Messages

61

Lenses / Re: Tamron 24-70 Focus Accuracy

« on: September 22, 2012, 08:29:18 AM »

That's great to hear. Seems like focus is what often separates great lenses from would-be lenses (something which seems to afflict a disproportionate number of Sigma and Tamron lenses).

That said, it seems reasonable to expect that a recently released $1300 lens would have good AF, right??

Very true. Never the less... That doesn't mean it's GOING to have it. This test gives me a little more confidence that with more money, Tamron can make a much better AF system.

62

EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D mark ii vs 50D center AF point sensitivity

« on: September 22, 2012, 08:15:49 AM »

So I was at a wedding rehearsal the other day. Super dark as always. I was testing out the lenses. I put the 70-200 is ii on my 50D and tried to focus on pew near the back of the sanctuary. The camera couldn't get an AF lock presumably due to the low light. I switched to my 5D mark ii body and tried focusing around the same area. The AF wasn't super fast but it did lock focus. This made me wonder, is the 5d's center AF point more sensitive in low light than the 50Ds? I know the 5d's gets bashed a lot but I'm trying to figure out what caused this. Not trying to start a flame war here but just curious if someone knows the actual sensitivity of the center AF point. Thanks.

63

Software & Accessories / Re: What are most people using for processing RAW

« on: September 22, 2012, 08:09:29 AM »

Ive been ugrading from CS2 to CS5 and now CS6. I can tell ACR of each CS is different, the latter the better and more effective. I tried LR4 and DDP before CS6 but didnt like it.

Yeah, I'm still on DPP but I may switch over to LR at some point in the future. The main thing that always held me back was raw didn't look anything like the out of camera jpg or what it looked like in DPP. In LR it was super contrasty and had a greenish tint to it almost all the time. The new process I believe 2011 or 2012 fixed a lot of that stuff. It's probably still not exactly the same but it's a heck of a lot closer. I was close to switching but I've gotten a little bit comfortable with DPP. Not to mention it's free so at this point I'm putting my money towards other things but at some point I might circle back around.

64

Lenses / Re: First lenses for new crop sensor camera?

« on: September 21, 2012, 11:29:30 PM »

This Sunday, Canon is having a additional 20% off the price of refurbished lenses on their web site.  I've been very happy with any refurbs I've bought.
I'd try to login early, the sale starts at 12:01 AM ET.  The popular lenses will go fast.  You will save a whole lot of $$ on those lenses if you are quick.
 
http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductListingViewAll_10051_10051_-1_22751

Wow - where did you hear about this?

I posted it in another thread:
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=9573.0
it's since been posted on Canon Pricewatch.

65

Lenses / Tamron 24-70 Focus Accuracy

« on: September 21, 2012, 11:26:00 PM »

So just thought I'd share some findings that happily surprised me today. I have a wedding this Sunday and decided to to rent the Tamron 24-70. As always I setup Focal to calibrate AFMA all the rented lenses. I was surprised when it came time for the Tamron that it's focus accuracy was right around what I get with Canon's L zooms. The only other Tamron lens I've owned is the Tamron 17-50 which while a great lens has fairly large focus accuracy issues. For this reason I often use it at f/4. It also sharpens up nicely I've noticed vs 2.8. Anyways, attached are the Focal reports for both lenses on my 50D and the 24-70 on my 5D. We'll see how well it does Sunday but this definitely gives me a little more assurance than before.

66

EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D Mark II eyepiece

« on: September 21, 2012, 10:07:55 PM »

So I've been noticing lately that it's hard for me to see the entire frame when looking through the eyepiece. If I push my eye against it really hard I can see all the way but it's very uncomfortable like that. As a result of this, a lot of my shots end up with more head room than I'd like. Has anybody ever had this issue? With the smaller mirror on my 50D I don't have this issue. I wasn't sure if there was something I could do that might help this some. I don't wear glasses FYI.

67

Pricewatch Deals / Re: 20% off Refurbished EOS Digital Cameras, Lenses, PowerShot Digital Cameras, and

« on: September 20, 2012, 10:20:39 PM »

for anyone interested, beach camera is having a daily deal over on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-II-21-1MP-DSLR-body-PIXMA-Pro-9000-Mark-II-Photo-Printer-/300781963183

Yup. That's also a very good deal. And it's obviously a new body not refurbished.

68

EOS Bodies / Re: 6D or 5D Mk II

« on: September 20, 2012, 11:39:30 AM »

Since the 6D is post-600EX-RT, I assume there would be some advantage to having a 6D over a 5DII for HSS off-camera, though I know some people are not feeling limited by the 5DII in that regard.

While Canon says otherwise, it has been confirmed by multiple users that hss & x-sync works just fine with 600rt + 5d2. You won't get the in-camera menus and the new option flash groups, though.

The real advantage would have been if the 6d had a rf-controller next to gps/wifi - would certainly have been possible since it's not full metal.

People are already pissed they put in the wifi and GPS since they didn't put it in the other bodies. If they'd done that then it would of been even worse complaining. Also, I think I read the range on the wifi is only 50m vs 150m external. So it might not provide as much range as an external option.

69

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon Announces the Canon EOS 6D DSLR

« on: September 20, 2012, 11:28:11 AM »

I'm glad some find it good. I suspect the extra ISO stops to be useless for any practical purpose as they often are when the boundaries are pushed just so they can print it on a marketing ad. More likely both cameras will be identical and unless canon resolved its banding noise issues at low ISO, image quality will be practically a non differentiator. As others have said, the one point being extra sensitive remains to be seen how good it actually is but overall the AF system is likely inferior as 1 point won't offset the loss of every cross point besides it. It also can't focus with f/8 minimum aperture lenses so the TC story for this camera is as bad as the new ones.

ultimately there is one definitive thing canon can do to make it better and that is to make it cheaper since it is unlikely to capitalize enough in the few areas that it can as far as specifications go.

price it at 1500 dollars and I'll get one no matter how bad it is.

If the example video Canon has up for Deep Green or whatever it's called is any example, then it should have pretty good ISO as they had several shots at 12800 that looked very good.

70

Pricewatch Deals / Re: 20% off Refurbished EOS Digital Cameras, Lenses, PowerShot Digital Cameras, and

« on: September 19, 2012, 06:44:28 PM »

Good to know!

As of late, they have been excluding the 5D2 from that offer. But you never know, they used to include it in the 20% off so it could always be brought back!

Yeah, all I know is in what I saw it didn't have any restrictions. It does seem a little weird that they'd only give 10% off for Canon Loyalty for the 5D Mark ii and do it here so I could be wrong. But it's worth checking on Monday to see.

71

Pricewatch Deals / 20% off Refurbished EOS Digital Cameras, Lenses, PowerShot Digital Cameras, and

« on: September 19, 2012, 01:51:20 PM »

Just found out Canon will have 20% off Refurbished EOS Digital Cameras, Lenses, PowerShot Digital Cameras, and Camcorders starting September 23rd and running until September 30th. No coupon code was given so I would assume they're doing it like they did last time and simply taking 20% off the price. Shipping is free with coupon code SHIP712 on orders over $100.

I did not see an limitations on this so this is really big deal. The 5D Mark II is currently in stock and with the 20% off is right around $1400 before tax. There are quite a few lenses out of stock currently. There's a chance some of them will come in stock during the discount period. You can either use Canon's built in tool for being notified (some products don't have this) or a script I wrote that checks the Canon store every 5 minutes which I mentioned in this thread:
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=7988.msg145750#msg145750

72

EOS Bodies / Re: Who really is the target demographic for the 6D?

« on: September 18, 2012, 07:20:08 AM »

.
I don't know who it's for, but I sure know who it is NOT  for.

This was not designed to appeal to photographers. This is for people who want to take a few pictures once in a while.

And the ultra-dark capable AF is because once buyers realize what the have they will only use it at night when there is not as much chance of being embarrassed.

I'm sure I could take some great pictures with this camera. Just like I do with my 5d mark ii. There'll be plenty of PHOTOGRAPHERS taking great pictures with this camera.

73

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma Announces Three New Lenses: 35 f/1.4, 17-70 f/2.8-4.0 OS & 120-300 f/2.8 OS

« on: September 18, 2012, 07:11:29 AM »

I never see vignetting charts but is it just me or does that look like really bad vignetting?

nope. quite normal for that aperture and angle.

20% remaining light at the outer corner means vignetting a little more than f2. thats the same as canons 35L and Nikons 35G.

Also...except for a few photogs with special demands vignetting is nothing to ever be concerned about.

Got it. I just don't understand how if it only how it only has 20% remaining light that it's not dark as anything. If you say it's normal I'm glad. Just not used to seeing those.

74

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma Announces Three New Lenses: 35 f/1.4, 17-70 f/2.8-4.0 OS & 120-300 f/2.8 OS

« on: September 17, 2012, 10:37:11 PM »

Just saw this:
http://thedigitalpicture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=3044
Pretty much the same but it also mentions a usb dock for changing lens parameters. Could be interesting.

75

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma Announces Three New Lenses: 35 f/1.4, 17-70 f/2.8-4.0 OS & 120-300 f/2.8 OS

« on: September 17, 2012, 10:30:03 PM »

35mm f/1.4 specs and charts (67mm filter, 9 rounded blades, etc)

http://www.sigma-global.com/en/lenses/cas/product/art/a_35_14.html

I own the 85mm f/1.4 and love it (and also own the Canon 35L).

I never see vignetting charts but is it just me or does that look like really bad vignetting?