Messages

1

Software & Accessories / Re: Tri Pods!!!!!

« on: March 13, 2013, 12:33:12 AM »

I concur with what people have been saying about buy right the first time and avoid spending money replacing crappy tripods.

I ended up buying the RRS 34L with BH-55LR head and L-plate for my 1DX.

The thing is a work of art. Light, solid, bleeds quality craftsmanship and sets up and breaks down quickly and effortlessly.

If you see yourself using a tripod for a while, you can't go wrong with RRS.

2

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: New to video...advice needed

« on: December 20, 2012, 11:56:57 AM »

Philip Bloom's website.

+1 on this. Philip Bloom is a fantastic resource. As someone mentioned, he has a DVD set (you can buy then DL them) which are awesome for beginners.

Another great resource is: http://nofilmschool.com/dslr/

DSLR video is a fun world to play in.

3

Lenses / Re: 135mm L

« on: November 15, 2012, 09:28:33 AM »

Wow!

Overwhelming response and all suggest getting the 135L.

Thanks guys, it's now at the top of my wish list.

Time to start working on the wife

4

Lenses / 135mm L

« on: November 14, 2012, 05:25:09 PM »

Question:

I have a pretty decent array of lenses and prefer to shoot with primes. I am covered on the wide end with primes, but for longer focal lengths I end up using my 70-200 IS II. I have the 85 1.2 and LOVE it, but I was looking through Lightroom EXIF data and realized I do a ton of shooting in the 120-155mm range with the 70-200.

I really like tight face shots, and I like the bokeh of the 85 1.2. For those that have both the 70-200 and the 135 f/2 would you say it's worth getting the prime? I see people here talking about how much they LOVE their 135 and I see some of the shots and they look fantastic, but I often wonder if they have the 70-200 or not and which would they use if they had to choose.

Anyone have any thoughts? The price on the 135 is one of the more reasonably priced primes and I can't decide if it's a MUST have or if if would be something that gathers dust.

5

Lenses / Re: Best Lens for photographing children

« on: November 14, 2012, 05:12:29 PM »

Nothing screams creepy more than some dude taking photos of kids from a block away with some huge white telephoto. 85 1.8 or 135L are good choices. They are relatively small and most importantly black so you don't stick out like a narc.

Methinks if appearances mean more than getting the great shot, you should probably just stick to your point and shoot.

When shoot my kid's parties or at friend's kid parties, they can't wait to see the shots because they know they will be great.

Why people get hung up on the "white lens" thing is beyond me.

6

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Conversion to Nikon

« on: November 14, 2012, 05:04:22 PM »

Congrats on winning! I love the shot.

Back to your regularly scheduled irony....

May want to get a waterproof case for that S9300 if you plan to photograph any more bears in the rain! 

7

Lenses / Re: Best Lens for photographing children

« on: November 14, 2012, 04:46:17 PM »

Outdoors or in a well-lit location I use 70-200. If it's a spacious yard, I even pop the 2X extender on.

Indoors I agree that the 85mm is a good idea because it's a good focal length for tighter shots and will still give you a few stops of light.

If you really want to nerd out, use the 70-200 indoors and set up some off-camera flashes around the room.

For one party I set up my Ranger RX unit with two heads aimed at the ceiling so I could have beautiful light.

Kids are challenging to photograph, but IMO they are the most fun because of how genuine and real they look when captured as stills.

8

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1Dx ISO100 high DR shadows SNR improvement

« on: November 12, 2012, 11:08:44 PM »

Tried this trick out tonight and it works a treat!

I never noticed how much noise was in the shadows at 100 ISO before. This method really helps bring out the details.

Thanks for sharing, I can't wait to use this more.

9

Portrait / Re: Political Portraits - Warts and All

« on: November 04, 2012, 01:49:29 AM »

OP, Seems you flushed out the liberals on this forum better than the toad in your photo.

Took me 5 minutes of painful eye squinting to be able to see the toad.

This could be one of those fun "what is it?" pics.

10

Software & Accessories / Re: Need great Photo editing monitor

« on: October 24, 2012, 10:00:15 AM »

At $2,700, one would hope!

OP didn't mention budget, only requests for great monitor suggestion.

The monitor IS expensive, but consider:

Photographers spend:

1DX body - $6800
24-70 II - $2400
70-200 II IS - $2400
24mm II - $1800
35mm - $1500
50mm - $1600
85mm - $2000

Filters, accessories etc, you get the point..

In the grand scheme of things, $2700 does not seem like a whole lot when you consider how much time you can spend in post production grading your photos. Knowing what you are seeing in front of you is accurate is as important to me as knowing I have the best possible lens attached to the front of my camera.

Eizo also makes some great monitors in the Flexscan series if you're looking to save some coin.

11

Software & Accessories / Re: Need great Photo editing monitor

« on: October 24, 2012, 09:44:45 AM »

I picked one of these up a few weeks ago.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/816468-REG/Eizo_CG275W_BK_ColorEdge_CG275W_27_Widescreen.html

Self calibrating, hardware LUT, IPS. It's so nice knowing what white truly is and being able to actually see when highlights are blown out and what black looks like. You can't go wrong with this monitor.

12

EOS Bodies / Re: DxOMark Sensor Performance: Nikon vs. Canon

« on: October 12, 2012, 04:40:14 PM »

The chart below shows that Canon's sensors are generally more cromulent than Nikon's. This tallies with my real-life findings.

I agree AdamJ, though my experiences differ greatly when shooting in the rain or within 100ft. of a bridge or similar man-made structure. It's clear to me though based on the cromulence chart and fair-weathered, non-adjacent man-made structure photography, we can find parity.

13

Portrait / Re: My photos look so dull

« on: September 21, 2012, 11:48:55 AM »

Difficult because of the diffuse lighting, improper exposure and what appears to be mixed color temps.

Anywho, here's my attempt to fix the jpg. Done in LR 4.1.

-DrDeano

14

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1DX Color Noise

« on: September 14, 2012, 08:55:27 AM »

Would still like to have a RAW version of this image to examine...

15

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1DX Focusing Issues... Please share your experiences...

« on: September 14, 2012, 12:56:03 AM »

I too was a bit worried about the focusing prowess of the 1DX. Tried to manually AFMA, just as bad... Then I picked up FoCal and spent a weekend tuning all my lenses. Now, focus hit and it hits accurate.

For reasons I cannot explain, the 1DX seems to be much more sensitive to needing accurate AFMA settings than the 5DII. If I might hypothesize, I would say the focus is so much more accurate than previous systems that if your lenses are not tuned to the body, you will get poor results. The 5DII seemed to be more about luck with focusing, the 1DX is about precision.