Topics

1

EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5d mk iii help shooting an owl flying display

« on: May 09, 2013, 03:26:40 AM »

I'm going to an owl flying display next week with my 5d3 and 70-200 2.8 ii.
They will be reasonably close so I don't need anything longer than 200mm.

I need some help/advice on what settings to use, particularly the af settings.

It will be under tree cover with mixed lighting so raw Is a must.  I was thinking keep the aperture between 2.8 and 5.6 and aim for a shutter of around 1/1000 to freeze them in flight.

The owls will be flying side to side and straight at me.

Any ideas for the af settings or anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance.

2

Software & Accessories / Kata revolver

« on: May 02, 2013, 01:02:14 PM »

Does anyone use the new kata revolver bag?

I kinda like the idea of being able to fit 4 primes and a tele and still have easy access plus being able to fit 1 body plus lens.

Any views or opinions?

I'm interested in fitting in a canon 85 1.2 but not sure if it will fit in the "chambers". Anyone know what the largest lens it can fit? Or the internal chamber dimensions?

Can you get another body in the top with no lens attached?

Anyone got any pics showing the chamber with lens in?

Thanks for All responses in advanced.

3

Lenses / Samyang 8mm fisheye on 1.6 crop vs 14mm on full frame

« on: April 04, 2013, 05:43:20 PM »

Has anyone ever done a Comparison of the samyang 8mm fisheye on 1.6 crop vs samyang 14mm on full frame?

4

Lenses / canon 24L 1.4 ii lemon

« on: March 29, 2013, 06:53:31 AM »

I bought a new canon 24l 1.4 ii last week and found the AF to be wildly inaccurate.

AFMA adjustment of +15 made it better but I still found at anything further away than 50cm it was very hit and miss.

I'm going to send it back for a refund. but I'm wondering if I just got a lemon, or are all canon 24L 1.4 ii like this?
Anyone experience anything similar?

THanks
Alex

5

Lenses / New wide angle lens for FF

« on: March 14, 2013, 05:07:11 AM »

I'm looking for a new wide angle lens for 5dmkiii for landscapes.

I'm selling a sigma 24 70 hsm because generally I find its not sharp enough and the af is slow. I have 35, 50 and 85 covered by wide aperture primes so I'm not to bothered with the zoom anymore either.

The options I'm considering are

Canon 16 35 f2.8 ii
Canon 24 f1.4 ii

Any thoughts on these two lenses? Or any other ideas to cover wide angle landscapes?

Thanks
Alex

6

Canon General / crap portraits of me

« on: March 09, 2013, 06:37:13 PM »

I have a 5d3 and I do my best to take good shots of my family when we're out and about on holiday, but when it comes to photos of me no matter what instruction I give, everyone takes crap shots that are either blurred (Because they didn't hold the camera steady enough) or completely OOF because the camera picked an AF point which wasn't my face and they couldn't correct it.

I want to get some nice shots of me when on holiday (that aren't @ f11), what can I do to make it easier for people to use my 5d3?

7

Lenses / Addicted to dof

« on: March 06, 2013, 02:56:40 AM »

Hi all.

I have the canon 50mm 1.4 an the canon 85mm 1.8 using on my 5d3.

I'm constantly on a quest for shallower dof. I do a lot of street photography.


My hesitations on upgrading to the L lenses are (other than cost):

Will I actually see a noticeable difference in dof?
The 50mmL has a pronounced focus shift narrower than f2.
The 85mm 1.2. is slower af than the 1.8

My question is will I see much difference between 1.4 and 1.2 @ 50mm and 1.8 and 1.2 at 85mm?
Also, does anyone know if the sigma 85 is any good? And similarly is it worth going from 85mm 1.8 to 85mm 1.4?

8

Lighting / 2 flash setup advice

« on: February 25, 2013, 03:34:58 AM »

Hi

I've been dabbling in a 2 flash setup using pixel king flash triggers a canon 580 ex ii and 430ex ii.

My question is when I set it to 1 group ettl. Wil both flashes fire equal power even though the 580 is more powerful? 

Similarly when using ratios, do I have to adjust my ratio myself to account for the 580 being stronger? 

Many thanks.
Alex

9

Lenses / Sigma 120 400 vs sigma 120 300 os 2012 + 1.4tc

« on: February 17, 2013, 05:16:05 AM »

I have a sigma 120 400 which is an ok tele for wildlife shots. But I find it sucks in low light. The af is too slow and hints terribly.

I'm interested in last years sigma 120 300 os as I already have a canon 1.4tc mk ii. Which would yield a 400mm f4.

Does anyone know how these two lenses compare on 5d mk iii (or otherwise)? I.e 120-400 vs 120-300+tc.

I'm interested in af speed, low light capability (ie covered woodland) and iq primarily but I've always found the colour cast on sigma 120400 to not be very accurate (more of a green tinge).

Any thoughts?

10

Software & Accessories / RAW Processing and what the hell is a DNG

« on: January 23, 2013, 09:20:38 AM »

I shoot with 7d and 60d generally always in RAW.

My process generally follows:

Load RAWs into lightroom
Process with standard exposure/colour adjustments
save in lightroom and export as JPEG for web publish.

Sometimes when I need to edit further I:

Open into PS for any masking/layering.
Save as TIFF to preserve the layers.
reimport backinto lightroom and export as JPEG.

I've seen people converting to DNG rather than process the raw files but I don't know why?

also when I import RAWs into lightroom, the pictures start off punchy and vibrant (like the JPEG preview on camera), and then when it renders they go all soft, mushy, lack contrast and the colours (particularly reds) become quite weak. Am I doing something wrong? I've never really touched "camera calibration" in lightroom, should I be exploting some features in there?

Thanks for your time

11

Lenses / IS blurry pictures

« on: January 18, 2013, 02:53:05 AM »

I've been shooting with canon 7d and 17 55 is2.8 for a while and find that At slow shutter speeds it definitely improves hit rate but at faster shutter speeds IS actually makes my shots more blurred, is that normal? Or am I doing something wrong?

12

EOS Bodies - For Stills / should I sell my 7d?

« on: December 30, 2012, 06:35:38 PM »

Hello all!

I've owned a 7d for 3 years. I also bought a 60d to replace my 7d for a month whilst it was being repaired earlier last this year. I've loved having 2 bodies; especially with the flippy 60s screen.

I've 99% convinced myself to go fullfframe with a 5d mk iii. I definately want to keep my 60d as I have some EFS lenses that I don't want to get rid of and also its compact and I find the flippy screen useful. but I find the servo on 60d pants.

My question is, whether to get rid of and trade in my 7d? I'm buying a 5d for shallower dof for street work, but I go to a lot of zoos and I'm wondering whether the 5dmk III will be enough speed (FPS) and reach for zoos and birds in flight.

I've been quoted £540 trade in for my 7d against a 5d mk iii which is appealing; but I can scrape that together if I need to (credit cards are brilliant!).

I have the following lenses.

sigma 1020 (EFS only)
canon 1755 (EFS only)
sigma 30 1.4 (EFS only)
canon 50 1.4
canon 85 1.8
canon 70 200 2.8
sigma 120 400 5.6
sigma 24 70
canon 100 macro

thanks for your time.
Alex

13

Lenses / Fisheye for crop sensor

« on: September 28, 2012, 07:20:01 PM »

I'm thinking of getting a fisheye for my 7d.

Basically I want to go as wide as possible but without having the heavy vignetting/black circle some fisheye lenses cast in the corners. (I already have a 10-20 for normal wide)

I'm only familiar with the samyang 8mm (which is 167 degrees on canon crop), but the manual-ness is putting me off. What are the best other options that get as close to 180 degrees on canon crop?