Messages

661

EOS Bodies / Re: 1DX - Ethernet, USB 3.0 or 2.0 for transfer?

« on: July 16, 2012, 08:13:14 PM »

You can always install another FTP server on Windows Home Premium, like the FileZilla Server, which is free. Might have to open a couple ports on the firewall if you have it enabled, but that's trivial.

Or if you already have a home server/NAS with FTP capabilities you can set it up on there.

662

EOS Bodies / Re: 1DX - Ethernet, USB 3.0 or 2.0 for transfer?

« on: July 16, 2012, 03:49:53 PM »

I was using USB2.0 direct from the camera, and it was painfully slow on my 5d2. Don't know if a dedicated card reader would help, but I have USB3 on my laptop, so got the Lexar USB3 card reader, and it's fantastic.

In terms of raw bandwidth, USB3 > 1Gbps ethernet > FW800 > USB2. In terms of actual usable bandwidth, it's probably a tossup between 1Gbps ethernet & FW800 since the MAC + IP + TCP takes up some overhead, and if you have a cheapo switch it may not support full wireline speed well and might fall short a bit.

The Lexar 1000x card can theoretically do 150 MByte/sec, let's say it gets even close, then that's ~1200 Mbit/sec which exceeds 1Gbps ethernet & FW800 by a decent bit, especially when we throw in protocol overhead. USB3 can do a theoretical ~4.8Gbps, and even with protocol overhead you're easily going to have enough to read from the Lexar card. However, we now have to deal with how fast your local disk can write the data out. I'd guess that unless you have a RAID0/5/0+1/1+0 array or a fast SSD you won't be able to write it out fast enough.

That's not to say I wouldn't buy the Lexar reader if you have USB3, but since you don't that'd add some more cost and pain. If you can live with a somewhat slower transfer, stick with your current USB2 reader, otherwise go for the 1Gbps ethernet or get the USB3 card & reader.

663

Lenses / Re: Voigtländer 28mm f/2.8 Color Skopar Pancake Lens in EF Mount

« on: July 16, 2012, 02:02:39 PM »

Ok...this is disappointing... I wrote to Voigtlander t o inquire about the new 28mm.  Their response contained the following info:

"New SLII-N Color Skopar f2.8/28mm with Canon EOS and Nikon AI-S mount will
launch soon.
The first delivery of this lens will be end of July / beginning of August.
Lens with Canon mount does not have CPU integrated, only with Nikon AI-S
mount.".

I am definitely bummed that there is no CPU coupling for the lens. I would not purchase a manual focus lens without CPU coupling...ESPECIALLY in that price range. Curious that they hook up the Nikon, but not the Canon??

Could be a licensing type thing, or some quirk that makes the Canon much harder or more expensive to support.

664

Portrait / Re: Semi-candid portrait

« on: July 14, 2012, 07:50:55 PM »

Heh, never thought of simply using a desaturating brush for teeth.

Yea, I was just experimenting, seeing what I could get. When I come back and look at it again, the selective color isn't so great. Looked good at the time though 

665

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: How to proceed?

« on: July 14, 2012, 04:21:45 PM »

Well, the 100mm you have is a Macro lens which the 135L is not. So if you want to continue doing your macro shooting, keep the 100mm Macro lens.

666

Landscape / Need critique please

« on: July 14, 2012, 03:37:38 PM »

So, I'm not generally a landscape person, but I saw an opportunity for when I was at my cousin's Bar Mitzvah recently to get a nice shot which could be a cover, or serve the Temple as a website photo or something. Since I live 3000 miles away re shooting is not an option, so please critique my processing. And any tips for future shots are appreciated, but please keep it simple, something I can just remember and not something involving lots of equipment or specialized landscape stuff.

667

Portrait / Semi-candid portrait

« on: July 14, 2012, 03:24:30 PM »

So, here's a sorta candid portrait of my cousin at my other cousin's Bar Mitzvah recently. Curious to see what you think of my processing. Both were done completely in Lightroom 4.1, although in the 2nd I'd have like to have gotten a bit better B&W conversion. I basically just did a brush with -100 saturation, and a few other lighting tweaks. Please be as harsh as you feel like, but constructive comments will be most appreciated

668

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: How to proceed?

« on: July 14, 2012, 03:09:36 PM »

I'd say go for the 5d2. Pick one up new or lightly used and you'll love the quality. Sure, the AF system is pretty bad, but if you're shooting in decent lighting out on the street (or maybe even not so decent lighting) it'll still be pretty great. You have a nice set of lenses currently, and know what you want to get next. The 24mm will seem new to you, it's going to be a lot wider than you are used to, but it's great

If you're really concerned about cost, go for the 5Dc. I haven't owned one, but everything I've heard about it says it's still a great camera. What about renting one for a weekend when you plan on shooting a bunch of different stuff? It'll prolly cost you $100-200, but it'll really help you make up your mind. LensRentals.com has a 5d2 for ~$140 with shipping for 5 days rental.

That's what I forgot to mention! I ruled out the 5Dc, because I would miss Magic Lantern, it's very handy...

The thing about the 5DII is, if I go full frame, why not spend 2000$ more for the 5DIII? It would last a lot of years anyway...

One more thing is holding me back, the (for me) unfortunate timed rumors about an entry full frame, although I start to disbelieve them...

And yes, I can't wait to shoot the 24mm full frame!! Renting is as well a good idea, I could borrow a 5DIII from a friend, when he isn't using it, what's rare, but possible.

Do you believe that the 5d2 might hold you back significantly? Owning both, I honestly can say that the AF system is the single biggest improvement, although there are lots of small tweaks that are nice, and I believe the ISO Noise is nicer and less than the 5d2. However, you would also be missing out on ML, at least for a while. That and it's also $2K, which you might be better served spending on a lens or two.

As for the 135L? Awesome lens, I love it. Probably the only lens I would love more is the 200L f/2, but that's not gonna happen anytime soon for me. You should get it no matter what.

669

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: How to proceed?

« on: July 14, 2012, 01:09:29 PM »

I'd say go for the 5d2. Pick one up new or lightly used and you'll love the quality. Sure, the AF system is pretty bad, but if you're shooting in decent lighting out on the street (or maybe even not so decent lighting) it'll still be pretty great. You have a nice set of lenses currently, and know what you want to get next. The 24mm will seem new to you, it's going to be a lot wider than you are used to, but it's great

If you're really concerned about cost, go for the 5Dc. I haven't owned one, but everything I've heard about it says it's still a great camera. What about renting one for a weekend when you plan on shooting a bunch of different stuff? It'll prolly cost you $100-200, but it'll really help you make up your mind. LensRentals.com has a 5d2 for ~$140 with shipping for 5 days rental.

670

Lenses / Re: Voigtländer 28mm f/2.8 Color Skopar Pancake Lens in EF Mount

« on: July 14, 2012, 12:58:12 PM »

Since I have become a Zeiss fanboy recently I must mention that there is a Zeiss 28mm which might be an alternative:
http://lenses.zeiss.com/photo/en_DE/products/slr/distagont228.usage.html

Yes, at close to double the price. As funkboy explained to me, fast wide angle lenses include some additional difficult design work that raises the price quite a bit. And the more glass, the more expensive it tends to be    Although the Zeiss lens would be quite nice to have, unfortunately not something I really can afford.

671

Portrait / Re: Studio portraits, Share some!

« on: July 14, 2012, 11:55:24 AM »

...oh and I liked this one.. couldn't decide on the crop...

Take the third picture. I thought of two options:
1. Get the tip of the trigger finger to the intersection of the top and left 1/3rds lines
2. Get the tip of the trigger finger to the intersection of the left 1/3rd line and the horizontal center line.

Can't decide which one I like better...

It's a tough call. For general web viewing I think. The third is great, but if you're trying to do a billboard, or some other format the first might be good. If you had a bit more room at the top of the frame it might make for a good movie poster type shot. Of course, that's prolly not hard to do in Photoshop since it's a simple background.

672

Lenses / Re: Voigtländer 28mm f/2.8 Color Skopar Pancake Lens in EF Mount

« on: July 14, 2012, 11:50:04 AM »

All great points, and I've learned something having had to look up retrofocus lenses. Makes a lot of sense that it's still very difficult and expensive to make any of the wide angle lenses very fast on a FF sensor SLR. Maybe this is one area an eventual mirrorless FF camera will help for glass design and cost.

673

EOS Bodies / Re: AF Point Color on the 5D Mark III & 1D X Update [CR2]

« on: July 13, 2012, 07:03:14 PM »

Add me to the chorus, please.

I'd even be happy with an option (as in, something that can be turned on and off) that sacrificed metering accuracy for various levels of viewfinder illumination.

...not that Canon is even aware that I exist as anything other than a blip in B&H's sales figures....

b&

If it can be tied to the DoF Preview/M.Fn button that'd be awesome! A button that's easy to hit to switch it back and forth.

674

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Insane video noise canon 5d mark iii

« on: July 13, 2012, 07:00:29 PM »

I suggest shooting at ISO 160 (and its multiples). Noise is about as bad as it gets at low ISO's at ISO 125. See this video that compares noise at different ISO's for the Mark III: https://vimeo.com/39581579

As Policar points out, this is normal and, at reasonable exposures and bringing back the contrast in post, the noise effectively disappears. Finally, I would make sure that HTP is off, which it probably is if you're shooting at ISO 125.

Also those intermediate ISOs are pull-up/pull-down from the base ISOs, which for Canon is the even 100/200/400/etc. At least, that's how it was explained to me. So if you go for a base ISO, it'll be good, or if you go for the 1/3 under a base (such as 160/320/etc) it actually pulls it down from the base ISO so the noise will likely be a bit less than the next higher base ISO, while from the 1/3 above (125/250/etc) will actually be more likely to have higher noise & worse quality because it's boosting it off of the base ISO.

That's my understanding, someone want to correct me?

675

Portrait / Re: Studio portraits, Share some!

« on: July 13, 2012, 06:57:11 PM »

Nice photos, but what's with the way you're posing the woman in the 3rd one trentchau? The lighting, and surrounding scene is great, especially with the mannequin torso & arms & legs all over the place, but her arms just look uncomfortable.

Arms?   Ohhh yaaaa, ummm sure.   

Well, I was trying to add to the conversation and not going "*drool* how the heck do I get her to pose for me *wipe slobber*"