Messages

31

Software & Accessories / Re: Lee Filter Setup

« on: July 27, 2012, 04:47:48 PM »

In Euope the best sources are still the shops in the UK (e.g. Teamwork Photo & Speed Graphic). In my experiences they have more of the filters in stock and better prices than most shops in other EU countries, e.g. here in Germany.

The following picture shows how close the Lee wide angle adapter ring (made of black anodized aluminium) puts the Lee filter holder (black plastic) to the lens. Also visible is the use of the 105mm adapter ring and a pol filter. In this picture no square filter was put into the holder.

32

Software & Accessories / Re: Lee Filter Setup

« on: July 27, 2012, 04:27:26 PM »

Hi,
yoy need the right adapter ring and the fiter holder. For 24mm the wide angle adapter ring is recommended, albeit it is more expensive. The normal one might cause some vignetting. The standard Lee filter holder will do fine for two or even three filters. If you want to use the square filters and a pol filter, you will need the Lee adapter ring and longer screws to put in front of the square filters a 105mm filter. Sigma and B+W make such large pol filters.

The adpter rings, filter holder and pol filter can easily cost you more than $500.

The Lee filters should be quite good but they are hard to get sometimes. The filters by Hitech are a good alternative and especially the sets with a size of just 125mm x 100mm are much cheaper than the 150mm x 100mm Lee filters. The 25mm more length of the standard grad ND filters you will very seldom need (never happened to me).

I do have the wide angle adapter rings in varius diameters, the Lee filter holder, 105mm adapter ring, Sigma pol filter and 10 different Hitech filters in a Lee filter case, which cost me all together more than EUR900. I don't want to miss them anymore. But I think you need to do landscape photography pretty seriously to invest such a lot of money and also time to get these filters.

Kind regards, Robert

33

Canon General / Re: Help me choose a camera & lens combination for beauty/fashion headshots

« on: July 09, 2012, 07:09:57 PM »

Hi, for the light source a studio flash would be best but maybe a bit too big for your setting. Consider also a compact flash like the 430EX or the more powerful 580EX + a flash cable (at least 3') + a ring flash adapter like the Orbis for the flat even light.

Of course  ff camera would be the best choice but for the next 2-3  years the 600D or 650D + Ef-S 60mm macro + 18-135mm will do well for you. Better invest in a tripod, editing software and some training and/or good literature. A good camera alone doesn't maje good picture.

If you go ff, the 5DII + EF 100mm macro would be a great choice. BTW, there are good reasons why Canon doesn't make macro zooms: they worse than normal tele zooms and much worse than a proper macro lens.

34

Portrait / Re: Candid portraits

« on: June 15, 2012, 03:16:08 PM »

My nephew Jonas seeing my 5DII for the first time 

5DII with EF 85mm f1.8 at f1.8 1/100 ISO 800

35

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon to Announce 2 Cameras in June [CR2]

« on: May 16, 2012, 07:17:10 PM »

I guess we get a G1X with a new mount adaptable to EF-S for a price of more than $1000. Some overpriced miodocre lenses, too. Nothing exiting.

A M9 competitor with EF mount would be really great. A usable, small back-up body for professionals for a decent price (< $1500) would be best. I'll continue dreaming...

36

Landscape / Re: Post Your Best Landscapes

« on: May 15, 2012, 07:17:19 PM »

La Gomera (Canary Islands), Spain

37

5D MK III Sample Images / Re: 5D3 for landscapes

« on: May 09, 2012, 01:48:35 AM »

Hi, the composition of the first 2 pics is OK. In the 3rd and 4th a resting point for the eye is missing and so the eye is wandering restlessly around in the pics. The distortion of the fisheye doesn't help at all here. In all pics the highlights of the water are out blown. For rivers and waterfalls an exposure between 1/6s and 10s would be enough for the flowing effect.

The HDR effect is too strong in all pics and it looks very artificial. Try to remember how you have seen the scene and edit the pics accordingly. If there isn't a very strong contrast ( bright, unfiltered sun + deep shadows), a single RAW file would be enough and can also be processed as a more natural looking HDR. In general bright, unfiltered sun at midday seldom works for a landscape shot because of the harsh light and too deep shadows. Even grad nd filters don't help here. Especially within a forest with most parts of the scene in partial or full shadow the few high lights of the sun can ruin a pic, if they are too strong, because they are really hard to recover in post processing.  So an overcast day or even better some fog would help a lot.

38

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Tamron EF 24-70 f/2.8 VC in Stock & Quick MTF Review

« on: May 06, 2012, 04:50:16 AM »

Hi, maybe there are not many photogs like me but coming from a crop body with the EF-S 17-55 IS as standard lens I'd like to have something similar on a FF body, too. The EF 24-105 has a nice range but the f4.0 is unacceptable. So I'll propably go for the Tamron. If I look for a stellar perfomance or best low light use, I use a good prime lens. Such a zoom is just a walk- around lens and the f2.8 alone limits its use. But with the Tamron you can at least shout at 70mm with as little as 1/15s which means usable 3 stops light less than with the Canon when it's critical not to raise the ISO value.

39

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 28, 2012, 05:35:15 PM »

With my old PowerShot S2 years ago...

40

EOS Bodies / Re: Kirk L-bracket 5Dmk3 (DIY pano head)

« on: April 23, 2012, 02:26:20 AM »

Hi, your construction looks a bit bigger and more complicated than it needs to be. You can make it smaller and lighter with the same functionality if you use the Novoflex PANORAMA=Q and the Benro MPB20. I use this combination together with the Benro PT-150, which is not necessary if you use the Kirk L-bracket.

Best regards,
Robert

41

Canon General / Re: online gallery/website

« on: February 28, 2012, 03:21:53 PM »

Hi, any opinions about Wordpress + the Photocrati theme? What they offer looks quite attractive but I would like to read some independent opnions first. Thanks.

42

Lenses / Re: What's your favorite Canon lens and why?

« on: February 22, 2012, 06:44:07 PM »

It's hard to say but at moment my favorite is the TS-E 24mm L II. I really love the build quality, the lack of distortion (compared to other wide angle lenses) and lack of vignetting. Vignetting is the most anoying feature of my half dozen other primes and of all zoomes. Of course the possibilities of tilt and shift are great and are a major reason, too. Closely following is t
he TS-E 90mm. I love to manuel focus with this lens but I miss the more modern design of the TS-E 24.

43

Lenses / Re: TS-E 17mm f4 L TRIPOD-RING

« on: February 18, 2012, 06:56:16 AM »

Hi,
see this: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php/topic,3055.msg65288.html

44

EOS Bodies / Re: A guy used 1DX yesterday in Germany!!

« on: February 05, 2012, 10:43:43 AM »

I'm intrigued about the 3rd slide on the nikonuser.info forum. Can someone who can read German translate that slide for the rest of us? TIA. Is it something about the VF & AF pt. spread or sensor pixel size? 

Hi,
the third slide with the title "Bewegungsunschärfe" translates as the following:

Motion blur
- because of the larger pixel motion blur is reduced compared to the EOS-1Ds Mark III
- What is motion blur?
- Faster shutter times are needed to freeze moving objects, the size of the pixel influences this
- smaller pixels need a faster shutter speed for sharp pictures without motion blur

45

Canon General / Re: Headed to Paris with Camera Gear

« on: January 31, 2012, 06:11:21 PM »

I never had any problems in Paris but haven't been in a while.

The other question is how and what to leave at the hotel. That can be a bit tricky.

How are you getting to Paris? I couldn't see your location. If you are flying in from the States there is also the issue of bringing gear as carry-on luggage or checking it. I'm still looking into this myself at the moment since I'm flying to Germany in July. I bought a Pelican carry-on case with that in mind but the weight limitations on especially European carriers are getting ever more tight. Some now only allow 8kg of carry on luggage - which is a problem if the empty case is 6kg alone.

The other thing that I like about the case is that you can lock it and/or tie it to something. That may come in handy at the hotel also.

Hi, the weight is not such a big problem, as long as they don't get suspicious. But the size is one. 55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm is the maximum for almost all European airlines, so stick to it. If it's a hard case and obviously larger than 55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm they will ask you check it in. I have seen this several times already....

During the last years my luggage was not weighted but once last year the custom services in Frankfurt performed a detailed check of my camera bag. It took 5min and I had a nice conversation with them in the meantime.