Canon 450D Review

Hi Guys/Ladies,

It's been a while. Guess the work/laziness got to me. Well, I have had ample time to review the 450D, and while I was impressed, I was also let down. But then, nothing in this world is perfect.

The 450D is an impressive camera in it's own right. Taking picture of nature's flora and fauna, still images of portrait, situational, and etc. Having 1 of the fastest continous shooting speed (6fps) however, it lack the capability to capture great moving pictures. It could be my lack of knowledge of photography, but I don't think I am that bad. Besides, this review is for use in sports, by a typical lay man looking for suitable equipment to use without the fuss of meddling with too many things.

I was lucky enough to get this camera before the Malaysian Open for fencing. Many countries turned up including a bunch of my old international rivals cum friends. Not easy meeting these people, so it was fun to see them in action, and sad to not participate. Enough remenising, back to the review.

The pictures taken of moving participants, were rather blur, and had a wavey look to it. However, after adjusting the shutter speed, and ISO setting, I was able to get things to look a bit better. Using the default lens EFS 18-55mm, pictures were a bit on the dark side, but ok to look at.. Yeah, not what I expected.

After playing with the setting, my itchy fingers decided to change it to sports mode. To make matter worst, I used an EF 80-200mm lens with tripod. Pictures were blur, and unrecognisable. It was a total let down even when I changed it to the default lens again. The pictures were now recognisable, but still blur and not as clear as I hoped it would be.

For the whole tournament, I was able to shoot multiple photos, with different settings, but unfortunately, being the amateur that I am, I didn't record the settings I was using for each photo (shame on my research skills knowledge). i will post up the photos when I have a good internet line (office line sucks, home line good..)

After an intense amount of shooting, I found the 450D to be good for slow moving sports, especially when comparing the men's pictures with the women's pictures. Having the knowledge of photography (shutter speed, ISO, etc) should help users take better photos as more time is spent with the 450D. Don't expect to use this at a 100m race, but it does the job adequtely. You might surprise yourself with some of the pictures. But if you want the perfect shot, I suggest going for the higher range cameras (Canon 40D, Nikon D90, etc).

To those that are about to trash talk me on my abilities with the camera, please bare in mind to what this review is all about. It's about giving the tools to use with an ordinary lay man to take pictures in a sports environment. I do not deny the quality of photos this camera can take, or it's excellent abilities and functions. I had a lot of fun taking portraits and scenary pictures with this camera with amazing results. However, in a sports environment, with constant moving object, and minimalistic knowledge in photography, there should be a better option for the lay man (not professional) who wants great photos, with minimalistics difficulties.