TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Exploring Lisbon with a Canon 100D/Rebel SL1 – Europe: Start Voting Now!

Europe: Start voting now! Exploring Lisbon with a Canon 100D – Travel Technology

In this musical spectacular…

• Who wants to go to Eurovision?
• Where did my wallet go? Off to Birmingham Airport
• SN2038 Birmingham Airport to Brussels National Airport
• Some time at Brussels Airport
• SN3819 Brussels National Airport to Lisbon Airport with the AeroSmurf
• Into Lisbon and The Tuk Tuk Hostel
• Exploring Lisbon with a Canon 100D
• The Eurovision Song Contest
• Off to Porto with Comboios de Portugal
• Time at Porto Airport
• FR8513 Porto Airport to Birmingham Airport
• To the trains!
• Eurovision… Douze points!

With me staying in a hostel, I wasn’t prepared to “risk” my normal photography kit. Whilst the Canon 6D and the lens on it have depreciated down to not a lot (and I’m considering the Canon 6D MkII personally right now – although if the right Sony A7 came along, I could be tempted), sometimes smaller kit is worth the effort.

For this purpose, I rummaged around what I had. And what looks least “professional”, but could knock out some decent photos.

And whilst the iPhone is more than capable of knocking out decent image after decent image, I love the ability to fiddle. That – and a proper optical zoom lens is a must have (which is something I sadly don’t have on an iPhone 8)

In my kit, I have the little brother of the Canon 700D – the Cannon 100D (or Canon Rebel SL1/Canon Kiss X7). Whilst its been superseded by the 200D (which has a lot of improvements such as DualPixel autofocus and the 80D imagining sensor) does the Canon 100D make a decent travel camera that you can pick up on the cheap second-hand?

Let’s find out.

I’ve paired this with an old friend of mine – a Canon 28-105 f3.5-f4.5 II USM lens.

The set up for this trip.

This is a step-up from the standard Canon kit lenses optically, however due to the crop factor of the sensor, then lens becomes a 44.8 to 168mm lens – a short standard to telephoto length. Whilst I would had loved an 17-85mm or an 18-135mm lens – getting one at a price point I could stomach was impossible in the time allowed.

And I’m not using the 18-55 standard lens. That lens and me… lets just say I had more than my fair share of arguments with the cheap plastic wonder that is that lens.

Or for the wide-angle stuff, using the iPhone was always an option.

Considering I spent a lot of time in the past with this lens with a camera that had a cropped sensor in the past, it’s a limitation I would work around… most of the time.

Thus this package comes in at a light 782g/1.72lb (375g for the lens, 407g for the camera), and is very throwable over the shoulder.

For a more professional review of the lens, click here. For the camera click here.

So, does that package work as a whole? Let’s find out

Starting out near the hostel – Some lovely colours and shadows.

I headed to Manteigaria to catch up with Jon and Adam. And also had coffee and egg tarts. Because. Breakfast.

Espresso. Liquid goodness.

The camera dealt with the light conditions well, with the lens and basic AutoFocus system locking on well.

Heading outside – the mixed light conditions gave the camera a lot of work to do.

Tram or minibus?

Good luck going down this way….

Ah. The first of many TukTuks…

We walked down from the cafe down to the coast, and towards the Eurovision village.

Contrast detection works well here. The colours are pulled out nicely against the sky.

Where am I? In the Village…

Why are we in Lisbon anyway? This song by Salvador Sobral – for some unexplained reason – won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017.

With a few hours to kill before we needed to be elsewhere, Jon and I jumped on a tram tour to explore the city. Which gave some interesting views of the city

Green Tram tour and local life.

Tiles everywhere.

Even when moving, it’s possible to get good street photos with this setup.

With the tram climbing up one of the hills, it’s interesting to watch daily life.

We got off at a mid-point to check out the views… and they weren’t bad at all.

The tram tour – a mite on the expensive side at €20, but I’ve paid worse for less.

With varying light, it can be challenge. The contrast detection helped here a lot to pull a lot of detail out.

The blue sky doesn’t dominate here, with the tiles not being blinded into nothing.

Having a short-throw telephone lens is helpful some days – as you can do street photography on the sneak.

Tilework can be a wonderful thing.

Looking down. Work goes on.

Tuk Tuks Everywhere.

The colours of the tram pop out well here. But yes. A tourist tram was a good decision – not being sardined in..

Colours and shadows seem to work inside the tram.

And even a Jonk checking out the world… A flexible lens like the 28-105 is great for many types of photography.

Did I mention I enjoy lazy street photography?

I’m not sure about this building…

Lenses and cameras love light.

Curves and shadows make this photo work. The luck of having a local going home adds to the image here.

A little bit of zoom works well here to frame the shot.

Overall: I’m not disappointed in the images from the  Canon 100D – not at all. It was able to keep up with my photography style (if a little slow at time writing RAW files). The autofocus system – whilst basic, locked on and worked with what I threw at it in the cafe. The camera worked with the conditions I threw at it – and gave the lovely Canon colour I’ve grown to appreciate.

Is it still a great travel camera? Yes it is. I used hardly half a charge during a day (with a fair bit of image checking and focusing), and it’s small enough to be discreet and not stand out when you’re behind them lens. Look around and you can pick it up on eBay for £150 upwards. The lens you can pick up for £50 to £100 depending on the condition.

But it is the best current Canon travel camera? I’m going to be blunt. No. The 100D has been outpaced by the Canon 200D/Rebel SL2/Kiss X8 (which has a flippy/tilt screen, DualPixel AF, and a lot more Autofocus points in LiveView mode) if you prefer a full-body style camera.

If you are happy with Mirrorless Bodies (Which allows for even more compact lenses), there are a lots of options. The Canon M50 is one such camera that’s attracted by my attention (which I might investigate when I get some time and money this year) along with the Canon M6. Even the Sony A7 family starts to intrude at that sort of pricing and quality (as well as looking pretty discreet)

I’m a long-time fan of Canon kit, and I find it works well for me when I’m shooting – and the 100D and 28-105 lens made a reasonable kit for me to shoot with when I travel, without too many compromises.

If circumstances call for the use of light travel kit, I’ll be sure to pick the 100D up again for travel photography.

But maybe with a different lens, which is wider to grab those missing shots.

Next: The Eurovision Song Contest!

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