Messages

16

Lenses / Re: A Walk Around Lens for a Trip

« on: April 30, 2013, 10:16:40 AM »

Is there a reason you think you need a focal length beyond 85mm or 105mm?  I've never been to that part of the world, but imagine that most of the photo opportunities will be on the wide to normal focal lengths.  Remember that the 7D is a crop body and will provide an effective 1.6x zoom on the lenses you decide to take on the trip.   If you are set on taking your Tokina 11-16mm, I'd recommend a 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom.  They can be had at very good prices for a lens that was sold as part of a kit; maybe better priced if you don't mind a slightly used lens.  I think you will find that 105mm on a 7D long enough and if not, you have 18MP to work with and crop.

If you wanted a one lens solution know that there are IQ compromises with any of the super zooms that you mention.  If again, you can live with 85mm on the long end, I would recommend the Canon 15-85mm EFS USM IS lens.  It is wide enough that you might just leave the Tokina at home and travel ultra light.  Maybe throw in a 40mm f/2.8 USM (cheap at $150) for the times you need a wider aperture. 

Good luck with whatever you choose and have a fun time in Israel!

Kind regards,
Jason S.

+1. Great, well-thought post.

17

Pricewatch Deals / Re: Canon refurb sale...what happened?

« on: April 29, 2013, 04:38:27 PM »

The sale still shows up.  Sometimes, a product is sold out by multiple buyers processing orders at the same time, Canon sells maybe hundreds or thousands of some lenses.  They cancel the orders they can't fill if this happens.
 
This happened to me with the super popular 70-200mm f/2.8L MK II.  The next time it was on sale, I bought it in time.

I called and the rep didn't have any idea what happened.  Then she said it was out of stock so she couldn't put in my order.  She offered to honor the sale once it comes back in stock.  I'm curious, did you get an email from Canon letting you know what happened?  Or did they just cancel your order?  That seems like pretty poor customer service.  At the least I should have gotten an email that says, "Sorry we weren't able to fill your order".  Plus they charged me, which is also strange.  Just frustrating.  I thought I was getting a 600ex this week, I guess not!

This happened to me around Christmas time... bought a refurb 7D and 70-200 2.8 non-is. They cancelled the whole thing, I called, the 70-200 was out of stock and the 7d was no longer on sale, but they wouldn't honor the sale price even though they cancelled the 7d because the 70-200 was out of stock.

Long story short, I got the 7D for refurb sale price (which had expired), and a new 70-200 for less than refurb price. So, might as well call and ask for a manager...

18

Lenses / Re: EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x Release Date [CR1]

« on: April 27, 2013, 12:13:10 PM »

some say we could pre order it in a few weeks...

May 14th is only a few weeks... 

19

Software & Accessories / Re: Screw-on ND filter for 16-35 II

« on: April 25, 2013, 11:32:00 AM »

Related question for those using ND filters, since I've never used one but am starting to get inspired: is it worth getting MRC? On UV and CPL filters, it doesn't seem to affect the price as much- but for some reason, the MRC version of B+W's 10-stop is twice as expensive as the single-coated version... would love to hear thoughts on the matter!

Thanks,
Brian

20

EOS Bodies / Re: The sound of silence

« on: April 24, 2013, 01:46:28 PM »

Speaking of silence, check out this hilarious review from the camera store on the "new" T5i:

Canon Rebel T5i (700d) Hands-On

hahah, that's great. I needed a laugh this afternoon...

21

Technical Support / Re: Urgent Help Requested:Photos for my website

« on: April 23, 2013, 08:56:09 PM »

Here I am, drunk on a tuesday night ... don't tell my boss.

Amen to that. Except it's not that late here...

22

Reviews / Re: Sigma 30mm F/1.4 for Canon Review with the 7D

« on: April 23, 2013, 10:39:54 AM »

Do you have sample images from this lens somewhere that aren't in video form? I'd love to see some 100% crops, particularly in high-CA situations, if you have any...

23

Reviews / Re: Review - Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM

« on: April 23, 2013, 10:38:35 AM »

I tested Canon 35 f1.4 (that I own) and Sigma 35 f1.4 (that I jumped to buy immediately) and Canon lens has a more pleasing bokeh and image. I made the comparison on screen and paper (1000mmx700mm printed images).

Truly, the Sigma looks crisper, but I prefer a general beter looking image.
I made this comparison because I could sell my used Canon 35 f1.4 at the price of a new Sigma 35 f1.4 and I almost made the switch, but then I said to try the Sigma first.

I decided to keep my Canon lens from two reasons:

1. Sigma did not demonstrated yet that can make a working horse (I had a Sigma 50mm f1.4 and was extremely unreliable). I can`t afford to have bad working lenses or on repair for weeks in a row. This will be a disaster for me.

2. The images printed looked beter from Canon. The colours and general image are more appealing.

In the last years  we are all looking at the numbers, but nobody looks at pictures anymore.

I got the idea that the Sigma is cheap, but I do not want cheap, I want the best Image and reliability.

And I am sure that all of you know what I am talking about.

no , sorry I don't

please show me, I have  both canon 35/1,4 and the sigma 35/1,4

Might be because you did not own a Sigma before.
I owned "the 50mm" from Sigma and it was so unreliable. The "internet" is screaming of the problems that Sigma lenses has.
If Canon, Nikon, Zeiss, Sony charge so much for a high performance lens, how Sigma did it so cheap? Has to be something wrong inside. Something that will crack when the lens will have to hork hard.

The "internet"? Meaning, not actually the Internet, but something posing as it? an intranet that really wants to be the Internet?

24

Lenses / Re: 70-200 2.8 L **non IS**

« on: April 19, 2013, 02:20:57 PM »

I mean, I love this lens as much as anyone, but why is this a thread? There's a thread for this lens in the sample gallery....

25

Lenses / Re: 24-105 &/or 24-70

« on: April 19, 2013, 01:36:52 PM »

Interesting, Ive always heard it sucked at 24.

Has a lot of distortion at 24, but it gets softer at the long end. Different kinds of flaws.

26

Software & Accessories / Re: Websites

« on: April 19, 2013, 10:44:10 AM »

Anyways, I was fortunate to be forced to learn HTML many moons ago and like babysteps learned CSS and html5 and such and have built my website from scratch...  It's still not perfect but at least if anything needs changed, i can do it myself quickly and upgrade as I go along.

Yeah, I have made a hobby of learning PHP, HTML, CSS, and a little bit of javascript... enables me to piece together a small page pretty quickly. Right now my coding is much prettier than my styling, though, so if you know CSS I'd be happy to throw together some backend scripts to do what you want to do.

27

Lenses / Re: Street Photography 35mm/50mm + DC？Help

« on: April 18, 2013, 01:15:11 PM »

Voted option #4. Sigma 30 is awesome, and will save you some money over the L. As far as a 50, I think you'll have a hard time using that 1.2 aperture on the L, because street is usually not about absurd bokeh. Since you're likely to want to stop down a bit for more DoF, again, the 50 1.4 will save you a lot of money. Personally, I find 85 a bit long for street photography on crop, but I like the look my 50 gives, which is about equivalent to 85 on FF. Plus, 3 lenses is greater than two! And if you find yourself not using/liking one, you can always sell it.

28

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma Announces 18-35 f/1.8 DC HSM Art for APS-C

« on: April 18, 2013, 09:42:09 AM »

18mm?  What the heck is it with these idiotic lens makers.  We've got the 17-55, 18-55, 18-135, 18-200, 18-270 and now 18-35.  What do we have that starts at 24mm-equivalent?  The only one I own - the 15-85IS.

f/1.8 sounds interesting, but not if it starts at 18mm!!!

Pass.

Well clearly they sell plenty of 17- and 18-something zooms, so I don't know if I'd go so far as to call them idiotic... it seems to be working. For most people the extra 3.2 or 4.8 mm don't seem to be make-or-break, and if they're that big a deal, they probably have a 10-something to get even wider...

I for one, am excited to see what this lens can do optically, and what Canon and/or Nikon might do in response. Suddenly a 2.8 zoom isn't as fast as it gets, and if they can do it in an 18-35 (much wider than "normal"), I'd be really curious to see what a 50-100 might look like for indoor sports. (doesn't have to go wide-tele, just normal-tele, still only 2x zoom, but could be very useful). Even if this came in at $1000, with similar optics, I'd consider giving up the extra 20mm of my 17-55 to get the extra stop-and-a-third of light from this lens.

29

Lenses / Re: New review of the Sigma 30mm f/1.4

« on: April 17, 2013, 08:26:38 AM »

That's what I was looking for. I remember reading that they were going to update the 30mm when they announced the 35mm but I guess I didn't realized it was going to be this quick. Has it been confirmed that they are any different besides the cosmetics and the USB dock?

check out the corner MTFs and the optics diagram:
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/30mm-f14-dc-hsm-a

completely new and different optically.

Edit: OP, just got through watching the video. Thanks for that review- I've heard hit-and-miss things about AF, so I'm glad you found it to your liking, because I'm strongly considering this lens!

30

EOS Bodies / Re: Dilemma: Need new body by May 1st (7d alternatives/successor timeline?)

« on: April 11, 2013, 08:16:58 AM »

also get the sigma 35mm f1.4 its half the price of the 35mm L and its better too

Ignoring the body-choice stuff (I love my 7d, and have been quite happy with the IQ:$$ ratio, but I'm also usually in pretty good light), I would get behind this recommendation of the sigma 35 over the 35L. Sharper, great colors, reviews all say the AF is as good as the 35L (never used the canon, so can't comment personally), etc etc.

It's a shame when so many people that admittedly never have used the 35L is recommending 3rd party alternatives. I've myself never used the Sigma, but the 35L is a top notch lens. Not cheap, but it has a proven performance and quality record over 14 years which the Sigma doesn't.

Never said it wasn't- the point is that sigma has caught up, and the Σ35 is now every bit a top notch lens, for $900 new...