Last year on Christmas Day I set up my Canon 600D camera up on a tripod near the Christmas tree for a family photo. I played around with the settings and took a few test shots and got it all set up how I wanted. I put the tripod right by our couch, and in order to get it in the corner, I ended up putting one leg right in the corner, with the camera pointed in the opposite direction. That was a mistake, one I should have not made. This meant that the weight of the camera was in between two legs. I walked to the next room to do something, and heard a crash. My camera had fallen. I had the screen flipped out, and the fall damaged it severely. Fortunately, the camera still worked. It was just the display that was broken. I started doing some research, and it looked like it would probably cost about 100€ to buy a replacement part, if I wanted to try to fix it myself, and I didn’t feel super confident doing so. It started to seem like getting a new camera might only be a bit more. I had purchased this camera in 2013, and there have been quite a few improvements since then, so I decided to consider purchasing a new (used) camera instead.
I started looking around on Ebay and also the local ebay-kleinanzeigen for Canon cameras. At first I thought I would get a 750D, then I started looking at the 77D, and then I also learned about the 760D. I lost several bay auctions at the last second, which I found kind of depressing. Along the way, I started looking at lenses too. I knew about the STM technology which was introduced with the 650D to get smoother auto-focus in video. Then I also learned about the nano-USM, which combined the smooth video focus of the STM with the fast still focus of the USM. I decided I really wanted the 18-135 EFS nano USM lens, along with a new camera. Most of the cameras on eBay which came with the nano USM lens were 77Ds, so I ended up just buying one, instead of losing another auction. (Along the way I did win an auction for a 10-18mm EFS STM wide-angle lens). Shortly after buying the 77D, I discovered that Canon does not make a battery grip for this model, nor are there any 3rd party decent alternatives. I am not certain why this is the case. They make battery grips for just about every other model of camera ever. I tried the camera out, and it does have some nice features, but I really miss the battery grip. I ended up winning an auction on a 760D which should come in a few days. If I like it, I will send back the 77D.
Anyways, yesterday was sunny for a change, so I decided to try out the new 10-18 and 18-135mm lenses. I am very happy with both of them. I rode my bike just a few minutes to some of the nearby fields. I thought that a picture with some windmills would be a good test subject. I wanted to get as much of an apples-to-apples comparison as possible, so I put the camera into manual mode, and shot some pictures at ISO 100, F22, 1/30s shutter speed, with image stabilization on. I then tried both 10 and 18 mm with the wide angle, and 18, 35, 85, and 135 with the new nano USM. The difference between 10 and 18 millimeter is really striking to me. The 10mm just captures so much more. I can definitely see myself liking this lens a lot. The images here were not edited at all. Note also that these images were taken with my old 600D (known as the Rebel t3i in the USA).
I also found a tree nearby which I found interesting. I took two pictures of this one, one at 100 ISO and one at 200. I like both versions. Although the 100 ISO is a bit dark (especially the grass), I feel like it is a bit creepier, and the sky is bluer.
I also ran across some sheep grazing, and took some pictures of them as well. I particularly liked the one of a lamb nursing.
Finally I biked to our local forest where I took some pictures in the woods. The wide angle lens was really great for these shots too.