Messages

256

Lenses / Re: Canon EF 50 f/1.4 IS in 2013 [CR2]

« on: December 12, 2012, 05:02:21 PM »

This promises to be a winner for Canon, but very much at the expense of hugely reduced sales for the 50 f/1.2L.

-PW

257

Lighting / Re: Help with choosing a soft box

« on: December 07, 2012, 04:14:20 AM »

Thank you both for your feedback. Just to refine a bit, all this is not about opening a business at all but just getting a foot into lighting (which is new for me) to take better pictures of my 2 kids. I wanted to start with a 430 Ex because it is quite cheap and I know that if I move further into lighting, it will always be useful to have a portable flash for rim or as a background light.
John

OK I get the picture... Just get the 430 or a pre-owned 580 and an on-camera modifier like the Demb FlipIt http://www.dembflashproducts.com/ Skillfully used fill-flash can have great effect, but not at all obvious as a flash shot. There are good numbers of 580EXII flashes on the used market as people upgrade to 600 EX-RT. I recently got an as-new 580EXII for way less than a new 430. Drill into the Speedlights CR threads and learn a lot. http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?board=58.0 Then shoot a lot. There's no better teacher than experience.

-PW

258

Lighting / Re: Help with choosing a soft box

« on: December 07, 2012, 12:35:30 AM »

You might consider something with more get-up-and-go than a 430EX for what you're proposing. Punching a little 430 through a softbox or umbrella won't leave you with much useful output, especially outdoors. And your recycle times will be uncomfortably long. The 430 has an output of 30-40w/s, the 580 is around 60-65w/s.

For outdoor portraits in sunlight I often need to crank up my PCB Einsteins http://www.paulcbuff.com/e640.php up close to their maximum output of 640w/s. Einsteins are great but if you have severe budget restrictions, the PCB Alien Bees might be worth a look http://www.paulcbuff.com/alienbees.php. Skip straight past the lower powered models and go straight to the B1600. For working on location, PCB has extraordinary value battery packs http://www.paulcbuff.com/vagabond.php For umbrella/softbox check out the PLM's http://www.paulcbuff.com/plm.php.

The 430EX is a decent little flash but I think your expectations of what it is capable of are somewhat out of reality. If your are serious about the business you're starting up, do it properly and turn up to your shoots with equipment that will do the job. Even a 580EXII or 600 EX-RT will struggle in sunlight unless you are up very close to your subject...and that's without a modifier.

For portrait work it's important to get a flow going with your subject, and to have the capacity to shoot immediately without that mood-smashing wait while your flash recycles. Speedlight = slow.

You'll need a speedlight, and should have one...but be 100% aware of its limitations.

-PW

259

Lighting / Re: Off-camera flash for 5D3

« on: December 06, 2012, 12:50:08 AM »

Yongnuo YN-622C transceivers: $90 per pair, complete functionality, perfect operation. Why pay more?

I confirmed they do exactly whatever PW's Flex/Min can. ^_^

That sounds GREAT! When you say they can do exactly what the PW Flex/Mini can do, does that include the brilliant Optimized High Speed Sync http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/technology/fp_sync_hss/

Quoting from the PW website, "HSS is a battery hog as it needs a lot of power to pulse the light.  Through extensive experimentation, we found a way to reduce the total power used while giving you more power, and thus more light, when you need it. This means more light (which equals greater working distance), faster recycling times and more flashes per battery set when shooting in Canon's HSS/FP Flash mode."

If it does this Yongnuo will win a LOT of new business. I'm first in line...

-PW

260

PowerShot Cameras / Re: G15 buffer depth

« on: December 05, 2012, 05:02:47 PM »

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-powershot-g15/5

if you go to mid-page-ish, there's a section on it.  it's not entirely clear, they say it can shoot 1.1 fps RAW+JPG until the card is full, but the shooting speed depends on zoom length and "other settings", which is pretty vague.  in high speed mode, they say for every 10 shots it takes 5 seconds for the buffer to clear.

Thanks, yes I saw the DP Review piece...it's not that clear is it? Though that suggests the G15 has reasonable processing power for a P&S.
I'm not expecting the same speed as my 1D MkIV! Just enough to be useful.

-PW
 

261

PowerShot Cameras / G15 buffer depth

« on: December 05, 2012, 06:46:44 AM »

Looking to pick up a good P&S with RAW capability and a bright lens...the G15 is ticking a lot of boxes. There is also the attraction of staying in the same Canon ecosystem. One piece of information I have not been able to find in any review or spec list is the buffer depth when shooting RAW. And how quickly does that buffer clear?

-PW

262

Lenses / Re: Torn between 2 lenses

« on: December 04, 2012, 04:37:50 AM »

I'll add a vote for the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8is. You'll scarcely ever hear a bad word about this lens. If you buy carefully, you probably won't drop a dollar on it if you choose to change to FF at some time in the future. It's the sort of lens that will always be a very simple matter to on-sell. And in the meantime you'll have the perfect short/medium zoom for APS-C.

-PW

263

Lenses / Re: what 5 lenses would you want (exclude factors such as buissiness and body)

« on: December 03, 2012, 08:28:56 PM »

Of course it's Horses for Courses, but this set of five sure floats my boat.

1. 16-35mm f/2.8II
2. 17mm TS-E
3. 24-70mm f/2.8II
4. 70-200mm f/2.8IIis
5. 400mm f/2.8IIis

-PW

264

Pricewatch Deals / Re: Canon EF 50 f/1.4 for $299 at B&H

« on: December 03, 2012, 08:23:12 PM »

That's a great price. For anyone happy to buy gray, just put Canon EF 50 f/1.4 into a price search engine like http://www.shopbot.com.au or http://www.staticice.com.au (for Australia) and you'll do even better.

-PW

265

EOS Bodies / Re: Downgrade to crop

« on: December 03, 2012, 05:47:36 PM »

There is a valid case for any format...APS-C, APS-H & FF. It depends on your needs. Your needs may require a $35k MF kit, so that's what you get. If your work goes no further than the web, screen viewing or medium sized prints, then APS-C will suit your needs perfectly. Maybe even a decent P&S.

Dr. Neuro mentioned earlier, "I'd miss the thinner DoF you can achieve with FF, for the same framing..." By the same token, there are occasions when the greater DoF can be very useful. I currently work with FF & APS-H (x1.3 crop) and will likely pick up a 7DII when they ship. They're all useful for particular projects or shots.

I often feel concerned when I read posts from someone aching to go to FF with the misconception that FF is this extraordinary Holy Grail from Planet Camera. Often the upgrade can be a disappointing waste of money. OP, go FF by all means, just do it with your eyes open. And keep your APS-C.

Lookout! Here comes my evangelical moment. Good workers never blame their tools. Gear Geeks and Pixel Peepers aside, the true Holy Grail of Planet Camera lies within the photographer. Great images are made by photographers, not cameras.

-PW

266

Australia / Re: Gumtree Bargains

« on: December 03, 2012, 04:22:46 AM »

Yep the bargains do happen. I got a near perfect 24-70 f/2.8 MkI for $600 a few months ago. Just got lucky. Saw the advert when it had been up for just a few minutes and they were in the next suburb. But most times Canon L glass asking prices are more than you can get new grey-market lenses for. Personally I'd prefer new grey to second hand....

-PW

267

Software & Accessories / Re: DPP VS. LR4 VS. Something else, and a story about it.

« on: December 03, 2012, 03:01:31 AM »

I currently use and am happy with LR4.  I like the keyword ability to sort, and the image manipulation abilities seem just fine.  Work flow is efficient.

I had a long discussion with the Canon representative who did not suffer from humility from either his own abilities or the Canon line of cameras and software.

He opined that DPP software was superior to all other processing software because it communicated directly with the digital files from Canon cameras in a proprietary.  His argument was that importing through DPP (especially in raw) frequently obviated need for pp, and that lens tuning/correction could not be matched by third party software. 

There is little argument that DPP will deliver beautiful files. On rare occasions I'll go to DPP with a file I'm having a hard time with in LR4/ACR, usually because of tricky skintones. Maybe as often as once a year...

The Canon guy you were talking to is the perfect blue-print salesman, one-eyed as you can get about the product, with persuasive lines yet perhaps somewhat lacking in knowledge of the true needs of photographers and the ways they process RAW files.

If DPP was a match for LR4 I think most Canon professionals could have caught on by now. As you know yourself, LR is workflow headquarters...there is nothing better if you have got a deadline chewing at your neck and there are a few hundred files to output before morning coffee.

DPP certainly has its place, but not as a tool for busy photographers working with large folders of image files. DPP certainly looks very pretty in the GUI department, but like so much Canon software, it's easy on the eye but behind the game in the performance stakes. The Canon Suite is a welcome inclusion for those on restricted budgets but it's not professional standard. EOS Utility anybody? Now there's a piece of Canon software just screaming out for a full redesign. It's barely changed since its first incarnation. Zoombrowser? I don't know a working photographer who actually uses it. Powerful programs such as PhotoMechanic or Breezebrowser Pro are the usual browser choices. Bridge has all the options but is a little slow.

DPP? Sorry Mr Canon salesman...I'm not convinced.

-PW

268

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Information [CR1]

« on: December 02, 2012, 08:11:37 PM »

Yesterday I was told, the 7d MK2, I am interested in, will be @ about 2700€  (Canon product manager). This would be about 3500$.
Could this be true?? That is more than the 5D3 costs!!!!
Expect: fast shooting, fast AF. For all that need to shot fast things. No word about IQ.
EDIT: Need to correct: My wife told me, that the CM said that there will be an standard zoom added as an kit. Sorry, but I did not ask which one, because I was a little bit upset about the price and did not notice that he told that this would be a kit.

If there is an expected price hike, then the optimist in me says this is good news. Why? The 7DII may well shift up a whole level and become the 1D4 replacement in terms of FPS, AF performance, iso performance, buffer depth etc.

While I wouldn't hold my breath for 1-Series level ergonomics, durability and weather sealing, I would expect a camera that will go a long way towards satisfying the day to day high performance needs of photographers who currently depend on 1D4 APS-H bodies. A high performance APS-C 7DII has the potential to save me the cost of a 1DX and a 400 f/2.8isII. Why? Because on APS-C vs FF my 300 f/2.8is will deliver the reach I need for my current clients needs, currently met with 1D4 bodies.

Still, no matter how strong the 7DII feature set ends up revealing itself as, one can't deny that the 1DX and 400 f/2.8isII combo will remain the gold standard for sports/action work.

-PW

269

Canon General / Re: Is canon going to come back?

« on: December 02, 2012, 05:55:56 PM »

So i´m in the market for a full frame camera right now. I only have FF lenses for EF mount, so switching would at least mean the loss of a lens or two (money reasons).
Right now canon is far behind others. Or lets just say it: Nikon.

The d800 is 2300€ the 5d3 is 2900€ and the Nikon just is the superior camera. If you downsize the image even high iso is awesome, af is good etc. It´s just a really good body and much more in the price range of a 6d.

I want to stick with canon but if they are going to make their first competitive body in like 5 years i really have to consider switching....

OMG is this thread still going?
Buy a horse.

-PW

270

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Upgrade from 7D to 6D or MK3?

« on: December 02, 2012, 05:53:52 PM »

If FF is not a "must-have" then it may only be a short wait for the 7DII. Personally I'd have a fully featured 7DII ahead of a stripped back 6D. If the budget is there, the 5DIII is certain to satisfy.

-PW