Day 299 - Opening Ceremony

No.. I'm not referring to any big Sporting or Cultural Event!  I'm referring to something that's way more exciting!

I finally bought my new camera!!  I finally got the Canon EOS 7D (body only) and  I'm really ecstatic about it!

The opening ceremony, thus, refers to my opening the box to reveal my most prized possession!  :=D
I know I'm a day late in sharing this with you, but some of you have already heard about it, and the rest haven't.  So here's what I found in the box -

Canon EOS 7D

And after I'd taken my first look at the camera, I decided to do what I mainly bought this camera for - check how high the ISO could go before it started creating digital noise.  There are plenty of other reasons as well, but to cut long story short, this camera had too many good features that I couldn't pass up.  And why the decision to not get a full-frame camera?  It's because I want to keep doing bird photography and the cropped sensor will help me get greater zoom power, since I can't afford the $8,000 pieces of glass!  

Since I didn't have much ambient natural light due to the rainy and gloomy weather, I jacked up the ISO to 5000.  Show me the noise!  I was really surprised to see how little there was - visible only when you blow it up over 100%.  That is indeed one of the best features!  My ISO goes up to 6400, expandable upto 12800!  Sweet!  :) I haven't tested the highest settings yet, but I will do so soon.

This shot of my "Old Faithful" taken with the Canon EOS 7D is SOOC -

I'm going to keep my XSi for those times when I go out to shoot Nature.  I can use my 18 - 55 on this one for landscapes, while I keep my 55 - 250 primed for wildlife action (read mostly birds, since there isn't much other kind of wildlife close to where I live.  But I like to pretend I live in Costa Rica or Galapagos where I'll see some exotic species of the animal planet.)

I next tried the pop-up flash and was pretty impressed with that as well!  Doesn't look like the typical "deer in the headlight" kinda image at all!  :=P

This shot is also SOOC, taken with the pop-up flash -

I have only just started exploring the camera and it feels very different from the last one.   The controls that I was so used to manipulating with my right hand, have now mysteriously changed sides, and the camera feels heavier as well.  I think I will need to do some regular working out of my biceps to handle my new toy and especially prepare for when I buy my new long lens.  :)