zakslm

Rebel T7, EFS 55-250 @ 135mm

Rebel T7, kit lens. EFS 55-250mm for the goat and the moon

EF 50mm f1.8 STM

The full moon setting this morning. EF-S 55-250 IS II, f5.6 @ 1/125th sec. ISO 3200

Forgive me for possibly overdoing it on the neighborhood birds. A cactus wren and a gila woodpecker. EF-S 55-250 IS II

The doves seems to really like my neighbor's fence! (55-250 IS II)

This one was a grab shot with the kit lens. A White Winged Dove (cue up Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen") with a Gamble's Quail

Rebel T7, 55-250 IS II Backyard birds. Gamble's Quail and friends.

You may wish to look at the rolling tool bags and portable tool chests at your local Home Depot, Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, etc.

Rebel T7, 55-250 IS II Neighborhood birds. An ash throated fly catcher and a mourning dove.

There isn't much discussion or nostalgia out there for the T-70. I traded up from an original AE-1 to the T-70 in the mid 80's. The A Series cameras seem to get a lot of "love" and I did like my AE-1, but I liked the T-70 as well. I found it to be a pretty significant upgrade vs. the AE-1. It was rugged, reliable, easy to use, and ran forever on 2 AA alkaline batteries. It served me will until I switched to EOS. Additionally, it was backwardly compatible with A Series Speedlites and the high trigger voltage of a Vivitar 283 didn't seem to bother (or fry) the T-70's electronics. Ken Rockwell has a glowing reivew of the camera on his site, but other than that, I haven't seen much. I don't think I'll use film again, but if I choose to do so, I'd try and find a nice T-70 and a couple of nice FD lenses - possibly replicate 2 of the lenses I had way back and find a 50mm f1.8 and a 135mm f3.5. I under-appreciated the breech lock 135mm back then (came with a beautiful Canon leather case where it was stored most of the time) but wished I would have used it more often. Are there any other T-70 fans still around?

Years ago when I lived in the Detroit, MI area (I mean the 1970's & 80's) I used Midwest Camera Repair in Wynadotte. They were very good and always did very nice work for me including changing out the focusing screen and cleaning the prism of an EOS film camera. I'm pleasantly surprised to see they are still around.

Rebel T7, 50mm f/1.8 STM & EF-S 55-250 IS II. I have to start changing up my subject matter!

Spot on! This forum, YouTube and other sites provide lots of valuable information and opinions (and sample shots) on consumer grade lenses and equipment. In fact, I bought the 55-250 after doing that type of research. This didn't exist years ago and we had to depend on reviews in the photo mags that were very biased toward higher end pro grade equipment and often denegrated consumer grade equipment. Of course, there was always word of mouth as well. I do think that Canon lenses are consistent meaning that there is consistency in optical performance among samples of the same lens. I haven't heard of a one off sample optically being a "lemon" among Canon lenses.

Should probably add or state that the default ISO setting may be dependent on the camera body or the settings transmitted between the Speedlite and the camera body. It would make sense to me because sensor size, megapixel count and processors differ from camera to camera.

Interesting question. I was curious as to what ISO was being set and 800 seemed to be the default.

More wildflowers and a cactus flower. Rebel T7, kit lens.

Received the 430EX a little while ago and did some quick tests. The functions and automation are a bit different than the 430EZ and 540EZ I used years ago with an EOS film camera, but familiar nonetheless. My preferred setting on the "EZ" Speedlites was to set the camera to M Mode and that works the pretty much the same way on the 430EX. I set the camera to M and set the desired aperture and shutter speed. The Speedlite LCD panel displays a Maximum distance and provided the subject < maximum distance, the flash exposure is spot on. Although I have to say that I am really impressed with how well the flash/camera combination works in P to provide fill flash.

I doubt anyone is asking why I am back on Photo.net after a long hiatus. But it is a logical question since it’s been 15 years my since I was last active on this site. The short answer is that I succumbed to the “slippery slope” or the pull of a lifelong interest and hobby that I had suppressed since I had last signed on to Photo.net. Photography has always interested me. From the time I was a kid using roll film cameras (probably Kodak Brownie’s that belonged to family members) and got a Kodak 127 camera a birthday gift (had a built-in flash that took AG-1 flashbulbs!) I loved taking pictures. I even had my own darkroom and learned to process black & white negative film – but I didn’t acquire an enlarger until I was in college. In high school, I borrowed a 35mm rangefinder camera and took a black & white photography course where I had access to a full darkroom including enlargers. That class, the instruction received and the gratification of making prints further drew me in to photography as a hobby. In college I had acquired my first SLR, a recently introduced Canon AE-1 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I took a photography course in college where I had to shoot 2 assignments a week on Ektachrome and get them processed at a 4-hour lab near campus. Then the instructor and class critiqued the best 4 slides from each roll. I would recommend whatever the current equivalent of that type of class is to anyone who is serious about taking photographs as opposed to “taking pictures”. Over the next 30 years (and many thousands of photos later), I accumulated lenses and accessories and upgraded camera bodies a couple times that culminated in a switch to an EOS camera and EF lenses. This led to assisting and apprenticing with an exceptional wedding and portrait photographer and even shooting some events on my own. When film-based equipment was being phased out in favor of digital by many pros and serious amateurs, I made the decision to sell my film-based equipment and accessories and pursue other interests. I dabbled with a couple of digital point & shoot cameras and got into the habit of using my iPhone as my primary camera. Two recent events reignited the passion that I have for photography. First of all, I had cataract surgery on both eyes. Not only could I see clearly, but colors appear more vibrant and vivid than they had in years! Secondly, someone had taken a photo of my dog with a DSLR and made a print and gave it to my wife and I. That print clearly pops vs. the prints we made from iPhone photos. I was jealous! I had resisted buying a DSLR for years even though my wife did not discourage me from doing so. I knew it would be a slippery slope and once I did buy a DSLR, there would be no turning back. But given the two above catalytic events, I decided it dive back in. Not getting too crazy at first, I bought a Rebel T7 with the kit lens, a 50mm lens, lens hoods and UV filters and started to take some photos. I got reacquainted with KEH Camera and bought telephoto zoom and then bought a wide angle zoom on Amazon (both with lens hoods and UV filters of course). Add SD cards, a used Speedlite, a camera sling and other items and there’s no doubt I’m on that slippery slope and I’m enjoying the ride! I like my results and the enjoy process of learning digital photography and getting acquainted with my equipment. I think I’m pretty much done accumulating equipment and accessories for now. As for the future, upgrading to a full-sized sensor and/or mirrorless EOS camera is larger commitment that I can foresee making. But who knows?

I just pulled the tigger on buying a used Canon 430EX Speedlite in what looks like pretty nice shape and I should receive it in about a week. I intend to use it on a Rebel T7. The flash in question is the the original 430EX, not a version II or III. From what I gather and based on the research I have done, aside from a few esoteric features that versions II and III may have that the original does not, the main difference is that the Flash Control Menu of the camera does not or will not control the flash or is very limited in what it will control. In other words, those functions must be set on the flash and cannot be set on the camera. Also, since my camera is a crop sensor camera, the 430EX's Auto Zoom feature will automatically translate lens focal lengh in use to it's non-cropped equivalent and indicate that information on flash's display. In otther words, if I using a 50mm lens or I am zoomed to 50mm, the flash LCD will indicate I'm at 80mm and flash coverage will be set accordingly. I'm hoping someone can confirm the above and/or if you've used the the same or similar combination of Speedlite and camera, be please be kind enough to share your experience. Thank you.

Cactus Flowers. Rebel T7, EFS-55-250 ISII

In honor of National Puppy Day. Rebel T7, EF-S10-18mm @ 10mm

RebelT7, 50mm f1.8 STM

RebelT7, 50mm f1.8 STM

I purchased a used Canon EF-S 55-200M f-5.6 IS II lens from KEH that was described as UGLY. I had purchased used equipment from KEH years ago when I had an EOS film body. The gear I purchased back then was graded anywhere from UGLY to EX+ and I had good experiences with KEH. With the exception of a 540EZ flash that was graded UGLY an lived up to it (but worked perfectly), I found that their grading to be conservative and was very satisfied with the items I purchased. So, I saw the above mentioned ugly lens for a price that was a fraction of the cost of a new 55-200mm EF-S IS lens, and decided to go for it. The lens arrived earlier today (together with the caps, UV filter and Canon hood I purchased) and I am pleased to say that KEH still appears to be very conservative in their grading. Other than some external signs of use and wear the lens looks good. I would grade the lens on first inspection as closer to a Good/Bargain grade. I cleaned the glass surfaces to remove some dust and residue from previous cleanings, turned on the AF and IS, put the lens on my camera and took a few shots. I was not disappointed. The lens worked perfectly and the images were crisp and clear. I'm going to take more test shots this weekend, but for the time being, I'm satisfied with my purchase. Below is an image taken at 55mm, f/4 @ 1/100th sec, no flash.