GenX Digital

I’ve had it over 2 years now. I know that, because my ex-girlfriend bought it on her credit card for some reason, and we’ve been broken up for almost 2 years. So it’s relatively old technology in the world of consumer electronics. But I went to an indoor dance event (Contra dance) and took some photos of my friend Adina “calling” the dance. It was indoors, and I brought my 100-400 4.5-5.6 lens as well as my 50mm 1.8. So, the 100-400 lens I usually only use for sporting events, but I wanted something long to give me some reach.

Alas, my poor 40d doesn’t do so well in low-light situations. I had to use 800ISO regularly, and that’s the upper limit of the 40d’s sensor “noise” levels, which introduce all sorts of low-light artifacts that detract greatly from sharpness and color representation. Lucky enough, I met a guy at the dance who noticed my camera and he had a Canon EOS 5d Mk II as well as a much faster zoom lens, and he let me borrow both and shoot with it.

Turns out the higher ISO capability of the 5d is REALLY handy! I was able to get much better shutter speeds and even bump up my aperture for some sharper images, without any graininess. Quite a feat, and I don’t consider myself much of a photographer since I don’t do it enough to get really good (like my friend Todd).

Anyway – if you’re an entry-level photographer, the 40d is amazingly awesome for outdoor shooting. It’s incredibly fast at 8 frames per second for sporting events. And it can shoot just fine at 800 ISO which is more than adequate for most folks.

But I can’t wait to have enough money again to afford a newer camera. I’m bumping into the limits of the technology again. I’m just grateful it’s been after 3 or so years!