Messages

1

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Am I crazy to sell my Canon gear?

« on: Today at 04:09:33 AM »

I don't want to give up photography. I just want to be able to take good pictures for my personal portfolio! So I'm considering selling all of my Canon gear (Canon 5Dc, 17-40mm, 50mm, and 70-200mm) and buying a smaller set up that is unobtrusive.
I planned on getting this set up:

• Sony NEX C3 w/ 16mm f/2.8
• Sigma 30mm f/2.8
• Sony 50mm f/1.8

I'd much prefer to have your current setup than the kit you have suggested.
Seeing as you asked, to answer your "am I crazy?" question....I say yes.

-PW

2

Software & Accessories / Re: Web Gallery Plugin/Software - recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2013, 09:21:52 PM »

I just use Lightroom. I understand that they might not be up to some clients specs...

Yes the LR web gallery presets are useful, and can be made to look quite presentable.
Unfortunately they don't provide the option of displaying the filename in the thumbnail view.
For clients making high speed, deadline driven decisions this is a must.

-PW

3

Software & Accessories / Re: Web Gallery Plugin/Software - recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2013, 09:16:51 PM »

Caught this one when Sal Cincotta did a marketing your photography business on Creative Live.

http://slideshowpro.com/ - hosted, but monthly fees
http://slideshowpro.net/ - buy it to host yourself

http://www.creativelive.com/instructor/sal-cincotta

I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but give it a go and let me know.

Slideshow Pro looks really great...but like it or not we're heading into the post-flash era.
Plenty of clients and AD's are viewing on iPads or actually request non-flash delivery.

-PW

4

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: 135mm f/2.8 (or faster) manual focus lens?

« on: May 20, 2013, 07:20:51 PM »

Are you sure 135mm will be long enough? I used to photograph my girlfriend performing classical recitals with a baroque ensemble and I found I needed 200mm for those tighter portraits, mainly because I had to stand a fair distance away in order not to be a nuisance to the audience. Very different from a pop concert where you can stand pretty much wherever you want.

Remember to use the 6D's silent shutter mode. 

+1 Often in these situations I'll at least take the 300is f/2.8  with with me, and often as not I'll shoot 25% of the job with it. You've got a few weeks. If you don't want to drop your $$ on a new lens right now, go to Gumtree/Craigslist/eBay and get a good pre-owned 135 f/2 or 200 f/2.8 or preferably a 70-200 f/2.8 (is or non-is) and sell it again when you've finished the gig. You probably won't drop a penny on it and if you buy smart you could make a small profit.

Another +1 for silent mode. I use it all the time on the 5D3.

-PW

5

Software & Accessories / Re: Web Gallery Plugin/Software - recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2013, 07:10:32 PM »

Doesn't anyone create client web galleries?

-PW

6

Software & Accessories / Web Gallery Plugin/Software - recommendations?

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:13:19 PM »

CS6 won't run the now ancient (though perfect for my needs) custom web gallery template I patiently built back in CS2 days. I find the web gallery templates available through Bridge and Lightroom don't quite cut it for showing commercial clients their images.

The Turning Gate http://shop.theturninggate.net/ on the face of it looked like a great solution. So I got the $25 CE3 Gallery plugin. OMG it's HUGE! It's bloatware! It's so complex and poorly designed it ultimately defeated me. The galleries it is capable of generating are mostly terrific, but the mud you have to wade through to get there takes far too long and pushed my blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Can anyone point me in the direction of good, viable web gallery creation software/plugins? I'm not after freeware necessarily, just something that looks professional, is configurable and just works.

Thanks in advance.

-PW


 

7

Lighting / Re: Buff Einsteins can use any Balcar accessory?

« on: May 16, 2013, 07:47:49 PM »

You're going to love the Einsteins. I bought one out of sheer curiosity when they first shipped. Now, a few years later my six Profoto 600 compact monos, two Profoto 2400 floorpacks plus heads and a raft of Profoto modifiers have all been sent off to eBay. 

Now I'm as happy as Larry with six Einsteins and a bunch of modifiers, triggers etc. Contemporary lighting techniques and the totally viable option of cranking up the iso on the 5D3 means you don't necessarily need two 2400 floorpacks belting out full power to get your shot.

AFAIA there is modifier interchangability between Balcar, Alien Bees, Einstein and/or White Lightning strobes. But with the amazingly low cost of PCB modifiers, this is pretty much a non-issue.

If you wanted another verification, join up and post a question on the PCB Forums.
http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com/

-PW

8

Lenses / Re: 50 f1.4 vs 85 f1.8.....

« on: May 15, 2013, 10:03:24 PM »

I've been doing a lot of senior photo shoots, and also some general portrait work over the last few years and I was thinking that a prime lens might be in order for better DOF and results....

When you say better DOF what do you actually mean? A shallower DOF or deeper DOF or a particular bokeh look? Your 70-200 is a fantastic portrait lens, it's the go-to lens for portrait shooters across the planet. I'd suggest looking at the exif data on your portrait shots and see what focal length is your most used for what you consider the best results. PS Bridge or Lightroom will sort these for you. That might help aim you towards a well informed decision for a 50, an 85 or a 135 or just to stay with what you've already got.

Looking at your current lens list, I see a gap at the wider end if you're looking for quality. You'll pick up a good pre-owned 24-105 for the $amount in your budget.

-PW

9

Lenses / Re: EF 24-70mm F2.8 L ver 2 or 3 Prime Lens

« on: May 14, 2013, 09:52:26 PM »

I feel like I'm repeating myself a bit with this reply, but the new 24-70 f/2.8II is so good I've sold my EF 24 f/1.4II and my Sigma 50 f/1.4 and if I had a 35mm prime that would have been sold too. The new zoom is so good my primes were gathering dust. Get the zoom.

-PW

10

Software & Accessories / Re: LR untrustworthy; other import software options

« on: May 13, 2013, 08:22:46 AM »

Breezebrowser Download Pro is the gold standard:
http://breezesys.com/Downloader/index.htm
http://breezesys.com/downloads.htm

One thing that will be slowing down your image file import process is converting to DNG on the fly. It's a more usual process to import the RAW files, sort/rank/tag in something fast like Photomechanic or Breezebrowser Pro (both light-years faster than Bridge or LR for this sort of work) and just convert your keepers. I leave the DNG Converter on the desktop and just drag my sorted/ranked/tagged files from Photomechanic onto the DNG icon and off it goes.

If you already have Photomechanic, it does have a very fine Ingest function. It's highly configurable, but falls slightly short of Breezebrowser Download Pro for functionality.

BreezebrowserPro http://breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/index.htm
Photomechanic http://www.camerabits.com/

Both these vendors have generous free trial periods.

-PW

11

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe to Stop Making Packaged Software

« on: May 12, 2013, 07:58:55 PM »

Here's an alternative to Photoshop, Photoshop Elements with this $50 plugin:
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/04/02/elementsxxl-plug-in-promises-photoshop-features-without-the-pricetag

It looks like this useful plugin unlocks a LOT of the functionality of the full PS right there in Elements.

-PW

12

Software & Accessories / Re: Alternatives to Adobe Software

« on: May 07, 2013, 08:49:57 AM »

Capture One does an Excellent job.
Shoot it right and you almost don't need P$.

C1 is very cool software...but you said it; you ALMOST don't need PS. For any moderately advanced work, PS is still the only player on the field.

I expect we will see a big surge in sales of PS Elements which must have at least 80% of the functionality of PS.

FWIW I have just done the Creative Cloud subscription...I also kept buying petrol when the price went past $1.00 per litre. I've also got MS Office 365. Get used to it, life's too short. Why sweat the small stuff?

-PW

13

Lenses / Re: 35 & 85 or 50 & 100 for photographing kids

« on: May 06, 2013, 02:09:36 AM »

Your 24-70 f/2.8II is an absolutely awesome lens. Why would you consider focal lengths that fall in the 24-70 range? My 24-70 f/2.8II is so good I've sold my primes as they were sitting unused. I'm talking about the highly regarded EF 24 f/1.4II and a Sigma 50 F/1.4. I don't miss either of them.

Shooting kids? You next purchase really should be a longer lens. You'll be familiar with the advantages of a zoom. Look at the 70-200 f/2.8isII. Plenty of photographers on the planet would name this as their all-time favourite, most used lens. It's heavy & expensive, but wow does it deliver...

I doubt there is a Canon pro shooter on the anywhere on the planet who doesn't have one, or have it on their shopping list.

-PW

14

EOS Bodies / Re: Why no crop mode on 5d mkiii 1dx

« on: May 05, 2013, 11:57:11 PM »

Hi Pete,

if you really need it so bad there is only one solution to get it. Buy a 1D C .
I got mine last week and don´t regret it and it gives you 1,3 crop for 4k and 1,5 crop for Super35 mode.
with the 1,3 crop on 4k you can feel free to crop it down to 1080P in CS6. this should be enough cropping factor.
And this with a good video quality and C-Log features. If you are after Video this will be the way to go and I don´t think Canon will bring anything close in the next year for less money because of the lack of competition.

That´s the thing with Canon, they know what they got and they know what the can charge the customers for it.
The same with the lenses in the past 2 years, they get more expensive but if I have a look at my 600 II compared to Nikon I can see why.

And if you really need this cheaper than the 1D C go and buy a Nikon with a few lenses like a lot of people do.
They got 2 Systems at home. For me it was cheaper to pay more for the body and get additional the EF 8-15 to keep my wide angle with the crops.

OP, here's the answer to your perfectly valid question. Canon wants you to buy a 1DC...

-PW

15

Lenses / Re: Canon 24 - 105 for event photography?

« on: May 05, 2013, 08:37:42 PM »

Even when I got my 24-70 f/2.8II I've kept the 24-105 with events work in mind. That extra bit of reach can be a godsend. The 24-70 comes out for most other work, especially IQ critical assignments. Events don't tend to fall into this category.

However, if you're shooting speakers up on a stage, you'll need more reach. My standard events kit is the 24-105 on a 5D3 body and a 70-200 f/2.8isII on a 1D Mk4 body. The 1D4 with it's APS-H sensor offers x1.3 crop so at the long end I'm getting close to 300mm equivalent. And I'm often pulled right in to full reach at events. Especially when you're shooting a speaker up on a stage. Depending on the nature of the event, it may not be cool for you to be right up the front banging away. Also, if the stage is high, you need to get back some distance to get a useful angle. I'll often use the 300 f/2.8is on the Mk4 in situations like this.

-PW