Messages

301

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: 600EX-RT preorders at B&H are fulfilling

« on: April 04, 2012, 09:04:07 AM »

I canceled my B&H order and did it through Amazon which has plenty of stock.

302

EOS Bodies / Re: First Canon EOS 60Da samples (Andromeda, Orion & Pleiades)!

« on: April 03, 2012, 09:01:59 PM »

They look very good for DSLR astro photos. I'm not much into DSLR astrophotography, because the captures look blobby, low res with washed out colors compared to a good CCD with color wheels. But its an easy way to get a picture without having to spend $10k and mess with the filters. If you're into it then this looks like a step up.

Makes me wonder, by the time you get a decent mount, 'scope, etc, and spend the time to set up and the hour(s) to take the shot, why bother putting a substandard imager on there?

303

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: 600-RT compatibility information

« on: April 03, 2012, 08:53:41 PM »

It also says that with a pre 2012 camera you have to use a flash sync speed 1 increment slower and high speed sync is not available. Again minimal testing, but I'm using HSS successfully, and am not compensating by a stop.

Do you mean via RF control of slaves?  IIRC, the 1-stop lower sync speed and no HSS applies to RF control of off-camera strobes with cameras older than the 5DIII (and 1D X).

Correct, thanks for the clarification. Again I haven't noticed problems so far, even though its warning me. Maybe the 5DMKII is OK.

RF is set up and controlled from the flash LCD, the back of the camera can't deal with it. No problem for me, I prefer using the flash LCD to control, well the flash, anyhow.

304

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / 600-RT compatibility information

« on: April 03, 2012, 07:42:41 PM »

Got my three flashes and the manual. Seems to be working fine (very basic testing) with a 5DmkII

In the manual it states that E-TTL is not possible with the older cameras, such as the 1D, 1Ds, 1V, Elan, 50, Rebel 2000, etc.

It also says that with a pre 2012 camera you have to use a flash sync speed 1 increment slower and high speed sync is not available. Again minimal testing, but I'm using HSS successfully, and am not compensating by a stop. Even though I'm getting the !Tv warning (occasionally) they said I would get.

FYI

305

EOS Bodies / Re: Thoughts of Gizmodo today - pretty balanced

« on: April 03, 2012, 12:02:33 PM »

I thought Kai's DigitalRev review of the D800 seemed to implicitly state this, namely that the D800 files are so large that it is not entirely practical as a walk around camera.  The Ryan Brenizer review effectively stated the same thing because he takes 250K pictures per year, which is not feasible with 70MB file sizes.

I have to say, I don't really buy this at all. I've been handling 70Mb files out of my Nikon (sorry) negative scanner for years, and I don't exactly have the latest gear, IT wise. Just a pretty regular laptop running Windows XP until a year ago, and more recently Windows 7 (32 bit). I use Lightroom 2,3 and most recently 4 on these files, with no issues whatsoever. I've digitised my entire back-catalogue of negatives, which amount to around 10,000 images. This fits just fine alongside the circa 10,000 RAWs from more recent times, onto a 1 terabyte USB drive, no issues.

250,000 snaps a year is obviously a very high total, but two points: 1. if each of these files is professional, which it must be at this volume, then clearly a professional level of storage network array is called for. 2. Not that I know beans about being professional, but doesn't 250,000 images a year sound a bit snap happy? That's over 1,000 each and every working day, and around 140 an hour, every single working hour of the day. Call me naive or old fashioned, but I'd have thought slowing down and thinking about what you are doing more carefully might be a useful strategy...

Agree on all of this. In this day and age worrying about storage is the last thing we should have on our minds in photography. Storage has followed an exponential curve like all other technology. Seems to me that people are looking for a reason - some reason, ANY reason - to not like a (circa 2012) high megapixel camera.

And thanks for the analysis on number of shots, when I first heard that number I thought thats got to be a little padded (me, he-man, me take lots of pictures)   

306

Lenses / Re: Canon Direct refurbished thinning the herd?

« on: March 28, 2012, 07:10:21 PM »

You guys assume that a company like Canon actually has a brain, like a single, functioning intelligence. Big companies like that (I work for one) operate via osmosis, not intelligence. Different departments, different thinking .... in this case I doubt that marketing intelligence (again there really isn't one there, just a collective of some form probably) is actively controlling refurb sales.

The other part is that they have a huge user base, marketeers don't try to have that fine grained control - it's nonsensical with the sales and markets they sell into.

My 3 cents

307

Lenses / Re: Whats a good walk around lens to put on a new 5d Mk iii

« on: March 28, 2012, 07:07:15 PM »

Seems there's a love/hate thing for the push-pull design.  I like it for the way you can very rapidly change focal length, and the fact that the tension ring lets you effectively lock the zoom at any focal length, vs. other lenses with zoom creep that only have a lock when fully retracted. 

There's definitely something to be said for the convenience of a superzoom, especially for travel.  The problem is that with most superzooms, you pay a big price in terms of IQ for that convenience.  With the 28-300L, the price you pay is size/weight (and cost, of course), but in terms of IQ (distortion/sharpness) it's on par with the 24-105mm.

I shouldn't talk - I haven't spent much time with a push-pull never having owned one, and I don't believe you can really understand something without having owned it for six months.

I'll keep that lens in mind - I hate heavy lenses however which is probably the bigger downside for me.

308

Lenses / Re: What lens are you patiently waiting for?

« on: March 28, 2012, 07:04:01 PM »

I haven't waited, I bought what I needed.  I would have been waiting for well over five years to get a new 100-400mmL MK II since the rumors started.
 
I'm getting old, I don't have 5 or 10 years to wait

Yeah, I hear you. I usually try to not put off for later what I can enjoy now, but with photography I'm going slow so I can enjoy it over a good long time.

Having said that I just popped for the 8-15 fishy, because I wanna!

309

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / 600EX-RT preorders at B&H are fulfilling

« on: March 28, 2012, 04:19:23 PM »

I've got a "New Order Processing" and a check with customer service said that they've got them in, and they will be shipping out today or tomorrow at the latest The ST-E3-RT is on backorder, and I've got three 600's coming for my 5DMKII.

310

Lenses / What lens are you patiently waiting for?

« on: March 28, 2012, 08:47:05 AM »

Me - a new 100-400L II.

I have the 16-35, 24-105 and 70-300/2.8 - a nice lineup, and most used in that order. I shoot wide mostly, but some reach would be very useful for exploring wildlife photography obviously, but it's no rush. Whenever Canon decides to come out with a new one I'll buy it, maybe this year?

311

Lenses / Re: Whats a good walk around lens to put on a new 5d Mk iii

« on: March 28, 2012, 08:41:23 AM »

Best walkaround lens?  The 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS.  ...

Good post, as usual. I haven't noticed the 28-300 much. Looked up the review on The Digital Picture, If it wasn't push-pull, a design I'm not fond of, I'd seriously consider one.

312

Lenses / Re: New lens vs 3x600ex-RT

« on: March 27, 2012, 09:11:05 PM »

Well it's been decided for me; the order went from backordered to "new order processing". Well except for the ST-E3-RT which is still backordered.

313

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Thoughts on Lowepro Inverse 100 AW

« on: March 27, 2012, 04:57:31 PM »

Thanks NA, just what I was looking for. I thought the 100 might work well, but I want something snug.

I've looked at the belt system, but it felt, you know, a little geeky. Which is a joke since I'm an uber-geek. I'll give it another look.

314

EOS Bodies / Re: Post your C1, C2, C3 settings

« on: March 27, 2012, 04:55:28 PM »

Thanks for the settings guys. Hoping for some more - anybody else?

I've really been clueless on good programming for these.

315

Lenses / Re: Whats a good walk around lens to put on a new 5d Mk iii

« on: March 27, 2012, 09:35:52 AM »

seriously ... the 24-105 is one of the best lenses in the lineup. I used to take it for granted because it was the 5DmkII kit lens (being the kit lens it has to be mediocre, right?), then happened to notice that most of my best shots came out of that one.

I like shooting the wide end generally, but that is the best walk around lens on the planet. I owned the 24-70 I too.