Messages

16

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Digital Film (for use in old camera's)

« on: April 18, 2013, 07:27:36 PM »

This wasn't an issue with film so surely it would be possible for the sensor to 'autoalign' ?

It was an issue with film, just not a very big one.  Most 35mm film provided the resolution equivalent of about a 6-8mp FF sensor, give or take (& depending on the film of course), so it was pretty tolerant to slight discrepancies in film flatness.  Contax's RTS III (& some Contax MF systems) had a vacuum system that would suck the film against the backplate so that it was absolutely flat, and folks were able to get a bit more resolution out of higher-end film as a result.

A modern high-MP CMOS sensor needs to be *absolutely* aligned and positioned in the plane of focus, so closely that it pushes the limits of the production techniques used to make our mass-produced camera bodies.  This is part of the reason why we have AF calibration in our cameras now, so that we can compensate for manufacturing tolerance variance in the distance between the lens mount & the sensor plane.

17

Animal Kingdom / Re: Boa Constrictor - up close and personal - C&C please

« on: April 18, 2013, 06:09:02 AM »

If you're doing professional work that requires absolutely accurate color, I strongly suggest you read this:

http://colorremedies.com/realworldcolor/

You don't need to go through the whole thing (esp. if you're not making prints), but Jeff Schewe covers everything you need to know to "make it look like its supposed to" on your computer, on the web, and in print.

18

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Digital Film (for use in old camera's)

« on: April 18, 2013, 06:04:23 AM »

One reason that this concept never took off in the past was the interface.  There wasn't really an easy way to retrofit the digital controls necessary to a film camera to set ISO, WB, etc etc.

But now everyone carries a bluetooth-enabled smartphone or tablet.  It would be easy enough to velcro a small touchscreen Android bluetooth device to the back of a film camera.  As a bonus it uploads your stuff for you, too.

Of course there's also the mechanical issue of sensor positioning & alignment to overcome...

19

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 DC?

« on: April 18, 2013, 05:56:18 AM »

Judging from the way other ultra-large-aperture zooms are designed (e.g. the Oly 35-100 f/2) I'd guess that the design is basically a 35-70 f/3.5 with a reversed 2x teleconverter at the back.

I imagine that an FF version of this concept would weigh well north of a kilogram (& cost well north of a kilobuck).

Kudos to Sigma for being innovative once again.  Hopefully this will show C & N that there's real demand for more large-aperture lenses.

20

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe Lightroom 5 Public Beta Available

« on: April 18, 2013, 05:34:57 AM »

This thing is really going to need some killer features & performance improvements to get me to "upgrade" my macbook away from 10.6 in order to use it.  My GF's machine has Lion on it & I tear my hair out every time I try to use that thing.

Can anyone running the beta please check & see if they've added a new process version (e.g. "2013 (current)")?

Thanks :-)

21

Lenses / Re: Which Lens Canon 85mm 1.8 or 135 L

« on: April 15, 2013, 04:34:35 AM »

I guess I should further clarify, I don't only want it for studio shots, but I do want a better and sharper portrait lens than the 24-105.  I like to do outdoor shots and the f/4 has no bokeh at all, so im avoiding lenses with that aperture.

The 24-105L has fine bokeh, you just have to get close with it at the long end:



Granted, for portraits you'd probably have to work pretty close to the model and fill the frame with their face in order to get this kind of DoF, but it can be done & it performs well enough at f/4.5 (that shot's from my 40D, BTW).

There are a few other lenses you might consider:

• the 100 f/2 USM, which I passed over in favor of the 85 f/1.8 because I was shooting APS-C at the time & the shorter/faster 85 f/1.8 made the difference of being able to get good stable shots in indoor light at ISO1600, which would have been harder with the 100 f/2.  On modern FF cameras it's a different story...
• the 100mm f/2.8L IS macro.  It won't have as much bokeh as the 135L but it still has more than enough to blur the background for portraits, the character of the bokeh is nice & creamy, and of course it's got IS & it's also an awesome macro lens. The tripod collar improves the handling too.  Cost is about the same as the 135L.  Worth looking at if you want to work a little closer than the 135L will let you.
• The 85mm f/1.2L.  If you can find a good used original version (not the II) the optical formula is pretty much the same as the new one (the new one provides distance information for flash), & the cost should be in the ballpark of the 135L.
• the Sigma 85mm f/1.4

The links above are to Photozone's test pages...

22

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Just bought a 6D

« on: April 14, 2013, 06:19:02 PM »

After my first reply I've thought some more about how I feel about high ISO with the 6D
<...>
The noise even at 12800 is not that bad for a lot of the things I shoot, but there is a dramatic loss of dynamic range at such high ISOs.

Yep.  This is why "exposing to the right" is especially important at higher sensitivity levels.  The last couple of stops at the bottom are where most of the luminance noise is, so it's really important to make sure that no important bits of the image you capture are in those stops.

If you look at my Polish fellow you'll notice a few things:

• The dark oak door behind him is beyond the field of focus, so I can smear the luminance noise pretty well & use the masking slider to preserve detail in the rest of the image.
• The rest of the darkest bits of the image (gloves, fur, feathers) have enough pattern detail that you don't really notice the noise.  The only element besides the door that really stands out as noisy is the gloves, which are pretty tricky as they're a polished black surface.
• I messed around with the luminance noise reduction & sharpening until I got the noise looking as close to film grain as I could get it.

23

Lenses / Re: Which Lens Canon 85mm 1.8 or 135 L

« on: April 13, 2013, 07:05:26 AM »

I shoot with a 6D.

Well, I have both.  Started with the 85 1.8 on a crop (40D) and got the 135L as soon as I could afford it.  The 85 has excellent bang for the buck:  fast AF, good IQ (yes, there is plenty of purple fringing at wide apertures but nothing that simple CA correction in post can't handle), not very expensive, not very heavy.

The 135L has everything I like about the 85 1.8, turned up another notch. Size & weight (& cost) are still very manageable.  The AF speed & IQ are as good as it gets.  Also it works with teleconverters, which I often use with it.  I once had a 70-200 f/4L non-IS and sold it long ago because the 135L + 1.4x TC did most of what I used the 70-200 for, and I carry the 135L anyway.  Of course that was before the IS version...

On a crop body, 85 is more practical as the 135L really enters "telephoto-only" territory.  On your 6D (& mine), the 135L does what the 85 did on my 40D (low light shots & portraits in larger spaces) and the 85 does what my panaché of 50mm lenses did (low light shots & portraits in tighter spaces).

If you've got the money, get both.  I take them both with me whenever I can.

24

Software & Accessories / Re: Bag while I am a "tourist"

« on: April 11, 2013, 05:17:07 AM »

I tend to think I'll need everything so I often take everything and the I get a full and heavy backpack.  I want to avoid this trip.

& now you start to understand why I haven't bought a 70-200 f/4L IS or 70-300L IS yet.  I've been getting by for half a decade with my longtime friends the 135L and 1.4x TC, & now that I've got a 6D that produces pretty clean shots at ISO fifty billion & has lower pixel density than my beloved 40D (& thus is less sensitive to camera shake) the need for a long IS telephoto just went down considerably.  Maybe I'll upgrade the TC to the III version instead or perhaps get a 2x to compensate for the loss of "reach".

But that's one less big lens I have to figure out how to carry while still being able to cram the bag under an airplane seat and not breaking my back when I drag it around for hours.

Because I always want the 135L with me :-).

25

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 6D Firmware Update

« on: April 10, 2013, 05:36:52 AM »

I would love to see an update down the road that increased max shutter speed from 1/4000 to 1/8000.  It is rumored that this is just a software limiter and not a physical limitation to the shutter itself.

That would be sweet, & give me a reason to sell my 40D...

I suspect that it might have something to do with the "silent shot" feature.  That (& the gps battery drain, haven't messed with wifi yet) is the source of one of my complaints regarding the 6D.  I like silent shooting for indoor stuff quite a lot, but sometimes (depending on the shutter speed & perhaps the burst mode) you get a big chunk of the mirror in your frame.  My guess is that maybe with the 8k speed they couldn't get the mirror down fast enough in silent mode (or maybe the mirror just doesn't go down fast enough in all modes, it is a big full-frame mirror after all, there's a lot more mass to move than an APS-C mirror) so rather than put in a special caveat that blocks 8k in silent mode they just eliminated it altogether.

26

Lenses / Re: Stuck on whether to return sigma 35mm for 35mm 1.4L or 35f2 is

« on: April 09, 2013, 06:38:18 AM »

Definitely check your AFMA before you go any further.  Here's an easy guide:

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/cameras/1ds3_af_micoadjustment.html

27

Software & Accessories / Re: Bag while I am a "tourist"

« on: April 09, 2013, 06:27:12 AM »

My Think Tank Retrospective bag is absolutely fantastic.  I've got the Pinestone 7 and it really holds everything I need: 6D, lots of smaller primes, and a whole bunch of odd bits stuffed in the other nooks & crannies.  It's the perfect companion if you have a 10" tablet or a smaller ultrabook that will fit in the laptop pouch (which also holds magazines when there's no computer in there).

What I find really great about this bag is that it has forced me to rethink the gear I take with me.  I have a bunch of other bags, but they're all either too small to fit anything useful besides maybe one extra lens, or once I fill them up they're too big & heavy & clumsy to access.  So the end result was either wanting more lenses, or not bothering to drag all my stuff with me wherever I go when I'm on a trip as it's too heavy.

The retro 7 is really the right size; big enough to hold a reasonable amount of stuff & small enough to be practical.  It forces me to think about the gear I *need* for the trip & take only that.  This usually ends up being the 6D with the 24-105L on it and whatever primes I think I'll need, depending on what I'll be shooting & how much walking there is to be done.  I keep all the stuff that I don't need when I'm shooting (chargers, cables, readers, etc) in a lens bag in the front & just pull it out & leave it in the room where I'm staying.

It's super easy to access.  Even taking a tablet or computer out to check a map or mail is really fast.  And no one thinks its a photo bag.  Obviously I'm pretty psyched about it.

28

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Just bought a 6D

« on: April 04, 2013, 09:01:26 PM »

I'll take as much ISO as I can get.

Noisy photos might look pretty bad, but if you had to go to ISO ten gazillion to get the shot at least you got the shot.  If you've got the right tools noise can be disguised as grain, at least to a certain degree. 

On the other hand, blurry photos due to lack of shutter speed are pretty much useless.  This is why "boost" mode for the last stop of ISO exists even though it's just a simple linear amp that has the same effect on the sensitivity as setting +1EV in the raw converter.  It might be ugly but it keeps your shutter speed up so that you can get a stable shot.

Impromptu portrait, 19th century Polish Hussar's costume.  Most light was from what was probably a 35 watt applique.

85mm f/1.8 USM @ f/2.0, EOS 6D MRAW, ISO 25600, 1/100th sec, cleaned up a bit in LR4.

Without using "boost" mode, I would have been at 1/50th and probably would have had a near-useless image due to camera shake.  The 6D continues to blow me away with its performance at stratospheric ISO levels.

29

EOS Bodies / Re: Favorite or Preferred Film body?

« on: March 29, 2013, 10:53:48 PM »

As you can see from my profile image, that would be the Canon T90.

• Built like the proverbial brick latrine
• Up to 9 combined average spot meter readings.  The metering has a lot of other cool features too.
• 5 fps (will burn through a roll of film in 7 seconds if you let it)
• takes AA batteries
• amazing viewfinder
• love the form factor & Colani ergonomics; really the right size & shape, wish they'd do this again
• grandaddy of all EOS 1 series cameras

etc. etc. etc.

The ownership proposition today is a little tricky as these were truly professional cameras & thus mostly used by professionals, which means that a lot of them that you find in the market are really beat to hell.  They still work, but since Canon stopped making parts a long time ago you're kinda screwed if you have a problem.  If you can find one in good shape, go for it.  FD lenses are awesome & cheap as chips (just as EdMika :-).

I've got an EOS 1n too just so that I have a good film body for all my EOS lenses.  I think I paid about $150 for it in beat-up condition from B&H about 10 years ago.  Also nice but doesn't do it for me the way the T90 did.

30

Canon General / Re: Monopod VS IS (Image stabilization)

« on: March 27, 2013, 06:39:44 AM »

When I need large depth or field or am shooting in low light, I'll take what I can get.

Most of the time I'll run one or the other.  I would love to use IS lenses with the monopod as the net result would be even better, but my IS lens is the 24-105L.  It being f/4 means that I don't use it for low light when there's any possibility of subject movement, and if I'm shooting landscape I usually opt for either the 135L or another prime.  The 24-105L tends to be my walk-around/travel lens, and those kinds of situations don't lend themselves to monopod use (which is one of the reasons I got the lens in the first place :-).

I usually run my Adorama Podmatic in a belt pouch.  It's usually in conjunction with primes like the 135L, 85 USM, or any of my 50/40/35/20 primes, or the Tokina 11-16 (which is pretty much a 16mm f/2.8 prime on the 6D).

If I'm shooting indoors in low light I'm using a fast prime, and I haven't found one yet with IS & an aperture wide enough to do the job, so out comes the monopod.  In the belt pouch it's a bit less effective but more discreet & a lot more mobile.  It's also handy for getting a more stable shot for video, & you can pull the 'pod out of the pouch & raise the camera up over people's heads or other obstacles while it's still rolling.