Camera Equipment

     There are huge debates over whether Canon or Nikon makes better cameras and lenses.  Personally I have chose to buy into the Canon product line, but I have seen some very nice Nikon equipment as well and I am not against Nikon equipment or users.  On this page I am only evaluating the equipment I use, and this page is not intended as a statement for or against either company.  With that said, I'll start me review. 

     In October of 2005 I made the switch to Canon from Sony.   I also started into the field of digital SLRs, and I have never regretted it.  I currently own only one body, and it is the Canon 20D.  I have also purchased two lenses.  These are the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 USM L IS lens and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L lens.  Along with the lenses I have Canon's 1.4x teleconverter.  I also have two 1 GB compact flash cards and one 8 GB card.  One of the 1 GB cards is made by Lexar and the other by SanDisk.  My 8 GB card is a Lexar card with Write Acceleration technology.  I have three batteries and two chargers.  I also own Canon's BG-E2 battery grip.  In addition I have a Canon Off-Camera Shoe Cord and Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash.  I use a Manfrotto 3021B Pro tripod with a Manfrotto 486RC2 head.

     This year I am working as a yearbook photographer for college.  For that job I have access to a Canon Digital Rebel (Canon 300D), a Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, and a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM lens.  As I get the opportunity to use this equipment over the school year I will try to add a review for the body and both lenses.

This is not an official or exhaustive review.  For a more in depth review check out dpreview.

Canon 20D

     I have been very pleased with my camera's performance.  I have found the buttons to be easy to use.  The shutter button is conveniently located under your right index finger and the main control dial is not far away.  The other control dial is nicely located under your thumb.  The depth of field preview button is located within easy access of your left thumb (when your left hand is supporting the lens).  I have heard complaints about a small LCD screen in back, but I have not noticed this too much.  The main reason is because I do not use the LCD screen very often, and when I do it is only for a couple seconds to check the composition or exposure of the picture.  One interesting feature is that the camera has two "on" positions.  When the camera is on the first "on" position you can control the shutter speed but you can't change the F-stop manually.  However, if you move the switch to the second "on" position, you can control the F-stop and shutter speed manually.  I have never been able to figure out why Canon put both of these positions on the camera but I always use the second "on" position. There are 12 options to pick from under the mode dial.  I have not used many of them because I shoot fully manual all the time.

     I have found that the on-camera flash is not very powerful.   It works great for a little bit of fill light, and even in the dark it will light up the ground up to 10 feet away.  But for serious work or major fill flash, it does not work out so well.  Also I have found that  both of my lenses are large enough to create a shadow in the flash.  This remains the case even when I take off the lens hood.  One handy feature that took me awhile to figure out (I should have read my manual) was the manual Auto Focus Point selection.  To use this you have to push the enlarge button (also known as the AF point selector button I found out) and use the little multi-way controller to select the desired point.  Both of these buttons are very accessible with your right thumb. 

     The auto white balance is well designed.  I have found that it works very well outside and decently inside.  There are 8 preset white balance settings which seem to work very well.  And if that is not enough for you, then you have the option to change it to a custom white balance.  First take a picture of a white object in the location where you are going to be shooting.  Then go to the menu and select "Custom WB".  Next select the picture of the white object and the camera will use that white as the new white balance.  This works wonderful under artificial lighting.  In addition to this you can also manually select any value from the Kelvin scale ranging from 2,800-10,000 to use for your white balance. 

     I have found one problem with the camera.  Once in a long time I will find a picture with strips of color across it and general displacement and discoloration.  This problem does not show up on the camera's LCD screen, but it will show up once the picture is downloaded to the computer.  Unfortunately I have not been able to figure out what triggers this problem, but it has only ruined 8 out of 29,000 pictures since I bought the camera.  To see an example of the problem scroll down.   One other problem I have run into twice is that my camera locked up.  It displayed an error on the top LCD panel and none of the buttons produced any response.   I took the battery out and then put it back, and things were fine again.  I have not been able to figure out the reason for this problem either, but it has not ruined anything and has only happened twice in a year.

Two examples of a problem I have found with my camera.  This problem has occurred 8 times out of the 29,000 pictures I have taken.

The back of the 20D.

The front of the 20D.

The top of the 20D.

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 USM L IS lens

     This is my all time favorite lens because I enjoy train and wildlife photography and the zoom comes in very handy.  I have seen excellent results with this lens.  At first I wondered a little bit about the zoom mechanism.  To operate this zoom you have to push or pull the zoom instead of turning ring like a lot of zoom lenses.  I wasn't sure I could get as precise a focal length with the push-pull lenses, but I have found them to be very good.  I can zoom in and out much faster and the tightening ring is great at locking the precise focal length I desire.  It did take some getting use to, but I have been very happy with it.  As I would expect from an "L" series lens, I have never had any problems of vignetting in any of the zoom ranges.

     Another excellent feature about this lens is the Image Stabilizer.  I have taken pictures at 1/20 of a second hand held, and the focus has not been noticeable effected.  This is amazing considering the weight of this heavy lens and the camera.  There are two settings for the Image Stabilizer.  One is a normal mode and the other is for panning.  The normal mode stabilizes in all directions while the panning mode only stabilizes in the direction of motion.  I have not personally used the panning mode much, but I haven't noticed too much difference when I did.  There is also an option to turn the IS on or off.  I have read and been told to turn the IS off when the camera is on a tripod, but I have never noticed a difference and my camera has never malfunctioned because of it.

     The autofocus on this lens is usually very fast.  There are two settings for the autofocus.  One is 1.8 meters to infinity and the other is 6.5 meters to infinity.  The second setting is supposed to speed up the autofocus when you are only shooting distant subjects.  I have never noticed too much of a difference because it is already very fast.  And with a minimum focusing distance of 1.8 meters, you can almost fill the entire frame with a chipmunk.  Another nice plus is the f-stop of this lens.  At 400mm, a f-stop of 5.6 is really good for a zoom lens.  The switch between 5.0 and 5.6 occurs at about 260mm.  Of course this low f/stop is one of the reasons this lens runs around $1400, but for the money I think it is worth it.  As you might expect with such a big lens, there is a collar and mounting bracket; so when you mount the camera and lens to the tripod, it is done at a more central point of balance.

     There is one downside I have experienced with this lens.  In the summer of 2007 I noticed that there was a LOT of dust on the 2nd and 3rd elements of glass inside the lens.  Obviously there was no way I could get this out myself, so I had to send the lens in to Canon for repair.  Canon was very good about emailing me when it came into the system and updating me during the process.  In all it took about 15 days for me to receive the lens back.  They did a very nice job cleaning it, but it wasn't cheap.  There was no charge for parts since nothing had to be replaced, but the labor cost $299 plus tax and shipping.  In the end it ended up being $338.49 for the total cost to have the lens cleaned.  In my opinion the cost is a little more than I think is neccessary, but it is still cheaper than buying a new lens.

     When I encountered this problem I started doing some research and contacting people.  I thought that this lens was guarenteed by Canon to be sealed against dust.  After a few emails and phone calls to Canon and a couple other people I found out that this lens is not gaurenteed to be sealed.  I also found several other people who had encountered the same problem.  In fact a few peopled have nick-named it the "duster" or "dust bunny".  After doing some more investigating I discovered the problem is due to the push pull mechanism.  Everytime you push and pull the lens out to change the focal length you push or pull air out of the inside of the lens.  Canon tried to make it as closed off as possible, but there is still the possibility of pulling dust into the lens everytime you extend it.  This chance becomes significantly higher when you are operating the lens in a very dusty environment.  Even if you don't move the focal length when there is a lot of dust around be sure to blow off the lens around the tightening ring before extending it.  Also it seems that if you move the lens in and out quickly it will have a higher chance of bringing dust into the lens as opposed to moving it slowly.  I still love this lens and how it performs, but I am disappointed in the fact that it isn't a sealed lens.

Canon 100-400mm lens at 100mm in the left picture and 400mm in the right picture.

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L lens

     As a landscape or portrait lens, this lens is among the best.   I have never had anything but sharp photos (unless my focusing was off).  I have found this to be a wonderful focal length for many subjects too.  This lens is a conventional twist ring zoom, but it works very well.  There is just enough resistance to keep the zoom at the desired length when you are looking directly down.   I have never noticed any flaws in the photos I have taken due to the lens.   This lens is not equipped with Image Stabilization, but it still works fine for me down to 1/50 of a second or so.  Couple this fact with an aperture of 2.8 and you have a lens that performs well under low light.  This lens also features a fast autofocus.  I have used the manual focus for many flowers and have found it easy and smooth as well.  And with the minimum focus distance of .38 meters (1.3 feet), this lens can serve as a macro lens to some extent.  Although it is not a full-fledged macro with 1:1 focusing, I have been able to get some crisp pictures of flower, insects, and water droplets with it.  Considering all of this len's good qualities, this is one of the best walk-around zoom lenses on the market.

Canon 24-70mm lens and lens hood.

Canon Extender EF 1.4x II

     I have been pleased with my results from Canon's 1.4x Extender (or teleconverter).  I have never been able to find any distortion using this extender.  I have not used it a lot, but I have used it for trains and wildlife and it has performed very well.  Coupled with my 100-400mm lens, I get the effective focal length of 140-560mm.  One disadvantage to the extender is that it raises my lowest aperture by 3 stops.  So my lens changes from a 4.5-5.6 to a 6.3-8.0.   This makes it difficult to shoot in low light situations or indoors.  Another down side to the extender is that when it is coupled with my 100-400 zoom, it renders the autofocus inoperable.  So I have to manually focus all of my photos while using it.   This normally doesn't pose a problem with wildlife or landscapes, but when I am shooting trains it becomes a little more difficult.   One other note is that this extender does not work with my 24-70mm lens.  I am not sure which lenses it is compatible with, but before you buy one make sure it will work with the lenses you have.  Overall, the 1.4x extender is a great (and cheap) way to extend my focal length 140mm.

Canon 1.4x teleconverter.

Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash

     I purchased the Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash during the summer of 2007 to help me while I was shooting low light situations.  I have not used it as much as my other equipment, so I am still trying to make it work exactly how I want it to.  It is amazing however, and has been a very valuable asset to my photography equipment.  It has three modes of operation, either ETTL, Manual, or Multiple.  The ETTL mode is basically just automatic.  So far I have not found a specific situation which would require me to use the Manual mode.  The Multiple mode is for synching multiple flashes together.  This flash can be set to a master or a slave when using multiple flashes together.  This flash also will detect the camera's aperature setting and take that into account when determining the power of the flash.  Another thing it will detect is the focal length of the lens.  It will chanage between 24mm and 105mm.  If you are using the flash with a lens longer than 105mm it just reads 105mm.  Another great feature of the flash is that it can rotate up to 180 degrees each direction.  Overall, I have found this to be a great tool for helping me acheive the best results in low light and indoor photography.

The front of the speedlite 580EX II flash on the left and the back on the right.

Manfrotto 3021B Pro tripod

     This is an excellent tripod.  It extends up to 69.2" without the head.  I love the versatility of the legs.  They have the normal setting of about 30 degrees or so, but they have 3 wider settings which let the legs go all the way to horizontal.  Also the main pole in the center can be pulled out and placed horizontally.  This allows you to shoot straight down with ease, and it also enables you to get your lens as close to a flower or bug as you desire.  Also if you have a desire you can take the center pole out and turn in upside down (not sure why you would want to but it can be done).  An obvious feature for high end tripods are the two rubber grips on the legs.  They are just over 7 inches long, and they help tremendously in cold weather.  No more gripping the frozen metal.  Overall, I have found this tripod to be very sturdy and stable even with my large camera and lens on it.

Manfrotto 3021B Pro tripod with Manfrotto 486RC2 head attached.

Manfrotto 486RC2 head

     Along with a good tripod, I wanted a good head.  And I have been pretty pleased with it.  I love the swivel ball which allows very free movement in any direction.  There are two locations where the head can rotate down 90 degrees so you can easily shoot vertical shots.  One complaint about this option is that the two locations are 180 degrees apart from each other.  This means the tighten lever has to be either pointing straight at you or directly away from you.  I would rather keep this lever on the left side of the head so it is easy to turn with my left hand.  There is a very nice quick release and a little pin that can be moved to lock it in place.  My biggest complaint about the tripod is when I use it with my camera and 100-400mm lens.  When I have the lens mounted to the front of my camera, I can't activate the quick release either to put the camera on or take it off the tripod.   This occurs only when I want the tripod mounted to the bottom of the lens instead of the camera (which is better because of the center of balance).  If I have it mounted to the lens, the camera body is too close to the quick release, and it doesn't have enough room to operate.  Other than this small glitch (which I avoid by mounting the tripod to the camera instead of the lens) it is a great head.