Falling Water

In my last post, I explained how I ended up with a new addition to my growing list of camera equipment options. In this post, I will be comparing this new addition to the cameras that I’ve actually been using for the last while. My purpose is not so much to say one is better than the other, but to decide whether the new Canon EOS Rebel T3i/600D would fit into the specific purposes that I use my cameras for.

Clearly, these two cameras are not in the same class. However, I’ve been very satisfied with my two Canon PowerShot SX40’s, which is the one on the right, in the picture above. I have two of them, and they are very easy to use, have great image quality, and have a wide range of settings, and features that suit the purposes that I use them for. Of course, the main feature of this camera is that fantastic long lens.

Before I get into this post too far, there are a couple of things I want to point out. First of all, I’m running low on space for more pictures. My allotment right now is just over 13 gigabytes, and I only have somewhere between 100 and 200 megabytes of that left. I probably won’t be able to post as many pictures as I would have liked, however, since my videos are hosted on YouTube, they don’t take any space on my blog, and I do have a lot of videos to post. I will be purchasing more space, but I would like to get through this post before I do that.

Another thing I would like to mention is that most of the videos I will be posting here will be ‘loud’. Falling water does tend to make a lot of noise, so be prepared, when you start a video, or adjust your volume, if you wish.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I did go to Rooster Rock, with just the Canon Rebel first, so all the pictures I am posting in this first part will be from that camera only. I took almost 200 pictures, but I will try to pare that down to just a few.

To be quite honest, I didn’t know what I was doing, as I scrambled to get this shot of some kind of raptor. I don’t know anything about the settings on this camera yet, and I was just shooting in Auto Mode. Also, the Rebel only came with an 18mm – 55mm IS lens, which is not exactly a long range lens. This bird was quite high in the sky, and I had to crop the hell out of the original image, in order to bring it this close. I was pretty impressed that it held this much detail after such a cropping.

A panorama of frozen Quirke Lake, from Rooster Rock. Again, I’m not saying that this is the best that the Rebel can do. It will take me a long time to learn how all the settings on this camera work, and all these shots were taken in basic Auto Mode, none of the other settings have been touched.

I mentioned before that I like to take panoramas, because I feel that they best represent what I’m seeing with my eyes, at the time I’m taking the pictures. Even though I know these pictures can probably be improved, with the proper settings, I feel that they look pretty good so far.

After I came back from Rooster Rock, the first thing I did was to look up information about settings on this camera, and I found a great YouTube video tutorial that goes through all the settings, and how to get the best pictures. It’s done in parts, and I watched the first part before I took both cameras out for the second shoot, so I did have a bit more information by then.

I’ll just post a couple more pictures from the Rooster Rock/Quirke Lake shoot, and then I’ll get into the real subject of this blog post.

Okay, so that’s all the photos I’m going to put up of that first time I took the Rebel out, by itself. Admittedly, I knew nothing about the camera at that time. Heck, I couldn’t even shoot a video because I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Now that I do know, I think that it’s pertinent to explain this, since I will now be doing a comparison between the two cameras.

All my non-SLR cameras have a dedicated video button which I can press at any time to begin recording. The Rebel needs to be put into video mode first, by turning the mode dial to the video camera icon on that dial. That was very apparent, and I did that. However, when I turned the camera on in this mode, it made a strange click, and the screen went black. This is what threw me. I thought I had done something wrong, and I decided that it was best to leave well enough alone, until I could verify how this video function actually works.

After I did some more research, I found that I was on the right track, when I set the mode dial to the video camera icon. However, in the menu of the camera, there is an Auto, or Manual setting for video, and it was set to Manual. The Manual settings were not the proper settings for the conditions I was shooting in, so the screen appeared to be black, but it was just very dark, because the Manual settings were not correct. I thought that the video was not working, but it actually was, and I would have known that if I had adjusted the Manual settings. But, I didn’t know anything about the settings, at that time, thus the confusion.

So, since I was now armed with both pictures, and videos, I decided to take both my Canon SX 40, and the new Canon Rebel out for a run, to see how they would compare.

I will mark all pictures, and videos with the camera that took them. They will be in pairs, the first one of the pair will be the Rebel, and the second will be the SX40. Again, the videos will be loud.

Keep in mind, I’m still getting used to how things work on this new Canon Rebel, thus the shaking. The Rebel does not have a zoom button, you have to manually turn the barrel of the lens to zoom, so it was a bit jerky when I did it.

Obviously, I’m much more comfortable with the camera that I’ve been using for quite a while now, and it has a much greater zoom capability.

In this video, I was trying to figure out how to take a picture, while the video is running. You’ll notice that the video goes dark, again, this has to do with improper settings, so I’ll have to work on that.

I also took a picture during this video, with the SX40, but I know how this camera works.

Canon Rebel

This is the still picture I took, during the video. Again, I’m sure that this can be improved, with the proper settings.

Canon SX40

The still I shot, during the video, using the SX40.

Here again, you can see my jerky movements, trying to zoom. It’s very awkward the way you have to turn the barrel of the lens to zoom.

I should also mention that I risked life, and limb, getting in to most parts of this river. It was in dense bush, and I was usually standing in a very precarious position, holding the cameras out over the river to get the shots.

We’re in full meltdown mode up here now, so water is falling everywhere.

Canon Rebel

The still I took, with the Rebel, in that last video.

I’m working my way along this river, to the different falls along the way. Eventually, the river will come out to the main road, and there is a bigger waterfall there.

I’m not going to post all the stills that I took, so that I might be able to finish this post, before my space runs out.

I don’t think that I’ll ever get used to that jerky zoom.

Now I’m heading up to the bigger section of the waterfalls.

Lots of noise, and lots of water.

Actually, I think that the SX40 is holding up quite well, given that the Rebel is a higher class camera.

The last pair of videos.

So, that’s all the videos I’m going to post. I might try to post a few more pictures in the end here.

Canon Rebel

Canon SX40

Well, that’s it! I’ve just run out of space for more pictures. As I said, I will be purchasing more space soon, so no worries.

Anyway, as far as the comparison of these two cameras goes, the biggest surprise for me is how well the Canon SX40 held up against the Canon EOS Rebel T3i/600D. Again, I’m not saying that it’s a better camera, but it is possible that it’s a better camera for me.

However, I’m not going to make that decision yet. I need to take more pictures, and learn more about the Rebel. If it turns out that I don’t think it’s for me, I can always sell it for hundreds more than I bought it for. Although, flipping goods for money is not really my style. It makes me feel like a crook, and I’m not comfortable with that.

Anyway, like I said, I’m going to watch all those video tutorials about how to use, and get the best pictures from the Rebel. I know that it will take some time, but guess what? I’m retired!!