Topics

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / EOY perspective: Past cameras you miss the most

« on: December 25, 2012, 08:25:54 AM »

Just thinkin', on a cool Christmas morning....  After reading the "progression of cameras" thread, I got a little wistful for past hardware, wished I still had it.

My top three

1.  Nikkormat FT2 with 50/2.0 Nikkor - my first good quality SLR, and I had it for years, took a lot of great pictures with it.  It was all I had, one body, one lens, so I learned to make do with what I had, and it taught me to see better, be more creative, take more photographic chances.

2.  Not on my "progression" list through oversight, but I had a little Rollei 35 with the Zeiss Tessar.  Just a fun camera.  Had a little meter battery powered meter built in, made in Germany, black... pseudo James Bond stuff.  And the imaging was VERY good... amazingly good in fact.

3. Nikonos III with the 35/2.5 W-Nikkor.   I loved that lens.  The camera was good, with limited shutter speeds and such, but the lens was fantastic.   One of the most detailed photographs I ever took was of a local hospital building, on Panatomic-X film, under-rated by about a stop and a half.  That picture really defined "detail" on the 35mm format.  I took it with a Nikon S2, with a 35/2.5 W-Nikkor.   Take that lens, put some more modern and decent coatings on it (improving it!), and you had the standard lens for the Nikonos.

And runner up - either of the Canon A-1's I owned.  Canon's entry into the digital age, first 35 SLR with "program" mode, also had 5fps drive and a nice little grip that could be detached.  Most of the FD lenses were "ok", but I never really liked their color rendition compared to the Nikkors of the day... I still liked all my FD system and abused it well, and it never let me down.

2

Software & Accessories / card reader via bluetooth?

« on: December 20, 2012, 09:12:25 PM »

Just wondering, is there any BlueTooth device that is stand alone (say, battery powered) that will read a memory card.

The upcoming situation is that I'll be shooting remotely, will have access to power, but only a tablet to transfer to.  The tablet has no usb, just a bluetooth connection (and wifi).

For that matter, is there any stand alone WiFi card readers... that would do even better than BlueTooth!

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Got my (new) 7D back from repair

« on: November 23, 2012, 04:08:47 PM »

Not tested yet...

Paperwork says - tried to adjust AF unit, ended up replacing AF unit, shutter/focus button, main dial, and CF card slot assembly.

Jeeze thats a LOT to replace!!??  Never took a "non-testing" shot with the camera... going nuts getting it working.

Problem was - it couldn't focus at either close or far without radical (-15 or +15 depending on near or far) AFMA.
Also the camera would fire bursts on single shot, and... the lenses would not "drive", they'd be out of focus, the focus light would confirm "in focus" but the shutter would not release.  Canon says thats due to a faulty CF card slot assembly.   They did a nice write up on it.

We'll see how they did in a little bit...

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Lenses / focusing accuracy/repeatability on 50mm

« on: October 30, 2012, 07:54:38 PM »

I'm not all that thrilled with the focusing accuracy or  of the 50mm f/1.4 USM.
I tend to shoot that lens at about f/2.0 most of time.  Closed just enough to control the creaminess at f/1.4.
And its a tough thing to get it to focus where I like. 

So the question is - does the 50mm f/1.2L do any better with focus?  I'd probably be shooting it wide open, or just a hair closed as well.

Thanks for the input!~

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 7D - I'm goin' nuts with focus

« on: October 24, 2012, 09:50:43 PM »

Got a 7D.  New.

It came with 2.0.3 - but I'm not going to blame the firmware.

I like to shoot fast lenses, and shoot them close to, or at wide open.

28/1.8 at f/2 - close distance - five feet or so... backfocus.  At 30 feet - front focus.
50/1.4 at f/2 - same thing
100/2.8 macro - same thing

I'm talking a shift of "-7" at close distance, to +4 at further distances, and +9 at close to infinity distances (300 feet or so).

I'm basically... going nuts here.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5dm2 multicontroller help needed (maybe)

« on: July 30, 2012, 08:52:03 PM »

The multi-controller button on my 5d2 seems to act weird - maybe - as I have nothing to compare it to.

Pressing it straight in - to bring up the display screen - sometimes it comes up, sometimes it needs a quick jab, sometimes it needs a long press, and never works unless the camera  is first "awake" via the shutter release.

I really don't know the nature of the beast.   Can somebody clue me in on this?

It seems to be "not hardware" as once I have the screen up, I can maneuver, choose, alter, save all just fine with the multi-controller.  Its only that initial activation of the screen that seems to be weird.  Yes... I'm very careful to press directly in, not at an angle...(as in maneuvering).

Thanks in advance!~

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Lenses / 20mm/2.8USM hood question

« on: July 29, 2012, 12:44:32 PM »

Hello, newbie here.... quick question

I had a 20mm/2.8 USM and hood that got stolen with some other photo gear.

I liked the lens, so naturally I replaced it.  Problem is, the new hood wont stay in place, no matter what.

The hood is the Canon one, not aftermarket.  You align the dots, give it all of 1/4 inch of twist and its "on".

I tried another Canon hood, thinking I had a bad hood.  Same thing.

So now my mind is playing tricks on me.  I seem to recall that the hood had that familiar "click" and locked in place when mounted.   Am I going nuts, or did something change?  I used my first 20mm a fair amount, but just about never took the hood off, and neither did it ever fall off.   On the new lens and hood combination, the hood rotates darn near on its own, cuts off the corners when doing so, then just falls off the lens.   Hanging my 5d2 from my side and walking about with the lens and hood, will result in the hood falling off.

Any help, greatly appreciated!~~