Messages

16

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Finnish wearing on my 5D Mark III

« on: February 25, 2013, 07:28:55 AM »

The black gaffer tape is definitely something to consider for the future. I'll be interested over time whether this grows as a problem or whether its just bad luck. I don't know how the camera is made but it looks like metal covered by clear plastic , coated then in black plastic. The black plastic layer seems very thin.
You wouldn't expect the plastic to wear so quickly. In my case the camera has been minded carefully but using the Black Rapid strap might speed up wear (although looking at it is not obvious if would rub that much on that side ).
Maybe people should check for wear at the base or whether its starting to look translucent . If so gaffer tape would be a good protection method.

17

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Finnish wearing on my 5D Mark III

« on: February 25, 2013, 03:46:58 AM »

My 5D Mark III is definately showing this type of wear. I can see the metal along the back bottom part of the camera. I do wear a Black Rapid and I don't think that helps. I have a 500D for about 3 years using this strap and it had no wear on the same edge. It looks like the outer coating is not very good and wears away easily.
I'm amazed such an expensive camera is wearing away it's outside coating so easily.
It's more that a little cosmetic, it's a bit ugly and probably greatly devalues the camera.
It will be interesting over time whether this problem becomes more common

18

Lenses / Re: Tilt Shift Lenses - Looking for Advice

« on: February 21, 2013, 08:36:29 AM »

Thanks for your replies everyone. They are really interesting and whetting my appetite.
Your photos Peter are very impressive, it's a great advert for TS-E lens.
Congratulations on your rewards well deserved.
A tough call between 17 and 24mm.
Maybe 24mm would be more flexible for me.
I will be very interested in the Samyang version.
I haven't seen any hands on reviews yet only announcements.
I think it's supposed to be around March.
I have their 14mm and 8mm lens and they pretty good for the price they are.
The 14mm is very good for wide field astrophotography.

I've read that the 24mm TS-E is really easy to break by overtightning.
Is this a concern or would you want to be really doing something stupid to break it?
I believe it you over tightnen the knobs and they break it's a big and expensive job to repair the lens.

19

Lenses / Re: Tilt Shift Lenses - Looking for Advice

« on: February 21, 2013, 04:34:43 AM »

I've no option to rent. I envy those who can. I'm used to manual lenses I have a few already.

20

Lenses / Tilt Shift Lenses - Looking for Advice

« on: February 21, 2013, 04:03:38 AM »

Hi All,
I'm really tempted to save all my money and buy a Canon TS-E 24mm II tilt shift lens.
Alot of people like the 17mm version and there is a 45mm and 90mm version.
I had a few questions.
a) Is 24mm more useful than 17mm or would the use of an extender actually make 17mm more useful
b) What would you use a 45mm TS-E for - is it designed with a particular type of photograph in mind
c) What would you use a 90mm TS-E for - A few of the minature videos or photographs I've seen have been done with this focal length but I assume thats not the real purpose of that focal length

What would I be using if for - I love sharpness I would like to achieve back to front sharpness for landscapes.
I might do a bit of architectural photography.
I do like the tilt (minature) effect (although its got quite common and the examples are getting worse).
If you use an extender with a 17mm is it then a bit restrictive as the maximum aperture is reduced?

I'd be interested in any advice.
The 24mm TSE would be my favourite at the moment.
I have a 50mm Flektogon Pentagon 6 on a Arax tilt mechanism.
It only tilts - it's like a hard to control Lensbaby.
I'd love a real tilt/shift lens.
I'd be interested too in those who have a tilt shift lens.
They are so expensive - do you actually use it alot afterwards.
It's a bit like a holy grail object.
I was like that with the 70-200 IS II - it even exceeded my expectation and I'm delighted I saved up for it.
Will I have the same sort of moment with a tilt shift lens.

21

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Better Dynamic Range in a Camera

« on: February 19, 2013, 12:04:37 PM »

Wow the answers are getting even better and more detailed.
When I look at a scene I often can see the bright and the dark and not lose detail in the bright or the dark.
When I take a photo of the scene depending on where it's metering it might make a photo too bright or too dark (losing detail in either case). It might also (if I meter correctly) do a kind of average where I lose some detail in the bright and some detail in the dark.
The dark bit I might dodge and the light bit I might burn (or use a lightroom filter).
Could a sensor have dark but retain all the detail (ie it's not black unless it  is black) and bright light but also retain all the detail (it's bright but not completely white)?
Then there would be no need to dodge or burn or use filters.

I suppose in the end a photographer is trying to capture what they see (or at least what they think they see).
The photo is often under or overexposed or both.
In their chase of more expensive equipment (bodies, lenses, filters, software) they are trying to combat these possibilities.
In the morning or evening light the dynamic range is less and they can capture the scene with their sensor.
By midday this possibility may be gone.
Could it be possible to capture this by camera and lens alone by a magic sensor which captures the scene as an eye would?
By the answers so far it doesn't seem to be so easy to do.
Maybe the eye fools us because it is all the time processing the information to show us all the scene.

22

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Better Dynamic Range in a Camera

« on: February 18, 2013, 05:28:52 PM »

Maybe I'm sorry I asked this question.
The answers are great but making me even more confused.
I'm suppose I'm missing what's missing to get a photograph to have all the dynamic ranges I see with my eyes.
Is it impossible to translate it to a photograph?
Does it take a combination of photos to get a photo to resemble that?
It continues to astound me the technical knowledge people on this site have.
I read alot about photography but feel like a beginner compared to some of the experts here.
It's brilliant to have this source of knowledge.

23

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Better Dynamic Range in a Camera

« on: February 18, 2013, 06:12:21 AM »

I own a Canon 5D Mark III which is a great camera. I still have my 500D which is still a very good camera which I still enjoy using. The 5D has better ISO and Focusing and lots more buttons. It has a bigger sensor which does help improve image quality and does nice things with depth of field. The ISO improvement is really great.
One thing that maybe is better (but not obviously better) is the dynamic range of the sensor.
I can't see a whole lot of improvement over a 500D (I may not be looking properly).
What would be a great leap forward would be a sensor that captures the light in a scene with all it's ranges like an eye would.
I've seen in places that some people think the human eye has a dynamic range of around 20 stops other saying 6.5.
I've also seen it said that the dynamic range of a camera (9-11) exceeds the dynamic range of print (6.5 stops).

I am not a techical expert in this area and I know the eye is quite a complex mechanism and the brain also tinkers with an image but:
When I look at a scene with alot of different light I can take it all in and I see a picture in my mind.
When I take a photograph of it certain areas are lighter or darker than I saw.
I then have to edit my image to something approximately to what I saw (or thought I saw).

How hard is it to make a sensor with a higher dynamic range?
Can it be translated into something you see straight off on a screen or a print?

I'm sure a company that could produce a camera that produces images more like how a human sees the scene as would really be onto a big winner.
What would it take to do that?
Is it better dynamic range ability or is it something else that's required?

Kind Regards
Fergal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergalocallaghan/

24

Landscape / Re: Need some advice & guidance about night/astrophotography

« on: February 16, 2013, 11:42:09 AM »

Some great advice above from Noisejammer.
I must check out Cartes Du Ciel. I hadn't heard of that before.
The iPhone Apps are good for finding out what is what in the sky (amazing really - but we are just getting so used to the technology).
My little piece of advice is to check out a Samyang (Rokinon/Wallimax) 14mm F.28 Lens.
It's super on Full Frame for Wide Field Astrophotography.
There isn't a hard infinity stop, infinity is a little before the end of the focus
This is a relatively cheap lens (all manual - which I think actually helps learning - but may cause initial confusion).
I've used their 8mm Fisheye on an APS-C camera as well with good results (this is F3.5).
I shoot at ISO 1600, F2.8 and 30 Secs normally on a 5D Mark III.
The sky helps too.
I was in Australia recently - it was amazing at night time away from civilisation.
It's not so easy at home in Ireland when you can't guarantee what the sky will be like (and will be cloudy most nights)
Here's an example from Australia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergalocallaghan/8398523233/#in/photostream

25

Lenses / Re: Fellow stargazers & nighttime landscape loners!

« on: December 18, 2012, 04:26:00 AM »

I'm delighted to see this topic up here.
I've been using on an APS-C Camera the Rokinon (Samyang) 8mm Fisheye F3.5.
It was quite good.
On the 5D Mark III I can tolerate higher ISO's so I've been using the 17-40mm F4.
Maybe I should have gone for the 16-35mm 2.8 and the wider the better to reduce the time.
I now have the Rokinon 14mm 2.8
I hope I will get good shots from this and am waiting for the opportunity to try.
Any tips on focusing to infinity - I can't see anything on the screen at 10X at these wide angles (except maybe the moon - which I would focus on if it's out).

26

Lenses / Re: Lens to take to Ireland

« on: December 18, 2012, 04:05:12 AM »

I presume you are driving around Ireland rather than treking. The 70-200mm is a great landscape lens. As there alot of Islands dotted around the coast the extra length can also be very useful. The weight is definately the disadvantage. As to the weather the winters have been getting drier and colder and the summer's wetter. Hopefully you will get good weather because Sunrise and Sunset are at very good times.
Locations I could recommend are
Dingle Peninsula (especially  out to Slea Head to see the Blasket Islands)
Beara Peninsula (Castletownbere to Ahillies)
Sheep's Head
Mizen Head (amazing walk to the lighthouse - I'm not 100% sure if it's open  in winter -check on line)
Iconic Cliffs of Moher
Ring of Kerry
Come to Blarney Castle and Gardens (you can kiss the Blarney Stone while you are at it).
This is a look out to the Blasket Islands
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergalocallaghan/8080855621/#in/photostream

Enjoy your trip - if you can avoid rain you will get some amazing shots.
I've travelled all over the world and still the west coast of Ireland takes my breath away.

Kind Regards
Fergal

27

Lenses / Re: Difficulties choosing next L series

« on: December 16, 2012, 06:33:41 PM »

For sharpness you should go for 70-200mm IS II - Really brilliant.
But in the focal length you are talking about I like the 17-40mm for it's quality at it's price.
17mm TS-E L is a wonderful lens too but the bulbous front always makes me nervous.

28

Lenses / Re: 50 1.4 on 5d3 anyone?

« on: December 16, 2012, 06:28:31 PM »

Another vote for the 50mm 1.4 on a 5D3. I think it's a great lens.
Some of the negative comments make me wonder if they ever used it.
It has a lovely shallow depth of field on full frame.
I'd be a big fan of it.
Sometimes people have a habit of rubbishing lens instead of improving technique.
No modern lens is that rubbish really if you take care with the photograph.
F1.8 50mm is also a good lens for it's price. People criticise it's plastic construction  I'd say you'd be lucky to ever wear it out.
50mm is way more flexible on full frame. It really improves your photography as you have to move around a bit.

29

Lenses / Re: help!! 40mm f/2.8 or 50mm f/1.4?

« on: December 16, 2012, 04:42:27 PM »

Having owned the 50mm 1.8 (but someone else accidently dropped it) I replaced it with a 50mm 1.4 which I love. (Alot of people say the 50mm 1.8 is not well made and don't like it's plastic mount - but I can never understand this - it's a very good lens for the price and reasonably well made - I don't think anything would have survived the drop that damaged it  -strangely it kept working - just visually it was falling apart).
I own the 40mm F2.8 - I've never really used it - it's lovely and compact but it's too close to 50mm in length.
If you want something different you could try a Samyang (Rokinon) 8mm Fisheye. It's a great lens on a APS-C sensor. It's manual everything so you learn alot about Aperture and manual settings on your camera.
If you didn't have the 50mm 1.8 I'd say definately the 50mm 1.4 but since you have it probably 40mm would be better but you should consider other primes like 28mm or 35mm.

30

Video & Movie / My First Video - Short and Sweet

« on: December 11, 2012, 06:28:30 PM »

This is my first attempt of video on the Canon 5D Mark III.
Alot of room for improvement but I've been inspired by some of the people here to give it a go.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergalocallaghan/8265738680/
	Small | Large