Messages

16

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon, STOP shipping defective products!!!

« on: April 24, 2012, 07:17:11 PM »

has anyone tried the same tests on a D800 BP   ?

Canon has always got away with defects... Remember that 20D & 30D
weren't even able to autofocus sharply with a 50/1.8 at f2.8 at a distance more
than 15 feets...   despite the focus confirm beep!

17

Lighting / Re: Light Meters?

« on: April 13, 2012, 10:10:45 AM »

If you want consistent results in terms of lighting ratios for studio shots, definitely get the L-358.
Moreover, with one click, u can get the % contribution of flash under mixed flash/ambient exposure.
Vy handy for off-camera flash outdoor.

18

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 10:40:58 PM »

Have you ever used this fd mode in the d800 yet? I wonder why since it's such a killer function no review i've read really has mentioned it?

I really hate to advertise for Nikon but here it is:

http://scottkelby.com/2012/cliff-mautner-on-the-nikon-d800/

CTRL-f  for "face"

Read the article and the comments as well & use your own judgment since the word "Review" is not on the article!

19

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 05:14:35 PM »

With equally due respect if you have to rely on face detection in order to shoot portraits accurately then you need to brush up your skills.

I would say that Having face recognition willbe more threat to portrait photographers than anything else. Easy to set up a cheap business or for the likes of Costco etc to pay someone peanuts to just press a button.

No, I don't have to rely on face-det today but to arrive at the correct exposure when using e-ttl bounced flash indoor, some kind of iterative procedure is needed. U test shoot and then adjust and then re-shoot.

Perhaps there is something I am missing. Please enlighten me with a proper technique how I can get a
decent exposure of a bride using e-ttl bounced flash indoor, without needing to do a test shot.

Can't you use spot metering, FEL, and meter-and-recompose ? That's not iterative.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried that b4 but spot metering doesn't seem to work with e-ttl.
I think e-ttl only has 2 metering modes: evaluative & centre weighted, at least on my 5d2.
However, if this technique has worked for u, please elaborate on it and I love to learn more. Thanks!

20

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 05:05:14 PM »

In all honesty, I really don't want anyone to invent any digital camera, face detection nor auto-focus, so that our value as a professional photographer is easily seen. Unfortunately that is not the case. Nikon has done it now and we Canon shooters need the playing field leveled. Imagine u r shooting the processional at f2.0-2.8 with bounced flash and hoping that AI-Servo is giving u a few sharp images, while at the same time uncle Bob is just behind u with his D800 with face priority on...  Sure, my lighting will be better than his but if Nikon's face detect technology really delivers, he might nail the focus better than I can with AI-Servo.    sigh...  Here, it is clearly a technology competition.  we can't turn the clock back... if we can't beat them, we might as well join them... sigh...    Eventually as tech advances, it might not be about the camera anymore, it could all be about art, lighting, posing,  composition... and post work perhaps...

21

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 03:47:24 PM »

With equally due respect if you have to rely on face detection in order to shoot portraits accurately then you need to brush up your skills.

I would say that Having face recognition willbe more threat to portrait photographers than anything else. Easy to set up a cheap business or for the likes of Costco etc to pay someone peanuts to just press a button.

No, I don't have to rely on face-det today but to arrive at the correct exposure when using e-ttl bounced flash indoor, some kind of iterative procedure is needed. U test shoot and then adjust and then re-shoot.

Perhaps there is something I am missing. Please enlighten me with a proper technique how I can get a
decent exposure of a bride using e-ttl bounced flash indoor, without needing to do a test shot.

22

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 03:32:18 PM »

Then use spot focus and learn your trade better.  If you have to rely on technology to get the shot I'd never hire you

With all due respect, pls re-read the thread more carefully. 

23

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 03:14:10 PM »

However did I manage the last 50 weddings shooting in manual mode?

I shoot weddings/events in manual mode /w centre focus too. (to be honest, indoor shooting is kind of auto too when I
use bounced flash indoor, since the flash output is in auto e-ttl mode, with some exceptions I was on full manual
at 1/1 flash power)

During outdoor shootings, face-detection is probably not that important as I can use the spot meter.
However, when using e-ttl bounced flash indoor, exposure calculation based only on the face would definitely
be a killer feature for me.

24

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 02:41:00 PM »

Well, Canon has to double hurry up, if Sony can achieve this kind of ISO without backlit technology.
Astro, do u have a reference quoting D800 is not using a backlit sensor? Tks!

it´s EXMOR technology not EXMOR R.
im to bored to search the link.. nikon is not very open about what sony sensor tech they are using. but trust me it´s not backlit.

anyway backlit technology will not yield much better performance on a FF sensor.
the wiring in a FF sensors does not occupie as much space (percentage of the sensor area) as in a P&S camera.
that´s why sony is only using the Exmor R technology in small sensor cameras (beside that a backlit sensor is expensive, especially if it would be FF).

i think sony will have improved the quantum efficiency and that is why the D800 has a good iso performance.

Thanks Astro, this is good info that I was not aware of.

25

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 02:37:12 PM »

So dramatic. Unlike you i don't feel like i am being killed. I always use single point focus and i know to under expose or over expose based on light, its not that hard. Tech is good of course, thats why i love my 5dm3.

No, it is not that hard and I do that all the time. 1st shot (/w bounced flash) with an estimated expo comp based on experience, look at the histogram and chimp it, adjust the expo comp if necessary,  and than reshoot...   Well, sometimes the chance is missed and u cannot shoot again during a wedding...         Well, I am sure one would say we could Lightroom the exposure back but I prefer to get the correct exposure to minimize the amount of post-work. There is an additional benefit too. I can just use the jpgs directly out of the camera/DPP, which has better color than Lightroom or ACR after raw processing, IMHO.

26

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 02:22:23 PM »

well EXMOR is not EXMOR R.

the sensor in the D800 is not backlit.

EXMOR:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/technology/technology/theme/cmos_01.html


EXMOR R:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/technology/technology/theme/exmor_r_01.html

I can't believe D800's sensor is not backlit, seeing its high ISO score on DXOmark...
When 36MEG is scaled down to 8x12, or 8MEG, its noise performance is vy close to D3S.

Well, Canon has to double hurry up, if Sony can achieve this kind of ISO without backlit technology.
Astro, do u have a reference quoting D800 is not using a backlit sensor? Tks!

27

EOS Bodies / Canon hurry up! Nikon's face-detection & Sony's Exmor sensors are killing us!

« on: March 31, 2012, 01:55:31 PM »

Greetings to all! First of all, I am a Canon user and I really want Canon to do well.

Have been reading up on D800 and 5D3's user manuals...
Gosh, Nikon's new face-detect technology inside the viewfinder is awesome!
Not only does the face detection works with
high-speed phase focusing but it also works with exposure calculation based on the face alone!
In addition, it works with i-TTL too!!  This is a paradigm changer for wedding photographers!

Implication is that when capturing any backlit portraits, there is no need for exposure compensation
if u turn on "face priority" in D800 or D4!  This also helps bounced flash portrait photography immensely.
There is no need to "guess" the flash expo compensation and chimp anymore!! U get excellent focus
and decent exposure in the 1st shot!

Canon, do u realize this Nikon feature is going to kill us all Canon portrait photographers!
Please, Canon, I want this in the next Canon DSLR!

As if this is not threatening enough from Nikon, Sony's new Exmor backlit sensor used in D800 is
another game changer. It is not just another "better" tweaked CMOS sensor from a different manufacturer. It is
not a "tweak" of CMOS technology, it is another revolutionary technology by itself.  It is like Nikon is using a gun to fight with Canon's sword. The ISO advantage of Exmor's backlit technology cannot be under-estimated.

Canon, please, hurry up!  Perhaps licensing Sony's sensor technology is a fast stop-gap solution!

28

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Cancelled my D800 pre-order... !!!

« on: March 31, 2012, 01:12:13 PM »

At the D200 time there was no DXOmark nor there was Exmor sensor from Sony.
What do u expect a Nikon marketing guy would do?  Bluff...  of course...

Unfortunately, the Nikon picture is vy different now with Sony backing them up with Exmor backlit sensors!

Don't get me wrong, I am a Canon fans but really wish 5d3 had a D800 sensor!

29

EOS Bodies / Re: So frustrated with new 5DmkIII - returning it!

« on: March 25, 2012, 08:52:08 PM »

1- ISO 100-400 is not better than my 5DmkII and actually at ISO 400 where a lot of my picture are taking with a flash I actually see more noise - ok I know the official RAW converter are not out yet so I was ready to live it until final software come out BUT:  ...

 

Wow, this is the 2nd time I have heard that 5D3's ISO 800 noise is better than that of ISO 400. See:

http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2262&canon-5diii-vs-5dii-vs-7d-high-iso-noise-tests

Sounds like 5d3's latest software noise reduction algorithm definitely kicks in on or before ISO 800, making jpg
noise look great compared to 5d2.  As a 5d2 owner, I hope we can use the new DPP to do the same noise reduction as the 5d3, making 5d2's high ISO performance even better... 

Also heard that 5d3's sensor has banding noise improved compared to 5d2. If so, with the same NR engine in the new DPP, one should be able to push 5d3 higher in ISO than 5d2.

30

Lenses / Re: Expensive lenses and "color"; any real basis for gushing praise?

« on: March 24, 2012, 11:23:42 PM »

It is mostly in the coating and the construction of the lens. A good lens will have higher contrast meaning it is "leaking " vy little stray light into the lens. ie shadow area will hold more details and the color more saturated.  Analogy is that u can see a projected slide show with saturated color and good shadow details in a darkroom but u will see washed out color and reduced shadow details from the projector screen, when the darkroom is leaking in some stray light.  Similar to the darkroom, a poor lens will "leak" more stray light into the lens and "contaminate" the shadow details/color saturation of the lens, creating washed out color.

I once thought that photoshop could bring back the color saturation and shadow details of an image captured by a poor lens.
I was almost right and photoshop indeed can do mostly that. The catch is that you will have more noise
in the shadow details of the image, after u boost the shadow details...  Worse yet,   u may actually lose some shadow details,  since the stray light inside a poor lens has "overpowered/wiped out" some deeper shadow details.

Someone with more technical background pls feel free to jump in, as I only remember the basic principle...