Messages

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mk III with 50mm f/1.8 II - bad images?

« on: June 14, 2013, 09:34:18 AM »

as others have noted, your primary problem is you are using bad light. great photographers get great results first and foremost because they find/create good lighting conditions. even the best camera and lens will give crappy results in crappy light.

that being said, the 50mm 1.8 (while being a great budget lens) is pretty lackluster when compared to the best lenses canon has to offer. i have used it in good available light and studio lighting and i personally dont find its rendering of color or contrast to be sufficient. its sharpness also falls short for my preferences. some may find it perfectly suitable but to a more discerning eye it will fall short.

the lens is not your biggest problem though. you need to learn to identify what great light is first and understand how to get the best results once you have good light to work with. i would not run out yet and buy speedlights as others have suggested though. if you dont know what good available light is yet you are just as likely to produce bad results with speedlights.

i would suggest doing two things first. one, shoot in bright shade and two, shoot with a large window to the side of your subject while placing a piece of white foamboard close to the subject on the opposite side. these are basic lighting scenarios you should become familiar with first before running off and dumping money into strobe lighting.

after that, you need to understand how to post the images to pull the best results out of them without overdoing it. do not expect your images to match what you have seen from pros published in magazines straight out of your camera. top pros consider images straight out of camera as "digital negatives" in that the information has been recorded but needs to be processed to really make the image sing (so to speak). adjustments should be subtle if you got the lighting and exposure correct but a small amount of tweaking can still make a big difference in the final product.

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Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe to Stop Making Packaged Software

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:58:18 PM »

The "Eliminate the mandatory Creative Cloud subscription model petition" now has over 29,500 supporters

https://www.change.org/petitions/adobe-systems-incorporated-eliminate-the-mandatory-creative-cloud-subscription-model

signed

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Reviews / Re: Incapable of posting to the adorama thread money still not returned

« on: June 11, 2013, 04:53:46 PM »

you seem to not want to acknowledge that adorama is not culpable in this matter. in fact i think them refusing the wire transfer gives me peace of mind that they are dilligent in their practices against fraud.

i'm not suggesting that your attempted purchase was fraudulent, but in all my online transactions i have had to have the address associated with my bank account match the address that i am receiving the bill. its a security measure that i appreciate as a consumer. no address associated with a wire transfer that large would send up red flags immediately in my mind. they did the right thing in the grand scheme of things.

that being said...does this continue to be an appropriate thread for this forum? i'm not so sure.

you need to stop wasting your efforts on Adorama and Helen and put all your efforts into hammering your bank.

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Landscape / Re: How would you edit this?

« on: June 09, 2013, 10:57:27 PM »

i wouldn't edit it as the focus missed. i would curse under my breath and then check my calendar for when i could go shoot again.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1D X White Balance Bug NOW WITH SAMPLES...

« on: June 09, 2013, 12:06:31 AM »

i have experienced this phenomenon using the 5d2 in conjunction with DynaLites and pocket wizards during VERY meticulously controlled before and after shots for QVC clinical trials.

we use the same heads with the same modifiers (each on their assigned head) with all light positions tape measured and power settings recorded. same camera and lens shooting tethered through canon utility using the Kelvin WB setting. shots are typically a series of 3 shots over the course of 1 to 2 months. always against a white seamless. we measure and record all lighting/modifier/camera positions every time so that each shoot is as identical as we can possibly get them.

all shots are scrutinized by the legal department and must be identical in lighting or they get bounced and the client loses the ability to use the photos to promote whatever product they are pushing on air. 

under these controlled circumstances i have occasionally seen color shifts during same day shooting. it is a mystery to me as well but we deal with it by correcting the Raws in ACR. i would chalk it up to either inconsistent light output or just the nature of how the sensor works. it would be nice if the sensor performed exactly the same every shot for tens of thousands of consecutive shots but it is more likely that on occasion there could be a slight inconsistency. such is life...perfection is elusive if not impossible to achieve. 

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Lenses / Re: What Portrait Lens Should I Get Next? 24-70L/70-200L/85L?

« on: June 08, 2013, 04:03:18 PM »

The best zoom I have ever used is the 24-105, so I guess I feel a hint of skepticism regarding their performance versus primes.

i have always felt this lens was overrated. even the 24-70mm V1 was better than it and anytime i ran across a colleague who had the 24-105 i would let them take the 24-70 for a spin and they always preferred it better.

the new 24-70mm F2.8 seems to be pretty remarkable in its quality. i dont have it yet but i have seen plenty of reviews and shots that support this.

but the 70-200mm F2.8 IS 2 seems to be equally remarkable and again broadens your coverage by quite a bit.

Fast Primes are a different animal....they take more patience to work with. if you don't have them dialed in and you don't shoot appropriately with them wide open they can miss badly. can lead to alot of frustration especially with a subpar focusing system. BUT...when they do hit at F2.0 or wider they are simply stunning.

the 70-200 is easier to work with and can provide that stunning quality even if it is just shy of that 2.0 and wider look.

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Lenses / Re: What Portrait Lens Should I Get Next? 24-70L/70-200L/85L?

« on: June 08, 2013, 09:35:53 AM »

from a focal range point of view the only lens that adds to what you already mentioned is the 70-200mm.

the 24-70mm would definitely outclass your 24-105 and be much sharper but it wouldn't really offer too much of a new point of view for you. the 85mm from what i have seen is a spectacular lens but i think you can still get a look in a similar ballpark using the 50mm you already have.

the 70-200mm is also a very special lens but it offers great versatility. i would get that one if i were you.

if i were starting from scratch the two lenses i would get first are the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm so that i had a good range across focal lengths with the highest quality available for zoom lenses. i would then start addressing lenses for those special eye catching looks that you can get in fast primes. finally i would get specialty lenses such as a 15mm fisheye or the 100mm macro.

get coverage first then go for "the look" then go specialty. my 2 cents.   

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Canon General / Re: Canon service center

« on: June 07, 2013, 10:56:28 PM »

never ever ever let anyone else (especially airline personnel) handle your cameras or lenses.

ever.

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Technical Support / Re: 5D Mk III Killed 2 CF cards while shooting video

« on: June 07, 2013, 03:31:17 PM »

i just had a conversation with the owner of the Apple repair shop in my area about storage drives, specifically SSD and Flash storage. it was mostly about the benefits of moving to SSD or Fusion drives for my Desktop but right at the end i asked about CF cards being flash storage.

as he explained it to me, the drawbacks of flash storage is at a certain point they cant be written over and they fail. i forget how many cycles he said but he did specifically say that it is a much bigger concern for video than for still photography because of the shear amount of data that is used in a shorter period of time. smaller cards and older cards can cause some failure issues for video. he said when they fail they fail suddenly and without symptoms and often the data is irretrievable. or at least that is how my paranoid driven mind heard it.

now, i do not shoot video and only concern myself with still needs nor do i profess to be very knowledgeable about all the vagaries of electronics/computing but i would not entirely assume there isn't an issue with your card usage.

i would, if i were you, invest in high end cards that are more than big enough to handle video needs and rotate cards out after a certain amount of usage. i would also eliminate variables in my cards...keep the same brand, same size, and same speed cards.

i'm not suggesting that it might not be the camera but i certainly wouldn't rule out a card issue at this point. eliminating variables will help discover what the problem is. maybe send the cards into canon as well just to get their thoughts as well as google the issues concerning the brand, size, and speed of the cards used. you may also take the cards to a computer repair shop in your area and see if they can test the cards to see what the failure may have been.

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Lenses / Re: $1550 for a used 85L f1.2 II

« on: June 06, 2013, 11:12:52 AM »

there is a code stamped on the mount of canon lenses that will give you the date of manufacture.

use this site to decipher the code:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Lens-Aging.aspx

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Reviews / Re: what utter crap this is.... samyang 24mm TS

« on: June 03, 2013, 05:17:28 PM »

love my canon 24mm TS II for wedding photos with narrow DOF.
and for landscape photos with as much DOF as i can get.

don´t limit yourself because you think a lens is made for a specific purpose

maybe i mispoke...i almost never have used it wider than F11. i've done the tilted wedding shot with the 24mm and i personally didnt find it all that rewarding given what the subject was so i stopped doing it. it was more of a gimmick in my mind than "creative". my cousin uses the 45mm TS during the portrait portion of a wedding and i find that much more of a "creative" use of TS. but whatever...to each his own.

Isn't one of the possible application that you can (apparently) have a large DOF with wider apertures? Foreground to background sharp without having to stop down to f/11 or higher?

very true but at some point you reach diminishing returns. if the goal is to maximize DOF through tilting then you are not likely to push it wide open as this would defeat the purpose. you are more likely to push it to F8 and tilt than to go wide open. but sure, i guess there are "creative" moments where you would want wide open with a maximum tilt....but not to maximize your DOF.

my point was clearly missed. the lens is designed for architectural and landscape photography which traditionally requires large DOF. is it such a stretch to imagine Samyung kept costs down by designing a lens that would fulfill the traditional needs of this genre of photography and bypass any IQ on the wide open end?

if you already have a 24mm TS II then why is this of concern to you? do people really expect a 3rd party 900.00 lens to match up with one of the best canon lenses ever made at a price point of 2300.00? seriously...common sense would suggest no. to me this is no surprise and really very little concern.

mountains are being made of molehills

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Reviews / Re: what utter crap this is.... samyang 24mm TS

« on: June 03, 2013, 03:53:18 PM »

I have never used my 24 tse wider than F11 and can't really imagine a need to so if you are budget minded and need to go with the samyung over the canon I'm not sure if this is much of an issue.

It's a very specialized lens, designed for architectural purposes which require large depths of field. If your needs are more general purpose the the 24mm prime is much more appropriate.

Bottom line is you get what you pay for. Go cheap and it won't be top quality. Another route is a used 24mm ts version 1. I picked one up last year for 800.00 to hold me over til I can afford the version 2. It's still a serviceable lens.

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Canon General / Re: What else should I have in my armour?

« on: May 31, 2013, 10:07:23 AM »

how much money do you have to spend? i could drop $30,000 of your money based on the info you provided.

studio work is a very expansive proposition in terms of gear acquisition. off the top of my head....

4-5 studio strobes
radio transmitters/receivers
various light modifiers (boxes, strips, umbrellas, grids) + flags, scrims, and bounces
various light stands + grips
various backgrounds
shooting table
laptop or desktop for shooting tethered
a 2nd camera
replacement for the 18-55mm
2 or 3 speedlights

specific lighting setups require certain gear. being as open ended as you were in your first post doesnt narrow it down enough to suggest anything specific.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Do I need a light meter? Can I use Android or iPhone??

« on: May 31, 2013, 09:36:22 AM »

that video demonstrates working the ratios between multiple strobes in a studio set up. your cameras meter is near useless if you want to approach working your exposure like that. if you have the experience with meters and other such things like zone system then you can get by without a meter but if you want to maintain exact control over exposure while using multiple lights in a studio then meters are still necessary.

the video (as most online instructional videos do) assumes the viewer already understands how meters work. to use a meter to its full effect you really need to understand a couple of different things.

first, all meters measure light and give readings for middle grey (or what is sometimes called 18% grey). middle grey is the 5th zone in a 10 step grey scale which represents 10 equal steps from pure white to pure black. zone 5 (middle grey) is the average between pure white and pure black.

second, there are two types of meters...reflective meters and incident meters. reflective meters measure light bouncing off a subject while incident meters measure light falling on a subject. understanding the differences between how these two types of meters work is critical. reflective metering can be problematic at times because light reacts differently depending upon what subject it is bouncing off of. if you meter a white wall with a reflective meter and shoot it at the suggested settings you will get a grey wall. if you meter a black wall and shoot it at the suggested settings you will again get a grey wall. different subject tones will absorb different amounts of the light falling on it (thus giving us the perception of the wall being white or black) but a meter will always try to measure for middle grey, regardless of what the tone the subject is. incident meters forgo the problem of different tones absorbing light differently by measure the amount of light falling on the subject. measure a white wall with an incident meter and shoot at the suggested settings and you get a white wall. do the same with a black wall and you get a black wall.

additionally, reflective meters have several different ways that they will measure light coming through the lens. you will have to refer to your camera system to see the different modes available to you but they generally fall into the following categories:

evaluative: typically measures the entire scene and averages it out
center weighted: typically measures only a portion of the frame in the center and averages that portion
spot: only measures a small single spot in the center of the scene

each of these methods have their advantages and drawbacks depending on the tones present in the scene and the nature of the light you are trying to shoot in. to use these modes effectively you really need to have a very good understanding of different qualities of light and when a certain type of light combined with certain subjects will fool the meter and give less than ideal results. watching videos online or visiting forums wont provide this knowledge...only lots of shooting in various circumstances will provide the understanding you need.

finally, meters are just a tool to gather information to help you decide what your exposure settings should be. they do not tell you correct exposure. exposure is essentially a creative expression and no camera or meter (or electronic device) is capable of making creative decisions...that can only be done by a person.

learn how your camera's meter works by shooting the heck out of it in different available light scenarios. this will strengthen your understanding of light and will inform you of how to approach different studio lighting setups. once you are in studio, an incident meter will be needed if you wish to maintain complete control over all your lights.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Do I need a light meter? Can I use Android or iPhone??

« on: May 30, 2013, 08:26:30 PM »

if you dont know what your in camera light meter is then you shouldnt be buying a hand held meter. know how to use your current gear before buying new gear to fix problems you arent even aware of yet.

that being said....

incident meters are typically far more accurate than reflective meters. reflective meters can be fooled, incident meters will read exactly what the light is doing (assuming you use it correctly).

digital has made it easier to make available light exposures doing adjustments based on preview or histogram displays. i still find incident meters very useful in studio lighting scenarios if you are trying to fine tune the ratios of strobes. in camera meters cannot help with this technique and even tethered shooting will only offer the opportunity to "guess" at what your ratios are doing. a hand held incident meter is still very useful (and a time saver) for situations like this.

but again...if you don't know what your in camera meter is or how it works you are likely putting the proverbial cart in front of the horse by buying a hand held meter.