Messages

1

Lenses / Re: 35mm f1.4 -vs- 50mm 1.2

« on: November 02, 2012, 01:27:14 PM »

But there's so much more than sharpness, what about the bokeh!

I think this gets played up too much as just a function of aperture, distance to subject, and subject distance to background are equally important. The rest is just pure personal taste on the quality of blur.

I disagree with you on this one.  The number of aperture blades also has an effect; otherwise, all lenses would only have 5 blades like the 1.8. 

Another thing to consider is the resistance to flare for the L series lenses.  I borrowed a 50 1.8 and was very disappointed by the flare from light that should not produce any flare.  It seriously affected the (unedited) photo I attached below. 

This weekend I shot with the 35 L and had no flare issues at all.  Just something else to consider when deciding on whether an L lens is worth the price.

2

Lenses / Re: Angle of view calculations

« on: October 05, 2012, 12:54:48 PM »

I was thinking he would probably give the best reply to this question.

3

Lenses / Angle of view calculations

« on: October 05, 2012, 12:51:23 PM »

Maybe I don't fully understand all of the specifications that are described when looking at a lens but I would like to better understand the angle of view specification a little more clearly.  When you look at say a 300mm prime lens on the Canon website, the diagonal angle of view is said to be 8° 15'.  I am fairly certain this is for a full frame sensor as the angle of view (I think) is dependent upon sensor size.  If this is so, how would I use this information to determine the distance needed to frame a 6ft tall person within a crop sensor (portrait or landscape)?  That is, if I wanted to shoot a football game and would like to shoot from the 50yd line, how could I calculate the focus distance that a 300mm lens would "reach" for a full body shot without much cropping?  I understand it should be fairly simple geometry but I am not 100% sure as to how to approach it.  Anyone with some knowledge? 

As the above paragraph is probably convoluted, I am trying to figure out what focal length lens I would need for specific sports of I know my distance form the athletes. So if I am at the 50yd line, would a player at the 20yd line take up the full frame?

4

1D X Sample Images / Re: Who is this idiot??

« on: September 20, 2012, 09:56:27 PM »

I should post some self shots and get some people to edit my pics for free.  I could then use them on business cards!!

5

Pricewatch Deals / Canon 5D Mk ii for $1899.00 on Amazon!!

« on: September 14, 2012, 07:07:38 AM »

The Mark ii version is on sale for $1899.00 on Amazon!!

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-21-1MP-Frame-Digital-Camera/dp/B001G5ZTLS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347620632&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+5d

BH is $1979.00

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/583953-REG/Canon_2764B003_EOS_5D_Mark_II.html

Hopefully someone can get it for an awesome deal!

Maybe they are trying to clear out stock for the next "cheap" full-frame?

6

Lenses / Re: Lenses for crop AND full-frame bodies (starting up my photography business)

« on: August 31, 2012, 10:29:29 AM »

Yeah, I need to invest more in lighting -portable lighting that is (I have a couple of Elinchrom studio strobes already, but they don't work on batteries and are cumbersome to carry around). I'll probably get myself a 580EX/EX II (or two) in addition to my existing 430 EX and a trigger of some sort (a reliable manual one will likely do for now even though I might just start experimenting with the built in IR-trigger of the 580EX) and a portable softbox (Lastolite EzyBox or similar). With a handy sized reflector, a couple of stands (already have those from the Elinchrom kit) a couple of umbrellas and possibly also a portable backdrop kit I would have enough to get started offering my services I think.

I would not rely on the IR-trigger for the 580's.  They do not work well at all in strong light(sunlight) and have a very poor reach.  They technically on work on line of sight and so if one flash is blocked by a pillar or person etc, the flash amy not work.  If you want to use this flash combination and not the 600EX, then you would want to get some type of radio trigger, which in my experience work much better. 

7

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: 5d3: HDR VS Multiple Expsosure vs AEB

« on: August 30, 2012, 01:29:51 PM »

The more room you give yourself, the better.  Depending on the scene, 3 exposures might not be enough.  Some scenes need many more than that.  Make sure you are shooting in raw and in manual.  The histogram is your friend, along with the high light alert.  If you have a lot of time, with a still subject, you begin by exposing the darkest exposure that the highlight alert just shows up with white flashing.  You then begin to systematically increase your exposure, using the shutter, not the aperture, by 1-2 stops each time.  After you take the shot, look at the histogram and when the left side of the histogram begins to go flat (i.e. there are no more vertical lines), you have captured most of the dynamic range of the scene.  This could be any number of exposures.  I have done this and have been very pleased with the results.  If your title is correct, you have a 5D mk III and that allows 7 frame AEB which I would recommend if you don't want to take the time for the above procedure as I said: the more range you give yourself, the better off you will be.  To give you some insight though, before I knew of the above technique, I used the AEB on my 7D with +,- 2 stops for this picture in Sandusky, OH.

8

Lenses / Re: What lenses do you own?

« on: August 15, 2012, 09:25:16 AM »

My wife and I purchased a 7D approximately 2 years ago and have put approximately 50,000-60,000 shots on it.  We own one lens, the 24-70.  The down side to this lens is its size and weight.  We do a lot of low-light event photography and anything slower than 2.8 would force us to use too high iso's.  We have rented the 50L and that lens is amazingly sharp: take the advice of lensrentals and do not focus and recompose (we use only the center autofocus point normally) and you will get tack sharp images. 

9

Lens Gallery / Re: EF 24-70mm 2.8L

« on: September 23, 2011, 12:26:17 PM »

A few more shots from the local fair.  24mm on a 7D for both pics.

10

Animal Kingdom / Re: Dogs playing around

« on: September 23, 2011, 12:20:51 PM »

Here are a few of our dog, and my in-laws basset and basset-beagle mix, getting a bath outside.  All shots were taken with a 7D and 24-70 f2.8L.

11

Landscape / Re: Post Your Best Landscapes

« on: August 05, 2011, 01:42:22 PM »

Here is an HDR picture of Sandusky, OH overlooking Lake Erie.  To the right of the photograph is Cedar Point for a frame of reference.

12

Landscape / Re: HDR bracketing

« on: July 22, 2011, 01:32:38 PM »

The Promote Control was what I was looking for, although a little pricey.  It does more than I need (time lapse ,etc) but maybe something I can tell the wife I want for Christmas... Thanks for the tip gferdinandsen!!

13

Landscape / Re: HDR bracketing

« on: July 22, 2011, 12:10:35 PM »

For some reason, the last time I looked at the 1D's (not that I could afford one), I saw only 3 exposure bracketing... Just checked at dpreview and I stand corrected, thanks for pointing that out.  I was a little worried that my friends with Nikon's would be able to do it on a D300s while no Canons could.  I hope the guys at Canon begin to incorporate this into other bodies (it is only a coding issue, I think). My buddy has a remote that does timed exposures, I wonder if that would do auto-bracketing without the need for touching the camera at more than 3 exposures.

14

Landscape / HDR bracketing

« on: July 22, 2011, 11:52:59 AM »

I got a question for all those HDR lovers out there.  With Canon, one can only do auto bracketing (whether shooting in Aperture Priority or Manual) for three exposures.  For a lot of scenes that I come across, this seems to not capture the entire dynamic range of the scene.  My question is: How do you compensate?  Do  you manually expose 9 brackets and hope you don't bump your tripod or nothing dramatic changes in the scene?  Or, do you deal with only 3 exposures and if so, what is your typical range of compensation (ie +/- 1,2 stops etc)?

15

Contests / Re: Holga Giveaway

« on: July 20, 2011, 06:51:17 AM »

I didn't see what sink comes in this lens kit...