700D v 450D

AnthonyL wrote:

I've just upgraded to the 700D (+18-55STM) - seems a lot to assimilate. Anyone done similar like to list a handful of most useful new features they have found in practice?

Congrats on the new kit Anthony! That's a very capable camera. Here are a couple of ways that I squeeze the most out of my (newer) Canons.

As counterintuitive as it may sound, the extra FPS can help you take better Low Light photos (in addition to helping with fast action, etc). I like to shoot bursts when camera shake might be an issue, as there will always be one image that turns out sharper than the rest. I gain at least a stop in handhold-ability by shooting this way (vs shooting just a single frame at a time). Try it. I like to call it "Poor Man's Image Stabilization."

And speaking of low light, in the right situations give Handheld Night Scene a go (or even better yet Multi-Shot Noise Reduction, as it's more customizable). The ISO gets bumped up in order to help with handhold-ability (speeding up your shutter speed), but then the real magic comes when the camera shoots a burst and does a subtractive kind of noise reduction on the images. The processor then automatically aligns the images and stacks them, resulting in a much cleaner image overall than you could have with taken with just a single shot at that ISO. And although it was primarily intended for static scenes, I still like to use it for subjects that might be moving too (such as when out clubbing!). It deals with motion by using the first frame as the registration frame, and anything that moves in the subsequent frames gets deleted out. It really knocks me out that the processor is capable of such wizardry, but again give it a try and see if it extends your own photographic capabilities.

There's of course a heap more that this camera can do. Like O'G says, go out and shoot a Ton of pictures (I put 10,000 shots through my 650D in the first month). And don't be afraid to try some of the features in more unconventional ways! Such as burst mode paired with Autofocus for MACROS??!!! HeHe

650D with 300mm f/4L IS and 25mm extension tube.

Or BIFs after sunset (with a non-stabilized lens!).

650D with 400/5.6 @ 1/80 second, ISO 1600

Oh yes, here's a sample using the aforementioned Handheld Night Scene...

650D with 18-55 IS II kit lens. 1/20 sec @ ISO 4000. Click on "original size."

So go out. Have yourself a shoot-fest with the new camera. And post back some pictures!

R2