Messages

16

Canon General / Re: refurbished Canon 5d mk iii

« on: January 13, 2013, 07:19:43 PM »

I'm not thinking about maximum profit, I'm wondering if there is a market if I decide to sell it.  I have about a week to return it, so having last minute second thoughts.  I wasn't expecting the pin hole in the bottom of the camera.  It doesn't affect the operation of the camera, but it says "I'm special" and may cause problems when trying to sell it.  I have read some online articles on Canon factory refurbs and it sounds like the odds are very good that there never was any sort of problem with it and if there was, odds are that Canon has fixed it.  A lot of people have bought refurbished and never had a problem.

But if something happens and I need money now or in the future and I am unable to sell it, I've just thrown away $2200.  I keep going back and forth on returning.  Especially when I see comments like "there are people(like me), would never buy a used-salvaged-item".

You bought a $3,500 camera for $2,200 and you're worried about the effect your $1,300 savings will have on the camera's resale value? Is that what you're saying?

17

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1DX- coated in ice, nice and white, and still clicking

« on: December 15, 2012, 04:02:20 PM »

I was hoping for a picture of the camera.

18

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D MARK III with 50 mm f/1.2 performence

« on: November 20, 2012, 11:55:18 AM »

I think you'd be better served buying a flash or two. Lenses are fun to buy, but you already have a 50, and you really should get a flash with a moveable head.

19

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Q: A dedicated Still Image DSLR without video? Thoughts?

« on: November 15, 2012, 03:28:38 PM »

There would be no benefit to such a camera, whereas there are tremendous benefits to having a camera with video capability. One of the first ones, of course, is live view. That is, by far, the biggest innovation since the digital age began. Extremely useful capability, and once you have that, video is absolutely free.

20

Lenses / Re: EF-M 55mm f/1.3 Coming in 2013? [CR1]

« on: October 31, 2012, 05:33:20 PM »

"For arguments sake, that would give an approximate field of view of 90mm f/1.3. A nice portrait lens for the new system."

Just to clarify, it would be the approximate equivalent of a 90mm f/2.0 FF lens. You have to take the crop factor into account when comparing apertures as well as focal lengths.

You are right if yuo think about Dept of field, but in term of shutter speed the aperture it is still faster (must admit that with crop you have to use faster speed to avoid shake).
Diego

Actually, when you take noise into effect, you also have to decrease the effective aperture to get a valid comparison with a larger format. I can't do the math, but it's also roughly a stop.

That is, f/1.3 @ ISO 100 on APS-C really is comparable to f/2.0 @ ISO 200 on full frame. And f/1.3 @ ISO 100 on full frame would be comparable to f/1.0 @ ISO 50 on APS-C. (Roughly, with rounding, etc., etc., etc.)

b&

This bunch is much, much smarter than the guys over on Model Mayhem. Or, at least, better at reading comprehension.

21

Lenses / Re: EF-M 55mm f/1.3 Coming in 2013? [CR1]

« on: October 31, 2012, 04:13:15 PM »

"For arguments sake, that would give an approximate field of view of 90mm f/1.3. A nice portrait lens for the new system."

Just to clarify, it would be the approximate equivalent of a 90mm f/2.0 FF lens. You have to take the crop factor into account when comparing apertures as well as focal lengths.

22

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D Mark II ~Help!~ order of metal shims over superimposed plate?

« on: October 25, 2012, 06:24:15 PM »

Thank you again for the response!

So am I understanding you correctly too in that each camera will be calibrated differently, so to speak, and some 5DII's will have more shims than others depending on how they are manufactured?

Pretty much. Things get even more complicated when you have a 100% screen, like the Mk III. Lots of hand calibration.

The dust you saw was probably on the bottom of the focusing screen in the first place, btw.

23

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon Announces the Canon EOS 6D DSLR

« on: September 17, 2012, 11:12:02 PM »

It's odd that it does not use CF cards. My 50D used CF cards.  For a pro that point is hard to overlook.

CF is obsolete.

24

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon Announces the Canon EOS 6D DSLR

« on: September 17, 2012, 11:09:41 PM »

I've finally seen a direct head-to-head comparison between the D600 and the 6D, and it's not as cut-and-dry as some people seem to think it is. In three areas that are very important to me, the 6D actually wins:

1. ISO range. The 6D has two full stops more high ISO settings at the top of the range. Based on my experience with Canon cameras, I expect this difference to show up in real world performance. This is an extremely important feature to me.

2. AF sensitivity. Yes, the 6D has a very disappointing 11 point AF system. It's irritating that Canon clings to these basic AF units. On the other hand, the AF is one stop more sensitive in low light than the state-of-the-art unit in the 1Dx and 5D Mk III, and two stops more sensitive than the AF in the D600. I love to shoot in ridiculously low levels of light, and coupled with the superior high ISO sensitivity, the 6D would seem to have the advantage in low light situations.

For my style of shooting, this is much more important than dynamic range, and Nikon's sensors lose that advantage at high ISO's.

3. Weight. I've been dying for a smaller, lighter FF camera from Canon. The 6D is a full 80 grams lighter than the D600 with the battery installed. This sounds like an awesome walk-around and backup camera. I intend to buy one to back up my 5D Mk III, as its specs are superior to the Mk II's in ways that are very important to me.

25

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: rumor: D600 gets 16 Bit processing

« on: August 30, 2012, 09:34:59 PM »

I find it interesting how some people are talking about jumping ship for the rumored D600 when the D800 isn't even as good as the 5D Mk III, outside of its amazing sensor. And even that starts to lose its advantage at ISO 800.

Speed, AF, video quality, high ISO performance, wireless flash system, build quality and hell, quality control during manufacture are all advantages for the Canon. Strong advantages. Plus, we get some pretty awesome lenses to play with.

Let's put it this way: if both cameras had the exact same sensor, which one would you pick?

26

Canon General / Re: Do you feel your photos have improved proportionally to the cost of your gear?

« on: August 30, 2012, 04:47:51 PM »

In my own case, it's not an improvement in quality so much as improvements in capability. A 5D Mk III that can produce high quality images at ISO 12800 paired with my 24mm f/1.4L II is capable of doing things that cheaper equipment cannot.

I remember being excited at the ISO 3200 image quality of the 20D. That seems so long ago now...

27

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: rumor: D600 gets 16 Bit processing

« on: August 30, 2012, 09:32:33 AM »

99%? I just don't buy it. A lot of those features they've listed are expensive to produce, and the whole point of this camera is that it's supposed to be cheap. 100% viewfinders are complicated to produce. Weather sealing costs money. Full frame sensors are expensive. They're placing this in the price range of the D300? No, I just don't see it.

And the timing makes no sense, either. The D800 is still hard to get, and Nikon hasn't even yet bothered to fix some major issues with it.

28

Landscape / Re: In Seoul

« on: August 29, 2012, 05:48:29 PM »

Seoul is an amazing city. I went in 2005, and I want to go back! Lovely photos.

29

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: EOS 5D3 - shooting first wedding on Saturday

« on: August 28, 2012, 10:28:12 PM »

The two cameras are very similar with noise, but the reason you want to be a little more careful with the 5d2 is color fidelity and dynamic range. The 5d2 goes purple and the files become harder to work with, while the 5d3 holds up pretty well.

The larger issue is pattern noise. It starts to show up at 6400 on the Mk II, and it's dominant at 12800. It's pretty much unfixable at that point, short of heavy duty NR software. That's where I get my "speed limit" from. Noise doesn't bother me, as long as it's random or appears so. If it looks like film, or can be made to look like film, I'm fine with it.

Others will have a lower tolerance. I suspect most of them never shot high speed photographic film like I have.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: EOS 5D3 - shooting first wedding on Saturday

« on: August 28, 2012, 10:16:30 PM »

I have a wedding coming up in 1 month and I have been going round and round in my head about 5d3 and 5d2. I dont have either camera yet but I sure want one of the two. I see a lot of you have been saying not to be fearless with ISO on 5d3 but what about 5d2? Is the 5d3 a ISO beast compared to 5d2? Basically can you be a bit fearless with 5d2 still?

Up to 3200. 6400 is usable if you take some care with exposure and processing. 12800 is useless.

On the Mk III, 12800 is a walk in the park. 16000 looks good. 25800 is usable. 51600 works in a pinch, if you understand what to expect and don't mind taking some time in Lightroom to coax the best out of what you've got.

I'd consider the Mk III to be 2-3 stops better on the high end. I'm someone who's been shooting in the dark for a very long time; the capabilities of the Mk III are nothing short of astonishing. The Mk II is better than film ever was, mind you. But the Mk III is in a whole other league.