[Kombisaurus]

I managed to score myself another two cameras today!

One of them in particular is quite interesting. Its an old Polaroid Miniportraid 403 camera. It has four lenses and is designed for taking passport photos and so on. It can take four identical photos at once, or each lens can be fired individually or in pairs to construct a photo containing 1, 2 or 4 different images. Fairly similar to the way Don's 4-way Lomo camera works, except this is a polaroid (instant feedback) and it was designed specifically for staged portrait shots
In fact, it seems they can still be bought new for rediculous amounts of money for what it is... but this particular one looks at least 20 years old and was given to me for free! It even has a built-in bounce-flash and sonar rangefinder! Although it also has some quirky stuff like fixed focus (you have a choice of 2 focus distances), a choice of only 2 shutter speeds, and a few other limitations. Film is available in colour and b/w and a choice of 80 or 3200 ASA (but nothing in between). I haven't found a local place to get the film for it from yet, but it doesn't look too difficult to find.
I don't have any film for it, its missing one of the lens caps, and it's missing the dark slide which I'll have to make myself, but apart from that it looks great. I can't wait to give it a go. I'll grab myself a selection of films and try to find out how many inappropriate ways I can use this camera <evil grin>. I can imagine getting a few strange looks when using it in public, as it is as big as my head!



Here's a link with some more info on this camera.

Oh, and the other camera I got today is made by an obscure little camera company that only a few of you might have heard of. It's a Canon 30D.

I'm going away with friends again this weekend so it should be a great chance to put the 30D through its paces. Should have some shots to show off next week. The polaroid shots will have to wait until I can find some film.

[matthew]

Oh, and the other camera I got today is made by an obscure little camera company that only a few of you might have heard of. It's a Canon 30D.

I don't know if I'd trust a camera made by a photocopier company.

Congratulations on both acquisitions. (I'm guessing the second one wasn't free.) I'm looking forward to your reports on both.

[shuttertalk]

*gasp* Early adopter!!

Congrats on the purchase mate... look forward to seeing the results (not that your photos can get any better than they already are.. )

Let us know about your thoughts on the D30...

[adam]

Woah!!!! 30D time!!!!! excellent! wowhow did you manage to pick up the POLAROID for FREE? :O:O:O was it a special offer to get with the 30D?
30D yay!

[Wedding Shooter]

Adam - that was funny

Congratulations on the 30D - I know you will love it.

[patch17]

nice polaroid! as for the 30D... hmmm, verdict is still out on that one.

just got a new camera as well, also a polaroid, the SX-70. been searching for one for ages, but they were going for mega bucks at e-bay. finally got one for a reasonable price. so with instant feedback, who needs digital? hahaha

maybe a polaroid outing one of these days... any takers?

[wulinka]

Great purchase(s)!!!

I am very curious to see pictures from both, although I thought you were saving up for a 5D?
What are you going to do with the 350D?
does the 30D take "s" lenses (EF-s)?

have fun, hope you had a good trip this weekend,

uli

[shuttertalk]

Hey Adrian, how are you finding the new 30D?

I've been reading complaints about the quality of the 30D vs the 300D? :/ Then again, they're a bunch of whiners over there...

[Don Schaeffer]

You are a risk taker Kombi.

[Kombisaurus]

Hey guys,

Oops, sorry for the slow response. I really should do a proper write-up of my thoughts with the 30D.

Overall I'm very happy with it. It has met or exceeded my expectations in all the main criteria I bought it for (better AF, better LCD, faster/deeper burst shooting, better handling). It has also given me a number of very pleasant surprises too, such as the spot meter, much better colour rendiition and white balance and more sophisticated metering. It seems that generally now I've cut my PP time at least in half, simply because the photos are much closer to how I want them straight out of the camera. I was expecting an improvement but have been quite surprised at how much of an improvement there has been in this area.
The autofocus improvement over the 350D is worth the price of an upgrade alone. The tracking ability of this camera is fantastic, and combined with faster/deeper burst shooting I'm finding it so much easier to grab those decisive moment shots. Its also changing my opinion (in a good way) about a couple of lenses I have which I've been a little negative towards previously, especially the EF-S 17-85 IS which I have developed a whole new respect for.

But that's not to say it is a perfect camera. Like many other people, I would've liked to have seen a new model be more of a step up from the 20D, but when you ignore the marketing hype regarding it as a new model and simply accept it is a 20D Mk2 then its clear that all the new features are all very useful and welcome, and it is a great little camera.. and there's no question it is a step up from the 20D, which was already a great camera.

As far as the noise complaints go... well at 100 and 200 ISO it does seem to have a touch more noise than my 350D.. but you have to really look hard to tell a difference when you compare images properly. I think part of the "problem" is that the 30D metering tends to underexpose, or rather the 350D metering tends to overexpose. I did a couple of test shots today, and taking the same shot with same lens on both cameras in Av mode, there was 1 stop difference between how they metered the scene (which exaggerated the noise difference in favour of the 350D, although it did also blow out some highlights which the 30D didn't). When I took the same scene in M mode using the same aperture and shutter speed in both cameras, the noise difference was very difficult to notice. And we're talking 100 and 200 ISO only here, where noise is never a problem except to pixel peepers. At 400 ISO and above where noise starts to become important, the 30D is noticably better than the 350D. I have an 05xxx serial number camera by the way (just for those people who believe the unproven rumour that the noise is particularly bad for 04xxx cameras). Jules, I think there is a bit of whining going on. Everybody knows the 30D uses the same sensor as the 20D, and it was no big secret that the 20D images weren't quite as clean at low ISO's as say the 350D, but are better at high ISO's. I can't quite understand why it comes as a surprise to anyone that the 30D might be the same.
The 30D also feels a bit more aggressive with its sharpening at any given sharpening level, but the downside of sharpening is usually noise. Well anyway, I've noticed my 30D shots are consistently sharper a lot of the time which might also account for some of the "noise complaints". I use a bit less sharpening with these shots and am happy with the balance.
I much prefer how the metering works in the 30D and always thought the 350D tended to overexpose a bit. But I happily accept that other people might think the opposite - its personal preference. I think the 350D tries to "play it safe" and keep shadows bright at the expense of potential blown highlights, whereas the 30D is a bit less forgiving in this area and tries to keep colours and tones more subtle and true at the expense of dark shadows and noise. Both approaches have merit, and I guess that's why they put an exposure compensation dial into both cameras.
I also think the whole internal workflow of processing shots feels different between both cameras. I like the whole "picture style" concept and it works very well, but I get the feeling the changes in how the RAW images are processed goes a bit deeper than what is apparent on the surface. The new version of DPP will also allow my 350D shots to use Picture Styles (in the RAW converter, not the camera), but they don't seem to have quite the same impact. Its difficult to describe why, but the colours in my 30D shots are simply a LOT better than my 350D colours, every single time. I don't have to push my images as hard to get them where I want them.
Picture Styles also make it a much nicer camera to shoot b/w RAW with too - there is no "downside" to shooting b/w RAW with this camera.

Patch, I still haven't got any film for my polaroid yet so it just sits on the shelf teasing me, winking at me with its 4 eyes. I do like the idea of a polaroid outing though - I think there's a lot of potential for fun photos with these things. Congrats on your SX-70.

Uli, I wasn't saving for a 5D. Although I'd love one, I'm actually quite happy with the APS-C format for the moment. I really like the focal lengths of the lenses I have (how my 135mm f/2L behaves like a 200mm f/2L, etc), and I have a few EF-S type lenses which won't work with the 5D. Of course there are financial factors too. And I must admit the sensor and viewfinder of the 5D are very appealing.
One of the factors driving my upgrade from the 350D was sports shooting, and the 5D is only 3fps like the 350D. I was mildly considering a 1DMk2N but couldn't justify the cost for what is a fairly action-specific camera (and is neither full-frame nor APS-C). The 30D is a good upgrade from a 350D in many general ways, and a great upgrade for sports/action shooting which is where I found the 350D most frustrating. Plus it was easier on the wallet and didn't impact on my existing lenses.
So my current plan is to stick with the 1.6 crop factor. If things go well and I can justify the expense then maybe I'll get something like a 5D down the track a bit to use in addition to an APS-C body. I'd use the APS-C body for sports and action stuff and the full-frame for most other shooting. After all, for about the cost of a 1DMk2N I can buy a 5D as well as a 30D and have the best of both worlds (although I'm sure there are things about the 1D that humble both other cameras).

I'll most likely sell my 350D by the way. I'm hanging onto it for the moment to see if I will make use of a second body, but I feel like I carry too much gear around as it is. I'd rather carry an extra lens than an extra body.

And Don, I don't really see the 30D as a risk. It is essentially a tweaked 20D which has well and truly proven itself. In fact it might be seen as much less risky because Canon have had 18 months to think through and iron out little issues with the 20D. It really feels like a camera where every little detail has been thought about and put there for a reason. Its not a "quality at any cost" camera like the 1DsMk2, but it has a polish to it that only comes with a mature product. There's nothing clunky or tacked-on about any of its functions. Nothing that feels like an afterthought or last-minute addition.

But like many people, I am really annoyed that they added a (nearly) useless "Print/Transfer" button to the camera, but NO MIRROR LOCKUP BUTTON!!!! grrrrrrrrrr... :mad: I'm hoping somebody will hack the firmware to allow the Print/Transfer button to be re-mapped to perform custom user functions like the "Set" button can. Please please please Canon! You finally did the right thing when people whinged enough about not having a spot meter, now do the right thing with an MLU button!
And I'm also annoyed that it can't use standard Infra-red Remotes, so the remote I bought for my 350D is useless and I have to go buy a wired remote which is more expensive and less useful in many situations. I'm glad they included wired remote ports (which the 350D doesn't have), but it would have only required about an extra $1 in parts to add an infra-red port as well.

Sorry for such a long post. :/ But I'm very happy with the camera.

[adam]

I always enjoy your photographs and long writeups.

I want one now... haha

[wulinka]

sounds like you're happy!

do we get to see pictures? hope you're enjoying the shooting,

uli

[Russt]

Kombi, good to hear you’re happy with the new toy. I see in the specs that you can see what ISO you’re on in the view finder.........this is one of my bug bears with the 350d. Can you dial in the ISO while looking through the view finder?? I hate having to look at the LCD screen to do this.

On the issue of noise I keep reading conflicting info. Can some one set me straight on this.

The longer you keep the shutter open the more noise you get! This is what I have read. But I have also read if you over expose you get less noise. Is there a line between the two??

Or is it long exposure shots will have more noise........slightly over exposed shots less noise than under exposed shots........hmmmm have I got it right