peshewah Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I have a Canon Rebel XT I bought 3 years ago or more. And I can't figure out whether my camera is wearing out or its my lens. I have a few cheap lens,and one is the stock lens, one is a Canon 50mm f1.8 II ($100 lens) and a Sigma 70 -300 blah blah blah(another cheap lens). My 50mm isn't as sharp as when I first bought it and I know its a disposable lens from reading reviews. But my camera isn't a spring chicken either. I called Canon and asked them about the 50mm and they said it might need ajustment or lined up or something. But would it cost me more for repair than to buy a new lens? Or I'm wondering if my camera has a short life span as well? I will attemp to upload a picture from when the camera and 50mm was new with no photo editing. And I would like to say that now its not nearly as good, sharp and colorful now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 If you magnify it to 150 % you can see its a good picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Ordinarily, I don't think of lenses as wearing out, although one review emphasized how light and plastic-based the f/1.8 II lens is. Did you drop it, by chance, which might have thrown it out of alignment? The review also suggested the lens mount could wear down if you change lenses a lot, so does the lens feel solid when it's mounted? The review said the 50 mm lens's strongest quality was its sharpness, especially at f/2.8 and beyond. I don't think of basic cameras wearing out that much, but don't have a lot of experience with digital cameras. I thought the pic you posted was sharp (the depth of field is shallow in that pic, so you have to look at the sharpest plane of focus), and had good color contrast which is another hallmark of a good lens. Are you going to post a pic from its current state? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Yes, in the morning when the light is good, I will post another picture. Also , no I personlly haven't dropped the lens, but my kids are also shutter bugs and alittle careless at times. And it is solid when I mount it. I just hope its not my camera. And I want to thank you for taking the time trying to help me out. Hope your on line tommarow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 I have the same camera and lens, I don't have the current problem that you are experiencing. It is mostly considered a throw away lens because of the price but over all if I had problems I would purchase anyone in a heart beat. What settings are you using? Making sure that the current picture has the same settings as the original. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 One thing that jumped out here is maybe your eyesight is changing and not the camera. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Lets do some careful analysis of some older photos and some current ones to determine what exactly you think is changing in the quality of the images. Cameras should not 'deteriorate' with age. Usually they work or not. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 I took a few pictures around noon today(wild flower:Sweet William) with the 50mm @ f5.6 and the pictures are for sure not in very good focus and the colors look washed out compared to what they really look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 They are not sharp at all and are faded and I took several. The wind wasn't blowing and I wasn't shakey. My eye sight is getting worse but thats why I depend on auto-focus. I called Canon and asked about repair on a lens and they will check it out and quote me a price and if I don't like it they will send the lens back to me at no charge and I think thats real good of them. If its too much I will buy another or upgrade to a better 50mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DU73 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 i dont know much about cameras and the whole photography thing but the pics looks great to me. clearer than I can ever take with my digital camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DU73 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 then again maybe this is proof my vision isnt what it used to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 DownUnder73, you might try a different brand of beer while you take your pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Just as a guess. Perhaps the exposure setting is causing some problems. Yours probably has a bunch of different weighting systems (like center weighted and for snow-sand and backlit) as well as over and under exposure by an f-stop or two. Some have different effective film speeds. I don't see a problem with the first picture (lad with skateboard) but the second does seem to lack color saturation. I'd check those settings. Also, there may be an option to return to factory settings. This could be a good bet if other users have been experimenting. Wm McD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 ...you might try a different brand of beer while you take your pictures. Maybe that is my problem, too.At what resolution did you shoot those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Large(3458x2304) or the best I can get without getting into RAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 This photo was taken with the first Nikon 2.2mp Coolpix. I purchased the camera from my sister, she paid $800 for it new in 1996. I still use it. It's imaging is better than many of the 6 and 8mp cameras available today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 another shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 I would think that a focus issue would cause lack of sharpness. Maybe you could take a picture of some graph paper or the like and see how the lines look. JPG compression will probably blur them but a bitmap (big file) would not. While we're comparing pictures. I have a great view of Lake Michigan and North Pond. Unfortunately, the one bedroom is not good for woodworking. Smile. The sun woke me up a couple of weeks ago. This reduced in size but otherwise un-manipulated. This is an AT&T Fuze cell phone. The exposure probably worked because only a sliver of the sun is over the horizon. Otherwise, it would wash out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 My guess would be that a Canon technician could run a diagnostic on your camera + lens and know immediately if it is working correctly. It is rather easy to "knock" any of the optics out of line, and with optics, even a tiny bit is too much. Sensors of all kinds can go bad and the camera might still "work." Yeah, I also think you should send both the camera and lens, if you were thinking just the lens.I think you know this: the flowers pic was a very close-focus or near-macro shot without flash I think, so depth of field was quite shallow. But even so, the plane of best focus wasn't as sharp or color-rich as the kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peshewah Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Nice pictures on the Nikon. Pretty amazing @2.2mp. Same goes for the camera phone picture. Well, I guess I'll send both camera and lens into Canon. With Spring time here I hate to be without. Thanks guys for your help and the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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