What does your camera NOT have that you wish it HAD?

[DVC Jen]

less noise at high ISO - but hopefully I will be taking care of that issue soon. (crossing fingers and toes)

oh - and it sure would be nice if it said "hey Jen - yer messin this one up. do........... or adjust your .........." and then I end up with more perfect photos instead of more photos that end up never been seen by anyone but me.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

It would be cool if you had a little green/yellow/red light in the viewfinder alerting you to strange settings. It could look for things like high ISO along with high shutter speed, low shutter speed relative to camera motion, exposure compensation, etc. This way, if you forget to reset your camera after doing something odd, you'll have a reminder.

 

[wenrob]

4) 3G. Why can't I upload my pics via the cell phone network?

They have memory cards that do this. I saw a story on the news about a woman who got her stolen DSLR back because the thieves were taking pics of themselves and the card was automatically putting them on her photo site. Or are you meaning right in the camera?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I re-watched the DVD for my camera and found the grids (and lots of other stuff!)

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

I re-watched the DVD for my camera and found the grids (and lots of other stuff!)

Optical viewfinder grids?

 

[PixarNut]

More than 3 shot AEB. HDRs look better at around 5 imho.

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

More than 3 shot AEB. HDRs look better at around 5 imho.

.

Yep that would be a great feature.

I've read about a workaround to this shortfall. If you use a tripod, take one set at -1 bracket so you get -2, -1 ,0 then take another at +1 so you get 0,+1,+2. You can delete one of the 0 photos and still leave yourself with 5 usable.

 

[PixarNut]

.

Yep that would be a great feature.

I've read about a workaround to this shortfall. If you use a tripod, take one set at -1 bracket so you get -2, -1 ,0 then take another at +1 so you get 0,+1,+2. You can delete one of the 0 photos and still leave yourself with 5 usable.

I don't think I have that option in the Canon 40D. When I select to bracket, it runs one stop forward and one back simultaneously with each click. I suppose I could do -1 0 +1 and -2 0 +2. I would just be worried about the camera moving while accessing the menu, etc. I'll definitely try it though!

 

[Experiment_626]

More than 3 shot AEB. HDRs look better at around 5 imho.

Exactly what I came into this thread to say. It strikes me as just a software feature, so there's no reason my D80 (or pretty much any DSLR) shouldn't be able to shoot five, seven, or even nine exposures. It's true that this might be overkill, but that's not the point (and it isn't always overkill).

It's true that you can take two sets of bracketed exposures and different intervals. But you have to touch the camera to adjust the settings for that, and what if I want more exposures separated by two stops?

To go with this, it would be nice if the camera had longer shutter speeds available. I take a lot of HDRs at night. At times when I've decided to touch the camera and use exposure compensation, I've sometimes found later that several of my attempts at longer exposures have come out the same, because the camera cannot program a shutter speed longer than 30 seconds. If I don't remember to go to the bulb setting (and wear a watch with a second hand), I don't get what I wanted.

SSB

 

[oogieboogieman]

I wish my Olympus had IS! I enjoy taking photos of birds, any kind it doesn't matter. See the camera shake, IS would have helped where even using a monopod didn't. Photo isn't that sharp.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I don't think I have that option in the Canon 40D. When I select to bracket, it runs one stop forward and one back simultaneously with each click. I suppose I could do -1 0 +1 and -2 0 +2. I would just be worried about the camera moving while accessing the menu, etc. I'll definitely try it though!

I'm pretty sure that you can do it. First, set AEB with a 1 stop interval. Then set -1 stop of exposure compensation. Now you'll be shooting at -1, -2, and 0. For the next set, set exposure compensation at +1 so that you'll get +1, 0, and +2. You might want to opt for something like -2 and +1 so that you don't have overlap.

You can also use a CF to change the order. By default, it is middle exposure first, then lower, then higher. I prefer lowest to highest.

FWIW, the 1 series cameras allow 3, 5, 7, or 9 exposures in AEB. I usually use 5.

If you don't want to use a remote release, try turning on exposure bracketing and using the 2 or 10 second timer mode. When you do that, it takes the entire bracket set in rapid succession. If you turn on mirror lock, it only does one at a time, even in timer mode.

Finally, if you shoot in continuous shooting mode with AEB bracketing, holding the shutter will fire a burst for each exposure level and then stop.

 

[AndrewWG]

My current camera doesn't have a 5D body and a FF sensor. It does however have a nice frame per second rate and it is paid for.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Mark, how much of this here do you think is just User Error? Or should I say, User Misinformation, ie not yet knowing your camera well enough?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

it is paid for

This is always a plus.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I wish my Olympus had IS! I enjoy taking photos of birds, any kind it doesn't matter. See the camera shake, IS would have helped where even using a monopod didn't. Photo isn't that sharp.

This is a nice photo, obm. Have you seen these Wortniak setting recommendations? http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/e510-fs.html

 

[Experiment_626]

Following up on my earlier post in this thread, I see that the D200 does offer bracketing of up to nine shots. It makes me seriously consider the idea of selling my D80 and picking up a used D200, even though the resolution is the same. It still wouldn't do exposures longer than 30 seconds, though.

Of course, a D700 would be the ultimate for me right now. I wonder how long it will take for an FX-format camera to become reasonably affordable. I know the D700 is considered an amateur camera, but it doesn't have a price in range of this amateur! Of course, it isn't all that much more than I paid for the D100 I used to have ... but back then, I bought things on credit. I don't do that anymore. Almost makes me regret it.

Maybe one day I'll get a giant inheritance and I'll be able to get a D3x. Might as well dream big ...

SSB

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Mark, how much of this here do you think is just User Error? Or should I say, User Misinformation, ie not yet knowing your camera well enough?

I couldn't really say. When I see someone make a mistake about their cameras limitations (like not realizing that Canon cameras allow exposure compenstation to be combined with bracketing), I try to correct the mistake.

Following up on my earlier post in this thread, I see that the D200 does offer bracketing of up to nine shots. It makes me seriously consider the idea of selling my D80 and picking up a used D200, even though the resolution is the same. It still wouldn't do exposures longer than 30 seconds, though.

You should be able to do exposures longer than 30 seconds using a remote shutter release and bulb mode. You can time it yourself or you can get a remote shutter release with a built in timer. I have one that allows me to specify how long to wait before taking the picture, how many pictures to take, how long to wait between pictures, and how long to keep the shutter open.

 

[Experiment_626]

You should be able to do exposures longer than 30 seconds using a remote shutter release and bulb mode. You can time it yourself or you can get a remote shutter release with a built in timer.

I bought a couple of the wired remotes -- the cheap knockoffs readily available on eBay for under ten dollars. The first one quit working because I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and bent the plug. The second one quit because it seems to have developed a short, even though I was much more careful with it. I suspect my next remote will be one of the wireless ones.

There's something to be said for an old manual cable release. I never had one of those fail to work, and even my D100 could use one.

I can and have timed my own exposures on the B setting -- but I have ADD. It is hard for me to go more than 30 seconds without having my mind wander ...

SSB

 

[MarkBarbieri]

With the USB connections and remote control capabilities of modern DSLRs, I'm surprised that no one has come out with an iPhone app for remote controlling your camera. In addition to handling long exposures and working as an intervalometer, it could also do bracketing for HDR shots and focus control for focus stacking shots.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Can someone please tell me if you can see pictures via this link before I start a thread using it? I have a password so I'm not sure if only I can see them. Thanks.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html