Messages

91

Canon General / Re: Curious Distraction: Explain your username, avatar picture, etc...

« on: January 28, 2013, 08:28:15 AM »

I joined a website many years ago and was trying to think of a suitable name. It started off as Kernuak Piskie, but was the shortened to Kernuak, which means Cornish in the Cornish language. My grandfather was Cornish and his family are from Cornwall as far back as I can trace, back to the late 1600's on one branch. My avatar photo was taken while I was on the drinking water lake for Oslo. We were collecting water samples for a research project, looking for sources of fungal infections in leukaemic patients. It was actually my first week in Norway, in March, so yuo can imagine our hands were pretty numb from holding bottles under the water. The one thing on my mind at the time was not to drop one of them .

Ha, that explains the origin of the name 'Kernow' for Cornwall, in native speak! I have used the name Kernow instead of Cornwall for my neighbouring County but was unaware of it's origin!

92

Canon General / Re: Curious Distraction: Explain your username, avatar picture, etc...

« on: January 28, 2013, 08:20:43 AM »

Mine came about through work nicknames..... due to me sporting a full beard when I started out on my first 'proper' job as a trainee mechanic 13 or so years ago.... The other techs adorned me with the title 'Beard', often spoken in a variety of amusing tones. The insanity part came about partly through my own assessment of my sometimes mental state, but maybe also because of 'Lord insanity Melchett' (played by Stephen Fry) as he was referred to by the title character of Blackadder (not sure how well Blackadder is known outside of the UK). Can't remember how it happened but a fellow mechanic and friend at the garage put the insanity and beard together, thus it was born!

As for the avatar, it is a picture of my mascot (cue mass ridicule) 'Mr Cheery Chick' as he is known, an amusing roly-poly soft toy picked up for next to nothing one easter in a supermarket.... viewed from some angles, he seems to have a personality and life like quality all of his own....

I'll shut up now... Oh crap, gotta go, it looks like an Arkham Asylum van just pulled up outside the door....

93

EOS Bodies / Re: Where are you EOS 70D?

« on: January 24, 2013, 07:49:51 AM »

Nope, that terrible 7d sensor doesn't outperform anything. T2i had the best implementation out of all of the uses of this sensor, save for the sharpness of the t4i. 7d sensor is just too noisy

Yeah, makes me wonder how I can get any usable pictures out of the 7D.....

I don't disagree it needs updating, but the way it is described by some would have you believe you might as well just not bother taking pictures with it.

94

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: I love big gear

« on: January 24, 2013, 07:21:48 AM »

Personally I wouldn't want a smaller body than the 7D I own. I like the solid feel of the 7D in my hands, I have used my partner's 400D on occaision and dislike the smaller viewfinder, the more cramped controls and the less solid feel in the hand, as well as the control layout. For me it just isn't as nice to use. So for this reason, whilst having lighter and smaller kit is not to be ignored, especially when you have other equally or more important things to carry, there is a limit to how small and light you can get things whilst maintaining full usability! And as has been said before, a compact (eg, mirrorless) body may be all well and good but place a big-ish tele lens on that body and the balance just isn't the same, the grip isn't as good, and for action subjects, BIF etc that can be a big issue!

95

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 7D - How bad is it? Really?

« on: January 23, 2013, 10:49:49 AM »

@sandymandy

but why would somebody not want to go FF?

Performance for cost (6D and 5D2 are very different cameras to the 7D)
Cost alone
They already have a range of EF-s or DC lenses
They find the effective increase in reach useful

Yep, cost is the main factor preventing me from going FF!

96

United Kingdom & Ireland / Re: Hello...Anyone else from the UK?

« on: January 23, 2013, 10:45:57 AM »

Yes, I know what you mean, some spots have become a little too popular! Regarding Colin Prior, I have several of his books and the thing I admire most about his work is the effort and lengths he has gone to to position himself in the right place at the right time to capture the light- whether that involves camping up a mountain or climbing/coming off in darkness. Now that's dedication!

97

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 7D - How bad is it? Really?

« on: January 23, 2013, 08:54:47 AM »

Any camera will shoot good pictures and the 7D certainly shoot good pictures even under the conditions you describe with some limitations. If that's all you are going to use to make your decision the 7D will be fine. I owned the 7d and I was terribly disappointed with it especially in lowlight high ISO situations. I was also disappointed with the IQ. I believe that the 7d is a Rebel in a pro body. There is little difference in IQ between the 2ti (and its successors) and the 7D, there is some debate about whether it uses the same sensor. The 7D has almost every pro body feature of the big bodies that does not affect IQ - weather sealing, advanced auto focus, high frame rate, 60p 720 video, etc but i could never get over why canon chose to put a Rebel quality sensor in this body. Canon is already in the dumps with its sensors and the 7D's sensor the lowest performing sensor in their pro lineup. It is old and outdated, and we are just on the verge of a new wave of cameras and possibly new sensors, I would never buy a new 7D at this point. Esp that its rumored a new 7D will be out this year. If you ever plan to make the leap to FF body stop buying any EFS lenses.

To be fair, to my knowledge, when the 7D was new- ie, 3+ years ago, it WAS a new sensor which, as I understand it was competitive at the time (without getting dragged into arguments involving low ISO noise and banding) against the then comparable models- e.g, Nikon D300. It is only because subsequent Rebels have used basically the same sensor that the 7D now offers no IQ benefits compared to them (disregarding the improved AF, FPS performance etc), so whilst I agree the 7D needs an overhaul/refresh, to say the sensor is 'Rebel quality' is comparing the newer Rebels with a 3 year old camera.

98

United Kingdom & Ireland / Re: Hello...Anyone else from the UK?

« on: January 23, 2013, 05:17:23 AM »

A Scot from Kilmarnock ('The Scheme' from the TV show, to be precise) now living in Glasgow, in a flat over-looking the Clyde.

Do you do much in the way of Landscape photography? Scotland has a special place in my heart for it's amazing scenery- I have particular fondness for the rugged desolate beauty of Skye and the far North-West- Torridon, Sutherland etc... Bleak as you can get in stormy weather, out of this world on a (maybe rare!) sunny day, and magical in any weather! (rose tinted specs maybe, but still an amazing place!) 

99

Site Information / Re: Problem with the Canonrumors Website

« on: January 17, 2013, 04:06:18 AM »

I can confirm the same issue on occasion, which has occurred when I have gone to close the browser window whilst the CR page is displaying- basically a new tab opens and multiple tabs then load with the CR homepage! Like the OP says, you have to be quick to close them all before getting swamped. It's happenned a few times. My (work) PC is running windows Vista and the browser is just the bog standard internet explorer.

100

Lenses / Re: Canon EF 35mm f/2L IS Review from the Digital Picture

« on: January 16, 2013, 11:11:15 AM »

Regardless of the 'Sigma is better/cheaper' talk, I for one am interested in this lens, I think it will make a nice compact standard walkaround lens for the 7D. Yes it is expensive at the mo, but like the 24 and 28 IS will drop in the coming months, and I'm sure it will appear on some rebate programmes somewhere down the line, at which point I can see me getting one. Let the flaming commence.......

101

Site Information / Re: How does one change camera appearing under the poster's name?

« on: January 16, 2013, 10:49:38 AM »

  They've mysteriously come back! How did that happen?!

102

Site Information / Re: How does one change camera appearing under the poster's name?

« on: January 16, 2013, 07:37:28 AM »

I think I must have been naughty...... I've been deducted two yellow blocks..... I was on three but now it's only one...... Sorry Mr. Canon Rumors Sir..... I promise I won't do it again! 

103

Lenses / Re: 17-40 vs 16-35, which one got the mojo ?

« on: January 14, 2013, 01:01:51 PM »

I own both the 10-22 and 17-40, and whilst I can only speak from experience of using both on a 7D (i.e, a crop camera), I do not believe the 17-40 will give you any 'wow' factor beyond the 10-22 if the 10-22 does not satisfy you. The 10-22 is not a perfect lens but it is a very good lens, and if you were to move up to full frame, the performance of the 17-40 at the wide end may disappoint you more than the 10-22 performance on crop. If I take a step back and look at some of the images I have taken, I don't think I can truthfully say that the performance of the lens was ever the cause of a crap or lacklustre picture. It has more to do with the manner in which I have taken the picture, the settings I have used, and probably most of all, the lighting. I enjoy mainly landscape photography and some of my most 'magical' images came down, purely and simply to the lighting, and being in the right place at the right time to capture it. Some of those images were taken with the 10-22, some were taken with the 17-40, and to me, it was the lighting that made those images, and maybe my composition, not any wow factor of the lens.

104

United Kingdom & Ireland / Re: Jessops close to administration?

« on: January 09, 2013, 12:47:16 PM »

Just saw a story on Yahoo saying they had gone into admin..... they've been under a cloud for a while now, there were tales that our Exeter store was going to close a year back or so. I bought my 7D and a couple lenses from them a few years back but must admit that thesedays I buy more online. Still, will be one less bricks and mortar store for camera kit in this country if they do go..... I even did work experience in my local Jessops years ago when I was still at school! 

105

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Cannot Keep Screwing It's Customers Over

« on: January 08, 2013, 10:30:12 AM »

Dang them for forcing us into buying their overpriced gear... dang it!!!! (slamming fists on the ground)

Fantastic post!

yeah if your IQ is at 2 digits.....

Your own insight into the matter provided ample evidence that yours is considerably higher...