Messages

1

Software & Accessories / Re: New Macpro teased at Mac Conference

« on: June 10, 2013, 08:52:59 PM »

They have usb3 and thunderbolt for expansion.

You can connect (mini) displayport through the thunderbolt ports. You can also convert thunderbolt to dvi, vga, hdmi, firewire 400/800, ethernet, usb2/3 etc. with a $29 dongle. You can also daisy chain thunderbolt devices. As far as expandability goes, everything will be external. You'll just need to plunk down $10,000 or whatever the hell it will cost to max out everything from the getgo.

Very cool design.  Design is what Apple is good at.  They make nice products, and everything works and plays well together - as long as it is all from Apple.

They have optimized the design for their product, which will look cool in product photos and in the show room - but the expansion is, as you mention above, all through connectors.  This means cables everywhere, connected to a bunch of devices (external HD's, DVD readers/burners, etc), many will have to be plugged into their own power.  If you expand this thing much, I envision a spyder web of cords and cables and a handful of devices cluttering the workspace.  So, in the end, is a cool looking and small CPU with a bunch of cables and external devices sitting around the workspace better or worse than the current big and clunky MacPro with everything self-contained within for the most part.

Meh

2

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: FoCal or LensAlign - Which is better?

« on: April 19, 2013, 10:02:47 AM »

what about focus tune?

I hadn't heard of this option before, I'll check into it as well.
Thanks!

3

Third Party Manufacturers / FoCal or LensAlign - Which is better?

« on: April 19, 2013, 12:46:24 AM »

I need to AFMA two of my primes with a 7D, which are visibly off in AF, but when I MF them they are sharp.

I am trying to decide which product to get to help me do this - FoCal software or the LensAlign product.

Does anyone have experience using either, or ideally both that can provide some help in my decsion?

4

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4... DOH!!!

« on: March 22, 2013, 10:43:54 AM »

If you are upgrading the OS on an existing machine - Win 7 64-bit.
If that machine is older than 2 years, buy a new machine with Win 8 and Start8.

Or, buy a Mac.  I have Macs and PCs.  Versus Win 7, I find the Mac UI different, not necessarily vastly superior (snow leppard).  However, the overall experience is better - things just work.  It takes a while to get used to doing things on the Mac if you are a life-long PC user.  But once you do, most people don't go back to PC.

I agree Win8 is a failed attempt by microsoft to catch up to the well designed OS X/iOS multi-device user experience.  If you have to go up the learning curve for Win8, why not spend that time transitioning to a Mac?

I ended up building my own system dedicated to my photo & video processing, and went with Win7 64-bit because I could do so for far less money than purchasing a Mac.  But if I were buying a new machine for general purpose use, I would not bother with a win8 machine.  I would go with a mac.

5

EOS Bodies / Re: Will the 70d have a new sensor?

« on: March 22, 2013, 10:14:22 AM »

The only major flaw (as a sports/wildlife) of the current 7D is the sensor.  I would upgrade to the 7DII if the camera was exactly the same, but had a new sensor with lower noise at higher ISO.

Therefore, introducing other features and leaving the sensor the same is pointless.  I would suspect Canon fully knows this.

What I do believe (but hope not), is that the 7DII will be a significant improvement all the way around - but the price will be significantly higher.  Therefore, out of reach for many of the current 7D owners, which will be dissapointing.

6

EOS Bodies / Re: Congratulations Canon to another great Camera release!!

« on: March 22, 2013, 09:53:43 AM »

This thread should be retitled - "A senseless religious argument regarding AFMA and if it should be included with every DSLR along with the shutter button - along with the general insulting of anyone who isn't "smart" enough to buy a professional grade camera".

7

EOS Bodies / Re: Congratulations Canon to another great Camera release!!

« on: March 21, 2013, 05:39:06 PM »

Can anyone confirm if the T5i has the same new sensor that the SL1 has?  The marketing materials clearly state the SL1 has a new sensor, but it is unclear if the T5i has the sensor from the T4i or the SL1.

The other thing that is inconsistent in the marketing materials is the difference between the AF systems in the T5i and SL1.  The T5i has 9 cross-type AF points.  I think the SL1 has only one cross-type AF point, but the bullet list in the announcement for the SL1 says 9 cross-type - which conflicts with the review posted here, and the body of the text in the SL1 announcement.

8

EOS Bodies / Re: $2,800.00 budget

« on: March 20, 2013, 01:55:06 PM »

Hi all.

I'm in a quite similar situation. Budget 3000$. Looking for an upgrade to FF, options are: 6D + some glass or 5Dmk3 body only.
I have at the moment 7D, 24-105 F4.0L, 50 F1.4, 28 F1.8, 100 F2.8 macro and Tami 70-200 F2.8 plus APS-C stuff like Sigma 8-16 F4.5-5.6, Tokina 12-24 F4, Samyang fish 8 F3.5. Flash 430EX II plus some studio toys.

I've been shooting mostly for myself but now I'm trying to get some jobs around and it looks there is more coming on the horizon. At the moment I do weddings, events, promo, indoor and outdoor portraits some landscape for prints. While I would be quite happy with 6D for landscape, portrait and promo products shoots then anything else I do is screaming for 5Dmk3 

Guys give me please a wise advice as after a weeks of reading opinions about 6D and 5Dmk3 still can't make a decision.

Thanks

Neuro nailed this earlier.  The main (significant) difference between the cameras is the AF system.  Sensors and IQ are nearly identical.  There are other differences that are more "Pro" features, but it doesn't seem that these really apply to the OP or to you.

I wouldn't buy a used older camera, the new technology in the 6D/5DIII is superior.

9

EOS Bodies / Re: Need help. Canon 60D for sports--is it better to pony up for the 7D?

« on: March 11, 2013, 12:48:04 PM »

If you can trade in the 60D and not lose $$ I would do it.

For sports, the extra FPS and AF will definitely make a difference.  Most of the best action occurs in a sub second window.  Getting 4 or 5 shots vs 2 or 3 will give you more keepers.  My experience is that noise on higher ISO can often be fixed in post, but out of focus shots can't be salvaged - so AF matters.

If the 70D is announced in a couple of weeks  (if you can believe the rumor here on this site), the 60D is likely to lose value quickly.  The 7D will not drop in value much as it is already at the lower end of it's price curve, and I suspect it will still have advantages over the 70D in AF and FPS, & build, but not in IQ or high ISO noise.  It is hard to determine the pricing of the 70D, but Canon's trend has been to price all their new products significantly higher.

10

Canon General / Re: Since 7D MkII isn't coming soon.....

« on: February 18, 2013, 08:09:27 PM »

I am stuck replacing my broken 7D with either a new 7D or a 1Dx.

...or a fabulous pre-owned 1D Mk4.

-PW

+1 on the 1D Mk4.  I would love to have one of those

11

Canon General / Re: Since 7D MkII isn't coming soon.....

« on: February 18, 2013, 08:07:52 PM »

Thank you for all the great feedback. I think I might just pull the trigger on the 7D based on this thread. My primary use case will be my kids sports. Baseball, Football and Soccer.

7D plus the 70-300L is a sweet combo for football & Baseball, and High School Soccer.
For Jr. Soccer the fields are smaller and you are closer - I use a 24-105 f/4.

AF with 7D on both these lenses is fantastic.  I use Single point expansion AI servo and pan with the player I'm trying to capture.  You have to experiment and play with the AF settings, but it rocks once you get the hang of it and have it all set the way you want.

12

EOS Bodies / Re: Bought a 7D, considering exchanging for a 60D. What would you do?

« on: February 12, 2013, 02:13:04 AM »

I haven't used a 60D, but read a bunch about it when it was released.  7D has a much better AF system, more FPS, a CF card vs SD, and AFMA.  The 60D has the flip screen.  The cameras share the same sensor.

You asked what I would do vs. what I think you should do. If I didn't shoot sports, I personally wouldn't have spent the extra few hundred $$$ on the 7D, but gone with the 60D instead.  The extra FPS and the AF system where the main reason I went with the 7D.

I don't think people care what equipment you have, they care about the results.

13

Lenses / Re: Please help me.

« on: February 11, 2013, 06:33:45 PM »

Wow, some great responses, thanks to all.  I recently rented the 15-85 and I don't know if I have a bad copy or not, but I'm not very impressed. I find there's a lot of distortion at the wide end.  I may rent the 17-55 and see what's that about before I make my decision. I just purchased the  10-22.  For you prime people, How do you find the canon 24 usm is and the 28 1.8 vs 28 usm is? Or even the 35 usm is. I know they're not very wide but how do you feel as a day to day lens on the crop body.

Anthony

Anthony, I have a 7D.  I waited forever for the long rumored 24-70 f/2.8L to be updated with IS.  After waiting a year I pulled the trigger on the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM.  After a few days with the lens I wished I would have purchased it a year earler.  This lens was made for crop cameras and is the 24-70 FF equivalent (only it has IS).  I wouldn't hesitate to get this lens.

I have a friend that purchased a EF-S 15-85, and we were shooting at an indoor church social (flash not usable) and he couldn't get any pictures because of the higher f-stop.  Later that week he sold his 15-85 and purchased the 17-55.  For me, the wider aperture trumps the longer focal range every day.

Even if I had a FF camera, I would still keep the 17-55 as long I had my crop camera.  If I sold the crop, I would sell the lens with it.  I don't buy into the concept of limiting my lens selection to EF only in the event that some day I may end up with a FF camera.

With the 17-55 f/2.8, I don't see a reason to get any primes that are not faster than f/2.8.  So the new 24 & 28 f/2.8 IS primes dont add anything beyond what you already have with a 17-55.

14

EOS Bodies / Re: on the verge of buying, just need some final moral support

« on: February 04, 2013, 01:57:26 PM »

Not really to hijack this thread too badly, but thought I'd ask a somewhat related question.

What's the opinion of buying the 6D as a second camera to the 5D3?  For wedding or other shoots when you really need to have a backup camera? 6D or get an older used 5D2?

cayenne

6D only supports SD.  If you are using the CF slot on the 5DIII you will have to use both SD & CF.  Not really a big deal as the 5DIII support both CF and SD.  But it is something to consider if you want all one format of memory card.

15

EOS Bodies / Re: on the verge of buying, just need some final moral support

« on: February 04, 2013, 01:51:53 PM »

From what you describe as your shooting style and preferences, you do not need the 5D3. 

The big difference between the 5D III and 6D is the AF system.  If you are shooting sports or birds in flight or small children running around at play, the the 5DIII will make a difference to you.  Otherwise you are spending money you don't need to spend on a body.  The image quality of the two cameras are very similar.  Spend your money instead on lenses and other gear.

Also, the built in GPS feature of the 6D may be of interest to you with your travel photography.  The 5DIII requires an add-on for GPS.

Pull the trigger on the 6D.  Get the kit lens (24-105mm) with it.  Get a 50 f/1.8.  Get a flash.  Use that kit until you have enough experience to know for certain what you want to get beyond that.