They came in two ordinary plastic bags without instruction manuals but more importantly without the chargers. It felt like smuggling booze during prohibition. Booth of them had a 40 mm 1:2.8 STM (pancake) lens attached.
I went straight out in the old city of Bucharest trying to capture the night life during a tensioned football match between Hungary and Romania. It was displeasingly cold and drizzling. This sport related event was the first of the three occasions I chose to test the new cameras.
By the time I got there Hungary was leading us by one nil. The atmosphere was dull but in a way it was all I needed. In a matter of minutes I familiarized myself with the basic manual settings and with one camera strapped on each shoulder I started to take pictures.
The EOS 100D struck me from the beginning. It’s so little I can almost make it disappear in both my hands. Just to give you an idea I can squeeze it in my front jeans pockets. My iPhone 5 is wider than the little 100D.
Most of the time, during this testing I operated in low light conditions so I decided to trust both camera’s capabilities to deliver great images with an ISO between 1600 and 3200.
In regard to aperture I never went above 5, 3.5 being, let’s say the aperture of choice. The slowest time I used was 1/25 sec and the highest one was 1/500.
It took me more time to familiarize myself with the crop factor than to understand the functions. I am used to almost touch the people I photograph. With both 100D and 700D I had to take a few steps back.
Constantly and actively controlling the AF point on my 5D’s made it difficult for me at first to adapt to the lesser flexibility in selecting the AF point of the cameras I was testing. It was a challenge and I had to adapt. Practice makes perfect so after 2 days I was fully operational giving the constrains. With very few exceptions the AF delivered spot on. And to be fair I asked of both cameras things I would only ask from my 5D’s.
The EOS 700D better fits my big hands. The battery lasted for almost 3 days of extensive use so that was really helpful knowing that I didn’t had the chargers over the weekend.
On saturday I attended the PDL Congress (political party in Romania). I got there in time to welcome to the venue Traian Basescu, the Romanian president. I am glad I had the chance to shoot this historical event using these brand new cameras. I worked side by side with the best photographers in Romania, using top of the range cameras and I felt confident. And as you can see both cameras raised to the tough requirements of this occasion.
Last, but not least, on sunday I attended a kid’s party. Unfortunately, for this event I could only use the EOS 700D. The battery of the 100D died on me the day before. I wanted Canon lovers to see what they can do for their own family.
Now it’s up to you to give it a try. Do better. Both cameras are there for you.
