Messages

1

Landscape / Re: Jippieeee! It's spring! Post your first spring pictures here.

« on: May 12, 2013, 10:47:54 AM »

Not much greenery around here yet, but here's a roaring waterfall at its biggest at the end of the snow melt.


Chute Montmorency, Québec by pagarneau, on Flickr

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Portrait / Re: We, The Photographers......Self Portaits..a Who's Who on CR

« on: May 04, 2013, 10:33:02 AM »

I did a self-portrait recently since I got new glasses and was trying a new beard on.


Self-Portrait by pagarneau, on Flickr

3

6D Sample Images / Re: Anything shot with a 6D

« on: April 07, 2013, 10:53:19 AM »

Here are a few shots I took recently with my 6D in Québec City. A few of those shots were taken using the wifi function -- very useful for some types of shots.


Église Notre-Dame des Victoires, Québec by pagarneau, on Flickr


Last Days of Winter / Derniers Jours d'Hiver by pagarneau, on Flickr


Last Days of Winter / Derniers Jours d'Hiver by pagarneau, on Flickr


Rei Ayanami by pagarneau, on Flickr


Winter in Québec City by pagarneau, on Flickr

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Shooting With the EOS 6D in Costa Rica

« on: December 25, 2012, 01:39:52 PM »

Thanks for the kind words

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Shooting With the EOS 6D in Costa Rica

« on: December 24, 2012, 11:08:35 AM »

I received my 6D a bit over a week ago and I really enjoy it so far. It's a big improvement over my previous 50D! It's a great camera overall, but I must say I like the features some people here call "gimmicks". The wifi connectivity is brilliant for still life photography: I set the camera on a tripod and then I can concentrate on adjusting my composition and lighting while looking at the result in real time on my phone. No more running every 2 minutes to the back of the camera to see if things are placed properly! The GPS is also nice for landscape work, and I expect it would be great for travel photos. I already had a GPS logger for that purpose, but it's so much more convenient to have directly on the camera.

Coming from a crop camera, high iso pictures are just amazing -- it's just plain awesome to be able to take handheld photos like those without worrying about noise.


Canon 6D Test Shots by pagarneau, on Flickr


Canon 6D Test Shots by pagarneau, on Flickr


Canon 6D Test Shots by pagarneau, on Flickr

6

Contests / Re: Gura Gear Giveaway!

« on: December 06, 2012, 06:35:39 PM »

I want to win!

7

EOS Bodies / Re: More 6D sample images - with RAW files.

« on: December 02, 2012, 01:39:40 PM »

I'm not really surprised by the good low-light performance. Why would Canon have used an exceptionally light-sensitive auto-focus module if the camera didn't perform very well in low light? It would have made little sense considering they cut a lot of features to keep the price low (including in the auto-focus system).

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EOS Bodies / Re: 6D Coming Nov. 30th?

« on: November 19, 2012, 10:04:49 AM »

At a trade show here in Canada, the rep told me the 6D would be available "mid-December" but wouldn't be more specific than that.

9

Lenses / Re: New 50 Finally on the Way? [CR1]

« on: November 04, 2012, 05:24:43 PM »

I recently bought a Sigma 50mm/1.4 and I've been very happy with it so far. Fast, accurate focus, beautiful bokeh and very sharp. It did require AFMA, it's quite a bit bigger and heavier than the Canon 50/1.8 it replaced and it won't stop down more than f/16, but the upgrade was worth it.

10

Software & Accessories / Re: Need advise on macro rails and macro extension tubes

« on: November 04, 2012, 11:22:39 AM »

If you want something very affordable, look at Deal Extreme. They have focus rails and extension tubes for a very low price. I haven't tried them, so I can't vouch for their quality, but both have good reviews on the site.

https://dx.com/p/super-mag-slider-camera-precision-rail-9430?rt=1&p=2&m=2&r=3&k=1&t=1&s=93864&u=9430

https://dx.com/p/meike-auto-focus-macro-extension-tube-set-for-canon-dslr-72650

They ship from China, so shipping can take a while, but if you're in India then that may be less of a problem than for my Canadian self

11

Canon General / Re: Canon Can't Even Make a Billion Dollars Anymore

« on: October 26, 2012, 11:00:48 PM »

Of course the world economy isn't doing too great, and the yen gained a lot of value. Both things have a big effect on corporations. Still, I think one of the big problems of Canon and Nikon is that digital cameras are now mature technology. The 5D MkII introduced video 4 years ago, which was the last big change for SLRs. Since then, we've only seen incremental upgrades. If you don't care about video -- and many photographers don't -- then the last big change is even older than that.

Any mid-range SLR or better that's 4 years old or less can take great picture in a broad array of conditions. Even my old 50D is good enough in the great majority of situations. There have been some improvements, of course, but nothing revolutionary. I don't own a 5D MkIII, but looking at specs and reviews I can't even think of a good reason why I would ever upgrade once I got one. The complaints I read on these boards are quite nitpicky and I can't see myself spending thousands of dollars just so I get lit focus points, enough pixels to compete with medium format cameras, or a stop or two of additional dynamic range at iso 100.

Canon and Nikon need to start innovating, or their customers will stop upgrading their cameras because what they have is good enough. The pace of evolution is a lot faster in the realm of cellphone cameras and m43 cameras are competing more and more with SLRs. If I was an executive at Canon and Nikon, I'd be nervous about what the future holds...

12

Canon General / Re: Does Minimum Advertised Price apply to auctions?

« on: October 24, 2012, 01:07:45 PM »

But, from what I understand, MAP is linked to a benefit given the retailer. For example, if you want to participate in the rebate program, you have to adhere to MAP. The retailer has the choice, they could turn down the rebate program (of course no one would do that), so it's voluntary and not mandatory.

Isn't that price fixing among the retailers enforced by the manufacturer by another name? By refusing important benefits to retailers who refuse to participate, they effectively punish them. If they don't participate in the price fixing scheme, Canon will ensure they are less profitable than if they did -- that's about as coercive as they can be. It's just a loophole to get around the restrictions against price fixing.

13

Canon General / Re: Does Minimum Advertised Price apply to auctions?

« on: October 21, 2012, 10:24:49 AM »

When corporations send our job overseas, it's described as the free market at work, improving efficiency. When citizens want to purchase in foreign countries to get better prices, it's described as an unfair problem that must be stopped (also happens with region locked movies, video games, etc.) Double standards everywhere...

To be honest, I don't really care about the retailer, be it a large chain or small store. I get information online, I order from the cheapest place I can find and if there's a problem I talk with Canon directly. The retailer is just a middleman that takes money for being between me and the product I want to purchase. If I could order directly from Canon for cheaper, I would. Why should I care about making the middleman survive?

14

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon EF 8-15 f/4L Fisheye

« on: October 15, 2012, 06:30:07 PM »

Samyang has a much cheaper fish eye for crop sensors that's a lot of fun to play with. It's fully manual, but it's not exactly hard to focus a lens with that kind of DOF.

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Lenses / Re: RIP Canon EF 15 f/2.8 Fisheye

« on: November 22, 2011, 02:47:04 PM »

For those looking for a fish eye to play around with, the Samyang 8mm f/3.5 is a great deal for the money. For about $300, you get a surprisingly sharp fish-eye lens for crop sensor bodies. It's fully manual, but that's not much of an issue since it's really easy to focus a fish-eye lens.

A few pictures I took with this lens: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagarneau/sets/72157628100577905/