the same hand holding the camera, trigger the Live View, compose the scene through the LCD monitor (even if it's out of focus, it's easy to get the general framing right), disable Live View, and take the photo normally. With a little practice, this can be accomplished very quickly. Very handy when you're just holding the camera overhead and hoping for the best.

The Direct Print button that's been much ridiculed and maligned in most Canon cameras now double as the white balance menu button. The Set button in the middle of the four-direction arrow keys can be programmed for a number of different functions: Change image quality, flash exposure compensation, LCD monitor on/off (same as Display button, but can be triggered by the same hand holding the camera), and Menu display (again, can be triggered by the same hand holding the camera).

There is a dedicated ISO button, which is also very welcome. It can easily be accessed during shooting with the right thumb, thereby minimizing the interruption to shooting.

The battery life seems very good. I've shot about 500+ shots on a single charge and the status monitor is still showing charge at full.

I'm using Transcend 8GB Class 6 SDHC card with it. At ISO 100, the camera reports it can fit 396 RAW+JPG (highest quality) on it, but in reality it can probably fit about 420-450 (the camera's always conservative when estimating). With RAW only, it can fit 507. With highest quality JPG, it can fit 1,822. Note that as ISO increases, so do the file sizes and thus you can store less images per card. For example, on ISO 1600, the same card can only hold 323 images, compared to 396 at ISO 100.

My only gripe, and this is more about me than the camera, is the RAW+JPG buffer. I always shoot RAW+JPG, and the buffer will only hold four images at that speed (this is a limitation that's built into the camera's memory buffer system, and thus using a fast memory card doesn't help--see p.64 of the manual). When the buffer's full, you can take two additional images at about a frame a second, then have to wait until the buffer empties (finishes writing to the memory card). When shooting RAW only, it's 6 images. When shooting JPG only, then it's no problem at more than 50 frames. I've found myself switching the mode dial to Sports mode when I'm shooting a fast-moving subject and the buffer simply can't keep up with it. Well, that's why Canon produces different grades and ranges of DSLRs.

I've uploaded some photos that I shot of the local wildlife. Most if not all of those were taken with the EF 70-200mm f/4 L lens.

All in all, it's a fantastic camera. Pretty amazing to see how far the entry-level DSLRs have come in just a few years in terms of features, interface, ergonomics, and quality. I'm very pleased with my purchase and intend to have lots of fun shooting pictures with it.

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Excellent feature at attractive price
I owned the XTi before and was extremely satisfied with it. I'm sold to the XSi mainly because of the new Spot metering and 3" screen!! Read more
Published 1 hour ago by Francis H. Ku
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5.0 out of 5 stars Love at first click
I love this camera. I used to have an old Minolta XGM 35MM for many years and loved taking pictures so i decided to get back into photography and i waited for this ever since it... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Leslie B. Finley
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1.0 out of 5 stars Very poor autofocus and noise performance
This might be a quality control issue but about 50% of my shots are out of focus. I have used a 350D for years and was planning to upgrade to 12 MP - but I am very disappointed. Read more
Published 2 days ago by tk_seggel
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5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent upgrade to a great camera
I previously owned the Canon Digital Rebel. I primarily upgraded to this camera for the additional pixels. Read more
Published 2 days ago by John T. Reynolds
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4.0 out of 5 stars Very good camera.
This camera exceeded my expectations in all aspects except Live View function, that is not very useful and you cannot play around with different settings. Read more
Published 2 days ago by A. Chandran
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5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I expected
Did a lot of research and this was everything I expected. Takes great pictures and easy to use.

Published 3 days ago by Mark A. Manning

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Canon Digital Rebel XSi price at amazon.com

The Canon EOS System is composed of Canon EOS camera bodies, lenses, Speedlite external flashes and several lens and camera accessories. This article will discuss the current line-up of Canon EOS camera bodies.

Canon has varied line-up of nine digital SLR camera models. The current production line-up includes four entry-level, three mid-level and two professional level bodies, though some would argue, the Canon EOS 5D should in fact be considered a pro level body. Only the lack of a weather-sealed body keeps it out of the professional ranks, although none would argue that its image quality is certainly up to "pro" standards. Of course, these level designation refer to the camera's features. There are numerous professional shooters using Rebel XTs and 40Ds. On the other hand, even 1Ds Mark III in inexperienced hands can produce rather poor images.

Entry level Canon EOS Cameras

Canon EOS Rebel XS (Canon EOS Rebel 1000d) - Canon's newest entry level DSLR. Canon apparently created an entirely new level of entry level camera. Combines features from the last three Rebel models. Features a new 10.1 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor, a seven-point auto-focus system, and continues the trend of recent Canon EOS models by incorporating a 2.5 inch LCD Live View screen.) - Canon's oldest entry level DSLR, and is believed to be in the last stages of production. 8.0 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor and a seven-point auto-focus system.

Canon EOS Rebel XT (Canon EOS Rebel 350D

Canon EOS Rebel XTi (Canon EOS Rebel 400D) - Replaced the Rebel XT. 10.1 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor and an new nine-point auto-focus system. Also benefits by the addition of a larger 2.5 inch LCD screen.

Canon EOS Rebel XSi (Canon EOS 450D) -Replaced the Rebel XTi. 12.2 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor and a refined nine-point auto-focus system. Also includes a brighter 3 inch LCD screen with new Live-View technology.

Mid-level Canon EOS cameras

Canon EOS 30D - Replaced the older Canon EOS 20D. 8.2 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor, improved nine-point auto-focus system, and a step up from the 20D with a larger 2.5 inch LCD Screen.

Canon EOS 40D - First Canon DSLR to include the new Live-View technology. Users could for the first time, compose their shoots without having to look through the viewfinder. Received a larger 3 inch LCD screen. 10.1 Megapixel CMOS APS-C format sensor, nine-point-point auto-focus system.

- Canon EOS 5D - Full-frame .12.8 Megapixel DSLR features a nine-point auto-focus system and a smallish 2.5 inch LCD screen. Since the 5D is a full-frame camera there is no lens focal length conversion factor. Canon EF-S lenses will not work on this body.

Professional Level Canon EOS Cameras

Canon EOS 1D Mark III - The top of the line for professional sports shooters with its 10fps frame rate. 10.1 Megapixel APS-H format sensor, 45-point auto-focus system, and a new 3 inch Live-View LCD screen. Being a professional level camera, it also get a fully weather-sealed, magnesium body.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III - The ultimate Canon DSLR A professional level camera in every sense of the word. 21.1 Megapixel full-frame sensor, new 3 inch Live View LCD screen, and a 45-point advanced auto-focus system. Uses two DIGIC III processors. Easily the most advanced Canon EOS Camera so far.

Canon EOS Camera System

Each Canon EOS camera is designed to work with other components of the Canon EOS DSLR System. This includes an extensive line of Canon EF and EF-S mount lenses, as well as several models of external flash units and macro flash units. The Canon EOS Camera System is the most complete line-up of DSLR camera bodies in existence today.

Jim Back currently writes on several varied topics ranging from photography to politics. For more of his work, and in particular more information on Canon cameras, please be sure to visit his website dedicated to [http://canon-eos-cameras.blogspot.com]Canon EOS Cameras

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Back http://EzineArticles.com/?Canon-EOS-Camera-Linup&id=1239236

Hmm... well, so far, the default lens that comes with it is pretty bad for close-up shots.  Not as good as my Canon SD870 IS.  Then again, the minimum focusing distance on the lens is 25cm, as opposed to the 3cm on the SD870.  I should probably try shooting stuff in more optimal ranges.  Also, as I currently do not have my other memory card, it makes it harder to do comparison shots.

Still need to finish reading the manual.

Also, I'm not used to having to use the viewfinder yet.

While photoshop is the tool of choice (ok, that's debatable, but it *seems* to have a majority win) for touching up your photos, there may well be times (most of?) when you don't want to unleash this monster of a program on your pics, but would rather touch them up fast and send them to your friends/flickr/stock/whatever. I'll talk a little about the lightweight Adobe Lightroom. Keep in mind that while I have some decent experience with photoshop and other similar programs, I'd quickly put myself in the amateur category. This will be, then, a small guide to the quick things you can do to improve you photos with Lighroom, with more detailed tutorials to come as I learn :)

So I've recently installed Lightroom 1.4.1 (as well as Camera Raw 4.4.1 in Photoshop). You will need this version if you want to use it with the Canon Rebel XSi / Canon EOS 450D raw files.

Lightroom can act as an organizer of your photos, but I've mostly used in its 'develop' mode, where one has quick access to the usual editing tools, some or most of which you might find in other (mostly raw-editing) programs, but not, I believe, with as much ease and "smoothness". Lightroom will not, I believe, actually edit your image files (jpegs or raw, etc), but rather will store the modifications you've done by itself and allow you to export the resulting image. This might be cumbersome if all you want is a quick edit to your jpeg, but it comes in handy for more involved work.

Quick Tools

So for starters, after you open up Lightroom and import a picture, you will see a basic toolset, including Colour temperature and Tint, White Balance control; Exposure, brightness and Contrast; and clarity vibrance and saturation. Depending on your photo-editing level, that might be a mouthful or just the starting toolset, however these tools can quickly "upgrade" an image. For example, increasing vibrance and saturation will tend to create livelier colours, and increasing the clarity will.. do just that, at the expense of some possible salt-and-pepper noise. The other tools are just as self explanatory.

Let us present a concrete example:

Using the before an after views in Adobe Lightroom, we touch a little bit on each of the basic tools, first with the vibrance and saturation, and then in the more complex tools with the green luminescence & saturation.

This gives us the results below!

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Part II to follow soon!

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We knew, pretty much, only the basics

• We need several exposures, so that we may capture information in both the really light and really dark areas of the subject, which will then be layered together.
• We need (most of the time) a semi-static subject (and hence camera), so that it is the fixed, or at least align-able, in the (different exposure) pictures. Thus, a good tripod is useful. Any vibrations in the camera or subject are problematic.

Some things we noticed while taking the photos

• Outdoor HDR can be problematic when wind or other vibration sources are present and the subject/camera is susceptible. For example, the trees will shake in the wind, creating a difference in between the various exposure pictures, or blurriness in large exposure pictures. Sometimes, this is fixable with various algorithms (provided with various HDR packages), however sometimes they are not. A large aperture lens would also help, requiring less time for a large exposure.
• A remote release can be helpful in sensitive conditions to avoid even the smallest vibrations when taking the shot. A way to get around this is to use the 2-second delay (or 10-second, if you have no 2-sec).

Combining the Photos

To combine the images of a certain scene into one HDR picture, we experimented with Photoshop CS3 and Photomatix 3.0. To create a visually pleasing image, both will undergo HDR algorithms and then allow you to perform post-processing steps, with more or less flexibility. As expected by the nature of the software, Photoshop will be more powerful and flexible, but harder to understand and some reading or play-hours will need to be invested. The potential, we suspect, is to get better HDR pictures than Photomatix, however that is by no means confirmed anywhere. Photomatix is simple and straight-forward, and provides a ton of clear tonemapping setting after the HDR process. We used photomatix in the trial version, where although all features are included it is claimed that certain watermarks may appear in the final image, depending on your settings. For some odd reason, we never ran into this issue.

Overall, in the relatively short time we experimented with our pictures, we ended up getting far better results with photomatix, and continues with this process. Until we read/understand more about the roots fo the process of HDR and tonemapping, photomatix seems the simpler choice, with better results

We also noticed, in experiments where a large number of exposures were present (though this might not ever be necessary - it would seem that 3-5 exposures will be enough), photomatix will process the images smoothly, whereas Photoshop CS3 may freeze/slow down severly. (We ran our tests on a dual-core E6550 2.33Ghs, 4GB ram (3.25 detected)).

To give a taste of the results, with the disclaimer that certainly the time we spent on this was limited compared to what can be spent, here is a view of the UofT annex HDR-ed with Photoshop, to the best of our trials:

and here is the best we got with Photomatix:

(click on either for larger views - via flickr)

The next steps in the HDR game is to read, play with the camera and software, and understand the process better. Once we reach some sort of milestone, we'll take a similar trip and detail our learnings :)

For a taste of our results, see our flickr HDR set, among the first images.

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Some simple findings in our first walks:

• First off, a lens hood may really help in full-daylight situations. (Canon doesn't supply lens hoods on its normal (non-L series) lenses, and at the time we purchased the XSi they didn't have a lens hood for the 18-55 EF-S kit lens). However you can see that on some images sun glare can present a problem.
• Using the Basic Zone settings (settings on the main dial below (and including) the auto- sign) configure settings on the camera that end up taking solid, safe photos with pretty good colour temperature, shadows and exposures. As somewhat expected, the camera takes good pictures even with minimal effort.
• The Auto Focus tends to focus on the closest object, and does so relatively fast and precise. The manual focus works nicely too (see the simple, somewhat cliché'd pictures of the pear tree).
• The 18-55mm kit lens is quite limiting in terms of focal length. The need for a telephoto lens becomes quickly apparent.

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At the time, the most popular by far was the Canon Rebel XTi (400D), followed by its predecessor the Rebel XT (350D). Here's the data on May 13th, 08:

I read into the XTi and finally discovered the XSi as its successor with several improvements, all well received. A comprehensive review, for example, together with a video can be found at CameraLabs.

Some improvements over the XTi:

• 12 Megapixels versus XTi's 10
• 3 inch LCD vs XTi's 2.5
• LiveView option - viewing the subject through the LCD if you wish
• The default lens comes with Image Stabilization

These seem to be the main changes. Overall, one has to decide whether these features are worthwhile improvements for the price difference or an upgrade. We decided to go with the XSi since it was our first camera, and the slight differences seemed worthwhile.

Here's a few detailed reviews to get you started:

• Camera Labs (which we used mostly)
• Wired
• CNet TV

And here's a link directly to Canon's Rebel XSi website, where a nice tour and specs are provided.

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Gua beli kamera ini berikut dengan lensa Canon EF-S 17-85 IS, karena range lensa nya gua pikir cukup untuk menjadi lensa pertama gua. Cukup wide untuk foto pemandangan, kelompok orang, panorama, dll; juga cukup nge-zoom untuk foto potrait, candid atau acara olah raga. Inti nya lensa ini cukup baik untuk segala macam keperluan. Dan memiliki Image Stabilisator untuk meredam getaran tangan kita selagi mengambil gambar. Jadi hasil fotonya akan lebih tajam. Asiknya manual focusing ring lensa ini tipe 'full time', yang memungkinkan kita mengambil alih kendali fokus atomatis dari lensa kapan saja. Tanpa harus memindahkan switch dari mode auto focus (AF) ke manual focus (MF).

Canon EOS 450D di tandem dengan Lensa Canon 17-85 IS

Fitur yang membuat EOS 450D ini berbeda dengan para pesaing sekelasnya dari merek lain adalah diantaranya fitur Live View. Dengan fitur ini, kita bisa menjadikan LCD 3 inch yang ada di belakang badan kamera menjadi view finder. Yup jadi mirip seperti kita memotret dengan kamera pocket atau kamera HP, jadi ga perlu ngintip lagi. Ini sangat memudahkan orang yang baru belajar atau pindah dari kamera pocket ke kamera SLR Digital.
Sebetulnya kalo sudah memakai SRL, ga disaranin buat mengambil gambar dengan cara sperti itu sih. Kelihatan amatiran banget jadinya. Tapi buat gua pribadi, fitur ini akan memudahkan gua untuk mengambil gambar pemandangan, benda-benda kecil / macro, atau memungkinkan gua mengambil gambar dengan angle yang lebih tidak biasa. Jadi fotografer tidak perlu lagi jungkir balik ngintip untuk mengabil foto yang unik sudutnya.

Oh ya, untuk galeri contoh dari hasil foto gua dengan kamera ini bisa kunjungi Flickr gua.

Note:
Review ini gua buat berdasarkan sudut pandang orang awam, jadi gua usahakan memakai bahasa semudah mungkin. Kesian yang baca, kalo banyak bahasa planet nya. Toh ini kamera kelas 'entry level'.
Buat yang mau tanya yang lebih detail dan advance, isi di comment aja; gua sebisa mungkin jawab. :)

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=16303#ModelDetailAct