16
Lenses / Re: 24-70 f/2.8L mk 1 or 24-105 f/4L
« on: May 28, 2012, 07:11:57 PM »
24-105L get's my vote any day.
May 23, 2013, 12:42:28 AM
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17
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: What if you started from scratch again? Total Loss...
« on: May 28, 2012, 07:06:39 PM »I think I could survive with a 5DII, a 24-105 and a 50 1.4.+1
18
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark III Noob: What to check out on new camera?
« on: May 24, 2012, 08:54:16 PM »
THX723: You have a very valid point there, and I sincerely appreciate your views and response.
And honestly I'm not trying to stir with this comment, but by your account of 'a camera is still just a camera' and the whole idea of it's the same principles that apply whether you're shooting a 1D series body or a Rebel, although valid, to me can also be interpreted as 'you might as well as go for the cheapest option - they're all the same thing at the end of the day: a camera.' Now I know I'm twisting your words somewhat here, and maybe it's my background: I'm 32 next month, and have been shooting for almost 15 years now. I guess I'm young enough to be au-fait with all things digital and the relevant processing tools involved, ie: PS. But I'm also old enough to have been trained formally using a very basic (but awesome) Pentax K1000, and I still value my time with that camera and the subsequent processing/developing techniques required in the darkroom. This was time well spent learning the rules of photography and also how to break them.
Your car/ferrari analogy is spot on thought I think. But then again... What about other pursuits/hobbies? There is a reason that when people start out with something like snowboarding they are advised to get a decent allround beginner board: They won't be able to win downhill races bacause it's simply too slow and they're not going to win any ESPN events. But it will give them a base level understanding from which they can then decide what matters most to them and their style of riding: Speed, handeling, weight, ride position etc...
This is one of those debates that I feel both sides of the argument have valid points, so for me it comes down to 'what's right for some, ain't right for all'.
I hope you don't take this as a dig - it's genuinely not intended that way and I appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
All the best,
Steve
And honestly I'm not trying to stir with this comment, but by your account of 'a camera is still just a camera' and the whole idea of it's the same principles that apply whether you're shooting a 1D series body or a Rebel, although valid, to me can also be interpreted as 'you might as well as go for the cheapest option - they're all the same thing at the end of the day: a camera.' Now I know I'm twisting your words somewhat here, and maybe it's my background: I'm 32 next month, and have been shooting for almost 15 years now. I guess I'm young enough to be au-fait with all things digital and the relevant processing tools involved, ie: PS. But I'm also old enough to have been trained formally using a very basic (but awesome) Pentax K1000, and I still value my time with that camera and the subsequent processing/developing techniques required in the darkroom. This was time well spent learning the rules of photography and also how to break them.
Your car/ferrari analogy is spot on thought I think. But then again... What about other pursuits/hobbies? There is a reason that when people start out with something like snowboarding they are advised to get a decent allround beginner board: They won't be able to win downhill races bacause it's simply too slow and they're not going to win any ESPN events. But it will give them a base level understanding from which they can then decide what matters most to them and their style of riding: Speed, handeling, weight, ride position etc...
This is one of those debates that I feel both sides of the argument have valid points, so for me it comes down to 'what's right for some, ain't right for all'.
I hope you don't take this as a dig - it's genuinely not intended that way and I appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
All the best,
Steve
19
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark III Noob: What to check out on new camera?
« on: May 24, 2012, 07:14:18 PM »
First off: Congrats on your new baby!
By the sounds of it you're quite similar to me in the way that I too do a LOT of research when it come to making these sort of purchases, and by the way you're responding to the comments on here and your general outlook on photography I'm sure you'll be getting to grips with things pretty swiftly.
Having said that, I do somehow feel you might be missing a really valuable learning experience here. And yes, this is only my personal opinion, but most photographers start out with really basic kit and then explore it until they have worked out the limitations for their needs. I'm not sure going with a full frame MkIII will give you this experience...
Anyways, now that you do have your new baby, my (again personal opinion folks) advice would be to deffo try all the settings, have a good ol play with everything, but if you're serious about learning photography: Full Manual is the way to learn things I feel. And if you're feeling really brave (or just as a learning/experimentation tool) stick some masking tape or a postit note on the LCD screen. I still do this myself - it does force one to really look and start judging light.
Other than that: Shoot, shoot, shoot and when you're done, go shoots some more. Consider this quote by a man who knew a little something about photography...:
'Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.'
-Henri Cartier-Bresson
Have fun & all the best.
By the sounds of it you're quite similar to me in the way that I too do a LOT of research when it come to making these sort of purchases, and by the way you're responding to the comments on here and your general outlook on photography I'm sure you'll be getting to grips with things pretty swiftly.
Having said that, I do somehow feel you might be missing a really valuable learning experience here. And yes, this is only my personal opinion, but most photographers start out with really basic kit and then explore it until they have worked out the limitations for their needs. I'm not sure going with a full frame MkIII will give you this experience...
Anyways, now that you do have your new baby, my (again personal opinion folks) advice would be to deffo try all the settings, have a good ol play with everything, but if you're serious about learning photography: Full Manual is the way to learn things I feel. And if you're feeling really brave (or just as a learning/experimentation tool) stick some masking tape or a postit note on the LCD screen. I still do this myself - it does force one to really look and start judging light.
Other than that: Shoot, shoot, shoot and when you're done, go shoots some more. Consider this quote by a man who knew a little something about photography...:
'Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.'
-Henri Cartier-Bresson
Have fun & all the best.
20
EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Canon 5D Mark II & 7D Good Enough for The Avengers
« on: May 11, 2012, 03:02:12 PM »
What exactly do you mean "somewhat" popular? That movie is already at $210 million at the box office after its first weekend and has 93% score on RT.
It is pretty amazing to see the capabilities of those two cameras and the kind of production value you can get out of them. I bet they don't obsess over sharpness and pixel-peep for 8 hours each day
Well said. In this scenario it's all about getting the job done. Can't see them checking out footage of brick walls for hour on end.
21
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark III doesn't live up to expectations in real world shooting...
« on: April 27, 2012, 12:53:40 PM »
i like your belt.
22
EOS Bodies / Re: differences in color between Mark ii and Mark iii?
« on: April 26, 2012, 02:46:12 PM »Not sure what my business website link has to do with anybody on here. If I wanted to include it I would have in my profile.
I agree, it has fairly little to do with your original post. I just enjoy looking at photography, and find it's a great way to improve. I do however appreciate not everyone feels the same as me, and that's fair enough. All the best for the upcoming season!
23
Lenses / Re: 5dmkii upgrade question
« on: April 26, 2012, 02:39:14 PM »
I think the 5Dii body together with the 24-105L would be a fine choice. As mentioned before, it's considered a very good and highly capable allround lens on a full frame body. I love mine. And as she will still be able to use her nifty fifty on the new body she will also be able to experiment with some nice shallow dof and will also give her more flexibility indoors and/or low light shooting.
Any lens choice beyond that should probably be made by her, as she will know best what sort of lens suits her shooting style.
Hope she loves the new camera as much as I enjoy mine!
Any lens choice beyond that should probably be made by her, as she will know best what sort of lens suits her shooting style.
Hope she loves the new camera as much as I enjoy mine!
24
Lighting / Re: 430ex II assist beam - is this normal??
« on: April 26, 2012, 08:47:44 AM »
Okay, I think I've worked it out...
Yes, assist beam won't work on Servo mode, I did mention this to start with. As for why only one side lights up, I believe that the right side of the assist beam (when looking at the flash straight on) is for the centre AF point, the left assist beam for the peripheral AF points. As I always shoot with centre point only, this would explain the issue at hand.
I just wanted to share this in case anyone else notices similar things with their assist beam.
Yes, assist beam won't work on Servo mode, I did mention this to start with. As for why only one side lights up, I believe that the right side of the assist beam (when looking at the flash straight on) is for the centre AF point, the left assist beam for the peripheral AF points. As I always shoot with centre point only, this would explain the issue at hand.
I just wanted to share this in case anyone else notices similar things with their assist beam.
25
EOS Bodies / Re: differences in color between Mark ii and Mark iii?
« on: April 26, 2012, 08:42:02 AM »
I too would love to see the OP's wedding portfolio. I've been booked for a couple myself and as it's not what I usually shoot I'm trying to hoover up tips and tricks. Any chance of sharing a link?
26
Lighting / 430ex II assist beam - is this normal??
« on: April 20, 2012, 08:22:06 PM »
Hi all,
I was shooting a stag-do (aka: bachelor party) last weekend and noticed that my assist beam on my 430ii was not firing. I didn't have time to work out what was going on then and there, but am now trying to figure out if my flash is faulty or if there is something I simply don't know about.
I always shoot with my 5Dii in full manual mode, and usually the flash as well. Although in this case I switched the flash to ETTL. So full manual on the body side, AF set to AI Servo, drive set to continuous shooting and I use backbutton focusing, which I've swapped with the * button just to right of the AF-ON button on my 5Dii. This was the setup I was using, and the flash assist beam didn't fire a single time.
So after a little bit of research I figured out that the assist beam will only fire in One Shot mode, not AI Servo. Fair enough, makes sense really. But when I change the above mentioned configuration to One Shot and leave everything else as it is, only the right hand side of the flash assist beam fires, whereas when I switch to Full Auto (green square) both sides of the flash assist beam light up. What gives?? For me the assist beam works a treat especially with the 5Dii AF issues... But I hate not being able to shoot full manual!
Anyone have any ideas what's going on here?
I was shooting a stag-do (aka: bachelor party) last weekend and noticed that my assist beam on my 430ii was not firing. I didn't have time to work out what was going on then and there, but am now trying to figure out if my flash is faulty or if there is something I simply don't know about.
I always shoot with my 5Dii in full manual mode, and usually the flash as well. Although in this case I switched the flash to ETTL. So full manual on the body side, AF set to AI Servo, drive set to continuous shooting and I use backbutton focusing, which I've swapped with the * button just to right of the AF-ON button on my 5Dii. This was the setup I was using, and the flash assist beam didn't fire a single time.
So after a little bit of research I figured out that the assist beam will only fire in One Shot mode, not AI Servo. Fair enough, makes sense really. But when I change the above mentioned configuration to One Shot and leave everything else as it is, only the right hand side of the flash assist beam fires, whereas when I switch to Full Auto (green square) both sides of the flash assist beam light up. What gives?? For me the assist beam works a treat especially with the 5Dii AF issues... But I hate not being able to shoot full manual!
Anyone have any ideas what's going on here?
27
EOS Bodies / Re: Canon is getting owned in sensor technology
« on: April 19, 2012, 12:55:20 PM »Same procedure as every year. I wonder how its possible that people take good photos since the invention of photography. Reading here always seems like last years cameras are producing bad images.
Im going so far to say that if u see some award winning photo on the internet somewhere u cant even tell if it was taken with a nikon or canon or probably something else unless u read the exif information...
+1. I agree, this is all way too geeky for me by now. Portfolio is everything to me - I prefer seeing photography awards rather than test scores and shots of brick walls. Each to their own mind you... I knew someone who owned a Jaguar, but couldn't actually drive himself.
28
Lenses / Re: Help with event lens ( weddings, anniversary's, etc)
« on: April 11, 2012, 12:58:58 PM »
I also think pulling off f/8 - f/11 indoors without a flash is going to be non-starter with the 5Dii. And why would you want to? Shallow dof is great for wedding/event photography.
From what you've told us about the sort of things you'd be shooting with this lens, I too would go for either the 24-105 or the 24-70, depending on what is more important to you: Having IS or being able to go to f/2.8. My personal suggestion would be to go with the 24-105L (it's a great all-rounder) and then also invest in a fast prime, like the 50 1.4. Shooting fast indoors is pretty much a must if you don't want to go with a flash.
From what you've told us about the sort of things you'd be shooting with this lens, I too would go for either the 24-105 or the 24-70, depending on what is more important to you: Having IS or being able to go to f/2.8. My personal suggestion would be to go with the 24-105L (it's a great all-rounder) and then also invest in a fast prime, like the 50 1.4. Shooting fast indoors is pretty much a must if you don't want to go with a flash.
29
EOS Bodies / Re: Canon's bad marketing - big mistake
« on: March 30, 2012, 08:47:57 AM »I live in Belgium and am an amateur photographer
I stopped reading
Where are you from? And let's have a look at your portfolio. Got a link?
30
EOS Bodies / Re: 5D MK III Soft Images Even When Changing Settings in DPP
« on: March 27, 2012, 02:04:17 PM »
Ouch... that pic of the dog you posted does indeed look very soft for my liking... This appears to be a re-occurring issue the last few days on CR. Then again, a lot of people claimed the MkII was soft when it first came out.
Having said that, the settings you posted for that shot, especially seeing as it's shot at iso100, if I were to replicate on either of my bodies I feel confident they would be a heck of a lot sharper than the one you posted... Maybe this is one of those teething problems that could be addressed with an early firmware upgrade??
Having said that, the settings you posted for that shot, especially seeing as it's shot at iso100, if I were to replicate on either of my bodies I feel confident they would be a heck of a lot sharper than the one you posted... Maybe this is one of those teething problems that could be addressed with an early firmware upgrade??