Messages

226

EOS Bodies / Re: 5DIII pre-order thread

« on: March 21, 2012, 11:37:30 AM »

Amazon has a promise date concept which in that case is May 3.  The rep was simply confirming that the expectation is they will meet the promise date. If they are not expecting to meet the promise date they cancel the order for you and let you know.

They aren't always out to getcha.

227

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: 430EX II Going Out?

« on: March 21, 2012, 09:28:03 AM »

I suspect they'll have a new one that uses radio control alongside a new Rebel that uses radio control by May.

228

Lenses / Re: Recommend me a lens that's better/more useful than a 50mm lens

« on: March 21, 2012, 02:18:38 AM »

One thing to be quite concerned over is; at 35mm on crop much less full-frame, you risk making the "talent" look old, fat and haggard (as they often are). At 50mm, boring though it may be, their features are more or less true-to-life.

229

Site Information / Re: Disappointed and goodbye

« on: March 21, 2012, 01:39:46 AM »

Well if it makes you feel better I can confirm that the censorship (euphemised as "moderation") activity on this site is actually well into the severe side of the scale. And I say this as someone who has not only participated in but run sites orders of magnitude larger than this.

Running a site like this, you are a beggar for content every single day. Any post that:

1) is provocative (whether snarky, oir challenging, or just exasperating)
2) is on topic (and not an ad-hominem...who cares about the personalities of the miserable users)
3) is _arguably_ true (subjective, objective, or otherwise)

...you not only NEVER censor, you put it on the FRONT PAGE!

It is a serious challenge to recruit competent moderators...it's a thankless and miserable chore. Very often this is the first power they have held over other people and they become enamored and over-enthusiastic about it. They fail to understand that a dialectical argument is the lifeblood of online fora...one absolutely needs the wrong to elicit the right, the noise to make the signal feel safe and wanted. Generally the proprietor of a successful site at least understands this much though, which is why I recommend a counter-signed moderation system, where anything censored must be confirmed by the site proprietor within a given window.

As for karma, negative karma is an awful precscription, an allowance for drive-by negativity that invites retaliation against the non-perpetrator. Flagging a post for moderation is as far as an ordinary (or even "trusted") user should be allowed to engage; too often the role users embrace is that of voluntary stormtrooper, scaring off your budding talent. Positive karma only; and if your programmers haven't cottoned onto this yet, slap them.

The calls for the precious "civility" should be interpreted as yearnings for provocative content; those users will want to slap down things they find too provocative, resulting in beaucoup pageviews and continuous refreshes. Ganbatte!

230

EOS Bodies / Re: Rebel T4i/650D Information [CR1]

« on: March 19, 2012, 03:14:57 PM »

I'm thinking Canon will use this Rebel to hold off the mirrorless advance. So I think it will be positioned against the GH2 and NX7 and will have more rather than fewer bells and whistles than the 5D3. I think it will quite likely have the same number of pixels in the new sensor as the 5D3 does, so they can use the same demosaicing system for the video and thus negate the GH2 advantages there. It will have a touchscreen and Wifi may also be built-in.

I think Canon may well take a "give away razors and sell blades" approach and hope to make profits on glass with the Rebel line. The crucial thing is keeping people loyal and recruiting new enthusiasts. They don't want people collecting other mounts.

231

EOS Bodies / Re: Things to Do while waiting for your new 5DmIII

« on: March 19, 2012, 03:07:43 PM »

I'm getting clear of all my earlier cam's footage and stills because I don't think I'm going to want to develop/edit any of it when I see what the 5D3 can do.

232

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Why so many complaints about no external recording on the 5D Mark lll?

« on: March 19, 2012, 12:12:56 AM »

FYI, the vaunted D800 "clean HDMI output" has been confirmed to be only 1080i, which a strong argment can be made is actually weaker than 720p. So nix that heavily touted "advantage."

233

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Real video samples from 5d Mark iii?

« on: March 18, 2012, 03:19:27 AM »

If one can't even hold a camera there's little chance of one's making a fair comparison test.

If in doubt, wait until competent tests are made comparing the bodies. Indications are that the 5d3 absolutely wipes the floor with the 5d2. The C300 looks like a big step in the right direction for Canon, lovely color and detail for a Rebel-sized sensor, but it also looks like a body that has a useful life of only a year or so before it's considered obsolete, which is frightfully short for $16K.

234

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 5D Mark III in Stock - BestBuy $ B&H???

« on: March 18, 2012, 02:43:16 AM »

trying to buy from Canon themselves leads you to a page that reads, "On pre-order." 

235

Canon General / Re: OMG....you always get smited for offering your opinion!

« on: March 17, 2012, 12:11:16 AM »

Cooperation theory indicates that you should start out being nice to people, and then, utterly consistently and automatically, treat them precisely as they treat you.

When people realize they cannot gain any advantage in a manner other than productive cooperation, not by chance or force, they will capitulate and coexist peacefully.

So the math says.

236

EOS Bodies / Re: 5DIII pre-order thread

« on: March 16, 2012, 03:34:04 PM »

I'm hoping that B&H and Amazon send some sort of notices before the shipping ones... I kinda preordered with both so I'll need to cancel one and obviously I dont want the first thing I hear from either to be two shipping notices!

Whaaat? 

I was tempted to try a similar stunt but I imagine you'll be paying shipping back on one of them. I may get two bodies, best to have a backup, but it would be with the 24-70 II kit when that appears, and probably not till Xmas discounts.

Haven't heard anything from B&H yet, still listed as "backordered" even though I ordered within a few minutes of the listing appearing.

237

Lenses / Re: Recommend me a lens that's better/more useful than a 50mm lens

« on: March 16, 2012, 02:44:16 PM »

I had a feeling that would be controversial around here. Like saying coat hangers are just as good for speaker cables as $2000 oxygen-free cables in an audiophile forum. Lots of peacocks in photography, and lots of sunk costs.

Anyway for a film student on a budget the $10 Chinese UV protector models (e.g. Zeikos, Opteka, Maximal Power, etc.) are every bit as good as B&W and Tiffen. Hoya years ago _was_ the cheapie filter, but people realized that they were just as good as the fancy German ones (not to mention they make much of the glass for the rest of the industry anyway) and now they aren't so cheap. Of course some filters (of any price) may be damaged or just poorly done...and yes I've sent some of those back.

I have a huge variety of filters of various price ranges, all the way up to 4x4 Schneiders etc. And the rare moments I have a flare problem or something with a filter, I look down expecting to find it's a cheapie but there is my fancy B&W with all its multicoatings. When one has a problem with a filter, don't blame the filter, just unscrew it.

Anyway if you'd like me to set up a double-blind test of lens filters using the 35L or 135L or whatever lens you feel is worthy of trophy status, I'll be happy to do so, but we're going to be betting something that's gonna hurt or it's not worth the time. 

238

Lenses / Re: Recommend me a lens that's better/more useful than a 50mm lens

« on: March 16, 2012, 05:02:53 AM »

Get the Samyang (Rokinon etc) 35mm for wide and 85mm for tele for half your budget, as good sharpness and light gathering, and double the versatility.

For filters, just cheapies are fine for protection. Save your money, you will need it.

239

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: BG-E11 questions

« on: March 16, 2012, 01:59:12 AM »

It's too easy to see them, around the conference table late in the day, asking the question, "Should we weatherproof the 5d3 battery grip?" And some cynical old bastard cuts off discussion affirmatively, "Anyone who wants a weatherproofed gripped body should be using 1 series." And the people around the table being agreeable that it was better to go out for a beer than continue the meeting.

240

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark III Manual Online

« on: March 15, 2012, 11:40:25 PM »

With the advent of RAW, I fail to understand White Balance Bracketing as a feature. I mean, if you're shooting RAW then just adjust white balance to taste in post. If you are shooting JPEG, one wonders why, since the multiple redundant exposures will take up about as much room on your card, and you will still have to review them all in post...and worse, the scene may have shifted between exposures anyway.

So that is a feature I can't see myself ever using, and as for AEB bracketing, the HDR RAW feature seems to supersede that too and in a more useful/flexible manner.

(Sorry for the slight O/T but this became another preorder thread anyway...)