High Contrast Photo Taken with my 70D

(Pennsylvania)

In my eyes one of the shortcomings for digital photography in general has always been how sensors handle the transition from blown away highlights to usable highlights.

Up until recently the transitions have been too abrupt from the overexposed highlights that come from photographing actual sources light like ceiling lights, the sun, the moon, or even spectral reflections.


Here is the link to this image, magnified to show it better. Link to Magnified Image


There is some lens flare, which is normal for this type of situation, but it's the clean handling of the highlight that impressed me.

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High ISO photo with 70D at museum

(Philadelphia PA)

I tested the 70D in an exhibit hall of black and white photos by famous photographer Paul Strand. This photo was taken with the Canon 70D and a Tamron 17-35mm f2/8 lens.

I set the 70D at maximum ISO of 12,800. Exposure was 1/350 second at f/4.0.

I could have reduce the ISO a bit since I had a faster shutter speed than I needed, but this was a test of the maximum ISO setting. I was really surprised that the color noise was not outrageous at such an extreme ISO setting.

It is definitely there and if I were using this image for anything else but this web site I would apply a color noise reducing filter with Photoshop.

Back in the days of film photography the highest ISO (ASA back then) film I shot with was 400 and if it was black and white I could process it myself and "push process" to ISO 1000. The grain was significant, although sometimes it gave an artistic emotional feel that worked for some types of photography.

The fact that we can now shoot at an ISO of 12800 with an APS-C sensor like the 70D's is remarkable. I am not a sensor expert but I believe it's the combination of the more than 20 megapixels combined with the 70D's Digic 5+ processor that has made such an improvement in high ISO performance of the EOS 70D.

This exhibit hall was quite dark and it made an interesting location for what is labeled "street photography," I was sitting on a bench with my Canon resting in my lab, waiting for all of the visitors to be in the right spot to get this photo.

I liked the way that each of these visitors were deep within their own thoughts when I clicked the shutter

Here is the link to the magnified image of this Canon EOS 70D 128000 ISO photo:

Magnified 70D Photo

Your comments are most welcome.

Time Lapse Photography With the Canon 70D

by 70D Fan
(USA)

I made a few mistakes at my first attempt with time lapse photography and my 70d. It was still a lot of fun to try something new and I definitely learned a few things in the process.

I used a shutter cord/intervalometer made by Neewer and it worked flawlessly with my 70D.


Time Lapse Video



70D Ice Melt Time Lapse With 70D on Youtube

70D Easily Fits My Waist Bag-BeltPack-Belly Bag

by Canon Geek
(USA)

The 70D fits nicely in a small belt-pack "belly bag." If you are looking for a hands-free way to carry your 70D this idea might appeal to you too.

The photo above is of an Everest waist-level hiking bag. It is not designed as a camera bag, but rather a hiking bag with its own belt.


I actually used that belt-pack to take my Canon 5D Mark III to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite-it was really awkward. With a Canon 24-105 mm f/4 lens attached it was a real tight squeeze.

I loved the convenience of having a camera available so close but I had to point the lens in first at an angle and then forcefully slide the camera downward into the pouch.


What a pleasure it was recently to use this same belly bag with my 70D. The 70D is significantly smaller in footprint and in height than the 5D Mark III.

If you want to only hike hands, arms and shoulder-free and take along your 70D and a lens or two this is a great way for you to go. I use my belly bag on almost all of my photo excursions, sometimes in conjunction with a small backpack for food, water, and extra clothing.


You can't fit as much camera gear in a beltpack as you can in a backpack camera bag, but they are even more convenient that traditional Sling Bags.


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Team Sports Photography with the EOS 70D

by Traveling Photographer
(New Jersey)

I shoot everything raw for several reasons. I like the latitude to adjust exposure and color balance in multiple ways after I capture.

I use my 5d Mark III for the best resolution when shooting the team photos for a sports league. When it comes to photographing the athletes individually, I use my EOS 70D for 2 reasons.

1.Shooting Raw Means Big Files.

The files from the APS-C sensor are already smaller than files from a full-frame DSLR, but still plenty big enough for large prints. Also, with the 70D I can choose small, medium, or full-sized raw image files.

I can shoot an entire league without filling up a memory card.

2. Moving Focusing Spot

Controlling the exact focusing point is important for portraits. I want the eyes to be tack sharp.
I can move the focusing point to a spot in the frame that keeps my subjects eyes sharp and still maintains a good balanced composition.

Canon 70D accessories

by Nicole
(NJ)

Hello! So I've been searching for a great while to find some affordable alternatives to improve my sports photography. I recently started to take on field pictures for a women's professional soccer team in NJ. I currently have been using my Canon 70D with my Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6. I'm not sure if I should invest in a better lens with a lower f/stop, or get a teleconverter. Do you have any suggestions? Also, do you have any suggestions about rainproofing? I bought something at a photography store, but it was a little difficult to maneuver the lens with it.


Ni Nicole,

Thanks for your questions. There are several factors that affect the answer, the biggest being the money you are willing to invest.

The Canon 70D is really a great camera, particularly with respect to its dual pixel technology on the sensor. Since it is an APS-C sized sensor you can get more affordable telephoto lenses then the full-sized sensor camera options. The burst rate of 7 frames per second also is great for sports photography.

I am not a fan of teleconverters at all for sports photography because of all of the light you lose. The 1.4x loses a full f-stop and the 2x loses two stops of light. There are also compatibility issues with many zoom lenses. The teleconverters work best with "prime" (non-zooming) lenses.


Here is the specs on the Canon extenders: Canon Extender pdf page

If you can swing the $xx,xxx.xx for a new Canon super telephoto, you cannot beat the performance or quality.

I purchased this lens Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens
because it is so much more affordable than the faster lenses. I love its sharpness over the entire aperture range. It is not a true "sports" lens because of the maximum f-stop of f5.6 but with the high ISO capabilities, you can get your shutter speed up to those 1/750 second range which you need with professional sports. Canon 400 f5.6 Lens

Professional soccer coverage really requires a lot of glass to do it "professionally" because of the extremely large field, the distance between you and the athletes, and the speed of the action.

Although it's a great lens you don't get enough of a jump in power by going from your 70-300 to the Canon 100-400 in my opinion. The big step is to get the power of a 500mm or 600mm lens. The used ones are $6000.00 on Amazon.

I know some sports photographers seek used super telephotos on ebay, but you need to be careful of the sellers you deal with.

As far as rain protection, I've seen several systems, but I have personally never used any. I've only shot high school sports in bad weather and I simply used an umbrella and shot with my camera mounted on a monopod in one hand and the umbrella in my other hand.

Hope that helps!

Good Luck!

Canon Geek




Go to Canon 70D Accessories

EOS 70D Frames Per Second

by Sporty
(Athletic Fields)

What a great improvement! I shot a few sport events with Canon's first full-frame DSLR, the Canon 5D. I got some good photos, but didn't realize how much I was missing at 3 frames per second.

The 5D Mark III was a big improvement, able to shoot at 6 frames per second.

Now, I am spoiled. To get 7 frames per second in a camera body that is less than half the price and FASTER at focusing too.







Canon EOS 70D - A viable Camera For Fast Sports Photography?

Canon EOS 70D - Review

Canon EOS 70D Memory

by Canon Geek

Before I purchased my 70D, one of the things that bothered me a bit about this camera was that it only had one memory card.

After all, I've been accustomed to having two different card slots with two different memory card formats on my 5D Mark III.

You get the option of writing to both cards at the same time or automatically switching from one card to the next.

That likely isn't a big deal for you. As it turns out it isn't a big deal to me either. Memory cards' capacities are huge and are so affordable too.

I've never filled a card and been slammed by the flashing "MEMORY CARD FULL" message. That's true for two reasons.

As mentioned modern card capacities are huge. Secondly, I've developed a good habit. The first thing I do after any kind of photo shoot is download the image files to my hard drive.

I back them up onto a Blu-Ray disk, and the I format the memory card.

The dual memory card system on the 5D Mark III can actually be confusing. It's an odd thing, but when you remove the Compact Flash card and the re-insert it. the 5D III reverts back to the SD card as the default.

The Canon EOS 70D single memory card system keeps things simple. Start with a reliable card from a quality manufacturer and you won't have any issues.

Secondly, as soon as your done your shoot, load the images to your computer's hard drive. Back them up to a second location of your choice and format your 70D's memory card.

Have a blast!
Bruce





Other 70D Accessories

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Love the Grip on the Canon 70D

by 70D User

Compared with the 5d Mark III body, the EOS 70D body is lighter and smaller. I really like the grip on the 70D, it's just as deep for your fingers to wrap around.

It isn't as wide as the grip on the 5D, but this would only be an issue if you have exceptionally thick fingers.

This post contains affiliate links and the publisher may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links, at no cost to you.


KEH: WHERE I BUY CANON GEAR
"I've found that the condition of the used equipment from KEH is excellent and a whole lot cheaper than buying new" - Bruce, the Canon Camera Geek