Messages

1

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Blackmagic wows NAB with New Cinema Cameras!

« on: April 10, 2013, 02:14:52 PM »

I agree.  The little camera is very interesting.  The negative for me is that it takes m4/3rd lenses of which I own none.  At that price point though and if it delivers on the promises, I may have to add a couple of those lenses to my kit (and the camera of course...).

2

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Announces the EOS T5i

« on: March 21, 2013, 12:03:33 PM »

Definitely the same old sensor technology (higher ISO shots)...

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/samples/eos100d/

Are you sure? In the Sky of the Nightscene I would expect more banding. But these are JPEG anyways so what I'd like to see is a pushed RAW in order to see if it still has the same banding.

If there is less banding, my guess is that the DIGIC 5 might account for that.  I was referring to the noise and the heavy handed noise reduction attempting to suppress it (along with the fine detail...).

3

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Announces the EOS T5i

« on: March 21, 2013, 11:30:26 AM »

Definitely the same old sensor technology (higher ISO shots)...

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/samples/eos100d/

4

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS-b Images Leak & a New Kit Lens

« on: March 19, 2013, 02:34:33 PM »

If by some miracle it does turn out to be a new sensor, I would consider one as a backup camera for travel; mainly because of the small size.  Let's face it, it is almost like having an oversized lens cap stuck on something like the 70-2002.8 II L lens!  If it is not a lower noise sensor, forget it.  I shoot mostly full frame and have a 7D collecting dust in a bag somewhere.  It is a good camera from a functionality point of view but the 18MP sensor has more noise than I will tolerate...

5

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS-b Images Leak & a New Kit Lens

« on: March 19, 2013, 09:24:48 AM »

I am intrigued by the "ISO range is 100-25600" spec.  If that is not an expanded range, it would probably be a new sensor.  The 60D lists its 18MP sensor range to 6400 (12,800 expanded) and uses a Digic 4.  If the 25600 is expanded, then it could be the same sensor just with better noise reduction applied via Digic 5...

6

Street & City / Re: How to not get beat up when photographing public places?

« on: March 17, 2013, 07:57:59 PM »

I've had the police called on me before as a "stalker" even though I was just photographing the exterior of a church  in a downtown area on a Saturday.  The police were pretty amused when they arrived but I wasn't. 

My advice is to pick up a fellow photographer when you go out to shoot.  It is weird but apparently two people with cameras is fine but one is suspicious these days...

7

Lenses / Re: Canon EF 200 f/2L IS & EF 800 f/5.6L IS [CR2]

« on: March 13, 2013, 02:56:53 PM »

I own the 200 f/2 and have for some time now.  It is my main lens that I use as it is just hard to find anything that works better (for me).  As for a replacement, I can see where they would significantly reduce the weight and improve the IS by a few stops.  Those two things alone would make it a great purchase but the MK1 will still be a great lens as well.  I don't think a newer version would reduce the value of the MK1 so don't expect to see mine up for sale at 1/2 price. 

+1 here.  I doubt Canon could justify the huge price for an upgrade to those of us that already own one.  The current version is that good.  I doubt they would reduce the weight very much.  From the current version's manual:  "Designed for lighter weight with major parts made of magnesium alloy".

8

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Tamron 28-300mm as walk around lens with 5D Mk III???

« on: March 11, 2013, 07:05:05 AM »

Last month (Feb 22 Feb 2013) I bought the Tamron 28-300 VC lens (from B&H) for those times when I only want to carry just one lens mounted on my 5D MK III ... I am not sure if it was my copy of the lens or it is always like that, but that lens was very soft, made strange audible creaking noise when the VC & AF were being engaged and the AF point would jump after taking the shot ... so I returned it and bought a Nikon 18-300 VR lens & a refurbished Nikon D7000
Anyway here are a few images made with the Tamron 28-300 VC (mounted on 5D MK III) ... the firt and the third images are straight out of the camera ... the second and the fourth are after editing.

It's not your copy.  I bought one when they first came out and you described it perfectly.  The only think you left out is how slooooooow (optically) it is!  It transitions from f3.5 to 5 to 5.6 and then 6.3 rather quickly in the zoom range.  I also own the Canon 28-300mm beast but picked this one up thinking it would be "good enough" for casual photography.  Wrong!  Slow, soft and noisy...

9

EOS Bodies / Re: New DSLR at the End of March [CR2]

« on: February 28, 2013, 01:49:53 PM »

I doubt that Canon will release anything that threatens the Nikon D7100 if it delivers on the image quality that is being claimed.  The few sample images look pretty good.  If Nikon has indeed worked around the moiré problem and no longer needs an AA filter, the images will be sharper than anything Canon will put out there in a 70D.  It's unclear to me whether their solution is a change in the sensor itself or purely in firmware/software...

10

Lenses / Re: EOS 6D with Kit, either Canon 24-105 F4 L or Tamron 28-300mm Di VC Macro

« on: February 27, 2013, 08:32:07 AM »

Stay aware from the Tamron 28-300mm VC lens if you are worried about sharpness.  I have Canon's 28-300L IS lens and love the overall quality and versatility that it provides but it is quite large and heavy to lug around all day.  I picked up a copy of the Tamron thinking that it would be "good enough" for when I wanted to travel light (about 1/3 the weight and price compared to the Canon). The image quality is fine for smaller prints but is too soft for large prints (IMO).  The VC works great but the lens is a slooooooow lens.  Even though it is an f3.5-6.3 (the Canon is 3.5-5.6)  it transitions from 3.5 down to f5, 5.6, and 6.3 rather quickly.  That, coupled with the fact that the focusing motor isn't up to Canon standards, it can be quite slow to focus; especially at the long end where the max aperture is 6.3.  The Tamron is one of those lenses that looks good on paper...

11

Pricewatch Deals / Re: Canon Center Pinch Lens Caps Now Shipping

« on: February 25, 2013, 08:23:49 PM »

With the thrid party caps being available and half or more of Canon's lenses needing updated, you'd think they had better things to work on... 

12

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: How Do You Clean your sensor? And how often?

« on: February 23, 2013, 04:51:02 PM »

After the rocket, if it needs it, a Photographic Solutions Senso Swab for the sensor size and the correct version of their fluid for the camera model...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=photographic+solutions&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

You can buy the premoistened ones but make sure the fluid is for your camera's sensor type...

13

EOS Bodies / Re: Will Canon ever move into the Medium Format space?

« on: February 23, 2013, 04:43:49 PM »

Besides, look at the reality of Canon's insane camera body pricing lately compared to the completion.  They'd price it so high that it would be ridiculous!  But it would probably shoot 2k video... 

14

Software & Accessories / Re: How do you pack your filters around?

« on: February 15, 2013, 01:28:21 PM »

I also picked up a product through B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/735394-REG/Tiffen_4BLTPCHLGK_Belt_Filter_Pouch_Large.html

It only holds 4 per pouch but I like the padding between the filters...

15

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 2nd camera body with a twist -

« on: February 05, 2013, 05:31:57 PM »

I never owned a 1Ds3 but I did upgrade my 1DM4 to a 1DX.  I also have a 5DM3 (replaced an older 5DM2) as a second body thinking that I'd use it when traveling lite.  Not so, if the 5DM3 will do the job, that is the camera I use most of the time.  You may not want bells and whistles but the silent 3FPS shooting mode is worth a look.  It is just slow enough that you can leave it in that mode when shooting single shots and just fast enough to capture changing facial expressions at a wedding without driving everyone insane with the noise of something like  a 1D body.  The 1D X has the standard silent single shoot mode from its predecessors; not the 3FPS version...