Messages

16

Canon General / Re: Boston

« on: April 16, 2013, 08:59:21 PM »

Hey guys! I'm sure you're all aware of the terrible explosions in Boston. Just another sign of how street photography can be dangerous sometimes, especially when we don't think about it and don't expect anything like that. I hope none of those who live in Boston or visited it yesterday got injured. Take care!

As a Bostonian I certainly appreciate this. Let's be careful though not to take the real and perceived dangers out of perspective. Despite the discomfort that we sure all feel at this point at the sight of trash cans let alone the 24-h "news" coverage of it we should not stop doing what we're all doing. The likelihood of falling victim to whatever insane kind of person responsible for this is pretty small compared to our everyday risks. You're very likely more at risk of being hit by a car or falling off a ladder still.

And I say this as someone who only wasn't right there at that time due to a scheduling conflict...

+2. All my thoughts to people of Boston. Stay strong. A very memorable vacation at one one time in my life. Being a lifetime Bruins fan I visited the gardens the year before they tore them down. Now I have two NHL teams close to the heart. Jets and Bruins     

17

Software & Accessories / Re: What editing software do you use?

« on: April 13, 2013, 04:37:37 PM »

I used to use DPP for my conversion because I liked the colour better than ACR but Adobe has made big improvements. So now I use LR for mass edits and PS for my hobby shots. I have sharpening actions I like to use and often don't want to export from LR in PS for that.     

18

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Light Meter & SpeedLites

« on: April 11, 2013, 12:49:51 AM »

Of course it is not rocket science. Very nice example by the way   Maybe I'm lazy but when I do standard portraits, etc I just find it so quick and easy to set the flash exposure when working with key and fill. Photo booths I can do with my eyes closed but I still use the L-358 even with only one flash/umbrella. One or two exposure tests and I'm there.

I find the flash meter most beneficial when I want to balance the ambient light with flash when shooting outdoors. I can pretty much work through everything quickly but that scenario is the most challenging.  I just prefer technology to tell me I'm bang on. To me it is a fine line to get those perfectly balanced images.   

19

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Light Meter & SpeedLites

« on: April 10, 2013, 11:33:00 PM »

You will have more power with studio strobes which will make things easier but you will still be guessing to achieve correct exposures.     

20

Canon General / Re: Goodbye Cruel Canon

« on: April 10, 2013, 10:36:51 AM »

Good luck to you in whatever path you choose. Have fun with Nikon service if you choose that manufacturer

21

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Light Meter & SpeedLites

« on: April 10, 2013, 10:28:18 AM »

If you want to make your life easier get a flash/light meter like the Sekonic L-358. Spend more if you got the cash. You will not regret it.
 

Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 27: Metering Part 3: Using a light meter	Small | Large

Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 20: On Location Flash	Small | Large

Videos - Tutorials - Lighting Tutorial

http://www.stansphotos.com

22

Software & Accessories / Re: Stolen Camera Finder?

« on: March 27, 2013, 08:31:56 PM »

I would not want mine back anyway. That is way I have insurance.

23

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Advice needed: Possibility to improve IQby sending to Canon service department?

« on: March 24, 2013, 12:37:08 PM »

Samples?

24

EOS Bodies / Re: AFMA – Easy or Not

« on: March 23, 2013, 11:31:37 PM »

According to DotTune, my 24-70 2.8 II is spot on at 0!

I've checked all my lenses and all are quite acceptable. Don't understand why others have so much trouble!

Maybe my standards are lower??

Z

Mine was - 1@ 24 and +1 @ 70. Maybe I should send it in     

25

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Iso set to auto and camera adjust it to 400 with flash unit On

« on: March 23, 2013, 02:15:36 PM »

No problem   Cheers

26

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Digital cameras of the future

« on: March 23, 2013, 01:58:55 PM »

I'll answer your second question first. The 35mm film cameras I had were capable of auto shooting but I never used it. Focus, shutter speed and aperture were used on manual 100% of the time (auto focus wasn't even a glimmer in anyone's eye) and the camera did everything I needed it to do. The only thing that I used as auto was film advance and 5 fps was plenty. I never had dreams about "features" since they weren't really necessary. I dreamed about the lenses I didn't have and capturing great images.

The digital age has given us some wonderful things but I have yet to see a print that rivals an 8x10 contact print on platinum paper for shear beauty.

30 years from now? Who knows, 60 fps and pick an image out of that? Doesn't really matter, I still use manual the vast majority of the time except for auto focus, my eyes aren't what they used to be.
 
*edit*

Back in the day. I hated either wasting a roll of film by shooting of the images at nothing for a few images. Or trying to rewind film back so the tip did not slip back into the canister cause then I would have to dig it out.         

The motor drive on the F1 had the ability to rewind the film and leave the tongue out. That did come in handy at times.

As yes I remember that. I did not own any that had that wonderful feature.   

27

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Iso set to auto and camera adjust it to 400 with flash unit On

« on: March 23, 2013, 01:56:36 PM »

Worst part is I don't understand your manual   

28

EOS Bodies / Re: AFMA – Easy or Not

« on: March 23, 2013, 09:51:54 AM »

hard...

I guess I could have been less winded and just said that 

29

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Digital cameras of the future

« on: March 23, 2013, 12:14:51 AM »

Well there are two paths - Blade Runner or Minority Report.

Blade Runner. No mirrors, a bit smaller both for bodies and lenses. Lenses much lighter with more zoom and improved distortion. Dealers of old DSLRs' on every third corner.

Minority Report. High end imagining glasses that do both stills and video with all types of 3D special effects. Zoom from 5 to 5000mm with no distortion. Your buddy on the other side of the world can see the image or video you took instantly via heads up display within his/her glasses. Same thing for contact lenses. Brain activated image capture. Also holographic imaging systems by competitors so people still have something to argue about on forums. 

Back in the day. I hated either wasting a roll of film by shooting of the images at nothing for a few images. Or trying to rewind film back so the tip did not slip back into the canister cause then I would have to dig it out. All just to change ISO or film type which included B&W. I used to think I wish they came up with a better way to do this    Never though of a digital sensor back then. Also even though I liked the look of grain but I wished I could make a clean 8 by 10 with 400 ISO film.           

30

EOS Bodies / Re: AFMA – Easy or Not

« on: March 22, 2013, 11:51:23 PM »

Just want to add something that hasn't been discussed before: it is pointless to do microadjust zoom lenses (unless you have the latest models that actually allow to do that) - the amount of correction you will need for smallest/largest focal lengths will be different.

I wouldn't say pointless.  I had a zoom that on my 7D needed +3 at the wide end and +7 at the long end.  Leaving it at zero wouldn't be optimal, obviously.  Generally, the DoF will be shallower at the long end.  In that case, +6 was the compromise value.

Having the two settings is nice, though.  The most recent zoom I tested on my 1D X needs 0 at the wide end and +5 at the long end.  But I can imagine that sometimes two settings wouldn't be enough.  The camera does a simple linear regression with focal length between the W and T values. For that lens, the two intermediate focal lengths I tested had AFMA values that fall right on that line.  If they hadn't, the lens would have gone back.

I was mostly kidding about the tires. I believe people get good results. I just don't trust myself.