Messages

1

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

« on: May 20, 2013, 09:24:22 PM »

I have a 135L that is fun to use, but I can't pick out the 135L images from the 85/1.8 images without cheating.

The way I can tell the difference between the 85/1.8 and the 135/2 is the bokeh.  The 85's bokeh is a teeny tiny itsy bit nervous where as the 135's is smooth as butter.

That said, I love the 85/1.8; it's a true gem.

2

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF135mm f/2L USM

« on: May 13, 2013, 04:29:56 PM »

Not a good photo but: bokeh!



I love how this lens can be so sharp but render so softly at the same time.

3

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: May 05, 2013, 08:35:32 PM »

One more in the same vein.  10 sec. exposure (obviously!) and second curtain sync.

Nicely executed.  Photography done right

Seriously nice! Fantastic!

Thanks! Initially, I just wanted a straight lume shot with no motion but I accidentally wound the watch while setting it up so the plan changed. It turned out a bit better than I might have hoped because you can actually see the individual beats of the chrono hand.

4

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: May 05, 2013, 12:57:39 AM »

One more in the same vein.  10 sec. exposure (obviously!) and second curtain sync.

5

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS USM

« on: May 03, 2013, 03:52:18 PM »

I am thinking about getting this lens. My question though for those of you who have it, concerns the tripod ring. Did you purchase one? Or do you attach your tripod to the body. Canon selling the tripod ring for an additional 300 bucks, sort of negates the cost advantage this lens has over the 100-400.

Where are you seeing that price?  It's $170 at B&H.  Still stupid expensive but not $300!

I have the ring as I shoot off of a monopod quite a bit and everything balances better that way.  I bought a cheap eBay knockoff first but regretted it almost immediately.  The Canon ring is MUCH better.

6

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5DMK3 new firmware - Silent shooting in "one shot" is now very loud???

« on: May 03, 2013, 10:10:31 AM »

I want to fix the focus performance with a speedlite AF-assist beam but do not want to get new problems.  So has anybody else seen issues with the new firmware?

I've had no issues with it but I have not used it a ton.  AF-assist speed is WAY up.  Much improved. 

7

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: May 03, 2013, 09:41:29 AM »

A little in-camera multiple exposure.



One shot ISO 1600, f/11, 30 seconds for the night sights.  One shot 1/200, f/11 with flash (can't remember the power off the top of my head) for the rest.  Just a bit of standard adjustments in LR, contrast, NR, sharpness, plus de-saturation of blues as my backdrop can sometimes turn a bit blue under flash lighting.

I'm sure I could have done this with one long exposure + flash but I had never used the multiple exposure feature of my 5D3 and wanted to play with it a bit

8

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: May 02, 2013, 12:48:22 PM »

the other niceties might be; bokeh, IS, internal focusing (lens stays the same length), weather sealing etc were enough for me to get the L.

I'm pretty sure the non-L focuses internally as well.

9

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

« on: May 02, 2013, 11:43:57 AM »

The Magnolias are out and close-ups with UWAs is a favorite undertaking of mine.

10

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: May 01, 2013, 09:31:46 PM »

Magnolias in bloom



100% crop

11

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

« on: April 15, 2013, 09:25:44 PM »

12

Lenses / Re: 135mm vs. 100mm macro

« on: April 15, 2013, 09:20:31 PM »

I have them both as well.  As said above, they're different lenses and I use them for different purposes.  I tend to use the 135 for general photography and the 100L in studio (I don't do portraits).

13

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 7D MKII USB 3.0 very important

« on: February 21, 2013, 10:47:50 AM »

RE: PoE via GigE, according to Wikipedia it provides maximum of 25.5 Watts with up to 57 volts at 600 mAmp. Not sure how that corresponds to the power draw of a 5d3/1DX type camera. Other thing to think about though, is that they then need to add the charging circuit stuff into the camera, which adds a bit of complexity and cost to the camera. Not saying it's a lot, but it's something more to add. Maybe use PoE as an alternate power source alongside the battery.

PoE for tethered shooting is super interesting.  The LP-E6 battery of the 5D3 is 7.2V and 1800 mAh.  This means it's approx. 13 watt hours.  From what I can see, since I don't really shoot video myself, battery life is about 90 minutes of video.  Which means the camera draws somewhere around 8.7 watts for video.

So, the 5D3 for video would be no problem for PoE.  Shotoing stills with AF and IS shouldn't be a problem either as there's quite a bit of room there as well.

Now, the 1DX, I don't know.  It uses a 11.1 V battery @ 2200 mAh so it is 24.42 watt hours. I can't find any stats for the 1DX and video but it would probably be OK as well.

Now, charging and using the camera at the same time may be too much for PoE but just for use for external power and tethered shooting makes a lot of sense.

14

Canon General / Re: Why did you choose Canon?

« on: January 30, 2013, 11:29:11 AM »

I've been involved with photography since I was very young.  My father was a student of Walker Evans and did some nice work on his own.  The first real camera I used was his old Leica M2 with a 35mm Summarit.  After that, he let me use his Nikon F3 with a 35/2 AIS lens.  When it came time that I was old enough to have my own "real" camera (about 1996--I had had many P&Ss up to this point--who else remembers Disc film?),  couldn't justify the additional price of an N90s over an EOS A2 so I went with Canon.  At that time, Canon was the clear leader in AF performance and that was more important to me than the advantage Nikon held with better TTL flash performance.  The first lens I bought for that A2 other than the 28-105 kit lens was the 35/2 (see a pattern here?).  I still own both and use the 35/2 today but I've pretty much retired the 28-105 though it still works fine.

Not too long after I bought that A2, the digital revolution started.  But I decided to wait it out a bit, inhaling more fixer fumes in the darkroom until things settled a bit, especially since I knew I wanted a full frame sensor, being a fan of the wider end of the focal length range, not to mention better DR, DoF considerations, and low light performance.  I was getting results in the darkroom which were very pleasing to me and I didn't want to take a step back with my equipment.

So, several years go past and the 5D Mark II is released.  Between that and the D700, it was pretty much a no brainer for me, especially considering the EF glass I already owned and the fact that I could pick up the 5D2 in the store and do everything, the controls were so similar to my A2.

So, my journey with Canon started with cost/feature considerations and then I kept with it due to features/specifications/ergos.

15

Lens Gallery / Re: Canon EF135mm f/2L USM

« on: January 09, 2013, 04:00:43 PM »

Great portrait lens as well

Very nice!  Very Karsh-ish.  Even though I'm obviously looking at it on a monitor, it "feels" like it was printed on fiber based paper!

I assume this was split toned?  If so, would you be willing to share your settings?