I need some help

[beretta]

I'm new to this forum, and I'm also a novice to photography so please be patient with me. That being said, I need some advice or opinions.

I have a Canon Rbel TI, that I have had for about 2 years now. I decided that it was finally time for me to buy a digital. So I purchased a Canon Rebel XT, so far I am really unhappy with the pictures. They just don't seem to be as clear or crisp as my film slr. Is this typical for a digital? I typically use the Auto mode on it.

Any advice or opinions are appreciated.

Thanks
Tom

[ponder]

Tom,

Take heart, digital cameras are a lot different than 35mm SLR cameras. I purchased a Canon 20D with two great lenses and I had the same problem as you have found with your Rebel. I used to shoot with a Canon A1 and an F1n as well as medium and large format camera and they were far superior to the digital camera. I asked a lot of questions here at Byte about this very issue and the consensus is that you have to post process the image with your computer to get the clear image more of the time that you would have gotten with film.

Sometimes and I mean occasionally, I will get an image that is pretty close to my film camera even when I use a tripod and lock up the mirror when shooting which is often. I don't think that the digital CCD technology is quite there yet, but digital is still evolving and a very fast rate. Look how long it took to perfect film photography.

Give digital a chance and I think you grow to enjoy it.

Dave

[beretta]

Thanks for your reply Dave.

That is exactly what I was looking for. So basically I should be uploading the pic's to my computer and have them "post process" before taking them to get printed. Could you point me in the right direction to get more info on this post process...ie. what program to use, and what to do with it once I got it.... I don't mind reading up on it. so even if there is a place to get more info, I just basically need a place to start.

I gotta say I feel a little better now. I was thinking I just threw a nice chunk of money out the window..lol.

thanks
Tom

[ponder]

Tom,
There are many types of software on the market. Some you can find as freeware or shareware, but I recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements, because I use it and it gives me a lot of features for a reasonable amount of money $90 US. There are also books written for Adobe Photoshop Elements too. I purchased a tutorial on CD from http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/di...to.asp?mscsid= and it was very informative.

I'm sure other people can weigh in on what they use to post process their images, but this is what I'm used to using.

Once you process your print, use the Save As button to preserve your EXIF data (ie, all the information about your image that the Canon saves in this format) Save it to either the photoshop native extension if you will print it yourself or if you will be sending it out for processing, you can save it to either .TIF or .JPG. TIF is larger, but it contains more information about the image. JPG is compressed and therefore smaller, but doesn't contain as much information.

A lot of people myself included will tell you that once you start getting used to your Rebel XT, you should try shooting your images RAW, which add the most information and allows you to have the most latitude when post processing your images.

Good luck!

Dave

I never post manipulate any of my pictures other then to crop and or resize.

[ponder]

Sw2cam,
I would love it if digital photography would be just like 35mm, medium and large format photography where what you see is what you get (wysiwig), but that just isnt' the case yet. I don't think the technology is as advanced as film photography just yet. I also think it's a sham that one needs to purchase L lenses just to get clearer images. An average L lens costs about as much as an 8mgp camera, which is just wrong.

When I used to shoot film, I could use a $200 lens and the shot was just as razor sharp as the $1500 L digital lenses. Unforturnatel for now everyone seems to have to do some post processing to some extent or risk the comment that "gee your image is soft".

I don't post process other then crop and resize. I have no post processing programs. It's that easy.

[shootem]

"I don't post process other then crop and resize. I have no post processing programs. It's that easy."__________________"It's not what you drive, it's how you drive it."


If one shoots in Raw, one gets no in camera processing, including sharpening.
If one shoots in jpeg, your camera makes many choices for you including contrast, brightness and sharpening. In other words, your camera does some post processing for you.

So - for those of us that shoot in raw, no matter how we drive, we've got to post process. It's pretty much just a digital negative, but with tons more info on it than what you get with a jpg file.