Messages

1

Lenses / Why no L primes from 14 to 24mm

« on: December 09, 2012, 06:47:49 AM »

I have recently added the 24-70mm f2.8L II, and I am considering droping my 16-35mm f2.8L II for a prime of around 18-21mm to save a bit of weight and space.

The Canon 20mm f2.8 is awful, but there is nothing else, why such a big gap in Canon's range.

I think my options are the Zeiss 18mm f3.5 or the Canon TSE 17mm.  Of the two the Zeiss would be smaller and lighter.  But looking at 'The Digital Picture' site the Zeiss appears to be slightly worse than my 16-35mm.  If I change I want at least equal optical quality, preferably better.
Are there any other suggestions?

2

Lenses / Re: missing 200-400 and 100-400 announcements?

« on: September 15, 2012, 12:00:26 PM »

We already get big gaps from announcements to availablilty, the Mark II big whites were announced in August 2010, and have only been available in the UK a short time, so nearly 2 years.

Personally I would prefer they delay announcements until they have stock ready to ship.  If I see an interesting item announced that I want buy, I want to be able to buy it straight away, and not have what feels like a never ending wait for it to come to the shops.

I have decided to change my 50mm lens for a 24-70 MKII (because of rumors I knew it was on the cards), but by the time it comes to the UK (I expect Jan 2013) that decision will have been made 2 years ago.

I think rumors is excellent for planning the longer term changes to your camera system, and possibly avoid some shorter purchases that have to be replaced.

3

EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D III Autofocus

« on: September 15, 2012, 04:37:40 AM »

The autofocus range of the 5DIII is from EV -2 to EV +18, this must be based on the amount of the light entering the lens and the sensitivity of the autofocus sensors.

If it can autofocus at EV -2 at f5.6, can someone explain why it can't autofocus at f8 at EV -1, f11 at EV 0 or f16 at EV +1.

Why the f5.6 restriction, it is so limiting particularly when using extenders.
I have yet to see someone using a f2.8 telephoto, where this wouldn't be an issue.
In the UK the 400mm f2.8 and 500mm f4 cost around £10,000 (16,000 USD).

I have the excellent 400mm f5.6L, but soon as I put on a 1.4x, I have manual focus, and the lens doesn't have IS, so it difficult to use.

I think autofocusing down to f16 lenses should be standard.

4

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon 5D MKIII UK

« on: July 08, 2012, 05:01:56 AM »

Thank you, I was coming to that conclusion, and will probably wait until the end of the year and get a 5D III from a UK retailer, hopefully by then there may be a bit of a reduction in price.
Cameras are too expensive and complex to the risk not getting good service.

The last item I bought from Simply Electronics was the Extender 2x III in March 2012 for £340, it arrived very quickly without any problems, and works perfectly.

5

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Canon 5D MKIII UK

« on: July 06, 2012, 08:21:31 AM »

In the UK the 5D MKIII costs £3000 (~4800 USD), i.e. is very expensive compared to the US.
Simply Electronics have it for £2250 (~3600 USD), can anybody see any issues with buying it from these people.
I have purchased flashguns and extenders from them, and everything has been okay.

6

Lenses / TSE Macro Lens

« on: June 30, 2012, 10:07:28 AM »

A few years ago I used to have a Carl Zeiss macro lens lens for my Contax camera, a 100mm f4 S Planar bellows lens.  This lens produced a much larger image circle than 35mm.  It had to be attached to the camera via automatic bellows, which had a swing and shift mechanism built in.  Photographing small objects like boxes require converging vertical correction like buildings.

Does anybody think Canon would introduce a 100mm f2.8L TSE macro lens, it would be a worlds first for digital.