Messages

1

Lenses / Re: Best lens for capturing the Milky Way?

« on: April 28, 2013, 09:56:26 PM »

Get the 24mm f/1.4L II lens.

That lens has terrible coma for star shots. Please see:
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=13722.msg247717#msg247717

More:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50949062
http://www.lenstip.com/245.7-Lens_review-Canon_EF_24_mm_f_1.4L_II_USM_Coma_and_astigmatism.html
http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.com/2013/02/overcoming-coma-aberration-part-2.html

2

5D MK III Sample Images / Re: 5D III High ISO Milky Way at Badlands, 14mm F2.8

« on: April 14, 2013, 01:49:06 PM »

April 2013 folks posting here may not have noticed that the OP is April 2012, which I only just noticed myself. Nonetheless, it is an awesome set, and I enjoyed the read very much too -- felt like I was there! Great stuff.

Mike subsequently did get to the Devil's Tower in September 2012, mentioned as a goal in the April set, which is also fun:
http://www.extremeinstability.com/2012-9-22.htm

I concur with his equipment findings too -- such as the super-annoying magnify feature on the 5D3 not having the nice +/- buttons that I have on my 7D (and apparently even on some Rebels), and the super-crappy coma on the 24mm f/1.4L II making it useless for starfields. I'm on Samyangs (aka Bower, Rokinon) for 24mm and 14mm now for the same reasons.

He seems to be doing well in general, though I have no affiliation, etc.:
http://www.extremeinstability.com/

3

Software & Accessories / Re: FoCal 1.8.1 Released for Windows and Mac

« on: April 13, 2013, 01:56:34 PM »

Also for those of you having inconsistent or poor results, more than 10eV is the key.  A single 500w halogen work lamp wasn't bright enough for me indoors, I had to use 2 to get anywhere near consistent results.

+1 on enough light. I have generally worked below 10, but I agree you need as much as possible, and yes, I needed two lamps too. Also I found it was critical to cover up the camera viewfinder (as the manual says). Forgetting that, I often didn't even see a curve.

I like Reikan FoCal very much for the peace of mind. Its plots (pro version at least) are very believable. I sleep well at nights now. :-)

4

Reviews / Re: Review - EF 24 f/1.4L II

« on: March 23, 2013, 01:43:23 AM »

I'd hoped to use the fastness of the 24 for night sky stuff but the coma is so extreme it rendered it useless for that and needed stopped to at least F2.8 anyway.

This needs emphasizing. This lens is *terrible* for starfield astronomy due to coma. Justin's review is actually very misleading on this -- and I'm fine with the rest of the review. He admits "...I haven’t explored this type of work myself...".

I try to get the best equipment and am keen on astrophotography. I thought "the coma can't be that bad; people must be pixel-peeping; it's an L lens!". I was very wrong.

Please see:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50949062
http://www.lenstip.com/245.7-Lens_review-Canon_EF_24_mm_f_1.4L_II_USM_Coma_and_astigmatism.html
http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.com/2013/02/overcoming-coma-aberration-part-2.html

5

Software & Accessories / Re: will Nik and OnOne co-exist in Lightroom 4?

« on: March 12, 2013, 01:41:12 AM »

I have the OnOne suite and Nik Viveza 2 installed in Lightroom 4.3 on a Win7 64-bit  machine...both show  up in the Photo\Edit In\ list

+1, but also for the whole Nik suite too. No issues.

6

Canon General / Re: your scariest photography moment?

« on: March 11, 2013, 02:50:42 AM »

Side of a lake, bag on a slope, tipped over, opened, 24mm f/1.4L II rolled out, all in slow motion, off it went, comedy-style, down to the waterline...plop! :-/

$312.08 repair charge for cleaning and water damage.

Maybe I got off lightly!

7

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 and FoCal errors

« on: January 04, 2013, 01:24:46 AM »

This may be irrelevant to the OP, and I've not seen that error on my setup with 5D3 on Focal v1.6.0 and multiple lenses (have also used for 5D2 and 7D), but a usage tip that I often forget: you must cover the camera eyepiece as you would for a long exposure photo. If I don't do this, I get "flat" curves and test runs that don't complete. Cover it, and I get nice Gaussians.

8

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Newcomer looking for budget wildlife equipment

« on: December 28, 2012, 04:57:24 PM »

rpt is right to ask for more specifics, but in the general case, on a tight budget, +1 to boateggs for an SX here. Seriously, it has all sorts of advantages, for little outlay. Good to get started; good to keep around for many purposes, until funds/insanity prevail.

I have spent ridiculous sums on my wildlife set-up over the years. Yet my favorite dragonfly shot, for example, was taken on a 2005-era Canon S2 IS -- that time's equivalent to the SX50 today. 432mm lens equivalent at max zoom, hand-held, from an inflatable boat.

http://500px.com/photo/3096816

9

Lenses / Re: Fellow stargazers & nighttime landscape loners!

« on: December 19, 2012, 03:01:53 AM »

People may be interested in another example of what the AstroTrac TT320X AG (or any decent tracker) can do once you have aligned it reasonably well, using regular DSLR equipment (ok, quite good equipment).

Here's an example on a 5D2 with 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II at 200mm, 30% crop -- the Andromeda galaxy.
http://500px.com/photo/13988281

The processing story for this is here: http://500px.com/dswtan/stories/63249/andromeda-story

10

Lenses / Re: Fellow stargazers & nighttime landscape loners!

« on: December 19, 2012, 02:49:34 AM »

Zeiss 21mm might be my fave now.  The Canon 24L II proved pretty pointless for night sky more open than F2.8 anyway.  Coma extends well into the photo, bad coma, so it tends to make it a little pointless for that added F1.4 to F2.8 range it would allow at night.

I agree. Same experience with the 24L II, even though I call it my "astronomy lens", which was its original justification. The coma on stars is very disappointing, especially below f/2.8. My checkbook cries to hear the Zeiss is better!

11

Lenses / Re: Fellow stargazers & nighttime landscape loners!

« on: December 19, 2012, 02:43:02 AM »

[http://www.vixenoptics.com/mounts/polarie.html

nice! do you know if that will work in the southern hemisphere? how do you align in the southern hemisphere anyway?

Works in both hemispheres. To read more, the user manual is online: http://www.vixenoptics.com/PDF/POLARIE%20Manual.pdf

The Polarie is an attractive device, but personally I needed more load-carrying capacity for the Venus transit earlier this year, so I have the AstroTrac TT320X AG as mentioned earlier from Optcorp and other dealers. (Optcorp is good.)

12

Software & Accessories / Re: Need help on neck/Shoulder Strap for camera body...!!!

« on: September 16, 2012, 12:55:45 PM »

The popularity of BR is undeniable in this thread and similar others and best wishes to all, but I want to add another shout-out for the less common Op/Tech. They work well for my needs (serious amateur, not pro), are very flexible (reconfigurable/modular), and have proven to be secure in my experience (2yrs owning).

I see some people worry about plastic clips, but I think I see similar clips are also used on the modular BR RS-7 -- and on military equipment such as helmets. I have also dealt with a fair amount of metal fatigue in my time, so metal clips can fail too.

The main thing that drew me to Op/Tech was the flexibility for rapid use on a tripod -- I want to minimize any excuses I might have to use a tripod as often as posisble (I'm mostly landscape/nature), and I couldn't find any good quick solutions for BR or others with Arca plates.

Op/Tech allows me to have a permanent L-plate, handstrap (3rd party), and completely configurable sling and neck strap -- and it's low cost too (though this was not the main driver, personally). 

I have no affiliation with Op/Tech -- just a happy customer!