Canon Rebel XTi and Related Disadvantages.

[eyadnalsamman]

When they said that the new Rebel XTi has these two disadvantages, what do

they mean by those two main disadvantages?

 

1) Images on the soft side at default settings.

2) No spot metering.

 

Could you give me examples about the side effects of those disadvantages and

make a comparison between the XTi and other DSLR regarding the disadvantages?

 

Thank you. Regards ..

[wandern]

1) Almost any DSLR made today will have an image that's "soft" or does not look particularly sharp, without additional processing, whether the processing is with the camera's internal software when you have it set to create Jpeg files (you have 7 levels of in-camera sharpening available on the 400d, I believe), or whether it's during post-processing on your computer.

 

Most point and shoot cameras are set to use extremely high levels of in-camera sharpening to make the image "pop" out at you.

 

As you might know, at first glance and high magnifications (it will be more noticeable when viewing the image at 100% on a computer monitor than it would be in a resized or printed image), a soft image might appear to be slightly unfocused to the untrained eye.

 

I don't suppose this is really a disadvantage so much as a consequence of current-day sensor design.

 

2) This means that the photographer has a hard time evaluating a scene personally, does not know how to read RGB histograms, or possibly needs to accurately expose fleeting, high contrast scenes, and wants the convenience of a spot meter.

 

Generally a spot meter is used, much as its name implies, to meter a relatively small portion of a scene, so you can properly expose the desired subject even when its brightness is dramatically different from that of its surroundings. Think of a person backlit by the sun, or of a bright waterfall peeking through a frame of dark, shady green tree branches.

 

The 3.5% spot meter of cameras like the EOS 30d is convenient, but, contrary to what people on some review and discussion sites whine about on a daily basis, isn't some kind of an absolute necessity.

[jobo1]

The 400D uses less in-camera sharpening by default than all earlier 1.6x Canons except the 30D, so by comparison it looks soft. This is easy to adjust.

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/picturestyle/shooting/faq.html

 

The 400D has partial metering (9% of the picture area), which turns out to be good enough for me.

[gdanmitchell]

<p>The most useful sharpness comparisons might be:

 

<ul>

<li>a comparison of unprocessed RAW images from different cameras. This eliminates

the relatively uncontrollable variable of in-camera sharpening processes. In addition, it

recognizes that fact that the best sharpness results do not come from in-camera

processing, but from post-camera processing on your computer. As such, comparing RAW

images would give an idea of what you would start with.</li>

<li>a comparison of images from several cameras that began as RAW and were then

converted and processed (especially sharpened) the same way.</li>

<li>a comparison of images from several difference cameras that began as RAW and were

then converted and processed by a photographer who knows how to get the best possible

result from a given RAW image. This is important because, in some ways, the quality of the

RAW file is ultimately less significant than the quality obtainable by processing the RAW

file.</li>

<li>a comparison of jpg images from several cameras that were sharpened using the in-

camera defaults. This would be helpful to those who don't use RAW.</li>

</ul>

 

<p>Bottom line: you should be able to get excellent image sharpness from an XTi with

excellent lenses if you start with an optimal photograph and know how to work with the

image in post-processing. (Too much worry and pixel-peeping may be fruitless.)

 

<p>Regarding spot metering... for the vast majority of users it is one of those features

they will never use. Camera histograms have made this even more the case since it is

usually an

easy matter to take a shot, immediately view the histogram, and quickly make

adjustments. In real life, this approach is faster than separately metering different small

areas of the image and then calculating the best compromise exposure. Those who know

what

spot metering is <i>and use it</i> should consider this an important feature - others

probably shouldn't worry about it.

[conraderb]

Eyad -

 

1) most DSLR make slightly soft images. postproduction requires a bit of sharpening.

 

2) only you can say whether or not having a spot meter function is important to you. I never use a spot meter, so it wouldn't matter to me.

[dave_d2]

If you don't know what spot metering is you'd probably get into more

trouble if the camera had it. Even Partial metering can get newbies

in trouble. The 30D has it if you really gotta have it for some

reason.