Pixiq

Testing cameras is like a science for some. Pixel peeping, chart measuring, noise reduction power a.s.o. Then, there’s the normal “testing”: you photograph an orange, it looks like a melon and you know something is wrong. I guess, though, it will look like an orange most of the time, so it's a sign the camera is good. Or in working order.

The proof is in the pudding, the old popular saying, can be used here. This is a field test, or a practical test of the new EOS 600D, or Rebel T3i or Kiss X5, depending on where you live. For me, in Europe, it’s an EOS 600D and it makes sense.

I’ve had one EOS 600D on loan from Canon for some weeks now and I’ve been happily collecting pictures. In fact I trusted so much the equipment that I’ve left my usual gear at home most of the days, and have used the EOS 600D for everything, from family shooting to flowers, birds and even airplanes at an airshow.

It’s this “field test” – well I was in the field for some of the shots – that I want to share with you. It’s the way I like to try cameras and this test shows two things: that the EOS 600 D works just fine. And that you still need a photographer behind the camera for the important decisions.

I am not going to bother you with all the specifications for this camera.  You can find it easily on the web. It’s enough to know that it shares the same technology that its EOS 7D and EOS 60D siblings, that it has a 18MP sensor and all the features you need to do great photography. Once you know what every button and dial does, that is… It also does video and all the other things cameras usually do and it just doesn’t serve coffee yet because camera makers have not yet reached that state of mind. Now that I think about it, it would be great to have some hot coffee in the field when you go out early morning to get some fantastic light… Now imagine a DSLR with two Expressso servings…

But let’s not loose track of this test and go for the funny side of things: photographs. I am using pictures taken with the EOS 600D, and I explain the options for each of them. I guess at the end of this journey you will understand more of the options the camera has… and the options you have to take as a photographer.

The seagull picture is one of the first images I took with the EOS 600D and a EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 L IS USM that came with it at my request. This is a late afternoon exposure by the sea, with the sunlight on the gull and lightly touching the rocks behind. Good to show dynamic range if you’re on the technical side of it, good to make you dream and rest your soul a bit if photography is what this is to be all about.

Flower photography is a passion – did you check my eBook on flowers? – so I am bound to use any camera I get on some flowers. And I do mean all cameras, compacts, DSLR’s, the lot. For this late afternoon shot with a black background I used the sun to make a rim light from the back of the flower and then the pop-up flash on the camera lit the front, using the maximum speed I could, that’s 1/200 on the EOS 600D. Due to the low ambient light existant and the f/7.1 aperture used I got the shot I was looking for.

The second flower shot was taken at about the same time, but without flash, with 1/125 and f/5.6 and a different point of view. Light from the sun is still present on the petals but the ambient light is dominant and this is a different interpretation of the same hour of day. The camera itself could not do it alone, so this is a proof that a photographer is still your best bet for photography.

This picture of my older son, Miguel, is a good example of something the EOS 600D shares with EOS 7D and EOS 60D: the pop-up flash can control external flashes wirelessly, something that Canon negated it’s users for years. This portrait, from a typical session than can only be done when my son is in the mood to model for me was made with the camera on my right hand, pop-up flash emitting control light, and a Speedlite 420EX on my left hand. The lens in use is the 60mm Macro I now use a lot of time. This is the classic “see Ma, no wires” picture.

The family cat, Estrela (it’s a she) is also a victim of my photo sessions. This is another example of the wireless flash system from EOS 600D. The external flash was placed on the ground pointing at the cat on the corner of the bed. Let me say that the wireless system on EOS 600D has to options: simple and custom. The first makes all units work the same way, the second let’s you define light ratios per group. Anyway you choose, you can always use FEC or Flash Exposure Compensation. And you can also define if the pop up flash is also used as a light point or just as the control. It’s a great tool for creative photography.

The sunflower shot with an out of focus sunflower behind the sunflower to be is another example of the use of flash on the EOS 600D, here with High Speed Sync. Exposure at 1/1000 f/7.1. This is the kind of image that justifies spending money on an external flash, even if it is, as is the case here, to sit on the hotshoe of the camera.

Well, this series of pictures is, I hope, enough to let you understand what EOS 600D can do. The proof is in the pudding, as I said. The camera is a great tool, it just waits for a photographer that can use it properly. Please do yourself a favour: if you want to buy this camera, try everyday, harder and harder, to be a better photographer. Because just having Picasso's brushes does not make you a painter.