challenge: another camera

This is a complete side-note from this week’s post. You might notice I skipped last week. I am currently still adding the finishing touches to it, so expect two challenges in a week or two.

But while I was working on that challenge, I noticed there was a comment–a question, really. It went along the lines of, “what camera do you recommend for…?” In all honesty, it is a great question. If you have no idea where to start, you might be expecting to pay more than a thousand dollars to get the basic equipment to even begin taking decent photos. I’ll answer that question with a challenge.

In order to complete this challenge, I’m gathering every single digital camera I own (I currently have 3). I’ll use the same lens at the same aperture–my 50mm at f/1.8. It’s a fixed prime lens, meaning it doesn’t zoom. But what will be different is which camera body I use. I currently have a Canon 7D (released between 2009-2014, and is considered a professional-tiered camera), a Canon 20D (released between 2004-2006, and is considered a semi-professional body), and a Canon Rebel t6 (released around 2016, and is considered as the “basic” camera). Each camera body came from completely different times, but age usually doesn’t factor into the quality.

With the predetermined lens, and predetermined settings I will photograph the same subject with all three of my cameras. Then, I’ll show the final unedited results. Simple.

Each photo was taken with an aperture of f/1.8, a shutter speed of 1/350 seconds, and a sensor sensitivity (ISO) of 400. Notice the lower light conditions, so we can see if the camera struggles.

The subject I chose for this challenge is my best friend. I photographed him shortly after walking back from class in order to produce the blushing effect often seen on the skin whenever its cold. This was to test the range of colors each camera can produce. He also had some classwork to do, so instead of waiting for him, my impatient self photographed him while he was studying.

 

Now, which photo belongs to which camera? (answers are immediately below)

 

 

The photo above is from the Rebel. Overall, it isn’t bad as an entry-level camera. The amount of focus points is limited, but it still does decent. I personally dislike the Rebel series due to its light weight and size (I prefer heavier cameras).

 

The 20D is the oldest of the bunch, but the one I’m more used to. This perhaps is reflected in the focusing ability. Even though the Rebel camera is limited in auto-focus points, I do believe the 20D is worse off due to its age. The sensor is also starting to die, so you may be able to see more digital noise (specks) within this image.

 

Beyond a minor focusing error (the 7D has the most focusing spots out of the three cameras), the 7D did really well. When I mean minor focusing error, you can clearly see the shirt is more in focus than his face, when it should be the opposite. The thing about the 7D is that it’s my newest camera, so I’m not at all comfortable with it. There appears to be more of a range of colors compared to the 20D, as well as a tad bit more detail.

In my own personal opinion, I’d say the 20D overall produced the best image, though the 7D has the best color range and quality. While the 20D and the Rebel have similar color ranges, the Rebel didn’t have the same clarity or sharpness the 20D had.

The thing about this challenge was to show it doesn’t matter what camera, what equipment or how much money you’ve got. As long as you have the motivation to photograph and some form of a camera, that’s all you need. People have won cash prizes simply by turning a Pringle’s can into a camera and photographing. Sure, having the best-of-the-best equipment might make it look easier and have a higher quality to each image, but if you don’t have the motivation or the basic know-how, it won’t matter.

Also, you need to be comfortable with your camera. As I’ve explained before, I’ve used my 20D for years, and I’ve only had my 7D for barely over a month. Technically, the 7D should’ve had a better photo, but it was the 20D that came out on top. Age means nothing if you know what you’re doing and how long you’ve been doing it for.

TL;DR: if you’ve got a camera, then that’s all I recommend. Don’t be afraid to get used to your camera either.

challenge: landscape

To deviate from my string of portrait photography challenges, I wanted to focus on the world around me. Literally. Landscape photography is meant to show an audience what the world is through the eyes of the photographer.

What makes a photograph a landscape is the use of a small aperture. The values of aperture can be confusing to those who don’t entirely understand the photography process. In one of my previous challenges, I mentioned using a wide aperture.This photograph was used in last week’s challenge. Notice how everything is slightly out of focus except the subject’s face. That effect, as well as the effect known as bokeh, can only be achieved through a wide aperture. In this photograph, I used a 50mm lens with a max aperture of f/1.8, which simply means that I was kinda close to the subject with a super big opening in the lens. The bigger the whole/opening, the smaller the number is (f-stop, which is commonly written as f/##). The wide apertures also allow so much more light to enter the camera, which is really convenient whenever I’m photographing in low light conditions. Essentially, wide apertures are awesome for portraits, but they suck for landscapes.

Here’s an example from a San Francisco, California trip I took in early 2017. If you can look beyond the horrible quality (namely the smudges in the sky as well as my lack of knowledge), you can see that more of the scene is in focus. The boat, the island in the background, and the water in the foreground are all have about the same focus. This photograph was captured using an aperture of f/13. This caused less light to come into the camera, but it made everything in focus. I recall having to let my camera sit still for close to half a second in order to get enough light through the camera. If you notice the trail the boat is making, you can see some motion blur, which is commonly found in slow shutter speeds.

And that’s why landscape can be challenging. A photographer has to find a scene that speaks to them, have their cameras sit long and still enough to capture the entire area, and make sure it’s all in decent focus. It requires a bit of patience, which many people seem to lack these days.

So, this challenge is going to be an actual challenge for me. Note how I had to go all the way back to 2017 for a landscape photo. That’s because 1: that was the last time I did a true landscape and 2: that was the last time I used the automatic setting on a camera. I took the entire summer that year to learn how to use my “borrowed” camera (read: stole from my mother) and I’ve stayed far from landscapes since. Another thing to note is that I was born and raised in State College, so the scenery isn’t super special to me as it would be to my peers from other areas of the globe. Either I have to find some interesting scenery, or I have to travel outside State College until I do find something interesting to me.

As shown above, I took a photograph of a barn out in the middle of nowhere, PA (it’s near Pine Grove Mills, PA). The process is outlined above. Though, as a stylistic choice, I decided to turn the final photo sepia (THIS is a monochrome photograph). Notice the brownish hues to both the shadows and the highlights. To me, it puts emphasis on the details of the barn, like the aging planks of wood. Also I wanted to try it anyways.

Anyways, what makes this a landscape is not only the scene, but the smaller aperture (in this photo, it’s f/8). This makes more things in focus, but at the cost of the image’s brightness. The fog also frames the whole image, bringing attention to the barn.

I didn’t do half bad on the landscape challenge, if I do say so myself. Definitely way better than my 2017 attempt.