Messages

226

EOS Bodies / Re: BUY 5d MkII now or WAIT for 5d MkIII????

« on: July 25, 2011, 01:16:12 PM »

Neuro, could you be kind enough to explain the science behind the loss of aperture on APS-C - I understand the size difference, but generally assumed that a f2.8 would be the same on FF or crop - I've seen you mention this a few times now, but not noticed it said anywhere else.

227

Canon General / Re: Switching to Nikon

« on: July 24, 2011, 10:32:55 AM »

It takes a particular kind of dense to make your first post on the Canon Rumors website, in a forum called Canon general, a question about shifting to Nikon.

Hmmm...   You might wish to rephrase your first post too !  Making a first post by means of insulting another new member takes a particular kind of dense too !

Back to the OP, I'd go with the rental of some Nikon kit for a few weeks to get a feel for if you really do want to swap camp, but I'd keep an eye out in September for what happens with the high end releases from Camon & Nikon - it's looking likely that one of them will blink in the current Mexican standoff ;-)

228

Street & City / Re: Street Shooting People Edition!

« on: July 23, 2011, 04:27:23 PM »

Semi unrelated, I went to a small venue in Sheffield in the mid 90's to see a band called Monaco who had Peter Hook as it's guitarist, after a fantastic session in which Peter Hook jumped off the stage and whacked a guy for using a red laser on him, the gig ended, Hooky walked to the back of the venue, stood next to me, had a pint with me, chatted for a few minutes, then he went off on his way...   As a big time New Order fan, too young to have seen Joy Division live (one of my few regrets), but meeting Hooky, kinda made up for it....   Even if it was about 15 yrs after Ian Curtis died.  The noise frequency track on the guys tee shirt was first used on the cover of an album by Warsaw, the earlier name for Joy Division.

229

EOS Bodies / Re: 1Ds Mark III Has Left Canada

« on: July 23, 2011, 10:30:05 AM »

It's still listed on the UK Canon site, but a number of major camera retailers appear to not list it or list it as not available....   Hmmmm....

230

Canon General / Re: Nikon mirrorless camera???

« on: July 23, 2011, 08:13:25 AM »

Although much has been said about a compact interchangeable lens camera from various brands, the only firms to launch one are companies that don't have a wide successful range of DSLR's/MF cameras - Nikon and Canon have a vast market share of DSLR'S, bridge cams and compacts, and Pentax has just lauched a micro system with a tiny sensor, which won't affect it's DSLR sales.

However, Sony, Panasonic, Fuji and Olympus now have a poor market share in DSLR's, thus are seeking any way to grab a bigger share as they can't apparently compete with the big two.  Samsung are a bit of an oddball and so new to the market, I'm not sure where their share will go, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them snapping at Canon/Nikon's ankles within 5 years, perhaps even market share leader in 10.  Watch this space !

So, although Nikon appears to have a system, Canon has patents for and EVIL, is it really an essential item for them or just a diversion from what they know best ?

231

Canon General / Re: Since There Isn't Much Else To Talk About ....

« on: July 23, 2011, 04:34:44 AM »

I'd suspect that there is currently more profit in each sale of the 5DII, than an albeit more expensive 5DIII - that's one element to consider, along with the competition from Nikon mainly not really having a competing alternative. 

Whilst I accept the view that Canon will launch when it's ready, I also suspect that with such a key model, there will be a number of alternatives in their development portfolio with slightly different features, megapixels, ISO performance etc, perhaps not that different from each other, but different enough to give Canon in the edge to market a "slightly" better in some aspect model to the D400 alternative from Nikon.  Essentially the bodies and key components will be the same, perhaps a choice of sensors, plus a choice of firmware.

Car makers do a similar thing with features, as they are more greatly tied with tooling up, manufacturing line issues, third party suppliers etc, unlike camera firms who are less constrained by large production lines and third parties. The new Audi A1 in Europe for example is packed full of toys and options, sells for a very premium price, the BMW 1 series also has a much greater option count over the older model - why, because the competitors are doing more, Peugeot-Citroën now have Bluetooth as standard, so do Ford, VW and BMW currently charge £200 or so for this, the new 3 series may get it as standard....   

232

United Kingdom & Ireland / Re: Hello...Anyone else from the UK?

« on: July 20, 2011, 12:48:02 AM »

Hi there, I'm Haydn from Sheffield, photography is just a hobby for me, had a Cosina SLR when I was about 10 years old, couldn't really afford the film at the time, so lost the habit at an early age, got my first digital camera in 2001, a Fijifilm 2mp without any form of zoom, worked up the range over the years until I bought a Canon 450D in the summer of 2008, with a 18-55mm IS kit lens and a 70-300mm zoom.

At first, whilst enjoying the improved results, I tended to stick with the automatic settings, until last year when I started becoming very frustrated at the poor results I bought "understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson, which opened my eyes again to the techniques I learnt as a child, I've since improved my kit lens to an great 15-85mm, bought a set of filters (ND, GND, CP & 10x ND) and recently an f1.4 50mm.  Starting to really enjoy taking photos again, especially the more technically challenging photos with filters.

Plan on extending my lens collection in the future, sticking with my 450D for now as it's doing me proud, but may well upgrade up the range in a few years, maybe even add a full frame as a second body - I don't see me walking around as a tourist with a 5D as my main camera, as it's far too heavy for regular use !

Career wise, I'm a very fed up Traffic Engineer, I've seen the good times, been involved in building motorways, tram systems, helped manage local and regional networks, earmed the big bucks, but with the recent government cuts, I'm faced with shrinking budgets, bigger demands and more frustration in not being able to deliver what the nation needs.  I had a notion that photography might be a way out a year back, I'm quite sure it's just a hobby for me now though ;-)

233

Landscape / Re: Boatshed

« on: July 18, 2011, 12:12:25 PM »

Now that's what I call good looking HDR !

234

Canon General / Re: Suggestions for a difficult choice

« on: July 17, 2011, 03:36:11 PM »

Personally, if I was shooting concerts, I'd go for the 7D for it's better AF, to give me longer reach on the 70-200mm and put what I saved towards a 17-55mm f2.8 to use at smaller venues.

235

Lenses / Re: Thoughts on primes

« on: July 17, 2011, 03:23:17 PM »

OK, had my day today, the 50mm f1.4 worked out fine, with some close up <1.5m shots giving a full head of Jessica (the baby) framed on the 50mm on a 1.6x crop, head and shoulders (of adults and youngsters) framed nicely at about 2.0m, full torso of adults at about 3.0m.  On the whole, my focus was a tad off today, but captured some lovely memories of today.

Afterthoughts ? Well perhaps the 28mm f1.8 would have worked for some shots, but I'm pleased I didn't jump at getting a 85mm or 100mm this week, as they both would have been a tad too long for today.  I'm still keen to grab a 85mm and 135mm over the next few years, along with a 28mm, because I just can't quite bring myself to carry a pair of monster f2.8 zooms and whilst my trusty 15-85mm will reside on my camera most of the time, it's quite reasonable to make a choice of a couple of useful primes to also carry along to suit where I'm going to be taking photos.

236

Landscape / Re: Water Reflections

« on: July 17, 2011, 04:33:41 AM »

Sorry Chris, whilst I really liked your photos of birds in the other thread, these pictures look too artificial, I'm not sure if it's a case of extreme tweaking of levels or HDR, but they aren't to my taste...  Otherwise, some lovely compositions !

237

Lenses / Re: Thoughts on primes

« on: July 11, 2011, 04:13:50 PM »

Oh don't worry, I don't tend to worry what others think, it's more about getting a feel for opinions I guess.  I'm a Civil Engineer who specialises in Traffic Engineering, which means I do a lot of consultation on schemes, as diverse as motorways, safety schemes and parking restrictions, I tend to have formed a general view early on with most things, but like a second opinion in life, as the little old lady often points something very important out which us "pros" have completely missed at the concept design stages ;-)

Tell ya what I'd also love to see right now, a low cost good quality wide prime - something in the 12-15 range, perhaps a second in the mid 20's, specifically for APS-C with a low f of about 1.8-2.0 to pair up with my current 15-85mm for low light wide use, pancakes perhaps ?  What else ? How about a APS-C specific (L quality) 50-150mm f2.8 with IS ? to give crop bodies a decent 70-200mm alternative ?  With an APS-C specific teleconverter - I don't want a big fat heavy lens and body hanging around my neck !

238

Software & Accessories / Re: Filters - Screw on or not ?

« on: July 11, 2011, 01:04:02 AM »

Tried a bit of handheld grad filter yesterday, worked out easier now I've got a screw in polariser, but given my big clumsy hands, I'm finding that handholding a Cokin P in front of a 15-85mm at a wide zoom is a tad difficult, especially with the thin edges of the Cokins.  Cheers for the earlier comments !

239

Lenses / Thoughts on primes

« on: July 11, 2011, 12:53:54 AM »

Having just bought a 50mm f1.4, I'm hooked on low light primes !  I've now got a christening coming up, with some opportunity for low light use both in the small (English Village) church and the pub afterwards.  I've been playing about with focal lengths in my house on my 15-85mm, I'm finding that 85mm seems a tad wide for one person shots on my 1.6x crop, 100 & 135mm about right, 200mm just silly.  Given the pub will have similar proportion rooms to my house, but the church being much bigger, I'm pondering 85mm f1.8 now and a 135mm later or 100mm f2 for both now with a mind to something longer later, either 135mm or 200mm.

I've tried the 70-200 f2.8, it's huge and I'd not wish to carry it for any length of time as a "hobbyist", I'm fairly happy with my 70-300mm non L currently, but may consider either a 70-200mm f4 or some teleconverters on a longer prime later. 

Thoughts and experiences would be helpful, especially for on crop bodies !

BTW, I'm the godfather (again) ;-)

240

Software & Accessories / Filters - Screw on or not ?

« on: July 06, 2011, 08:16:32 AM »

Bought myself a handful of Cokin (P) filters last year, along with the holder and respective step rings for my lenses.  I've found the whole system a bit of a pain to use quickly, especially after getting a screw in 10 stop filter last month which is a breeze to use.  Got me thinking about what others used...  Yes, the Cokin system is cheap, I can use any filter on any lens, but what use is a flexible system if you don't actually use it ?

I'm now considering getting a handful of ND/GND screw in filters to join my 10 stop specifically for my current most used "landscape" lens, the 72mm 15-85mm EF-S.  I'm unlikely to be buying loads of lenses in the future, there is a slim likelihood of getting a 77mm 70-200mm (f2. at some point, but then I'm not adversed to buying the odd ND specifically for that.

I'm typically using the 0.9 ND or 0.6 GND, 95% of the time I'm using filters, and hardly use the polarising filter.

So, what do others do, use, are screw in GND's a pain, thoughts please ?