Messages

31

Canon General / Re: EF mount's obselences

« on: January 15, 2013, 08:07:37 AM »

With Canon finally making a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera makes you wonder when they will abandon SLRs all together. If I am not mistaken it took Canon 5 years to transition from FD mount to EF mount.

So what do you think? Will we be seeing our beloved gear become yesterday's news or a decades old survivor?

I think electronic viewfinders are the future, but there is still a long way to go, especially regarding auto focus. But I'm sure that at least pros and many enthusiasts always will want to shoot FF (which is not possible with EF-M mount), so the EF mount is not endangered.

32

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Third Party Accessories - What to Buy, What to Avoid

« on: January 15, 2013, 05:15:09 AM »

I can recommend the Yongnuo YN-560 II flash. Flash intensity cannot be controlled by camera but it is quite powerful and build quality is very good. The 600 EX has more features, but the Yongnuo only costs about €60 - €70.

33

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon EF 50 f/1.2L

« on: January 14, 2013, 11:31:37 AM »

I'm just gonna make one last attempt to help balance the review by posting the test image I'd taken last year, then I'll look away from this thread.

I've seen this image before, a couple of months ago. It really impressed me, and it still does.

34

Lenses / Re: My greatest wish: the cheap-fast glass!

« on: January 14, 2013, 06:33:59 AM »

What about building such lenses by yourself? Here you'll find an example of a lens that is supposed to be faster then f/1.0 for the price of a lens cap: www.diyphotography.net/build-your-own-lenses

35

Reviews / Re: 6D Review (German)

« on: January 13, 2013, 08:21:29 PM »

thought testing DR is a bit complicated and i don´t know if their methode is convincing.

This might not really be the ideal place to discuss this deutsches gearhead-centric review, but the dr range on the 6d is a big letdown if it's true what they discovered. Why do you think their simple approach with a greyscale chart isn't convincing?

Regarding the dynamic range: They don't even analyze the noise of the (low) tonal values - doesn't make much sense to me.

Anyway, as for the sensor  - do we really need more reviews anyway? - I think DxO has provided enough data. I'd rather had raws straight out of camera that can be compared to corresponding raws of the same scenery from other models, so I could judge IQ by myself...

36

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Which second speedlight should I buy?

« on: January 10, 2013, 10:42:02 AM »

Yongnuo is the answer.

+1

I recently got a new YN560-II for 60 € (shipping included) - can there be any photography related equipment that provides more value for the money?

37

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 7D Mark II - Far Eastern Speculation

« on: January 08, 2013, 11:53:46 AM »

I think a "wish list" on these posts is a wise move as I am pretty sure Canon have someone dedicated to reading them.

Before designing the 7D Canon asked 5000 pro photographers about their needs. I guess it's more likely they will do something like this again, rather than reading web forums...

As for the flip screen: Sorry, I didn't really ment to start that discussion again. There is at least one another thread here, where people came up with good reasons for the flip screen. But I just don't like it, no matter how well it might be build, it never can give me the 'quality feeling' I expect from a 1500$-camera (supposing the 7D II will cost about that much).

38

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 7D Mark II - Far Eastern Speculation

« on: January 08, 2013, 03:44:18 AM »

I read a new post on which-canon-camera which says that Impress Magazine predict the release to be at 85% probability.  Impress being based in Tokyo perhaps have a higher chance than most of getting it right. 

That sounds reasonable, but I think the question is not if they will be a Mark II, but when it will be released. I don't think it will be too soon though, since they just released that big firmware upgrade half a year ago.

Lets hope the upgrade extends beyond fps and megapixels as that is all becoming boring.

Hm, what else can be improved on this camera than performance? Wifi, OK I don't care, but please - no flipscreen.

39

Software & Accessories / Re: CS2 free download?

« on: January 07, 2013, 03:41:27 PM »

Direct links available on this site http://freemannote.blogspot.com/2013/01/free-adobe-cs2-downloads.html

Thanks a lot! Works without problems on windows 7, and it seems I didn't got any viruses caught.

40

Software & Accessories / Re: CS2 free download?

« on: January 07, 2013, 02:00:29 PM »

Don't worry, currently I keep downloading 4 parts in parallel, but eventually I have 'em all and surely you're next in line :-> ... btw there's no overload problem from Germany, probably Adobe segmented their servers according to country and the Americans are just more greedy.

Marsu, do you still have connection? I'm also from Germany but I don't have access either...

41

EOS Bodies / Re: Camera (Body Only) or Camera with Bundle Kit

« on: January 04, 2013, 11:52:51 AM »

what about Canon EF 24-105mm f/4? my photographer friend recommended this for me.

Excellent lens, but for your purposes not the first choice. Depth of field on a crop won't IMO not shallow enough for portraits with this lens.

42

EOS Bodies / Re: Camera (Body Only) or Camera with Bundle Kit

« on: January 03, 2013, 04:47:55 PM »

I recommend the 60D, mainly because of the larger viewfinder and the second control dial. If possible go to a shop and play around with the 60D and the rebel. Image quality will be pretty much the same on both cameras.

And yes, your friend is right - a good lens is very important. I also advise against a kit lens. For portraits you'll want a lens with f/2.8 or slower to get shallow depth of field. The 50 mm 1.8 is a good start. I don't have experience with the 85 mm, but according to dxomark.com it is only better on full frame cameras (like the 6D) but not on crop cameras.

For your portrait work you maybe also want to use remote flash, this is a good resource about how to do that and which gear is needed: http://strobist.blogspot.de/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

43

Lenses / Re: Which lens/body combo: non-purchase advice requested (50, 135 & 17-55 on 20D/7D)

« on: January 03, 2013, 06:56:12 AM »

I have now decided to keep the 20D, having sold the 17-85 lens only. I have the following lenses: which would you keep on which body, and why?

135 f/2L (1 year old)
50 f/1.4 (6 months)
17-55 f/2.8 IS (new)

I'd keep the 50 mm on the 20D. You will propably use it only with large apertures to get shallow DoF. The 50 mm will not deliver much resolution wide open, so I'd keep the 7D for the other lenses.

44

EOS Bodies / Re: EOS 60D Stock Levels Getting Low?

« on: January 02, 2013, 06:31:59 AM »

Im in a situation where im looking to buy my first dslr but am also unsure as to what to purchase. Iv had my eye on the 60D for quite some time and now the price has dropped considerably. The problem im facing is that this product is over 2 years old and from what iv read a replacement or 60d-7D amalgamation announcement should be coming soon, however i have no idea when we could expect the product to hit store shelves or its release price. I have more than enough money to purchase a 60D now and still have a fair amount left over or purchase its replacement upon release. As most of you know a dslr purchase is a mini investment and i dont want to regret buying a 60D so late on when a new one could be just around the corner, with better features/IQ/sensor etc.

I doubt that we'll see much higher IQ in next APS-C models in raw (JPG is a different story though). IQ of the last two rebels got rather worse than better. Even if the new sensor will have the rumoured 24 MPix and you would use a high quality lens, it won't improve sharpness at apertures of f/5.6 and slower due to diffraction.

My guess is that the major improvement of 70d will be GPS, Wifi, touchscreen and better JPG-Quality. If you can live without that I'd recommend to get the 60d and invest the rest of your budget in lenses (especially fast lenses and rather EF than EF-S mount, so you can use them still later when you'll upgrade to FF).

45

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 6D or wait for New 7D?

« on: December 28, 2012, 03:34:13 PM »

But really, I'm so sick of the spec list comparison and the pixel peeping crowd bashing every camera that comes out. If people spent half as much time working on their skills and just shooting with the equipment they have instead of bitching, they would be better photographers.

Sure, but what good is it for being a good photographer, if you're images are to noisy or soft, due to the equipment?