Rebel XTi Help

[BlakBird]

The company I work for is considering upgrading to a new camera but I want to make sure my camera is the problem before we put it on the company card. We're looking at a Canon 70D, 7D and a 6D.

I have the following equipment:
Rebel XTi | 18-55mm EFS IS | 55-250mm EFS IS | YN565EX Flash
My company also has a T3i for which I have yet to test out, however..using my camera I'm unable to achieve some of the results I've seen on the internet by other XTi users.

I was pretty heavy into photography back in 2008-2011 and then it kind of fizzled out.

Mainly I'm having an issue with focusing. I'm using the * AE lock for autofocus but when it comes down to the detail, it feels like it's lacking.
Is it me or the camera??

By the way, I'm using ISO 1600 because almost anything below that is blurry regardless of flash.
Here's a few samples and specs.

Specs for shot 1: f/4.5 1/13s ISO 1600 18-55 at 24mm w Ex Flash
Specs for shot 2: f/4.5 1/8s ISO 1600 18-55 at 27mm

(one moment, having an issue with the links.)

 

[BlakBird]

 

[ronlane]

Are you using a tripod? If not, the photos would be blurry because of camera shake. At those shutter speeds, you can help it. The first one, the flash is way to harsh and needs to be diffused. ISO 1600 is pushing the limits of the T3i, so I'm pretty sure that it's just past the line on the XTi.

For product shooting, you really need more than one light, so that you can blow out the back ground. (Not my area, but that is my take from what I've read about it.)

 

[BlakBird]

No tripod. Eventually these shots will be for group portraits and corporate environment. To my understanding, the higher the ISO the more chances for noise.
Also, I just watched a video on how to use external flash. (Never used one before until a few weeks ago so I'm very new to it.) I've been using the flash pointed upwards and slightly in front. The video recommended pointing the flash directly behind you or behind and up. <----Sound right?

Is the diffuser that piece of plastic that's tucked behind flash and folds over it?

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Throwing money at the problem (buying new gear) probably won't help. It looks like it's simply a lack of knowledge & experience on your part.
Luckily, that's pretty easy to fix. I'd suggest investing some time/money on education. There are many books & websites that could help, but the most efficient way would probably be to take a class or two. Check your area for photography classes. Many photographers are putting them on these days, or you could check your local community college etc.

 

[Dao]

For that beer photo, try use a longer focal length and bounce the flash off the ceiling. With longer focal length (i.e. 55mm) you will not be too close to the subject which will help light the subject.

If possible, get a little forwarding light by placing a little white card at the back of the flash head when pointing upward (just to expose a little bit to give some forwarding light).

You should not need to raise the ISO to 1600. I think 200 to 320 should be enough. But of course you need to try it and see what settings works the best for you.

I think i will starts with ... flash on full power, iso 200, f/5.6 and 1/160 @55mm

 

[BlakBird]

For that beer photo, try use a longer focal length and bounce the flash off the ceiling. With longer focal length (i.e. 55mm) you will not be too close to the subject which will help light the subject.

If possible, get a little forwarding light by placing a little white card at the back of the flash head when pointing upward (just to expose a little bit to give some forwarding light).

You should not need to raise the ISO to 1600. I think 200 to 320 should be enough. But of course you need to try it and see what settings works the best for you.

I think i will starts with ... flash on full power, iso 200, f/5.6 and 1/160 @55mm

Alrighty, the boss is bringing in the T3i later. I'll be toying around with it.
To answer the guy above again, I really don't think going to a community college is necessary for this. I think the problem is I've 1) forgotten some basics and 2) when I was learning, there were some blank spots that never quite got filled. Just my personal opinion.

 

[KmH]

It looks like your main problem is the lighting, or rather your lack of photographic lighting knowledge.

An inexpensive and good place to start addressing that is - Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

The first 2/3 of that book covers the fundamentals of lighting products and the last 1/3 covers the fundamentals of lighting portraits of people.

Often people are disappointed when they upgrade their gear and discover little if any improvement in their photos.
The major contributor to image quality is photographer skill and knowledge.

With the right lighting gear and set up, the XTi you currently have is more than up to the task.
Producing high quality product images requires not just lights, but reflectors, black flats to subtract light, diffusers, and other types of light modifers.
Image sharpness is about lens quality, a very stable camera mount, and photographer skill and knowledge

Your company could save a lot of time and money by hiring a professional photographer on a consulting basis to assist you in setting up the lighting you need to cover the product, people, and corporate environment they want shot.

 

[ronlane]

For that beer photo, try use a longer focal length and bounce the flash off the ceiling. With longer focal length (i.e. 55mm) you will not be too close to the subject which will help light the subject.

If possible, get a little forwarding light by placing a little white card at the back of the flash head when pointing upward (just to expose a little bit to give some forwarding light).

You should not need to raise the ISO to 1600. I think 200 to 320 should be enough. But of course you need to try it and see what settings works the best for you.

I think i will starts with ... flash on full power, iso 200, f/5.6 and 1/160 @55mm

With the T3i canon the ISO choices are 200 and 400, just FYI.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Those are slow shutter speeds, I'd find it hard to not get blur at those settings. I usually don't go slower than 1/60 (preferably 1/125 or higher) hand held, if I'm losing light late day and am still trying to get pictures I usually need to get positioned to better support the camera.

Going to a class at a community college wouldn't necessarily be the only option, you might be able to find info. online or find a workshop - or maybe if your company is considering buying a new camera they'd consider paying for some training.

As others have said, this it getting into doing commercial product photography, and it would probably help to brush up on your skills that you learned a few years ago and learn techniques specific to product photography before getting a new camera.

 

[BlakBird]

Those are slow shutter speeds, I'd find it hard to not get blur at those settings. I usually don't go slower than 1/60 (preferably 1/125 or higher) hand held, if I'm losing light late day and am still trying to get pictures I usually need to get positioned to better support the camera.

Going to a class at a community college wouldn't necessarily be the only option, you might be able to find info. online or find a workshop - or maybe if your company is considering buying a new camera they'd consider paying for some training.

As others have said, this it getting into doing commercial product photography, and it would probably help to brush up on your skills that you learned a few years ago and learn techniques specific to product photography before getting a new camera.

Going to a class at a community college wouldn't necessarily be the only option
Yea, like I said earlier. I feel like the skill set is there it's just...lost because I haven't used it in so long. One thing that I regret not doing is this..my friend who's now a professional photographer for my alma mater said "just sit down at night and play with your camera, learn the settings, fiddle with it". Yep, def didn't do that. I've had the focusing issue through out the life of the camera, I've always thought it was just the camera's capability and limits. That's not to say I haven't taken some good shots. Most of those shots have been outdoors with a ton of natural light. I've been to Iceland, Germany, Peru, the Amazon rain forest, tons of great photos from those trips but most were outside. Sometimes I'd take a photo that simply stood out from all the rest and I had no way of explaining how I did it or how to duplicate it.

I would use the analogy to my understanding of cars how they operate to my knowledge of photography. I can drive stick, I'm not that great at it but I can drive a manual. I understand how a turbocharger works and the concepts behind it but I have no clue how to install it on my own car. I understand the basic concept of how f stops work, shutter speeds and what the ISO settings are responsible for. But I haven't quite found that balance on how to use them harmoniously. I feel that another photography course would be overkill on this subject because all the teacher is going to do is go over the basics. I know the basics I just need them fine tuned. That's why I came to a forum assuming there's probably some information online that would help fill in the blanks to what I already know.

It's like this, and I'm sorry to continue running my mouth on this subject I think it's important for everyone in this thread to be on the same page. I took a total of 3 courses in HTML and web design. They all pretty much teach the same stuff, p, h1, h2, h3, ul, ol, li, img, body, header, form, etc. So by the end of the first two classes, I had the same knowledge as before. I knew the basic tags and had an understanding of how CSS works. But I still had no clue how to MAKE a webpage .....LOOK like a freakin webpage, centered, styled, the whole nine yards. It wasn't until the third teacher (I know this his hypocritical because I'm talking about how another photo class would be overkill) taught us the div tag. Then all blank spots starting filling, clicking and aligning. It was like the clouds opened up. And now I have a job where I primarily design and help build webpages for a living.

Point is, I'm confident I just need a refresher and some tips that didn't quite click the first time around.

 

[Dao]

You may not need basic photography course, but may need to take course about lighting (Some people learn faster with school class). Or at least read more about them online (Some people prefer do their own research) or read a book related to lighting.

If you learn more about how to shoot with off camera lights, that should improve a lot. Mastering the lights is another whole new area and it is better if the person know more about basic photography. As for the just have the external flash mounted on the camera and bounce the light off the ceiling, you should be able to try that with your XTi. I do not think there are much different at all, if any, between Xti and T3i as far as the result goes.

 

[BlakBird]

You may not need basic photography course, but may need to take course about lighting (Some people learn faster with school class). Or at least read more about them online (Some people prefer do their own research) or read a book related to lighting.

If you learn more about how to shoot with off camera lights, that should improve a lot. Mastering the lights is another whole new area and it is better if the person know more about basic photography. As for the just have the external flash mounted on the camera and bounce the light off the ceiling, you should be able to try that with your XTi. I do not think there are much different at all, if any, between Xti and T3i as far as the result goes.

I don't know much about the T3i's image sensor but I know the ISO will go to 6400 and the max shutter speed may be a little faster than the XTi.

 

[ronlane]

You may not need basic photography course, but may need to take course about lighting (Some people learn faster with school class). Or at least read more about them online (Some people prefer do their own research) or read a book related to lighting.

If you learn more about how to shoot with off camera lights, that should improve a lot. Mastering the lights is another whole new area and it is better if the person know more about basic photography. As for the just have the external flash mounted on the camera and bounce the light off the ceiling, you should be able to try that with your XTi. I do not think there are much different at all, if any, between Xti and T3i as far as the result goes.

I don't know much about the T3i's image sensor but I know the ISO will go to 6400 and the max shutter speed may be a little faster than the XTi.

I have the T3i and while it may go up to 6400, I wouldn't push it past 1600 for most of my images. I have but I typically don't like the results.

 

[Dao]

That's why you may need to read and learn more about lighting. It is better to have the control of light. For product shooting, I really do not see why you need to shoot at ISO 1600. You can, but why? Shutter speed is not important as long as it is not too slow nor faster than the x-sync speed. So 1/160, 1/200 or 1/250 is enough. After all, the lights flash a lot faster anyway. And that is why I say you will not see much different between the 2 cameras.