Messages

1

Lenses / Re: EF 24-70 F/2.8L II USM on 7D

« on: December 11, 2012, 10:36:44 AM »

I've been shooting Xmas card portraits the last 3 weeks and I always bring the people to the same park with the same equipment.
I have the 135mm on the 5DMK3 and the new 24-70mm on the 7D. I prefer the 135mm when I'm outdoors but I have the zoom just in case I need to go a little wide and a little closer.
I don't make money off my photos and I do very little post processing. I can't really tell any difference in practical image quality with the 24-70mm against my 24-105mm and 17-55mm.
Of course, I appreciate the f/2.8 over the f/4, the weight and the build/reach over the 17-55.

I'd say the 24-70mm works great on the 7D but if you're an amateur like me and would like to save some money, other zooms might fit your needs for less money.

I will say that I can tell the difference between the new 24-70mm and the prior 24-70mm. I really disliked using the older version due to its weight and it just was not responsive in low light. I definitely have more keepers wit the new one.

2

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 09, 2012, 10:43:48 AM »

I am not a professional but when I was starting I only shot in jpeg. In the beginning, you learn a lot of things and my problem was that my keeper rate was very poor. Maybe I'd keep 3/10 shots. To get more good pics, I'd just shoot more which was the wrong thing to do. As my skills improved, I got to about 70% and 80% keeper rate and could shoot less. I also realized I could further increase the rate by shooting RAW and "saving" pics by adjusting exposure and other dimensions. I find shooting RAW+jpeg works for me. Most of my shots are nice enough to share unprocessed (jpeg) and if I find I need to work on it, I've got the RAW files.

As for disk space, that should not be an issue if you are a "pro". As others have pointed out, external hard drives with TB capacity are quite affordable. I picked up a 3TB hard drive for 130 bucks and it was not on sale. I download RAW+jpeg onto my PC. I process what I need to do on RAW and save those as my final jpegs. I then copy everything to the external hard drive, but keep the jpegs for quick access on my PC.

I shot a wedding a several weeks ago as a favor a few weeks ago and one of my stipulations was that I was NOT (too much work since this was free) going to do the post process on them. Even though I thought my jpegs looked fine, I still supplied the original RAW to the photoshop expert. Having RAW gives you more options and if you are in this to make money and be successful, you need to have the best options available to you. I'm pretty sure the photoshop expert would have considered me quite unprofessional if I had given him jpeg only.

3

Canon General / Re: I have more money than I do needs... so what should be my next step?

« on: November 04, 2012, 11:33:19 AM »

You can't go wrong with the 135mm f/2 especially since you do portraits and sports indoors. I think you shoot enough to get a lot out of use it. I've had mine for a few years on Rebels and FFs and it's just great. I've also used a 1.4x extender on the 135mm and it still looks good.

I don't have a 60D but I was disappointed with my 5DMK2 when it came to action shots. I shot the LA marathon with the 7D and 5DMK2 (same lens) and the 5DMK2 just had a terrible time keeping track and focusing on the runners. I don't have any problems with the 5DMK3. You might want to borrow a MK2 and compare with 60D with action shots.

I've always invested more in glass than bodies but the MK3 was the only camera purchase I did that truly satisfied me. I remember thinking long and hard and having the feeling of dread when I hit the buy button for 3.2K a few months ago. No regrets now. I'd start saving for the MK3 too.

My favorite lens? I use the 24-105mm f/4 80% of the time on FF. I never used my 24-70mm f/2.8, it was just too heavy and bulky so I sold it. 24-105mm is not very wide on crop, I prefer the 17-55mm f/2.8 or 15-85mm on crop (if I know I need to shoot wide).

4

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Natural Progression of Camera Bodies. Type Your story below.

« on: October 31, 2012, 10:46:46 AM »

Before my little niece was born, all I had were small point and shoots and didn't think too much of photography. But All that changed.

2009 Canon XSi (still use as backup)
2010 Canon G11 (currently on permanent loan to brother)
2010 Canon 7D (still in use)
2010 Canon T2i (gave to my brother)
2011 Canon 300 HS (broke after one day, infamous lens error, returned)
2011 Canon S95 (got it after going cheap with 300 HS)
2011 Canon 5DMK2 (sold it this year)
2012 Canon 5DMK3

5DMK3 is probably the camera which has impressed me the most. I love the speed of the 7D but the image quality bothers me at the higher ISOs in low light. I liked the 5DMK2 but I still had to bring the 7D if I wanted to shoot fast action. Now I have the 5DMK3 and it does everything I want it to do. My sentimental favorite is the Canon XSi. I just like the colors that come out of it. I used it as a backup to a backup on a wedding shoot two weeks ago. I mounted a 100mm f/2 on it and shot at 5:30 pm (light was perfect). Nobody could tell the difference between the XSi/100mm f/2 and the 5DMK3/135mm f/2 pics.

5

Canon General / Re: Why you should take your camera to family Weddings

« on: October 25, 2012, 03:56:17 PM »

I have to admit, I feel for both sides. The pro on his/her job, and the friend/relative wanting to capture the best moments. I'm not a pro but I shot my first wedding this Saturday. The situation was such: the wedding party's hired/committed photographer canceled a week prior leaving the bride and groom in a bind. They asked my cousin if she could shoot as a favor. My cousin readily agreed and said she'll do it as her wedding gift (which was very generous, I thought). My cousin doesn't have wedding photography experience nor did she have the enough gear so she asked me for help, advice and equipment.

I was willing to give her tips (again, I'm just an amateur), loan her equipment but I was really concerned that she might not produce the "great" (suitable for framing) photos everybody usually expects from the photographer so I said I'll shoot the wedding with her just so we can double our chances.

Needless to say, it was very difficult. Thankfully, I read through all your posts and advice on wedding shoots and consulted many books and albums on how to shoot a wedding. But yes, many of the guests did block our paths (walking the aisle, cake cutting, etc.) and us noobs obviously didn't have hands-on experience on proper positioning and jockeying for the primo spots. Also when doing group shots, many of the subjects were looking at the other cameras (not ours), so we have group photos where all the eyes are askew. We quickly learned to bark instructions and do hand movements to direct them where they should be looking at. I would say guests with other cameras do create a distraction and are obstacles for the designated photographer.

However, I also feel that since my cousin and I did this as a favor, we also feel that as non-pros we also did a very good job in producing the shots, and had we been guests with SLRs, we probably would've made a good showing shooting from our seats (except of course we'd be annoying to other guests).

In the end, the bride and groom were very happy to receive very great photos of themselves at no cost to them. My cousin was happy to have come through and her wedding gift was much appreciated. And I was happy that my cousin was able to deliver what was promised. My reward? Chicken or Beef.

P.S. I refused to do any post-processing and said that somebody else can do the post-processing.

6

Lenses / Re: CORRUPTED! Firmware Version 1.2.0 for EF 40mm pancake

« on: August 22, 2012, 12:33:12 PM »

All I did was verify the firmware version of my camera, copied the firmware file to an SD card (formatted in the camera) and followed the rest of the instructions.

This may be a key piece of information here. Have others that have had this issue used the SD card or the CF card?
For those that were able to do the upgrade what did you use?

Additional information from my upgrade:
1) I had a non-Canon battery (Maximal)
2) My battery charge was 1 bar (didn't pay attention to it), at end of upgrade, my battery indicator was blinking

The only reason I used the SD card is because the SD card in the slot didn't have any pics. My 40mm lens was preordered so I got it soon after it was in stock. As others have speculated, it may be that some lenses do not have this problem. I never had the physical problem of having to reset the lens. It always worked fine for me but then again, I pack and use my stuff very gingerly so I may not have had the correct conditions for the problem.

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Lenses / Re: CORRUPTED! Firmware Version 1.2.0 for EF 40mm pancake

« on: August 22, 2012, 02:01:05 AM »

I use this site almost everyday and find it very useful, especially the announcements and links on firmware updates. I registered so I can report that it was very easy to update the 40mm lens on my 5DMK3, and lens and camera are working just fine.

All I did was verify the firmware version of my camera, copied the firmware file to an SD card (formatted in the camera) and followed the rest of the instructions.

BTW, many thanks to the posters here who provide many informative posts and great advice.