Messages

1

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: December 21, 2012, 03:35:32 AM »

I don't recall anyone nitpicking a lens so much for it's bokeh when everything else is fab, generally the consideration for the quality of bokeh of a lens, especially at these price points and class of lenses is always there, but this must mean though that Sigma just has no other faults to look at, so everyone wants to point at something it's not the absolute best at. And talk about onion highlights? The 35L can produce those onions too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pong0814/5596735626/#

And, unlike the Sigma, the 35L doesn't keep rounded circular highlights when stopped down if that matters for anyone.

+1

Very, very well said.

I've always complained about Canon's 8-blade apertures... you start seeing octagons in OOF highlights when you stop down even 2/3 of a stop on many of Canon's primes (e.g. the 'venerable' 85/1.2). What I hate even more is that 8-blade aperture lenses produce 8-point sunstars.

Just adding one blade gives you 18-point sunstars. AND circular OOF highlights.

Nikon's had 9-blade apertures for a while now.

What took Canon so long?

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: November 30, 2012, 04:46:36 PM »

Compared to 35L:
http://lcap.tistory.com/entry/Sigma-35mm-f14-vs-Canon-35mm-f14-L

Yes thanks, that's a great review/comparison.

Look at those gorgeous 18-point sunstars & the circular bokeh even at f/2. Canon's 8-blade apertures has been one of my biggest gripes. Nikon has been putting out 9-blade aperture lenses for some time now; Canon's only playing catch-up now. And who knows when they'll replace their 24L, 35L, & 85L lenses...

Also, if you look at the OOF bokeh with pictures of the leaves, it appears to me that either the Canon lens has more contrast or has a lower exposure. Does anyone else see this?

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: At least we have Canon quality control

« on: November 29, 2012, 01:06:01 PM »

Zv,

You'll likely be disappointed if you start rigorously testing expensive equipment. You'll start finding flaws that you thought shouldn't exist for such high quality/price products. But I find it's great to know about these limitations so I know how to work around them.

For example, 3 copies of the highly venerated 70-200 f/4L IS I tested all showed erratic softness on one side of the frame relative to the other, even at f/8 sometimes. By f/11 most of the time every shot was acceptable, though not always on at least one copy. Contrast that to the 70-200 f/2.8L II I finally bought b/c I was tired of the poor performance of the f/4L for landscapes. Typically, at 200mm | f/2.8 it's at least as sharp across the entire field as the f4L ever was. At 70mm though, the extreme left side doesn't sharpen up until f/5.6. Which isn't a big deal, and now I store that tidbit of info in the back of my head so when it becomes relevant I'll know how to set my aperture.

If you start testing the AF precision (repeatability) of AF points on any of these high-end dSLRs with primes, you may find yourself pretty surprised. Or not, if you've ever tried shooting a 5D Mark II + 85/1.2 combo anywhere below f/2.8...

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: November 24, 2012, 06:40:04 PM »

jukka,

Not sure if you saw my previous post, but do you know the answer to this question:

Since AFMA for a particular body/lens combo changes as a function of subject distance, it's not possible to have an AFMA value for all subject distances. Is this any different for a lens that appears to require 0 AFMA? I.e. will it also have 0 AFMA for all subject distances?

hmm My Finnish English do not understand what you're asking, can you simplify the question and I try to answer

Ok, let me try to rephrase.

Let's say you get a 85/1.2 prime lens that needs no microadjustment for perfect focus. Will it focus perfectly for both close & far (infinity) subjects (at f/1.2)?

My 85/1.2 needs a microadjustment of +12 for a subject distance of 25x focal length (~85 inches distance). But now infinity is no longer perfectly in focus.

So what I'm asking is: since the AFMA value you enter into the camera is only really valid for the subject distance you used to determine that AFMA value, is it better to get a lens that appears to need no microadjustment whatsoever with your body?

Or will even those lenses show different back/front-focusing for subjects at various differences?

Of course, I'm only speaking of wide-aperture primes here... Above f/2.8 or f/4 you won't even notice these sorts of variations (unless your lens is really, really far off).

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: At least we have Canon quality control

« on: November 23, 2012, 11:35:11 PM »

And speaking of the D800 left AF problem... it evolved into a center AF front-focusing problem (relative to left & right AF points, which at least then agreed w/ one another) for some units sent back for repair.

I wonder if they finally fixed everything. That whole saga was a mess.

My leftmost AF point on my 5D Mark III slightly backfocuses compared to other points, but not drastically so... it's something I can live with.

These are very complex products, with tighter & tighter requirements for tolerance as people put higher demands on these systems. I think proper QC will always be important, but quick & easy testing methodologies for the consumer may be equally or even more beneficial.

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: November 23, 2012, 11:27:00 PM »

jukka,

Not sure if you saw my previous post, but do you know the answer to this question:

Since AFMA for a particular body/lens combo changes as a function of subject distance, it's not possible to have an AFMA value for all subject distances. Is this any different for a lens that appears to require 0 AFMA? I.e. will it also have 0 AFMA for all subject distances?

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: November 21, 2012, 11:42:34 PM »

Oh, also: 9 blade aperture primes for Canon FTW!! I can finally get my 18-point sunstars

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EOS Bodies / Re: !!!FIRST!!! - Full Frame Mirrorless Camera

« on: November 21, 2012, 11:31:34 PM »

I work at Sony Electronics.

Yea we've got FF Mirrorless already.

We're often times the first to market or very early to market. I remember announcing the world's lightest laptop 6 months before the first macbook air. Even after the launch of the AIR our's was still the thinnest and lightest but did anyone know haha? I remember carrying the world's first OLED TV to a convention in Las Vegas. We never advertised it though, the images were stunning and the design was sleek. 2 years later Samsung made a huge TV ad campaign and without saying it made it sound like they were the first to make the OLED TVs. And their TV was IDENTICAL to our aesthetically, they basically took our tv and rebadged it as a samsung. I think that's my biggest frustration with this company. We don't advertise anything and unless you're really looking for a product you would never know we made it. I'm so tired of watching great products get launch with zero visibility.

Just wanted to release some steam about the biggest issue that irks me about Sony. Other than that the company is awesome, they treat us real well, we get good discounts and the work culture here is great (I knew a few people who worked at Samsung that we're very happy).

Hi Minh,

I must say I agree with you re: your advertisement comments. For example:

• The Sony RX100 has a bounce flash built into it. Really sets it apart from other P&S cameras (save for an Olympus one; I can't remember the model). Why wasn't this advertised? It's not even listed as a feature at all on the official features/specs page!
• Sony makes the world's best CMOS sensors. Why not flaunt this for the Sony cameras that have this high dynamic range/low noise? Some of Sony's sensors are practically ready for the ISO-less revolution (if it ever comes)!
• Whatever happened to that really cool 84" projection screen that was matched to reflect the RGB primaries of a paired projector while rejecting all other wavelengths? Such a cool idea... a prototype was demonstrated years ago... never heard anything else about it.

I love the fact that you guys make & push cool new technology horizons. It can often be high risk (RX1, e.g., albeit that's probably a stepping stone to another product coming soon...), but can be highly rewarding. For those of us that care about quality, I must say I, for one, really appreciate the work Sony's doing. Be it Blu-Ray, 4k, SXRD, high DR/low read noise CMOS sensors, 1" sensor pocketable P&S (RX100 was one of Time's top 25 inventions of 2012!!), the list goes on.

Never considered myself a fanboy of any company... but Sony comes close.

Just don't get me started on the subpar lenses Sony's been putting on its HW30/HW50 line of projectors... good grief. Why take a great tech like SXRD & mar it like that!

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: November 21, 2012, 11:10:05 PM »

it depends, try to micro adjust a 105 macro or a zoom from the macro mode up to infinity . the best solution is to have all Canon lenses adjusted by a canon service center, a zoom for example  24-105 are adjusted in 8 different positions in the zoom range, in 5dmk2 we  have one, and in 5dmk 3 we have 2 adjustments points.

Thanks for that info on the 8 different positions at Canon FSC. Did not know that.

I've always wondered about this though. Since AFMA can only be accurately set for one subject distance, is it better to get a lens that has a AFMA of 0 with your body than to adjust a lens to, say, -12 for 25x focal length subject distance?

For that matter, is it even possible to get a lens that focuses perfectly (AFMA=0) for both near & far subject distances?

I would guess so, as AFMA appears to me, in my understanding, to simply be an extra correction factor on top of all other correction factors (e.g. correction due to spherical aberration, etc.; more here: http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=109296); and a simple multiplier (or whatever exactly AFMA is) may not hold across the entire range of subject distances.

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PowerShot / Re: Canon S100 vs Sony RX100

« on: September 27, 2012, 12:04:32 AM »

It does work in broad daylight but I was referring to fast moving objects where I would need the AF speed of a DSLR.

Gotcha.

Actually I was trying to shoot some clouds out of an airplane window & the RX100 just wouldn't focus. I thought the clouds had enough contrast to focus easily... but it was extremely difficult.

Maybe any compact would've had trouble; I'm not sure. I really do love the RX100. The bounce-flash, the larger sensor, the longer focal length lens for equivalent FOV compared to S100 guarantees that your diffraction-limited aperture is higher (e.g. f/4-f/5.6) --making those smaller apertures actually useful, the contrast of the lens (in the center anyway), etc.

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PowerShot / Re: Canon S100 vs Sony RX100

« on: September 26, 2012, 02:03:54 PM »

Tested the RX100 in Cyprus for a week - when I don't need AF in broad daylight I won't bother bringing along my 1D4 any more... ;-)

?? Are you trying to say the AF on the RX100 doesn't work in broad daylight? Confused.

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EOS Bodies / Re: DxOMark Sensor Performance: Nikon vs. Canon

« on: September 25, 2012, 06:01:10 PM »

Sad. But at least it appears that Velvia 100 is fine (I never liked 100F anyway), & I can still get 120 Velvia 50.

But I'm sure even those will go in the near future.

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EOS Bodies / Re: DxOMark Sensor Performance: Nikon vs. Canon

« on: September 25, 2012, 05:50:55 PM »

You would be right in going back to using film for landscapes. Especially Large format velvia... ahhh, Love those colors. Its a shame they don't make velvia anymore. 

What? I can still buy 120 Velvia 50 for my 645 system. It wasn't discontinued in 120, was it?

Velvia on a lightbox really is something to behold. But landscapes shot with the DR of a D800 & then displayed on an 'HDR' monitor capable of a high contrast ratio would also likely be something to behold.

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EOS Bodies / Re: DxOMark Sensor Performance: Nikon vs. Canon

« on: September 25, 2012, 05:47:54 PM »

Meh, Use your filters. I've seen plenty of good landscapes taken with crap cameras. I could use a D30 and get a good landscape.

what does an answer like this even means?
let's all go back to film then, i've seen plenty of good landscapes taken with film cameras.

He posted a comparison between the two sensor and the Nikon/Sony one is unarguably better.
Does this means that you cannot take beautiful pictures with a 5D Mk3? NO
Does this means that for a lower price Nikon is offering a camera with a better sensor that let you take beautiful pictures easily? YES

why can't people just admit that? customers should push their brand to do better, not settle down saying "nah i don't care if the competition is offering a better product for less money, I'm happy with what I have, please next time charge me more and remove some features, I will be willing to pay for it anyway".

Heh, agreed. I was just trying to be as non-inflammatory & balanced in my post(s) as possible.

If the rumors about the new big megapixel Canon are true, I'd be pretty excited. It remains to be seen if the sensor has enough DR to even take advantage of a 16-bit ADC. Right now, Canon bodies are just oversampling noise with even their 14-bit ADC...

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EOS Bodies / Re: DxOMark Sensor Performance: Nikon vs. Canon

« on: September 25, 2012, 05:24:28 PM »

Meh, Use your filters. I've seen plenty of good landscapes taken with crap cameras. I could use a D30 and get a good landscape.

Yup, updated my post above