Screw Canon Eos

Screw Canon Eos

Camera 500D - Some Issues To Consider Carefully!

I have taken a few hundred shots with this recent purchase, and I reluctantly confess I am a little underwhelmed. I have been an avid picture taking hobbyist for 30 years, and owner of several Canon film SLRs and nice digital P & S cameras,and finally took the plunge on a DSLR. A few issues so far have me puzzled, and may be of help to others.

1. The first issue is the inaccurate "auto white balance." If you want to take an evening shot indoors with available light, and have the camera on an auto everything mode (eg, "P") you will get a shot with terrible orange or blue cast to it because the auto white balance is poor. It is not that difficult to set it manually (eg to "tungsten" or whatever) but I find this inexcusable for a DSLR when most $100 point-n-shoot cameras do a better job with this. It also takes away the ability to grab the camera and shoot when the moment strikes. What good is great low-light focus and noise capability when it screws up the colors?

2. The second issue I have found so far is that many of the pictures taken are not tack sharp when later examined. I have tried several lenses (18-55, 50, 28-105) and many settings and with/without image stabilization, and some of the shots seem just a bit soft when enlarged on the screen. This is a bit unsettling, and almost makes me wonder if there is a defect or is this is normal for this camera. I even compared the same scene shot with the Camera 500D and with my Panasonic Lumix TZ5, and the image from the Lumix is actually more pleasing. If I zoom waaayyy in I note much less noise with the Canon, but the apparent sharpness is very close.

3. the third issue is with the exposure accuracy. On many of the shots taken where there are highlights to the subject, the Camera 500D seems to really blow out the highlights. I have almost have to routinely underexpose most shots by 2/3 stop. Again, disappointing to have to fiddle with adjustments when you have a super duper DLSR and want to grab a quick shot.

So, if these issues help others who are on the fence, consider carefully. I am a Canon fan, and I researched obsessively for 2 years, and now wonder if I made a mistake.

About the Author

You Can See My Lens for Canon EOS 500D at www.squidoo.com/Camera500D-T1i

For more great tips and necessary information on similar topics by the author, read his guides on EOS500D.ueuo.com

How can I manually set the file numbering on a Canon EOS 30D to a specific number?

I used a different compact flash card in my camera which had photos on it numbered from 7200. My camera was only up to 1000 and then jumped up to 7200. I then reset the numbers back to 0001 - which I didn't want. How can I reset my camera to a specific number? It's screwed up my storage not as I've got duplicate numbers..

Unfortunately you can't. The only thing i can think of is to set it on multiple drive and take 1000 photos with the lens cap on. It's annoying, but it shouldn't take that long.

canon EOS 500D full HD photo slideshow