Messages

1

Portrait / Re: Post your best portraits(street, studio, candid etc...).

« on: March 18, 2013, 05:29:08 PM »

Adding one to the list, we messed up the makeup a bit but I'm not overly skilled at shopping out makeup spills so we left it alone.

2

Lenses / Re: Suggestions for Zoom Lens for Canon Mark 5D Mark iii

« on: March 18, 2013, 04:52:14 PM »

The 70-200 F4 is very sharp as is the 24-105, the difference will be distortion which the 24-105 has a bit off. Which lens will depend on what your shooting, remember that a long zoom ( the 70-200 ) is great for portraits and some sports but it is suddenly lost indoors for groups or when ever you need a wide angle for landscapes. The 24-105 while an excellent walk around lens distorts a fair bit at the wide end enough so that a cheaper 3rd party wide angle would be a better buy if your needing to shoot wide. I know your on a budget but sometimes it is worth it to use what you have and save a while longer to invest in the gear you really need later rather than playing the lens buy and sell game. I have my own studio and have gone through dozens of cameras and lenses to find out that at least with lenses your almost always at one extreme or another, wide or slightly long and rarely in between. In the end my 2 most used lenses are the 70-200 and 16-35, my 85, 50, 135 24-70 are collecting dust as are the aps bodies ( we have canon mkII/Nikon d700 for FF and nikon D300/D7000 pentax aps ). This is all over time and if I know one thing is that you will always want to eventually get one of those big white lenses eventaully, so why not save and make the investment once, not several times over.

3

Lenses / Re: Suggestions for Zoom Lens for Canon Mark 5D Mark iii

« on: March 18, 2013, 02:05:50 PM »

If your buying a 5D mkIII put good glass on it, the 70-200 F2.8 IS II, accept no substitute! I'm not being elitist but don't skimp on glass with full frame and IS does make that much of a difference.

4

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 6D Official Specs

« on: September 17, 2012, 12:48:54 PM »

Lets all see how well the camera really performs and to see real world raw image samples before we abandon canon. Tho I am very disappointed in the choice of SD cards vs CF already, canon seems to be pushing this camera as an upgrade path for rebel owners as most of us with 7D's and MKII's have alot of CF cards already. I want this to be an upgrade to my MKII but it's looking like it will be aback up body or I hand out the extra cash for a MKIII.

5

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 6D Specs Leaked?

« on: September 14, 2012, 09:23:30 AM »

It's just a rumor ( I hope )

First of all sd card! when all pro and prosumer canons use cf, similar AF to the MKII and new sensor with less mp than the MKII, this sounds like a step back and it would be doubtful canon would release a camera like this. My guess is the spec is from a prototype that was being used to test and the final camera is yet to be finalized.

6

Portrait / Re: First time at wedding - feedback please

« on: August 08, 2012, 01:39:13 PM »

This is very mid level pro quality work, you said amateur I don't see that. I would back off the softness a touch, you want dreamy but not for everything and everyone, the first portrait try sharp overall with only soft skin and see if you would like that better.

7

Portrait / Re: Portrait Feedback Please!

« on: August 08, 2012, 12:27:00 PM »

I strongly believe some practice and reading are in order as well as pre shoot planning. The shots posted show one issue and that is lack of direction for the shoot more than anything else, I actually see that you have an idea of posing and some basic composition but simply not knowing what you wanted to shoot or what you wanted it to look like resulted in just shots of a girl in white shorts.

Sit down and plan what it is you are going to do, what results you want and what the subject expects and try again and you will see the difference.

8

Lenses / Re: Non Canon 500mm lens -- help with how to fit .... (EDIT.might've figured it out)

« on: August 08, 2012, 11:55:08 AM »

T-mount is a generic screw mount type standard for telescopes, you will need this

http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-T-Mount-Adapter-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000KNCB7C

to connect it to your camera.

9

Canon General / Re: Canon rates "average" while Pentax takes top spot in survey of online buyers

« on: July 27, 2012, 01:52:46 PM »

I am a Pentax user and I am looking at Nikon or canon for wildlife work. I have to say from using a 7D its has one of the worst control setups of any camera. If anyone has used a K7 or K5 you would be much happier you can think about taking good pics instead of fighting with the camera. Unless you need fast AF then pentax is behind in that.

I disagree, The 7D has fantastic ergonomics and handling.

It is a free country, disagreement is your right :-)

After owning several Pentax dslrs I will admit their owners do become loyalists and the af is not that far behind ( actually kicks the 5d mkii in the teeth with af ). Now after using a 7D and owning the 5d mkii I can say in comparisons the Pentax k7 and k5 the ergonomics are more user friendly which probably helps their user satisfaction ratings and the system is rather tough with good enough affordable lenses for prosumer use. But the system is closed with no upgrade path beyond aps-c unless you jump to medium format, this is why I also own a 5D mkii and pray everyday for canon to buy out Pentax and learn something about designing camera control systems.

I know using a 7d and 5d3, when the 7d came out 3 years ago, that was it's trump card was it's superior ergonomics, especially compared to the 5d2.  Now i've never shot with a pentax in the last decade, so i'm not as well versed, but do explain why and how the pentax has a better user interface... what quirks do you like?  what dont you like?  How are you "fighting" with the camera?  do explain rather than make blanket statements for those who haven't used that camera.

Not a blanket statement, just an observation but I do not fight with my Canons. As far as user interface, Pentax has their control layout for most functions available at your finger tips and can be accessed with out moving your eye from the finder, switching af modes etc it is right by either your thumb or either forefinger. The control lay out is very nikon like but simplistic and less cluttered. Most Pentaxes are quite usable by anyone out of the box, even first DSLR users and not overly limiting to more advanced users and that is their appeal. After the ergonomics that is where they just fall behind, it is a closed ended system with no real pro level upgrade path and while the K-7's af is faster than the 5D mKII the SDM lenses are not up to par with the 70-200L F2.8 IS II (which I do own )  and only the Pentax limited lens series can match the L lenses for build quality. The system is limiting so I switched but that doesn't mean I can't miss using them and I still have my K20D which I do use regularly.

You have to think of it like this, Those Pentaxes are just plain enjoyable to use, but I needed to switch to the MKII to get better image results.

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Canon General / Re: Canon rates "average" while Pentax takes top spot in survey of online buyers

« on: July 26, 2012, 02:37:30 PM »

I am a Pentax user and I am looking at Nikon or canon for wildlife work. I have to say from using a 7D its has one of the worst control setups of any camera. If anyone has used a K7 or K5 you would be much happier you can think about taking good pics instead of fighting with the camera. Unless you need fast AF then pentax is behind in that.

I disagree, The 7D has fantastic ergonomics and handling.

It is a free country, disagreement is your right :-)

After owning several Pentax dslrs I will admit their owners do become loyalists and the af is not that far behind ( actually kicks the 5d mkii in the teeth with af ). Now after using a 7D and owning the 5d mkii I can say in comparisons the Pentax k7 and k5 the ergonomics are more user friendly which probably helps their user satisfaction ratings and the system is rather tough with good enough affordable lenses for prosumer use. But the system is closed with no upgrade path beyond aps-c unless you jump to medium format, this is why I also own a 5D mkii and pray everyday for canon to buy out Pentax and learn something about designing camera control systems.