Messages

46

Software & Accessories / Re: Good GND filter to go with new Lee system

« on: February 28, 2013, 07:37:46 AM »

The B+W filter is glass, like the excellent ND grads from B+W's parent company, Schneider Optics.  The specs of the filter you link don't say, but the Schneider filters are 4mm thick, vs. the 2mm thickness of the resin filters from Lee, Singh-Ray, etc.  If you go the glass filter route, you'll need the Lee 4mm side guides (for which reviews are mixed), not sure if you can use more than one filter at a time.

I found this link

http://aifo.se/pdf/BWF_Graduated_ND_100x150.pdf

Which says it is 2mm.

So the question is would it be better to get three Lee resin filters, or one glass B&W filter for a bit more? I'm inclined to just get the B&W.

47

Software & Accessories / Re: Good GND filter to go with new Lee system

« on: February 27, 2013, 10:10:30 PM »

Also I wonder how many ND's you really need? Seems like one, or max two would do me for all my shooting.

48

Software & Accessories / Good GND filter to go with new Lee system

« on: February 27, 2013, 09:11:31 PM »

I got the Lee Big Stopper, kit and 82mm adaptor. Can't believe they charge (and I paid for) for these things. Of course everything else is exponentially more expensive.

Anyhow I could use a grad. I'm looking at this new one from B&H which should be top of the line

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/900553-REG/B_W_661075266_100_x_150mm_701.html

but it's crazy expensive. Other suggestions?

49

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

« on: February 26, 2013, 06:17:54 PM »

I like Syl.  He's a good guy and has great advice for using Speedlites.  But about this, he's wrong. 

You just have to be right, don't you? But then you are always right I guess 

OK fair enough.

50

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

« on: February 26, 2013, 12:31:13 PM »

Syl Arena just did a lecture for Canon CPS on the 600 where he makes the strong point that it is not an infrared system

http://learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/syl_arena_speedlite_600exrt_seminar.shtml

Good talk to watch regardless, but I would believe that Canon vetted the talk and content before they put it up

51

Third Party Manufacturers / Google Glass

« on: February 26, 2013, 08:41:29 AM »

So I've been taking an interest in small sensor cameras - the Canon S100, my cellphones, the Memoto and Google Glass. Under the adage of "the best camera is the one you have with you" I've been working on these cameras to see how good I can get with them.

On Glass, I'm a software engineer by day and will be one of the first in the world to have a pair as part of the original "Glass Explorer" program, probably in the next month. I also was selected to take part of the "Glass Foundry" event where I got to spend a few days with it at the Google office.

I'm excited about using this new platform, and am interested to see what I can get with an "always there POV" camera

52

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

« on: February 26, 2013, 08:22:56 AM »

Whoops, common mistake at the top of the article.

Canon light triggering is NOT an infrared system.

It uses visible light pretriggering.

The red panel on your flash is for auto-focus assist.

53

Software & Accessories / Re: Circular polarizer for the 16-35

« on: February 25, 2013, 09:20:32 PM »

I've got it, do you want to buy it?

54

Third Party Manufacturers / Thoughts on Zeiss Canon 5 lens kit?

« on: February 25, 2013, 06:26:57 PM »

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/818396-REG/Zeiss_410951_0000_032_ZE_SLR_Lens_Case.html

• 21mm f/2.8 Lens
• 28mm f/2 Lens
• 35mm f/2 Lens
  
• 50mm f/1.4 Lens
  
• 85mm f/1.4 Lens
  

Thoughts? Better to buy them individually? Instead of the lenses given what would you substitute?

55

Canon General / Re: With the Yen plunging, will we see price drops now?

« on: February 23, 2013, 12:35:11 PM »

International corporate finances are complex, they have operations all over the world. I guarantee that currency fluctuations (which continually change) play some part, but thinking that end price will change due to that is simplistic.

This is no doubt correct, but my point is:  where was this sentiment when the True Believers were defending Canon prices as clearly being due to the high Yen to low Dollar exchange rate?

Yeah I brought it up back then and nobody paid attention. Companies charge what the market will bear, end of story.

I know this because I work in a parallel industry (unrelated but very similar) to Canon, and in fact my company is lot like them too. Trust me that the marketing dept. primarily is setting prices, and they have no idea about currency. That is handled in finance and at the corporate level, far removed.

56

Canon General / Re: With the Yen plunging, will we see price drops now?

« on: February 23, 2013, 08:54:00 AM »

International corporate finances are complex, they have operations all over the world. I guarantee that currency fluctuations (which continually change) play some part, but thinking that end price will change due to that is simplistic.

57

Canon General / Re: Will you pay $125,000 for Canon's Mixed Reality headset?

« on: February 22, 2013, 06:21:04 AM »

I'm a developer on Google Glass which is an augmented reality device. That for a mere one time fee of $1,500 (for early bird access, next year it will be much cheaper) ... I think Canon way overestimates the uniqueness of their technology.

58

Lighting / Re: 600EX RT vs AlienBees

« on: February 21, 2013, 07:56:49 PM »

You mention shooting in bright sun. If you want to add fill light, the Speedlites are fine.  If you want to shoot portraits and overpower the sun to fully control the light, monolights are the way to go.  Outdoor portraits usually benefit from wide aperture lenses, but when you add flash into that mix, HSS doesn't have enough power except for fill, so to use fast apertures you have to use ND filters to knock the shutter speed down to Xsync, and again, not enough power from a Speedlite.  Of course, you can gang 3-4 Speedlites inside each modifier - that would give enough power.  But it's not really a cost-effective solution.

Syl Arena uses HSS with 580's (now 600's) to knock down the sun. He lives in a sun drenched area like me so that is his solution to control the outdoor light. I haven't experimented a lot with that myself so haven't verified, but he's got the technique extensively documented in his books.

He's also a fan of ganging speedlites, but I'm pretty sure he uses the technique without that.

59

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Anyone else intrigued by the new Fuji X20 and X100s

« on: February 21, 2013, 07:31:32 PM »

I bought a X100. Never again. As an engineer I can usually tell the abilities of the engineers of a product. In this case they aren't good software engineers, the firmware is goofed and has odd layout. The design seems to be done by engineers and not people who focus on design. Too easy to goof the settings on the camera, too many buttons, too hard to get it to do what you want. I still haven't figured out how to turn off flash. Speaking of which, I bought a Fuji external flash which has all sorts of poor design decisions. Basically they are guys that come up with a killer idea or two (such as the viewfinder display and no Bayer pattern), and wrap a poor camera around that.

Canon's engineers on the other hand are much better. Their problem is extreme conservatism, they eke out innovation way to slowly, because they're obviously fearful of their installed base and reputation.

60

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Spec List [CR2]

« on: February 19, 2013, 08:31:43 AM »

If true, is it me or is the Canon camera lineup getting confused? Used to be that upgrades were real upgrades, and you'd upgrade to get better features for a similar price as you originally paid. Now you're getting more, but paying more, and the difference between the bodies is getting smaller. 

Not quite.

Have a look at Thom Hogan's article entitled 'The Last Camera Syndrome'. We are getting there, if not there already.

I'm talking about me personally - I'd love to upgrade, I like to get the latest features and have the money to do it, but Canon just isn't giving me a reason to do it. A high megapixel body would do it though.

On "The Last Camera" yes DSLR's are past the point where you need to continually upgrade I believe. The 5DIII has great metering, great autofocus, great IQ etc. Even the 5DII with it's poor autofocus system is good enough to last me another five years easy. This is why I think Canon needs some big features like new sensor tech to lure us back.

A while back a Canon rep said "users need better pixels, not more pixels". Seems like Nikon is taking them up on that one. And besides they didn't really give us better pixels.