Messages

256

Canon General / Re: What real Pros shoot...

« on: December 11, 2012, 08:23:06 PM »

An awful lot of talk about Reuters in this thread. There are a lot more agencies than just them, and then there are those photographers commissioned by newspapers and such. I attend a lot of media events, including sporting and the boring conferences etc and generally I would say I see more Canon. BUT, in recent times Nikon has been growing quite rapidly in numbers and I know a few (freelancers) that have switched from Canon to Nikon. To be very honest I do not pay that much attention. I think a lot of people here would be surprised at how old some of the kit is. There are people on this forum with much more advanced kit (and much more of it) than many of the pro photographers that I know and see on a regular basis.

257

Canon General / Re: Determining the Age of a Canon Lens Based on Serial Number

« on: December 10, 2012, 10:34:41 PM »

Very interesting. This could come in very handy when buying or selling a lens. As you would be able to (sort of)prove the date it was manufactured, just in case you lost the lens paper work. Plus if someone was trying to pull a fast one by saying it was brand new, hardly used etc. but you can see it was manufactured a few years ago, that may raise flags.

Canon will probably spend millions now thinking up a new system! ;-)

258

Lenses / Re: Recommendations for three weeks in the Middle East

« on: December 10, 2012, 05:36:15 AM »

I have reread your thread and subsequent posts and still cannot believe how much stuff you are planning on taking.

I do a lot of trips - media trips as well as individual - and do not think I have ever seen someone take as much gear as you are suggesting, and I have been doing this for a very, very long time. Many journos get away with one body, though granted, I and others, will carry two.

May I suggest, that you pack all the stuff you are planning on taking into your back pack and go hiking for a few days wherever you live. The difference between two and three bodies, and two and four lenses can really make a massive difference.

When I first started I wanted to pack everything and the kitchen sink, but you quickly learn that it is important to make sacrifices and wiser choices with regards to the kit you are taking.

Plus, unless you live in the Middle East you will have to get there by air. How are you going to pack all this? Many airlines might not let you on with so much carry on weight in a back pack.

259

Lenses / Re: Recommendations for three weeks in the Middle East

« on: December 09, 2012, 07:46:13 AM »

For a trip like this, I think 3 bodies is overkill and not worth the extra weight.

I might even be tempted to leave the 16-35 at home and just take the other 3. Only you know what you will be shooting, but do you really need the 300/2.8 to carry as well? You already have the 70-200/2.8 ii and a 1.4x tc.

I travel a lot and it is always a worry what to leave behind because "what if" but travel such as that is all about compromise.

I personally would take two bodies and either 16/35 or 24-105 AND either 70-200/2.8 or 300/2.8.

That way as well you will never need to change a lens in the field.

Which lens you take depends on what you are shooting.

Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy.

260

Lenses / Re: 70-300L for Outdoors?

« on: December 07, 2012, 01:56:46 AM »

You will not regret it.  I have both the 70-300L and the 70-200L IS II.  I prefer using the 70-300 unless the light is not optimal.  They equally sharp at 70mm.  The 70-300L is so much easier to carry in the bag.

+1 - I Agree.

As already said. Great lens and so much lighter than the 70-200l IS II. You really notice it after a full day.

But, the 70-200L IS II is f2.8 which can be very important when you upgrade your camera, and you can use extenders on it.

You can use some Kenko extenders on the 70-300L but I have not yet tried them.

Enjoy.

261

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Canon EOS 6D Service Advisory

« on: December 06, 2012, 11:44:39 PM »

I used to work in Quality Assurance for a really high end manufacturing company about 7 years ago. All we did was talk about how amazing toyota was at manufacturing and how they were the company to try to emulate.
Fast forward a few years, and they are plagued by recalls. It's not always as it seems in manufacturing and a certain amount of product failure is always expected. If you spend all your time making a perfect product with zero problems ever, then you will go out of business because of product manufacturing costs. There has to be a balance, It's just the harsh reality of it all.

Very true. But I cannot think of a DSLR camera that Canon has released recently that did not have an issue. So it is not just one model, or an out of the blue occurrence, but something that seems to be a serious issue at Canon.

A lot of people have mentioned car companies. Those recalls only happen from time to time. If they had to recall or service every single new launch model people would quickly move away.

I think it is truly appalling and Canon must have a serious look at their testing procedures, cos obviously when there are issues with the 5D III, 1D X and now the 6D - plus some others I cannot remember then something is going very wrong somewhere.

262

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Canon EOS 6D Service Advisory

« on: December 06, 2012, 07:18:06 PM »

It would not be so bad if it was a rare occurrence, but such problems have happened to every single Canon DSLR camera they have released recently (don't know about the P+S).

It is almost as if they are using the customers as guinea pigs.

They definitely need to improve their product testing. I think anyone that pre-orders a Canon camera right now is absolutely mad. Might as well wait until they find the problems after release and then buy once they fix them!

Madness.

263

Lenses / Re: Canon EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x TC Information

« on: December 02, 2012, 02:29:28 AM »

Don't worry, just because you're uninterested due to the high price, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people excited about this lens.  Granted, I'm not one of them, either, but that's because 560mm f/5.6 is not nearly as useful to me as 840mm f/5.6 (or 1200mm f/8 with AF).

Well said.

This is a seriously expensive zoom, I am sure many will buy it, but I see little point. Most sport photographers I know already have the 500 or 600s etc. There is very little incentive for them to by this/

264

Pricewatch Deals / Re: Canon EOS-1D C Available for Preorder from B&H Photo

« on: December 01, 2012, 08:58:57 AM »

I am a cinematographer. I do not shoot on DSLR much. However I am in touch with people who do. I rent out my gear a lot.

Posting this to tell you guys that this camera is creating SUPER buzz where I am (Bombay) in the low budget film community... FYI.

Why is that sanj? I just do not understand this camera at all. What is so great about it, apart from the 4K, compared to the XF 300 (US$ 6K) or the lower XA10 (US$ 1.8K)?

265

Canon General / Re: Travel to Thailand/Laos should I bring my 5d mkiii?

« on: November 30, 2012, 04:31:37 AM »

My standard South East Asia travel kit in recent years has been 5DC/5D2/5D3 de-gripped and grunged down with black tape. Get the tape that doesn't leave residue when you peel it off. It looks really tatty and like it needs the tape to hold it together.

Honestly, you really do not need any black tape at all.

Just take care of your stuff, and do not leave it lying around unattended.

266

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: The First Canon EOS 6D Video Footage

« on: November 29, 2012, 10:52:13 PM »

As this an ENTRY level FF I don't get why your demanding this.  The 6d is targeted towards the casual consumer!  The casual consumer most likely won't give a rats ass about audio monitoring, much less actually know how to do that or what to listen for.  If you want gear with more features you pay for it.  If you can't, then you find workarounds!

If you read my post, you will see I won't be buying this camera, not because of the lack of a headphone jack just cos it does not meet my needs.

I was taking about the lack of a headphone jack not only because this is an entry level FF aimed at consumers, but also because it is brand new and it is almost the year 2013 and Canon has got a lot of new competition from companies that do add such stuff to their cameras.

I was not asking why it did not have XLR, I just humbly think that if you are going to stick a mic jack (I presume it has one) in a brand new US$ 2,XXX camera then it should have a headphone jack. That way IF someone wanted to do video at least they could monitor the sound without having to buy an external recorder which would then make the mic jack totally pointless.

That's all. No big deal, just my opinion.

267

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: The First Canon EOS 6D Video Footage

« on: November 29, 2012, 06:25:51 AM »

So for those that do not think Canon should have put a headphone jack in this (what US$ 2000?) camera, and then (some at least) go on about external recorders, why do they bother to put a mic jack in?

Do not get me wrong, I won't be buying this camera, and have equal interest in video as stills, but I just do not get why Canon are producing such new cameras without such basic jacks.

All I am trying to say is if you put a mic jack in a camera of this price level then I think there should automatically be a headphone jack as well. Give the user the choice to use what he/she prefers.

I think we would all agree monitoring sound via some sound bars on a screen is one of the worse things you can do.

268

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: The First Canon EOS 6D Video Footage

« on: November 28, 2012, 04:21:06 PM »

What surprises me is Canon has again released a brand new XD series without a headphone jack.
The 1D X does not have one and now this latest model from Canon does not have one.

But the 1D C does, as does the 5DIII.  Seems like Canon is differentiating between bodies that can shoot video (which is all of the current ones, obviously), and bodies that are intended to be used for video.

That's fine, and I can understand the logic (sort of). But if that is what they are doing then why bother sticking video in at all. Surely a headphone jack can't be that big a deal for the engineers or the camera itself, but I am not an engineer.

I am one of those guys that thinks if you are going to do something do it right, and as it is almost 2013 and as this new 6D does have video then in my eyes it should have a headphone jack. And the 1D X as the flagship should have all the bells and whistles.

Will be interesting to see what they do with the 7D ii and the new High MP cameras.

269

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: The First Canon EOS 6D Video Footage

« on: November 28, 2012, 03:47:45 PM »

No comment on the video as I have not watched it.

What surprises me is Canon has again released a brand new XD series without a headphone jack.

The 1D X does not have one and now this latest model from Canon does not have one.

Not all of us want to use external recorders to monitor sound levels during a recording.

Bizarre.

270

EOS Bodies / Re: What will be the issue with the 6D

« on: November 22, 2012, 11:59:17 PM »

GPS coordinates are 3 km off

This could come in really handy, when you forget you have it and take pics of that gf your wife doesn't know about!