# Just got Canon SXi but not so impressed with all hyped about it



## Harix (Jun 2, 2008)

Hi gang!
Just got it 5 min ago, install the lens and battery. Took couple of test pictures with fully automatic, but pictures not what I expected. Look like not focus correctly. What should I do? Get a better lens?


----------



## elemental (Jun 2, 2008)

When you say "not focus correctly" what exactly do you mean? There is certainly a focal point in those photos. Did it not focus on what you wanted it to? Were you using manual focus or auto?


----------



## julie32 (Jun 2, 2008)

what kind of lens is on there?


----------



## dslrchat (Jun 2, 2008)

It is not a Point & Shoot.

Different AV TP for different effects and outcomes.


----------



## Big Mike (Jun 2, 2008)

A whole 5 minutes?

You had better send it back?  


(not really)


----------



## dEARlEADER (Jun 2, 2008)

yeah... thats a problem with Canons... you should take it back for a Nikon to make things easier......:greenpbl:

DSLR's don't make great pictures... great photographers make great pictures.... keep shooting for a week and experiment....  it'll get better....


----------



## julie32 (Jun 2, 2008)

also--the fronts of the cars are focused great. Your lens is focusing on what is closest to you and bluring the background some it looks like. What are your settings?


----------



## Alfred D. (Jun 2, 2008)

Hi Harix,

Congrats on that XSi. That's a fine dSLR, if I read the reviews correctly.

As elemental said, there is offhand not something visibly very wrong with the focussing. Bear in mind these are your first shots with that new machine. You still need to get used to it. You probably also still need to go through all the settings to finetune them to your M.O. Remember, it's not the camera that makes the image, it's the photographer. So if something's wrong with the image you know who you need to talk to.

Have fun!


----------



## Overread (Jun 2, 2008)

Ok first off when posting shots on the forum resize to at most 1000 pixels on the longest side - 800 though is a better number - makes it easier to see the whole thing.

Secondly chances are that in the auto modes notice the little squares in the viewfinder with a dot in the middle that go red when you half press the shutter? Those are your focusing points, now in the auto modes the camera chooses which of them it thinks you should be using. Its a good fallback, but at times it just does not get the focus of the shot where you want it to be.
Now if I were you I would spend time playing with the auto modes and take note of the results you get - now when you feel ready set the camera to ap mode (apature priority mode). Its about the most used setting and is very versitile. Now in this mode you can define which focusing points the camera will use when auto focusing in on a shot - the centre is often set as there is where you are looking at. 
I strongly suggest reading the manual as few times over and experimenting with things (the manuals for cameras contain good information on use andgetting started whilst one of the joys of digital is the ability to shoot and experiment without having to pay or wait for developing.

Good luck with the new camera!


----------



## peterbj7 (Jun 2, 2008)

Those images look fine to me, though they're not as I would have taken them.  With your new camera you now have far greater control over depth of field than you ever had with a compact, and this is both a strength and a weakness.

You need to experiment with different apertures, which largely determine DoF for a given lens.  But of course that also influences shutter speed, which can affect picture clarity.  You have a lot to learn, by which I mean you're starting on a fascinating voyage of discovery.  Just don't expect to learn it all at once - it ain't going to happen.

Someone asked what lens you have with the camera.  That's a crucial point.

And no, don't take camera or lens back!


----------



## Harix (Jun 2, 2008)

Wow, you guys faster than rabbit 



elemental said:


> When you say "not focus correctly" what exactly do you mean? There is certainly a focal point in those photos. Did it not focus on what you wanted it to? Were you using manual focus or auto?


I used the auto focus. The setting at the automatic. I meant not focused correctly, because as you can see.. the pictures aren't sharp.



julie32 said:


> what kind of lens is on there?


The lens was came with it. It's EF-S 18-55 IS kit.



julie32 said:


> also--the fronts of the cars are focused great. Your lens is focusing on what is closest to you and bluring the background some it looks like. What are your settings?


 The setting is Automatic, and autofocus, stabilizer on. 



dEARlEADER said:


> yeah... thats a problem with Canons... you should take it back for a Nikon to make things easier......:greenpbl:
> 
> DSLR's don't make great pictures... great photographers make great pictures.... keep shooting for a week and experiment.... it'll get better....


Will try that. At this stage, I found my Sony DSC-H1 took a better, clearer picture than this. And it cost only 1/3 of the SXi 

Again thanks for great response guys.:hugs:


----------



## Alex_B (Jun 2, 2008)

Harix said:


> .. the pictures aren't sharp.



They are very sharp. Just the depth of field is quite shallow since you used a wide aperture. Hence only objects at the distance you focused at appear un-blurred.


----------



## joey-cakes (Jun 2, 2008)

are you shooting in raw or JPEG?
If you want it sharper you may want to do that in PP.


----------



## dslrchat (Jun 2, 2008)

joey-cakes said:


> are you shooting in raw or JPEG?
> If you want it sharper you may want to do that in PP.


Fully Automatic would be JPEG


----------



## Alex_B (Jun 2, 2008)

I can only repeat, they are sharp, in particular the first one is very good in terms of sharpness.

If you want control over your depth of field, do not shoot full auto. Also, when you focus, decide where to focus and don't just let it happen randomly.


----------



## julie32 (Jun 2, 2008)

This has nothing to do with your Harix, but can someone out there please tell me how you can post photos (not a link to a third party) into a thread if you're not a TPF subscriber??


----------



## Overread (Jun 2, 2008)

joey-cakes said:


> are you shooting in raw or JPEG?
> If you want it sharper you may want to do that in PP.


 
Even though I encourage people to use RAW mode as much as they can (ie all the time ) I am hesetant to suggest it until the person has a little ground in editing the shots as RAW and some of its advantages only come to the fore after editing (such as getting better sharpness by using the computer unsharpen mask)

I would say have a good month playing with the camera - drive friends and family made with it


----------



## Alex_B (Jun 2, 2008)

julie32 said:


> This has nothing to do with your Harix, but can someone out there please tell me how you can post photos (not a link to a third party) into a thread if you're not a TPF subscriber??



find a site to upload your photos and use the url on here to post the image. You can use this button 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 to enter the url.


----------



## joey-cakes (Jun 2, 2008)

dslrchat said:


> Fully Automatic would be JPEG


oh i would have thought that you could chose between the two somewhere in the options.

to op:
adjust the sharpening in your camera if you aren't satisfied.

I think the major problem is the glare from sunlight reflected off the car. other than that i don't see much of an issue.


----------



## JerryPH (Jun 2, 2008)

julie32 said:


> This has nothing to do with your Harix, but can someone out there please tell me how you can post photos (not a link to a third party) into a thread if you're not a TPF subscriber??


 
Click the insert image icon/button, and voila.

It is the button that looks like it has a small mountain on it.


----------



## sabbath999 (Jun 2, 2008)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your camera or lens... you just need to learn how to use it.


----------



## Overread (Jun 2, 2008)

joey-cakes said:


> oh i would have thought that you could chose between the two somewhere in the options.
> 
> to op:
> adjust the sharpening in your camera if you aren't satisfied.
> ...


 
You can when in the manual modes (ap, tv, P, M, and A-Dep) but all the Auto modes are fixed with Jpeg use


----------



## SrBiscuit (Jun 2, 2008)

if your sony is taking better pics, you;d better send me that XSi, and i'll take a look at it...put it in the glove box of that car and ship to me. ill figure it out. 

get into those settings and play.

-biscuit-


----------



## Harix (Jun 2, 2008)

Alex_B said:


> They are very sharp. Just the depth of field is quite shallow since you used a wide aperture. Hence only objects at the distance you focused at appear un-blurred.


So what should I do to make it better? 
Shoot with maximum zoom from farther distance or minimum zoom with closer distance will makes a difference?


----------



## dslrchat (Jun 2, 2008)

Read up on the different Modes, you will want to change the Aperture some what.


----------



## kellylindseyphotography (Jun 2, 2008)

Harix said:


> So what should I do to make it better?
> Shoot with maximum zoom from farther distance or minimum zoom with closer distance will makes a difference?



Pick up your manual and learn how to use the features!

A low fstop will give you only a certain amount of space in the frame that is "in focus".  A high fstop will put everything in the frame in focus (eg f22 or f16).  I say just read your manual.


----------



## julie32 (Jun 2, 2008)

Harix,
The learning curve between a point & shoot camera and an SLR is pretty steep. 
You probably got an SLR because you want to take better quality photos, right? It's going to take some time. Truly it's not the camera that takes the photos, its the photographer--the camera is just a tool to help you get what you want. 
The focusing problems you seem to be having sound like aperture issues. Are you familiar with what aperture, shutterspeed and ISO are, and their relationship to each other?


----------



## mrodgers (Jun 2, 2008)

kellylindseyphotography said:


> Pick up your manual and learn how to use the features!


I disagree.  Learning how to use the features is impossible when you don't know what the features are.

Start here, the 2 sites I found first when I bought my camera.

Digital Camera Help

Shortcourses - Online library of digital photography

When I first bought the camera, the _Shortcourses_ site explained all the features of a manual camera very well.  Start with these two sites and within an evening (lots to read in the Shortcourses site) you will understand a bit about shutter, aperture, ISO, metering, focusing, the different modes (S or Tv, A, P, M...) and much more.

After gaining some understanding about what everything is, start shooting.  Shoot anything and everything.  Don't just go out and take shots of the cars or trees or the normal things.  Really get down and look for stuff.  Shoot blades of grass, find little clover flowers in the lawn.  Take shots of birds in the trees.  Photograph the railing of your porch, or the rain downspout from your gutters.  My favorite when learning my camera was setting up my kid's colorful little toys.

It doesn't take long if you do a little bit of research and read.  It took me about 2-3 months and everything fell into place for me.  It happens just like riding a bicycle, you fall on your face a hundred times, then all of a sudden, dad lets go of the bicycle for the last time and off you ride.  You can't even remember at that moment on what it was like to not be able to ride that bicycle.

Most of all, have fun with the journey of learning.


----------



## table1349 (Jun 2, 2008)

Harix said:


> Hi gang!
> Just got it 5 min ago, install the lens and battery. Took couple of test pictures with fully automatic, but pictures not what I expected. Look like not focus correctly. What should I do? Get a better lens?
> 
> *Photos Removed
> *



There is nothing wrong with your new camera.  The photos are very sharp. I downloaded the photos and looked at them in Zoom browser and found why you feel they are not sharp.  First your photos from Zoom Browser.
 1.





#2





Ok first, see the red square in each photo.  That is the focus point.  It is the only focus point that is active. The other black squares are also focus points, but the camera did not use them.  Check the focus at the focus point.  DEAD ON SHARP.  The large black square is the center focus point  You can learn to set the camera to use the focus point(s) you want, not the one it wants. 

On the first shot you were shooting at 28mm focal length.  To fill the frame at 28mm with the vehicle like you did you had to be quite close.  Your f-stop was 10, ISO 200 with a 1/200 shutter speed  Fairly narrow, however due to you being as close as you were you depth of field was still quite shallow.  That is why you have a lot of area that is out of focus.   If you were around 5 feet from the vehicle when you took those shots your depth of field would only be in the range of 4 feet total.

The second shot you were shooting at 1/200 shutter speed with an ISO of 400 again with an f-stop of 10 at 32mm focal length. If you were shooting at about 8 feet you depth of field would still be around 4 feet.  If you were 10 feet away it would be about 9 feet total.  Again that would explain why a lot of the photo is out of focus.  

The jump from a P&S to a DSLR can be challenging.  First thing to do is read the manual that came with the camera.  Learn the basic functions of the camera and how to use them.  

Next go to the library or a book store and get a copy of *Understanding Exposure* by Bryan Peterson.  It is a book that every beginning photographer should have.  Even if you have been shooting for a while with a P&S when it comes to DSLR's if this is your first you are a beginning photographer, at least in some ways.   It will give you a good understanding of Light, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Focal Lengths, and how they are combined to create different looks when shooting a subject.  

Hope this helps a bit.


----------



## Senor Hound (Jun 2, 2008)

I know this same thing has been said already, but I'm going to say it in a different way in hopes it makes sense.

Your old point and shoot had aperture settings, but they're entirely different than this camera's.  If you had taken this shot at f/2.8 on your sony, you'd need to take it at around an f/8 or even an f/11 to get the same look (depth of field) to it.  DSLRs are waaay more capable of isolating the subject from the background than a point and shoot.

If you try and take the shot on your new camera in the same way you did your old one, you probably won't be satisfied.  But I REALLY think once you become acclimated to your new camera, and start to understand its settings, you'll appreciate it way more than you ever did your old camera.

Best of luck!

BTW, can I have your car?


----------



## Rachelsne (Jun 2, 2008)

Congratulaions on your new purchase, 

Your camera has a small brain, when you use it on auto mode it is making all the decisions, so if it sees something close its going might focus on that and choose to blur out the back ground and the other parts that are not the main focus point ill begin to blur. Once you can use the other settings you will be able to control your camera, and it wont make the decisions.

I recently upgraded from a point and shoot to the Canon 30d, which is similar. The first thing I did was read the manual, (did that before the camera arrived on line) when I read the manual i came accross lots of words I didnt understand, so I used the internet to search and get a better understanding. just some of the simple abbreviation confused me 

Good luck


----------

