Messages

1

Lenses / Re: Standard Lens for Paris and London holiday.

« on: May 17, 2013, 02:25:36 AM »

Cheers for the comments folks, I'd like to take as little as possible, at the moment it's looking like the 16-35 II, the 50mm, the 135mm, my Lensbaby and my Eos M !   

The comment about not missing the 35-70mm if I had a 70-200mm have given me food for thought, I'd previously discounted a 70-200mm lens on my crop 450D, but now I'm on full frame, I may have to force myself to go out with my 70-300mm non L and see how that works for me.  Having thought about this, I'm really enjoying my Eos M as a lightweight walkabout camera, the 22mm lens has of course the same view as 35mm on my full frame and at the moment is working well for what I photograph.

I had a 15-85mm on my crop, it was near on perfect for the range it covered, it's a shame there isn't a full frame equivalent - the 24-105mm is short on the long end by comparison.  A new 24-135mm f4 HIS would be in my eyes, a great walk around on a full frame, but perhaps not that popular with the purists ;-)  My style is definately bold, I like to use ultra wide close up, I like to get in close on portraits, I like to bold my colours in Lightroom, but of course I'm limited on the style of shot by the lenses I currently own - although I don't at all feel limited by my kit.  I've mainly use my 16-35 in the last six months, then probably my 135mm, then my lensbaby, i last used my 50mm on New Years Eve, but not used the 70-300 at all, probably because the 135 works better when cropping in and the 200-300mm range produces quite poor images in my opinion.

I'm err'ing towards keeping my cash in my pocket, working with what I have, making an effort to sell my less used lenses and making a choice in August over a 24-70 2.8 II or a 70-200 2.8 IS II - whichever way, it has been a very expensive year and I'm loving it - my photography style has definately improved since moving to raw a couple of years ago and more so since upgrading to full frame - I'm less snap happy and much more considered, which results in a great big smile on my face when I see the end results.

Now if I could only fix my jpeg output issues - 16bit Jpegs anyone ? ;-)

2

Lenses / Standard Lens for Paris and London holiday.

« on: May 16, 2013, 05:32:58 PM »

I've hit a bit of a problem this week - I bought my 6D just before the New Year, I bought the body only and intended to use my 50mm f1.4 and 135mm f2 as my main lenses, soon after, my local shop had a second hand 17-40mm come in, I when to look and walked out with a new 16-35mm MkII Lens, which I'm really really very pleased with.  My itch continued in Feb with a Eos M & 22mm prime, which I also really love for when I'm out on long walks.  I'm missing something though...  I'm finding that I'm not using my 50mm because its fairly inflexible as a walk around lens...  What's a boy to do

I've now made the mistake of checking my local dealer and noticed they have a second hand 24-105mm (fantastic condition they say) in for about what a new one would have cost me back in Dec had I bought it as a kit lens.  I've a fear though, will I walk out with a 24-70mm MkII that I've promised myself next year ?

I plan to take my 10-22mm and 70-300 non L along as trade in lenses, I can't use the former and don't use the latter as my 135mm F2 gives better pictures when I crop in than the 70-300 ever could.  I'm starting to consider that what if I also traded my 50mm f1.4 too ? 

I head to London and Paris late next week for a two week holiday - I'm wanting the 24-70mm but have a niggle in my head, is it the right lens for the holiday and should I get the second hand 24-105mm now, keep the 50mm and then as planned, get the 24-70mm next year ?

I like landscapes, available light, flower and portrait photography mostly.  Won't be taking a tripod, but may just pick a joby up at the weekend for emergency ND1000 usage ;-)

Help me deal with the itch please ;-)

3

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 40D vs. 6D AF

« on: May 11, 2013, 05:33:11 PM »

I've yet to experience a problem with the AF on my 6D - the 135mm L really does do the business for me for portraits, I upgraded from the 450D rather than the 40D though.

4

Software & Accessories / Re: Poor Lightroom output of Jpg's

« on: May 07, 2013, 04:48:41 PM »

Ah, user idiot error - sat playing with my original and finding the results much better - presets help make the picture better overall, but can ruin some details especially in the recognisable flesh tones.

5

Software & Accessories / Re: Poor Lightroom output of Jpg's

« on: May 07, 2013, 04:11:51 PM »

Or to put it another way

Thanks, much more what I've come to expect of friendly folks on here - I will, but not in front of the PC at the moment but will ASAP

6

Software & Accessories / Re: Poor Lightroom output of Jpg's

« on: May 07, 2013, 04:03:11 PM »

have you checked that jpgs are being saved in srgb space?

As I said, yes, tried all three output options

7

Software & Accessories / Poor Lightroom output of Jpg's

« on: May 07, 2013, 03:11:59 PM »

Looking for a touch of brain picking, looking at photos I've taken using my current gear, everything looks fine when viewing the raw image in Lightroom, but trying all three output options starts creating nasty colours, which are in particular nasty looking when zoomed into the jpg of people's faces and the flesh tones.

I'm forming an opinion that this is a limitation of the gamut of jpg's, but is there anything I can do to mitigate the harsh colours I'm getting when zoomed into parts of faces.

8

EOS-M / Re: To buy M or not to buy M?

« on: April 17, 2013, 06:24:13 PM »

I bought a M a couple of months back - I'm a bit baffled by the people going on about the AF - yes, it's slower than a DSLR, but no worse than a point and shoot camera.  Great piccies, carry it everywhere with me

9

Software & Accessories / Re: Lightroom 5 Beta available for download!!

« on: April 16, 2013, 08:16:15 AM »

The point really is that a new version should be offering a step change in features - we get this with AutoCAD, I'm hard pushed to see the changes each year, yet we are tied into a process of constant change.  Lightroom is a great product, I bought into v3 about 18 months ago, felt compelled to move to v4 a few months ago when I upgraded to a 6D and M, but although it was a small upgrade cost, I'm hard pressed to see the big step change that warrants a full version number.  Whilst yes, it's great that the product is evolving, the pace of version numbers feels like I'm having the wool pulled over my eyes and ultimate see us getting into a v20xx annual upgrade, gradually creeping every 10 months to the next year, like the security products, where you can practically buy a particular year, almost a year before. 

10

Software & Accessories / Re: Lightroom 5 Beta available for download!!

« on: April 15, 2013, 06:07:45 PM »

5 already

Talk about extortion :-/   Surely two years between versions should be ample, this annual cycle of upgrades is already annoying with AutoCAD that I use in my day job...  Don't want to be upgrading every year !

Grrrr

11

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: So ready for a move up from 450D - But how big? To 5DMIII / 6D or ...?

« on: April 11, 2013, 03:37:46 PM »

I made the step from a 450D to a 6D - it's bigger in the hands and feels much better built, I've been happy with the AF of the 6D, especially with low light and my faster lenses.  I sold my 450D and 18-55mm for £250 - Havin owned it over four years, it cost me £50 a year.  I also sold my 15-85mm for £400 - that cost me about £70 a year to own, I've a 10-22mm to sell yet, hopefully soon.

I bought the 6D as a split kit, I didn't want the 24-105mm lens, I was then tempted by a second hand 17-40mm, but ended up slapping the cash down for a new 16-35mm f2.8 II, to go with my 50mm and 135mm primes.  I plan to buy a 24-70mm f2.8 II in the next 9-18 months, it's a planned upgrade, but I'll probably buy on a whim ;-)

Overall, since upgrading, I've been overwhelmed with the quality of photos I'm getting, a real step change in light gathering ability - I would strongly recommend one extra thing though - buy Lightroom 4 and shoot in raw to get the most from your new purchase regardless of it being a 6D or 5DIII

12

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sub £100 Nikon Lens for Airshows

« on: April 06, 2013, 12:52:26 PM »

So potentially the older faster primes are going to be a non starter - any thoughts on the cheapo 55-200 ?

13

Third Party Manufacturers / Sub £100 Nikon Lens for Airshows

« on: April 06, 2013, 12:21:20 PM »

Friend of mine against my better judgement bought a second hand Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm kit lens - we are heading off to a few airshows this summer and he wants a better lens - I'm thinking an old Nikon prime might suit his needs well in the 100-200mm range - looking at less than £100 - any ideas ?

14

Site Information / Re: Tapatalk

« on: April 05, 2013, 03:14:02 PM »

I didn't answer this thread because nothing was done when it speaks raised the last (I think) three times

Installing Tapatalk isn't difficult and takes hardly any time to manage - I see no reason not to install

15

5D MK III Sample Images / Re: Ultra long daytime exposures - 5D mkiii

« on: April 02, 2013, 04:01:41 PM »

I found that my B&W ND1000 gave a brown warm cast whereas my Dorr ND1000 gives a neutral to slightly blue cast...  Dorr also do 82mm filters (I'm in the UK)