canon 650d experience

I bought one last December and I love it. Kick in the knuts that the T5i (which has minimal unnecessary upgrades) came out only 5 months later haha.

I noticed that you gave it a fairly high rating in the low light dept... so I have to ask: Do you have a method for shooting low light?

I typically shoot moving people in low light, so I have to keep the shutter speed fairly high, and when I up the ISO it always comes out grainy... Any word?

Thanks in advance!

Combat By Design said:

Combat By Design wrote:

Do you have a method for shooting low light?
I typically shoot moving people in low light, so I have to keep the shutter speed fairly high, and when I up the ISO it always comes out grainy... Any word?
Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

What lens are you using in those situation? Coaxing a few more stops of light onto the sensor does a world of good. The two basic prime (non-zoom) lenses with good low-light performance for Canon are the 50mm f/1.8 (~$100, spotty AF performance), and the 40mm f/2.8 (~$150). I did a lot of experimentation to find the minimum shutter speed I can shoot from handheld without IS turned on (for me, 1/30 is usually okay) and set the camera to Auto ISO and Tv mode at that shutter speed for some worry-free shooting. Using this usually puts me at around f/2.8 with ISO 800 in household indoor-lit scenes.

Option 2 is to add an external flash that you can diffuse, bounce, or use off-camera wirelessly. I have yet to dive into that bit of fun as I've heard leaning lighting can be like learning photography all over again. Plus, it's a little out of the range of fun money at $350 for the 430 EX II in order to take advantage of all of the features available on the camera body.

Thanks for the response!

I typically shoot my 18-135 STM lens, as I only have that and a zoom lens. The Aperature setting is usually at 2.5 or so, which is about as open as it can go... but sometimes it seems to get "stuck" at 3.5 on it's own... not sure how that works

I'm still learning my way around the camera, but I love it so far, and the only way to learn is to read and ask questions!

Thanks again!
Any help is always appreciated!

-Kevin

I bought one last year December as well. Love it! Love it! Love it!

IMHO, the T5i should never have been released. All those features could have been done by firmware upgrades. Except maybe the dial. But who cares about that.

About the only thing I would like is a deeper buffer.

Otherwise, it is a great camera!

I upgraded from my T1i to a T4i a few weeks ago. I got a great deal from Canon direct on a refurbished camera with the 18-135 STM lens. I actually wanted the lens, and only bought the T4i when I realized that it would only cost $330 more than the lens alone. I sold my T1i for $260 on Amazon and it was a no-brainer. I'm very happy with my purchase so far. My thoughts:

For straight photography and image quality, there really is not much difference between the T4i and T1i. The biggest difference is that the T4i can set ISO speed during manual exposures when I use auto-ISO. On the T1i in manual mode and auto-ISO, the ISO would be set to 400.

For movies and live view – the T4i is pretty decent. It certainly is light-years ahead of the T1i.

I'll admit – I almost disabled touch screen thinking I wouldn't want to use it. But it really is well implemented, very seamless.

The focus performance should be a bit better for sports than the T1i because all points are cross points. I look forward to trying it out when my daughter goes back on the field in the fall.

Auto white balance seems to be improved.

The build in HDR and night photos features are nice additions. They would not be missed if they weren't there, but they seem like good additions.

The lens is great. Fast focus, very quiet, very sharp and I enjoy having a long focal length so this can be my every-day lens.

I was day dreaming of getting a 70D, but after having my T4i I think I'll only change if the upgrade is substantial. Movie/live view focus has to be quite a bit better AND image quality at high ISO has to be better. Improvements in handling won't be worth spending the money for me, I'd rather save my money. Well, perhaps until there is a good deal on a refurbished 70D.

In response to others: if you haven't already - absolutely spend $120 on a 50mm f/1.8 lens. Or perhaps get the 40mm pancake. You will be amazed at how much better photos are in low light with it. If you want, spend more on other low aperture lenses instead – but definitely get one. I waited years with my T1i before getting one. My first thoughts when using the lens were – this is what my DSLR is supposed to be like in low light!

Combat By Design said:

Combat By Design wrote:

Thanks for the response!
I typically shoot my 18-135 STM lens, as I only have that and a zoom lens. The Aperature setting is usually at 2.5 or so, which is about as open as it can go... but sometimes it seems to get "stuck" at 3.5 on it's own... not sure how that works
I'm still learning my way around the camera, but I love it so far, and the only way to learn is to read and ask questions!
Thanks again!
Any help is always appreciated!

-Kevin

Click to expand...

The camera can only open the aperture of the lens as far as the lens allows. The 18-135 lens starts at 3.5 aperture at wide focal lengths. As the focal length increases, the max aperture changes in a few steps up to 5.6. So if you set it to 3.5 when at 18mm, and zoom in, the camera will correctly display aperture of 5.6 which is the lowest for that focal length. You can't ever set the aperture to anything below the minimum for the focal length you are at.