Messages

16

Canon General / Re: Total File Size - All Your Images and Keep or Delete

« on: January 08, 2013, 02:31:32 AM »

Of course now I notice the card reader comment.  I have always done mine via usb cable/camera to the computer.  I think taking the card out, putting it in a card reader then back out and back to the camera will do more harm than deleting images on the card ever will.  I've always been paranoid about that weakening a card that I just always have a big enough card each time and never take it out of the camera and use the usb route(till the usb port failed on my T2i anyway lol).

Interesting, I'd also been coached by some more experienced photogs I've been talking with and picking their brains, that they said they never hook their cameras directly with USB to the computers to transfer pics...that they only did it when necessary for firmware upgrades.

Not sure how much of that was superstition....but, I figured a card reader is easy to use, often faster, I have a multiple card intake on mine, so I can plug in a CF and SD card at the same time and start copying off from both....and get back to shooting while those are copying off.

The card reader seems to transfer a bit faster than directly from the camera so far for me....anyone else experience that?

I've always assumed pros do it that way for the reasons you mention, plus buying multiple card readers is pretty economical if you want to download a few CF cards at the same time. And they are often swapping multiple cards anyway for redundancy / capacity reasons.

Being an amateur I'm not too concerned with speed so use the USB path. Most of the time I'm only using a single card and my reasoning is the USB port is probably more robust and cheaper / easier to repair than a CF card slot if it does fail. Plus while I have a 5D3 now previously my cameras were single slot, so a broken USB port would give me the 'Plan B' of using a reader until it was repaired.

17

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5DmkII and Live View

« on: January 07, 2013, 05:18:07 AM »

n/m, I should have shot in manual, not aperture priority.

I don't think Av changes the ISO unless you have it set to auto-ISO. I can't remember the default but you probably have that set for Av?

18

Lenses / Re: TS-E 24mm II + 2x Mk III Extender

« on: December 28, 2012, 07:29:37 AM »

Higher mag than the native lens - up to 7x with the 1.4x TC and 10x with the 2x TC.

I've never owned a tilt-shift lens but did you mind explaining how the magnification increases that much rather than just 1.4 or 2x?

We were talking about the MP - E65,in regards to other lenses you could use extenders below 135L

Thanks my bad, I'd missed a MP - E65 had come into the equation and was wondering how an extender could increase the magnification of a TS lens 7 or 10x relative to original magnification.

19

Lenses / Re: TS-E 24mm II + 2x Mk III Extender

« on: December 26, 2012, 02:26:11 AM »

Higher mag than the native lens - up to 7x with the 1.4x TC and 10x with the 2x TC.

I've never owned a tilt-shift lens but did you mind explaining how the magnification increases that much rather than just 1.4 or 2x?

20

Lenses / Re: TS-E 24mm II + 2x Mk III Extender

« on: December 21, 2012, 06:05:13 PM »

Extenders only work on 70-200's, 135L's and up

The combination isn't officially support by Canon, but a cut & paste from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Extender_EF:

Though not specified by Canon as such, users have reported that the tilt-shift lenses in Canon's line-up can also be used with the extenders. However, when used with an extender, the lens will not pass on the correct aperture to the camera. The focal length stored in the Exif data will also be incorrect.

21

Lenses / Re: Did you use a UV filter on 70-200 f2.8L IS (I or II) during its last use? (Poll)

« on: December 21, 2012, 02:21:56 AM »

This reminds me of some old timers that would bubble wrap their TV remote control so it wouldn't get damaged.

Hmmmm...I wonder if bubble wrap would work better than cling wrap?   

That's another technique I use often. It works like a compound eye and apart from an increased angle of view I find sometimes I can detect the light polarisation and later post-process, instead of carrying around an expensive CP that of course also loses some stops of light.

22

Software & Accessories / Re: What's your workflow for the Eye-fi Card ? Fun uses?

« on: December 18, 2012, 06:42:46 PM »

I use one with a 5D3 and I've been happy with it, although my usage is different I mainly use it for tripod type shots or when I only have a few images to transfer. I send the full RAWs and with a good Wi-Fi connection that takes about 45-60 seconds per image, but saves disturbing the camera setup and is generally less hassle if you're not in a rush.

Depending on your use it might be worth investing in a decent access point and antenna. With a 400mW access point and large antenna mine works out in my backyward about 25 meters away and through walls at full speed.

23

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: My brand new 5D Mark III - what am I doing wrong, please help!

« on: December 18, 2012, 05:08:39 AM »

You probably know this, but metering is only on the center point and it's not tied to the selected focus point. Just mentioning it because looking at some of those images when I look at the dead center of each image I can sort of see how the camera might have come up with those exposures. Also after using a 550D maybe you are getting away with faster shutter speeds causing the 120Hz flicker metering problem a few others mentioned.

I don't do a lot of that style of photography but in my limited experience sometimes you're best to go for full manual. The real lighting probably won't change a lot so try a bit of 'chimping' on initial shots and dial in the ISO. While at high shutter speeds it won't solve the flicker entirely I think it should improve things.

24

Lenses / Re: Long lens recommendation for surveillance.

« on: December 18, 2012, 01:49:14 AM »

You guys are funny.  You think Law Enforcement is like in the movies.  Unlimited budgets and computers that show you the fingerprints with cool noises as they check them.

I was thinking the same. When real-time GPS tracking was less ubiquitous I used to manufacture / sell battery powered devices with magnets etc that sent in data by GPRS. I had a few guys from the local undercover division visit for a demonstration to see how my $1.5K device compared with their $10K "law enforcement only" device that used a continuous data call that cost over $500 a day in comms costs.

Anyway they found it to be technically superior, just they couldn't use it because I sold it to anyone with the cash, a practice I wasn't going to change just for a few sales to them . Actually one of the best customer groups were jealous / suspicious partners that wanted to save the cost of a PI.

25

Lenses / Re: Long lens recommendation for surveillance.

« on: December 17, 2012, 06:04:19 PM »

The 7D + 100-400 seems like a good starting point, or a 70-200 f/2.8 if he needs better low light but not as much focal length. He might not need as much as you'd think, he'll probably normally want to include multiple people and/or a fair bit of background of proof of where it was taken.

Either that or he can just use a 640x480 webcam and send if off to CSI for enhacement .

26

Portrait / Re: Food pics - help required

« on: December 17, 2012, 06:18:35 AM »

Just dont forget to write somwhere in the menu the photo is just an example and the real food may look different. Some people are just assholes and try to make trouble if the food they get doesnt look exactly like in the menu lol. Yes iv experienced that more than once before sadly.

True, but also make sure you don't go showing 10 jumbo shrimp to make things looks good when you really only get 5 medium with a typical order, not that it's probably your problem directly if they want you to go that direction.

27

Technical Support / Re: Photos Accidentally Put in Recycling Bin But Don't Show Up There

« on: December 17, 2012, 01:45:46 AM »

You'll probably need a card reader, Canon cameras from what I know use the PTP (picture transfer protocol) device class instead of the MSC (mass storage class) that a reader will be. The former doesn't give physical access to the media as far as I know, and a recovery tool will need that.

28

Animal Kingdom / Re: panorama to blur zoo fences

« on: December 15, 2012, 11:22:15 PM »

Neat idea . I'm not familiar with panorama builder in Photoshop Elements (or others for that matter), how critical is the image alignment? Just wondering if that sort of shot is practical handheld of if you need a tripod?

29

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Wrong colors with my 5D MKIII?

« on: December 15, 2012, 11:03:10 PM »

I do quite a bit of amateur food photography and get largely the same results with auto white balance, as per other suggestions get a target of some form to white balance.

The only other thing I'd throw in there is that things are easier if you don't have mixed lighting, the shot looks like you used a flash, and I'm guessing that was the case considering ISO 640, f/2.5 and 1/250th. For food you'll probably get better results going down the path of a tripod and longer exposure times. Sometimes a single flash can give some pretty unnatural looking shadows on food even if you bounce it.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 450D user looking to upgrade to 6D, but the 600D's price is real tempting

« on: December 15, 2012, 10:19:28 PM »

450D to any APS-C isn't a great jump in IQ.  Unless you need the extra reach that an APS-C offers, if you're serious with your photography, it's better to upgrade to a FF camera.  Even a 5D2 will be a great upgrade from 450D.   Colors, DR, bokeh and IQ are generally a lot better in an FF body.

Yeah that's why I want to upgrade to the FF 6D or the FF Nikon 600D.

Must admit I was a bit confused by the title and maybe a few others were too, I thought you were comparing a Canon 6D to a Canon 600D rather than the Nikon D600.