Canon XSi - some new shots

Some new shots from my Canon XSi from today. All were taken with Sigma 105mm EX.

The first one is a close macro and I really like how perfectly round all the dew is and then the captured "rock" for some contrast.

Next one is also a macro of some kind of mushroom on a tree trunk.

And then some trees.... in the fog.

New gadget review - Mini Lenovo multimedia remote

As probably many of you have, I too have a HTPC (Home Theatre PC). In my case it is my old Dell desktop. This is used to watch some shows on Hulu and in sometimes for the kids to play on. Nothing heavy duty. I have not been satisfied with the wired USB keyboard and mouse that I have to control the PC with. It looks messy and how is one to use a mouse for HTPC?

I bought a Lenovo Multimedia Remote with keyboard and just got it. It was smaller than I though it would be. I guess that is a plus in the case that I do not need to type much on the keyboard. I suspect it will pretty much be just to start a browser and then enter a URL. The rest will be the trackball...

At first I (since I never read manuals unless I get really stuck) almost panicked as I could not find the wireless dongle to put into the computer. I thought that "great, now I need to deal with customer service and so...". But then I discovered that they had "hidden" the USB dongle in the battery compartment. Pretty neat.

So, no need to find out how good the Lenovo customer service is :) To judge the size, check out this photo:

I mean, we all have some "AAA" batteries and tape, right? Anyway, before I bought it, the comments online was at best that the remote what "fugly" and in some cases out right ugly. But with the size so small, I find it ok. I will hide well in your pile of remotes :)

A bonus with the "fugly" shape, is that left hand, or right hand operation is probably both supported just as well. That is not always the case. I have pretty large hands, and the keys really feel small. But maybe that's just because I do not have a Blackberry or other smart phone. The keyboard will be navigated using your thumbs.

So, I plugged in the dongle, and after a minute or so, my Windows XP PC was now controlled by the Lenovo Remote. Both keyboard and trackball working as they should. Now that is actually working plug and play in action. Nice. Ok, time for some surfing. Ok, done :) I already can summarize the first ~30 min of use with this list.

• (+) Nice to hold, trackball seems good to use
• (+) Easy installation, small size
• (-) The "mouse" buttons are over the trackball (see below), in my case they should have been below...
• (-) Top right key is "delete" and not "backspace" (backspace is one below). Not what I would prefer
• (-) In a dark room, the black remote and small letters makes it hard to type. Should have some backlight. At least on the play/rewind/volume buttons. Too bad.

Here is the trackball and the buttons. For me it is easy to accidentally "hit" the trackball when I want to (single handed) press a mouse button.

In a while I will give an update on how it has been working out, how long the battery works and so on. Keep tuned. In case you need it, here is also the bottom of the remote. The Model number is N5901.

Smoking flash - SD1200

Wow, this I had not seen before. When I was taking some photos earlier today and the flash (auto) was on, I saw smoke come from the flash after use. Not much but some, enough to make me worried, not enough to make me stop using the camera. Everything seems to work fine still, but in situations where the flash is needing to go full strength, smoke is coming. Just check out this video taken a few minutes back....


What do you think? That's not normal, not in my book. I guess I will be calling Canon tech support tomorrow to see what they have to say. Have you ever seen this? Please comment and pass along....

Update 1/4/10 Called Canon and a friendly and nice guy said that it is likely some dirt, grease, or lotion on the Flash that makes the smoke. Previously this has been fixed with an easy external cleaning of the Flash. I tried, but it still gives off the smoke and when looking very closely, the surface of the Flash seems damaged. Camera is now sent to Canon for evaluation and hopefully paid warranty repair.

Update 1/14/10 Canon got the camera 4 days ago, and today it was logged online as "repair complete" covered by warranty. I guess in a few days I will see what they did as I have no idea. No call or questions has been asked.

Update 1/21/10 Camera back. Read here

Just a snapshot - SD1200

Just a macro snapshot from a walk today. Taken with the SD1200IS. Looks kind of an alien planet, I think.

DSLR beginner recommendations

During the holidays, my sister-in-law asked for advice on what camera gear was required to get the nice photos that I took with my camera. What she was talking about is portraits with bounced flash and nicely blurred background, like this:



This was taken with Canon XTi, Canon 420EX flash, and Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 (at f/2.2). In my opinion what you need is a prime lens with fast aperture (F/2 or faster), a DSLR, and a flash that can be bounced. Today, the cheapest you can get away with I think is the following.

Canon	Price	Nikon	Price
Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)	About $450	Nikon D3000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens	About $500
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens	About $100	Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras	About $200
Canon Speedlite 270EX Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras	About $130	Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras	About $120
	About $680		About $820

Now, some might complain about this Nikon/Canon comparison. The Nikon has a nicer prime lens, as it is 35mm instead of Canons 50mm. The 50mm will be a little long to use indoors, but on the other hand, 50mm is going to create a nicer blur on the background when used at f/1.8-2.8 or so. Nikon has a cheaper 50mm lens, but it does not auto focus with the D3000 and D5000. Then the other comment would be that the AF chip on the Canon XS is maybe not handling f/1.8 lenses as good as the Nikon will. And if the XS is swapped for XSi or T1i, then the price for the Nikon will probably be less than Canon. Also, Canon does have a 35mm lens, but it is almost $300 and quite old design. If you really want 35mm on the Canon, I would probably go with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Lens, but it is around $400. As you see, this can become expensive very quickly. You could try buying just the body and kit lens (18-55mm) and the external flash. That will be a nice start and will give you really nice indoor shots. And if you think that the background is not blurred enough, or the ISO is creating noise that bothers you, you can add the prime lens later to take care of that.

One note about the flashes for both cameras that I suggest here is that they are only able to bounce in the "landscape" orientation. If you use your camera in the "portrait" orientation, and still want to bounce the flash, you will need the Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash or Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash. Both are around $230 or so. These can both tilt and swivel.

Anyway, you can also keep an eye on sites like Craigslist for used equipment. You can save quite a lot, but be aware, there are also many that sells at almost new prices, and might say "blank warranty card". But warranty cards are useless unless you also get a copy of the sales receipt stating where and when the camera was purchased. If you buy new at sites like Amazon, you get 30day or longer hassle free return right, and will not have a problem with the manufacturers warranty. I would recommend to buy from Amazon, with Amazon as the seller.

Another example of bounced flash with prime lens.

XSi Lizard

When I took a hike in the woods to a waterfall with my kids, we stumbled upon this beautiful (water?) lizard. The Canon XSi and Sigma 105mm did a good job. Check out the sharpness in the 100% crop... The XSi is on sale at Amazon and if you add the Canon EF-S 55-250mm (please note that you need to select Amazon as the seller) $200 will be deducted in the cart giving you a two lens combo for just ~$55 more than a single lens. Not bad.

 

 

After the rain

So we had the cold weather, and then now we have a weekend of rain. Overcast, almost no wind, and a drizzle. Makes for good weather for photos, even if my Canon XSi does not qualify as weather proofed. Oh well.

Enjoy these photos...

 

100% crop - quite sharp and low noise (ISO200)

 

 

 

 

Frost/Nixon or Frost/XSi

Your pick, take Frost/Nixon or why not Frost/XSi :). I recommend both :) My new camera came today and has already been out for a spin. We have had exceptional cold nights here in Northern California with about 24F when I woke up. Made up for some nice photos with the new camera and the old Sigma 105mm macro lens. Kind of like an alien landscape, I think.

 

 

 

 

Canon XSi on the way...

So, I finally got around to upgrading my Canon 10D. I have now a Canon XSi on the way. I hope that for my macro shots, the live-view will come in handy, and in general, the speedier operation will be appreciated.

However, I really doubt that it will do much for the images that will be captured in the end. Here are two recent 10D shots.