Messages

46

Technical Support / Re: Best Methods For Long Term File Storage ??

« on: November 15, 2012, 06:33:39 AM »

RAID is nice enough to protect against disk errors, but it does not protect at all against errors of the RAID controller, which can be damaging to multiple disks in one instant.

I therefore recommend using RAID only for performance optimization and using separate disks/disk storage systems stored ideally at multiple locations.

47

Lenses / Re: Thinking about a 17-40 f4L USM. Thoughts?

« on: November 15, 2012, 06:10:56 AM »

Perhaps it will make things simpler to state that the only way to significantly go up in image quality regarding the focal length of the 17-40mm especially for wide angle usage (so the new 24-70 won't count) is to invest in primes such as the 17mm TS-E, 24mm L or 24mm TSE-E. In my opinion the 17-40mm gives very good value for the price.

48

Lenses / Re: 100 f/2.8L or 135mm f/2L

« on: November 15, 2012, 05:58:40 AM »

Regarding macro work you can also use the 100mm L macro for macro shots without using a tripod. You are not exactly required to use a tripod for good macro shots, especially if you are not trying to get to minimum focus distance with a rather static subject. Since you have stated to not have a requirement for trying to achieve that 1:1 aspect ration frequently. Nevertheless it is great to have the option. You probably won't want to part with this lens, once you have tried it out for macro work.

With that I strongly recommend the 100mm L macro for your stated usage scenario. For pure portrait work without any macro aspect to intended usage I would recommend the 135mm f2.

49

EOS Bodies / Re: A Brief 2013 Canon Roadmap [CR1]

« on: November 13, 2012, 11:13:45 AM »

Interestingly thats what I am willing to pay for the 200 F2   

You can do the following: Purchase a 135mm f2 and a 7D Mark II (or 70D or something). This gets you a 200mm f2-like combination on crop. That's in your budget, but image quality of the real 200mm on full-frame would probably still be better.

50

EOS Bodies / Re: A Brief 2013 Canon Roadmap [CR1]

« on: November 13, 2012, 09:18:44 AM »

Hope technology = significant improvements in sensor architecture and design

been seeing a lot of that from competing brands like Sony and Nikon, wait Nikon's using Sony's sensor right? So I guess it's just Sony??

Yes, as far as I know sensor technology is from Sony. Nikon is limited to provide electronics and software in addition to Sony's sensor. That must be fairly limiting on a development side (i.e. not to be able to design/control the entire setup), but Nikon is still able to provide something good in this situation, which is quite impressive.

51

EOS Bodies / Re: A Brief 2013 Canon Roadmap [CR1]

« on: November 13, 2012, 08:43:34 AM »

lol yeah new technology for canon, ancient for other brands..

Can you please enlighten us as to what might be ancient technology for you? Are you talking about medium format or Nikon's D800? If yes, what's your point? Canon has been told not to push the megapixels for years. Nikon has been told to do the exact opposite. Both vendors reacted to the demands of their customer base.

52

Lenses / Re: Advice needed aps-c long prime

« on: November 13, 2012, 08:34:02 AM »

My suggestion would be purchasing the 135mm f2. I shoot macros with the 100mm f2.8 IS Macro, but I don't consider it the best option as a portrait lens. In my opinion it is useable, but not the best possible option. You will also benefit from the wider aperture with the 135mm and the greater difference in focal length to your existing 85mm lens should also prove beneficial, giving you a wider range. In case you also want to use the lens for macro shots I reverse my recommendation .

53

EOS Bodies / Re: 46.1mp Canon DSLR Previewed at PhotoPlus 2012? [CR1]

« on: November 13, 2012, 04:48:15 AM »

I am not sure. Leica needs better sensor too...

Actually my point with Leica was not the sensor, but falling behind in camera sales due to ignoring the competition at a time, when the company felt technologically superior. This happened at the time of the Leica M3, when Nikon came out with the Nikon F and Canon also began producing SLR cameras. Leica was so late to the SLR market that they never gained significant market share.

My point is that if a company has little or only partial market share, then it will thrive to gain market share, no matter how. This will likely bring out the best, but this won't happen in case a company is too self-satisfied.

54

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 13, 2012, 04:28:28 AM »

Convince me to shoot in RAW

So that you can wear Jared Polin's "I shoot RAW" T-Shirts.

Dumb question: Are these shirts intended for people that proudly exclaim the format in which they shoot, or is it meant to mock RAW shooters who think they're better photographers just because they shoot RAW?

I must admit having similar thoughts. Perhaps those t-shirts can be used for both, can't they?

It just depends on who is in the t-shirt. 

55

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Dslr upgrade: I found my Niche

« on: November 13, 2012, 04:17:53 AM »

This should really depend on your budget and mid term planning and if you want/insist on using a second camera as a backup.

If your budget allows purchasing a 1D-X, then I would definitely recommend that one, because currently it is the best you can get. If on the other hand your current budget will be strained too much by such a purchase, you should go for the 5D Mark III. It is really good, although not the same as a 1D-X.

I expect you will find yourself wanting to upgrade to a 1D-X as soon as you end up with the 5D Mark III and may eventually end up with purchasing one in addition to the 5D Mark III. In this case you end up with a great 1st/2nd camera combination. I have this combination, but I find myself using the 1D-X much more often than the 5D Mark III (about a 10:1 ratio). The only thing better would be purchasing two 1D-X, but that's a lot of money for a backup.

56

EOS Bodies / Re: 46.1mp Canon DSLR Previewed at PhotoPlus 2012? [CR1]

« on: November 12, 2012, 09:22:39 AM »

I believe they postpone progress as much as they can to milk as much money as possible (Just my opinion, I cannot have proof of course).

Mmmh, I don't think milking customers to hold back on technology is such a big issue here. In other industries I see this as a valid strategy, but not in our current camera market. There is just not enough pressure on R&D to make bigger leaps. That's all.

We can thank Canon, Sony and Nikon for their competition, because this is what primarily drives this market forward. It would actually be dreadful for Canon or one of the others to provide a camera, which is so good, that nobody would want to upgrade in the next decades. Just look at Leica as an example on how to do things wrong.

57

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 12, 2012, 09:11:46 AM »

This thread is silly.

+100 on that statement!

If you need to be "convinced"...you just don't get it.
Raw = Serious
Jpeg = Not Serious
End of discussion............

Then again we should not oversimplify matters. There are valid reasons to shoot JPEG sometimes, so it is not all bad. I would not qualify it generally as not being serious. I would like to rephrase this in the following way:
RAW = Shooting slow or with the option of making the most of every shot you take
JPEG = Shooting lots of stuff you have to process fast and you don't want to pp on it.

End of discussion: Not likely...

58

EOS-M / Re: My First EOS-M Review

« on: November 12, 2012, 09:04:48 AM »

Many thanks for your time spent testing the EOS-M, Wickid. The results are well worth it - for me this is the best, most useful EOS-M review provided so far. It is kind of sad the EOS-M doesn't seem to make a good street photography tool. Perhaps with the next EOS-M version this might change.

59

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 09, 2012, 02:08:06 PM »

In any case, if required you can also switch to RAW+JPEG, so that you have the JPEGs ready as soon as you unload your shots from camera.

As soon as you find something, where you know you will benefit from postproduction, you take the RAW file. Lightroom will load RAWs automatically, if you provide RAW+JPEG files.

You can decide by deletion of files, if you want to keep only one or the other or mix as you go along. It helps to shoot with two memory cards, one for RAW and one for JPEGs.

This may be a waste of memory card space, but it it s certainly a way to be fast and have a backup possibility for RAW processing, if required.

60

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Cruise to the Cancun. What lenses should I take?

« on: November 09, 2012, 03:59:14 AM »

Based on your existing gear I would bring the following:

5D3

24L
50L

In case you want to bring only one lens, it should be the 24-105, but since I believe you shoot with primes most of the time, you would sorely miss them, if you would leave them at home. I therefore recommend bringing only the primes.

As for the 135mm I don't think it is long enough to be much useful, when you want to take shots of scenery on the coast. You may want to rent a 70-200mm plus 2x teleconverter, but for what I would be looking for this wouldn't be long enough at all (better to bring in a 400mm prime) or just leave this area alone as others have advised, because overall the potential timeframes for opportunities with such long lenses will be fairly limited and you will have to spend money renting a lens and some effort to make use of such focal length, because you will have to wait for those opportunities (being on deck ready to shoot, before something gets into view, unlike: Oops there went my photo opportunity, no time left to get my gear set up). To be able to make a good judgement regarding the usefulness of long focal length lenses I recommend thoroughly checking the timetable for the ship, so that you will know, if there is already or still sufficient light to take good shots, when the distance to shore would be adequate for a long lens. It won't do you any good to bring a long lens, when the ship approaches the coast mostly whenever it is completely dark, because they want to accommodate people going on land trips and starting early in the morning to make the most of it. In addition to this it would be helpful to find out, how long the ship sits at port, before land excursions are scheduled to start.