Messages

1

Lenses / Re: Best Lenses for Canon EOS 5D Mark III according to DxO

« on: May 17, 2013, 10:16:43 AM »

If you use DxOMarks for anything you are an idiot.

Here is an example from the report listed in the post:

"hasn’t tested yet, but it is sure this lens is the best telephoto zoom lens."

Hasn't been tested, but sure it is the best... LOL

2

EOS Bodies / Sensor Going? Purple Shots 5DMKII

« on: May 13, 2013, 12:12:01 PM »

Did not really see this covered except one small mention.  But occasionally I will be shooting and have one image that comes out like it was shot through a purple or blue filter.  It is almost like I am just seeing a single channel instead of RGB.

Is this a sign the sensor is going or other issues with the body?  The CF Card going bad?  Last time it happened was with the 24-105 and a SanDisk card

3

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

« on: May 09, 2013, 02:21:15 PM »

If you are just a photographer and not in multimedia which I find hard to believe, then a version of photoshop is £17 a month which I also see as good value, compared to spending the full outlay on PS Extended which is £649, then a new version will be out in 18 months with an upgrade path of 50% off so thats £900 for one programme. or £204 a year for PS CC.

TBH I feel most of the people who are complaining are not current subscribers to CS anyway and get it some how under the rug...

A price increase is a price increase, no matter how you spin it.  And for most photographers it is a hefty price increase. 

After the initial investment, Photoshop was $11.11/mo. if you bought *every* update ($200/18 mos.) or $5.55/mo. if you skipped a version and bought every other update. Now Adobe wants $19.99/mo., every month, for the rest of your working life.  For many photographers this nearly doubles, or more than triples, the long term cost.  How is that "a good value"? 

And yes I am talking about photographers who buy it legally.  Your "feeling" that most of the people who are complaining "get it some how under the rug" is just plain wrong.  Most people who are complaining recognize a big price increase when they see it.  You just have to do the math to see what's happening.

Some people just don't want to see it.  But yes... for MOST people it is a doubling of price and ultimately that cost has to be absorbed or passed on to the consumer

4

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

« on: May 08, 2013, 10:56:01 AM »

So, if I read your quoted part correctly...

I could join CC paid....download the archived version (current version?) of CS6, which would run stand alone, not requiring CC account, and then quit and still have CS6 which would run indefinitely?

If so, that sounds like a bit of a bargain...?

cayenne

My understanding is that SOME of the archive software will be available, not all, and since you are not really getting a serial number, your account is maintained through your USER PROFILE.  So when you go through the Adope Cash Cow, the software you download is designed to "call the mother ship" every month and check if you have paid your bill.  You cancel, it may run for a month, but eventually it will fail,.

I can envision hackers doing cracks that either intercept the calls, or remove this from the software, and all and all it just makes upgrading more of a pain.

5

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

« on: May 08, 2013, 09:01:37 AM »

Dong believe the BS on how often Adobe will Ping the network from your PC as well as don't believe that they don't track and gather a TON of your personal data.

I run Eset at home for my Virus/FW and have it set to exclusively disallow and every app has to request access. It can be a slow process at first with the pop-up constantly coming up, but the HUGE advantage, you really get an idea of what your software does and how often it "Calls Home" to the mother base.

So of it is of course the "Is there an upgrade" check, but with Adobe products, especially Flash, you would be surprised how you go to certain websites and all of a sudden Flash is asking permission to talk to Adobe. 

And to Tomscott - you are an idiot and many of us don't appreciate you assertion that we are pirates.

Most people here may not be subscribers to CS, but I would assert that most people here ARE Owners of Photoshop.  Hell.  I think I finally tossed out some of my Photoshop 3 discs the other day... Not CS 3, but Photoshop 3.

For myself, I am not a Creative Suite 6 owner.  I am a Creative Suite 5 owner, as well as a Photoshop CS 6 owner... I really had no need to upgrade the other tools, and hell, I was was a Cold Fusion, Cold Fusion Studio user back when they were MacroMedia Products.

Long story short, I like to OWN my software and decide what I need to use on a regular basis and what I need to use on an occasional basis.  I see the big scam going on, which may be beneficial for a small subset of users, or users who were foolish with their money and bought suites that they really did not need, but don't diminish the specialized user whose average cost for a product like Photoshop is below $100 a year.  Some of us time sales, watch for holiday sales and the like, and whether my 5 year cost is $400 or as high as $550, it has been pretty consistent in terms of cost.

For the Photoshop user, the cost is $20/month.  I know there has been mention that it will be as low as $10, but I have been all over the Adobe site and single app on Photoshop is $20/mo.  That is $240 a year, or my cost 5 years from now is 1200.  That is a 60% increase.

What pisses off users, and something you don't grasp - is not all users want to upgrade all the time.  Some of us decide that Photoshop CS 5 might have been worth the upgrade, CS 5.5 not so much, and CS 6, yeah, go for it... So lets say CS7 is worth while, but CS8 only runs on Windows 2015... and a user does not want yo upgrade.  They are F%^*(ked in the CC because they are paying monthly for an upgrade they don't or CAN'T USE. 

I know people who still run LightRoom 3.6.  Why

Gee, they are on XP and don't need or want to upgrade to Win 7.  Yup... Not all the bang and whistles of LR 4, and yes, LightRoom 4 was a nice step up, but as someone who has been in IT for 25 years and on the Internet for 20 (I originally used NCSA Mosaic and still have a Beta .93 version of Netscape lying around)  I have seen a lot of hardware.

And by the way, your comment:

"The CS suite has been in development for 20 years. I don't see anything coming to market at the same scale and quality any time soon."

Really?  That platform back then was Windows for Workgroups 3.11 if you were lucky.  If you wanted to get on the Internet, you used a dial-up modem for the most part, and if you were lucky you had a smoking 2400 baud model.  I still have one floating around.  and man, when you got up to 9600 or even 14.4 or 19.2... you were smoking.

Back then we created two versions of websites, one that handled graphics like backgrounds, and some of us even remember the dreaded "blink" tag, and those that were text only for browsers like Lynx. 

Adobe Photoshop CS came out in 2003.  Some of us remember it because we had of say, Photoshop 3, Photoshop 4, 5, 5.5, 6 and 7 before the CS line of software came out.

So please... Enlighten me... How has Creative Suite been in development for 20 years, when CS was first released in 2003? 

And sorry... as someone who HAS been using Photoshop for 20 years, I don't like the idea of "Renting" the software going forward, especially since I have a lot of Adobe products I have seen little need to upgrade, and prefer a model where I OWN what I buy and have freedom to use it as long as you want. 

6

Lenses / Re: Cheap fisheye for canon full frame?

« on: May 08, 2013, 08:04:45 AM »

I hunted down a Sigma EX DG 15 for just over $400 and should be in this week. 

I am not a huge fish eye fan, but have seen a lot of great work with them which is why I opted for the 15mm which I think has more practical usage than the smaller sizes. 

I think it is a lens that can really do some nice shots, but definitely a specialty lens.  Eventually would like to get into the Tilt-Shifts as well, but those are completely another beast

7

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

« on: May 07, 2013, 02:44:50 PM »

Man excellent point the stupid 'cloud' stuff could even force you to use OS you don't even feel like using yet. Wht if the next version requires Windows 9 and it still stinks and you don't want to change from 7 until Windows 10 or something?

Well yes and no.  They would not FORCE you to change OS.... you would be forced to pay for basically an upgrade you may never use.

What I have seen in the IT world is a lot slower adoption of Software.  There are still windows XP and 98 machines in the wild, especially XP as well as look at Office and even though there is not only 2007 and 2010... a ton of people are still on 2003.

So the key for Adobe, is to get people to pay, regardless of whether they use the software.  Even if Adobe does not jack up their prices,

5 year outlay = $2760
10 year outlay = $5760

What Adobe wants is for people to sign up for the larger package, find uses for products they may not use because they are there, and then SLOWLY and CONSISTENTLY take more money.

It is far easier to get $50/month out of someone that $3,000, and by selling the $30/mo first, most will forget when the price goes up since it will be just jammed in the middle of the Credit Card statement.

As well.  Ever notice.

Creative Cloud = CC

Credit Card = CC

Basically this is Adobe Credit Card Charging Consortium

8

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

« on: May 07, 2013, 01:16:07 PM »

Here is CNET's take on the matter:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57582735-92/adobe-kills-creative-suite-goes-subscription-only/

"Customers "overwhelmingly" prefer it.

"But those who've carped about the Creative Cloud are a minority, Morris said.

"Overwhelmingly, when you compare the people who've complained about the new model to the people who loved it, it definitely skewed heavily to the new model," he said. "Obviously we would not be making a decision this big if the percentage of people in that category was so big it was the wrong thing for us to do." "

 

Yeah because that is why every single thread on every single forum on the net is, for the first time in the history of the internet, at 99% agreement levels on something (and hint the something is not 'overwhelmingly' in support) and barely even bickering at all.

Lets look at a few things here:

1)  A great many of the people who already OWN Adope (and yes, I have formally renamed them A-Dope-E) CS Suite or similar batch of products, makes little sense to go to the cloud, especially if you already OWN all the products... so not sure the ranks, but I am willing to be a large number of Cloud users currently are those with little investment or installation base to begin with.

2)  Their own logic is flawed:

Saw this quoted:

According to the company, it was just too hard on its engineering ranks to support products that get upgraded constantly as well as separate, packaged versions that only get upgraded roughly every two years.

yet two paragraphs later

It remains to be seen how customers, particularly slow-moving large businesses, react to seeing the software move to a more constantly changing service. Morris said that Adobe is creating a product that will allow the stodgiest of customers to stay on a particular version of the service (though they will still be paying on a monthly basis).

So if stodgy customers are still staying on older versions, hmmm they have the same support issues.

It is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY with Adope

9

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

« on: May 07, 2013, 08:04:55 AM »

Also for those thinking adobe will produce poor upgrades check out their youtube channel there are some awesome additions to CC only already like Camera Raw being a photoshop filter!

Silly Silly Lemming.  You don't think that is a coincidence.  The "De-Blur" was pulled from the CS 6 release... why?  To have a tasty carrot. 

If you think the Adobe prices will stay low and be lower than the current packaged upgrade model, you are foolish. 

This is "Rental Software" and a model that attempts to lock you in, and once they have you locked, you pay... or Opps... Sorry.  You are no longer licensed, and for the PS community... all of those PSD files as well as any add-on filters... No longer work. 

Adobe sees the captive audience and like a crack dealer, just waiting to turn you out to get your fix.

Of course the CC Upgrade will have some great features.  This is the hook... the one to get you to jump and then by in... They need BIG INCENTIVE to get people to be suckered into the cloud.

And hell, I already hear people saying it is only $30/month... That is the first year price... next year it jumps to $50/year and if you think it will stay there... you are foolish. 

For me, if they priced PS alone at $99/year LOCKED IN, I would bite at that.  To me half of Adobe upgrades are crap and not worth the price, and given the last upgrade was $199, but CS6 was a big jump, spread over 2 years (5.5 was bs) $99 is reasonable. 

The rumored $10/month is still excessive to me, and $20/year insulting.

I also want to see LOCKED IN RATES as well as another option that Adobe has not mentioned...

CONTINUED USAGE.

The CC Cloud is FANTASTIC for NEW USERS.  If you are not using CS Suite or PS now, you get in for cheap... For those of us who already have a STAND ALONE LICENSED MODEL, I would like to see the Cloud Model be the upgrade model as well.  There is no reason Adobe cannot provide UPGRADES to licensed current users and allow that upgrade to exist PAST the subscription.  I.e require an annual subscription for upgrades, but if subscription lapses, the license continues.

How does this work? 

-- Some one like me who has licensed version of say Photoshop CS6 can use the cloud, subscribe for a year, and for software I already own, I get to continue with the software upgraded version PAST the subscription.

-- Lets say I don't have a current license for Illustrator.  During my subscription period, I could use Illustrator, but once my subscription ended, I know longer could use. 

Part of what is being missed here is Adobe's big F&** Y&* to all current license holders who have paid for teh software.  As a current holder of a license we should be able to pay for an upgrade and have continued use to extend the product we have purchased. 

There is absolute no reason Adobe cannot use the Creative Cloud as both a SUBSCRIPTION model for unlicensed users and an UPGRADE model for current licensed users, except getting a captive audience and then really pummeling them in the future

10

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

« on: May 06, 2013, 11:04:28 PM »

I GUARANTEE you, that as they add features or "upgrades" you can expect $75 - $100/ month for Creative Cloud.

Guarantee? That's pretty bold.  But ok, it is reasonable to expect that prices go up over time but if that's your assumption then the cost of one-time version upgrades would also go up.  At the end of the day the financial comparison is what you're paying now versus what you'll be under the new model.

If you're a PS only user your upgrade cost every two years was $300 (do I have that right or was it $200?) so your average monthly cost was $12.50 (more if an upgrade came out after 18 months).  Now you're paying $20 per month for PS... which is more and not insignificant but you're getting constant upgrades with new features instead of Adobe having to hold them back for a full new release, some cloud storage, and the right to install on two computers.  So there is extra value.  Whether those extras are worth an extra $7.50 per month to any particular user is hard to say.

EDIT... and there are reports they are planning to reduce the single app price to $10 per month.

Last upgrade was $199, and almost certain there was an early bird or sale at one point... Could have sworn I paid $149. 

The big difference is... Once I have paid, I get to use that software as long as my system runs.  I think my 4 year cost on Photoshop is in the neighborhood of $450.  I skipped one of the upgrades in there.  With the CC, that is looking like $960 outlay over 4 years if the $20/month sticks. 

But again... If I don't think the upgrade is worth it, I don't pay.  I can still use the software this year.  Next year, and with as cludgy as their install is, chances are even if I build a new machine, I can get it installed. 

That is also not to say as OS changes, you also don't pay for software you don't need.  Take Lightroom.  Many people still run Windows 98.  They don't need 7 and looksy, Lightroom 4 does not run on it. 

So for those running PS CS 6 on Windows 7 for example, 2 years from now whether it is Win 8 or what ever is next, if the PS CS 8 only runs on this new OS, you are stuck paying for a subscription for software you can't use, where the hard copy model, you save money.

Rent-Only software sucks!

11

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

« on: May 06, 2013, 09:55:28 PM »

The more I think about this the angrier I get.

Just a few thoughts:

I took advantage of Adobe's offer for a discounted upgrade to CS6 last year. Catch was, it was download only. So, while I have it on my computer, I don't own any disks. My computer crashes, I have to go through Adobe to have it authorized on the new computer. So, suppose I decide to take a pass on their "generous" offer and stick with CS6? Well, eventually I'll need to replace the computer and then, guess what, no way will Adobe give me access or unlock the software once they've gone to this system, you can bet on that.

So, unless you have a computer that will never die, don't count on being able to access your existing versions forever.

Now, they are going to sucker people in with their "introductory" pricing. So, what happens in a year when they jack up the price? Will I be able to go back to CS6 or will that have been disabled because I upgraded to "cloud?"

Main thing I'm getting at is this: even if you own disks from a previous version, don't think for a minute you will be able to reload them onto new machines or use them forever.

Others have rightly pointed out that all your images will be held hostage and if you let your subscription lapse you are screwed.

I'm not at all buying that customers like Adobe Cloud as much as the company claims. Naturally, since people have had a choice, the only people who migrated to the "Cloud" option were those for whom it made financial sense. Of course, they are going to like it, they made a choice and that's what they picked. But, you can be sure Adobe never asked people who didn't migrate how they felt about it.

I sincerely hope that this becomes Adobe's "New Coke" moment.

Finally, there is a part of me that – being optimistic – hopes this prompts some real competition in the market.

I think you are missing the point.

I am sure a lot of people are happy with the cloud at $360 for a year.

When that rises next year to $600, will as many people be happy... probably not.

When it rises again in year 3 and year 4 and people realize they have paid $2000 over 4 years to RENT the software, and the month they stop paying the next month they stop using.

What most of the lemmings don't realize is just how big a choice they are losing.  Once you jump to the cloud, it is no longer do you stay with the version you are on or upgrade... it is do you use the software or not.

Why is Adobe doing this... because it is HUGE money and a captive slave audience. 

12

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

« on: May 06, 2013, 09:11:07 PM »

Forgetting the cost for a moment, how would Lightroom service even work? Half the time I use it, I am on my laptop away from the grid.  Are we going to have to load our photos upstream to the cloud in order to work on them?  That doesn't seem practical to me when you are dealing with a couple hundred images in LR.

I don't believe they're talking about cloud-based apps. I think you download and install normally, but activation and ongoing use requires an active subscription. So if you decide to stop paying, you can no longer open your files in the app. That's my big concern with this model. I also use a lot of site-licensed software at work and it can be a problem running such software when you're away from an Internet connection when the software decides to "phone home", depending on implementation. That could be an issue for people like you taking LR to remote locations on a laptop.

Lots of questions, though, particularly because they're planning to charge $10/mo for a single app and $50/mo for the full boat ($30/mo for the first year for upgraders). That's like buying a new copy of LR every 1-1.5 years, which I don't always do, and $360-600/yr is a LOT more than I pay now for all my Adobe software (PSE, Dreamweaver, etc).

Guess I'll be milking LR 4/PSE 10 for a long while, and hoping they still provide free Adobe Raw and/or DNG converters if I ever need a new camera.

Brave new world.

This is correct, I currently use Adobe Cloud for current release of all Adobe products, you download & install what you need as you need it, the product is then on your Hard Drive just like the DVD you purchased, you again download any updates as part of the subscription model you paid for. Each year you pay the subscription.

It works & works well, I'm completely Happy, but there's a caveat, the current system of Adobe Cloud is designed for Companies that require the use of more than 1 Licensed user, it's not really designed for the individual user, hence the +USD$800 price Tag.

In Asia in particular the most cloned software is Adobe, you can buy a full copy of CS6 Suite of the side of the road in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam etc, for $10 Bucks, so you can see why companies like Adobe are heading towards this Cloud Based Subscription Model, it's inevitable gentlemen, and Ladies.

I dont know for sure, but I would envisage Adobe creating a single user service of the Cloud at some point in the next 12 months, I would think prior to CS7, and I cant se the pricing not being more flexible for the single user, wouldn't make sense to try to charge a single user 800 bucks a year, as has been stated, Adobe will loose a huge amount of Business, and Adobe before all else, are about business & profits while providing a service.

What are you talking about?

The Creative Cloud is currently single user mode as well. 

You want to subscribe to the CC, it is $30 / mo first year, and then $50 a mo for the 2nd year.  If you want to just do 1 month, it is $75.  you also can do PS alone, which I think is like $15 a mo.

Couple of things.  $30/mo is for 1st year only.  Months 13+ is AT LEAST $49... and nothing to say year 3 or 4 they do not raise the price.

I GUARANTEE you, that as they add features or "upgrades" you can expect $75 - $100/ month for Creative Cloud.

Not sure on LightRoom.  From the release I saw from Adobe, it looked like EVERY UPGRADE was going to Cloud only as of June 17.  So maybe LR5 comes out before then.  Now LR is currently an "Also Included" in the Creative Cloud, and looks like main software is Photoshop, In Design, Illustrator, Premiere, DreamWeaver, AfterEffects and Muse, so LR might still be stand alone, but still not good.

Long and short, for Creative Cloud, at minimum 2 year cost is $960.  I expect year 3 to go up as well... whether $59 or expecting $69, you can expect the 5 year cost of the cloud to be around $3000 - $3500

13

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon are you listening?

« on: May 01, 2013, 11:18:37 AM »

We want more, MOAR!!!

Build us a camera that has more of this and less of that, and much more of this, and could do this with only a little bit of that, and doesn’t need that in order to do this.  And it must cost less than this and definitely less than that…  And another thing: we want it now, we want it yesterday and we will want more tomorrow, and all the demands will have changed by then so stay awake!

[With apologies to Billy Connolly!]

You spelled Moire wrong.

Just sayin

14

Lighting / Re: How much light(watts) do you need to shoot f8 to f11 in studio

« on: April 27, 2013, 07:20:37 AM »

Wrong question. 

W/S has little to do with what you want.  It is more about light modifiers, distance and what kind of light you want.  What is the distance from the subject?  Are you shooting head shots, or will you be doing full body?

It also depends if you ever want to shoot at lower apertures.

You can have some strobes that are rated at higher WS and put out less power than a lesser one. 

Also, what are you looking for recycle time. 

15

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: The last roll of Kodachrome – what would you shoot with the last 36 frames?

« on: April 24, 2013, 01:31:21 PM »

naked supermodels....

Nah, even better... Granny P0RN