Messages

496

EOS Bodies / Re: Thank you Canon

« on: August 22, 2011, 03:36:56 PM »

We're just lucky that Canon still seems to be interested in maintaining its image as a professional photography company - despite the fact that most of their revenue comes from office machines and consumer grade P&S cameras.

I don't think that's entirely true.  You're right that office machines are the largest chunk, but in 1Q2011, approximately 35% of Canon's revenue came from their camera division.   Canon sells a lot more P&S than dSLRs, with the latter only represent around of 20% of uint sales.  But units don't matter, value does - and dSLRs and lenses make up around 70% of revenues from the camera division.  So, that means something on the order of 25% of Canon's sales revenue comes from their dSLR lines.  Granted, the vast majority of that is the Rebel/xxxD line, but still, they have a strong incentive to maintain position as a market leader, and the cache of the pro lines is a part of that effort.

For the numbers, see Canon's 1Q2011 report.

Exactly right. I've been looking for the actual details on the figures in their financial statements but didn't quite find what I was looking for. But I'm on the same page with you, only that I counted the Rebel series as part of my broad statement about "P&S" cameras. Whatever you want to call the consumer and "pro-sumer" segment. It gets even more confusing because Canon actually puts all camera related items under "consumer".

Revenue alone is not helping us either since we'd need to know what the actual profit on the 1-series cameras is. In the big picture probably not a lot. But of course they benefit from image/cache and trickle-down technology.

So, really. It's all good in the end. They've been a leader in the pro and consumer camera market for quite a while, just survived an earthquake and the aftermath of a national catastrophe and obviously still working on bringing to market a few more big ticket items. What's the rush? The current line-up of gear obviously works well at all levels.

497

EOS Bodies / Thank you Canon

« on: August 22, 2011, 02:20:13 PM »

Is it just me or does it feel like Canon is dragging their heels in getting back as the market leader in the Pro SLR market? Maybe I should wait till September to point fingers, but I am really getting disillusioned with Canon. I am doing a lot of pro golf events for magazines and studio work. After a lot of saving and hard work I got enough money together in December last year to move to the 1Ds range and I knew buying one then would be a mistake - so I waited. There were times I thought I should just get a 1D, but there's no stock... So I am still waiting.

Now reading things like "However, we’re told Canon is more interested in getting production up to 100% before announcing new EOS products" is not really the type of news I want to read...

Am I the only one who feels this way? Is Nikon the new leader? (I know swearing is not allowed - but hey, sometimes you need to get things of your chest) 

Maybe I just need some feedback from fellow Canon users before I decide to switch to the yellow brand...

I think people need to stop complaining about things that are really non-issues. Last time I checked, Canon was and remained the market leader and actually gained a little over Nikon in 2010. Not that it matters.

Pros will use whatever is available and fits their needs and budget. I mean, I am "just" an amateur photographer because I make my living in a different industry and, hence, use photography, music and sports as an outlet for my own enjoyment. But I still follow what goes on in those industries so I think I may be able to make a valid point here.

So, if anyone paid me to take pictures at pro gold events I'd bring whatever I need for that given that I'd be paid accordingly. You need a pro camera now or yesterday? Why not buy which ever you prefer and that fits your lenses? Who cares if its the red or yellow brand? And if for whatever reason you don't want to buy a current model you can always buy used or rent for specific jobs. That's what pros do.

The complaining about stuff and the whining how expensive and insufficient it all is will mostly come from non-pros with nothing better to do. Which makes sense to some degree, because $10,000 in camera gear is actually  A LOT of money for a hobby. For paid work it's not. Or when did you here the last time that the pizza delivery guy complained about the cost of his 1998 Corolla? Probably in the same ball park as a few pro photography tools. Yes, to us amateurs gear is expensive. For pros the tools are actually pretty cheap compared to the equipment cost in other industries.

One more thing: instead of complaining about Canon/Nikon we should be grateful that they are (still) around and catering to pros as well as amateurs. Good stuff for actually pretty low prices given that there are really are no high grade 35mm alternatives available in the digital age. Try digital medium or large format...

We're just lucky that Canon still seems to be interested in maintaining its image as a professional photography company - despite the fact that most of their revenue comes from office machines and consumer grade P&S cameras. So we might want to scale back the negative commentary a bit. How about "Thank you Canon. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see what next thing you cook up that is only for a small fraction of your market and has cost you a fortune to develop!"

498

Lenses / Re: Hello and What to put in my camera bag to come?

« on: August 17, 2011, 08:39:28 AM »

Thanks alot Afira, Scottkinfw and 7enderbender. Again you make me reconsider my options.

If only two lenses... wow. Good question. I think I would go with a zomm 24-105/4 or 24-70/2.8 and a really fast prime for nice portraits. depending on the zoom it would either be 135/2 or 85/1.2 (or Sigma 85/1.4).

Actually I haven't considered the 100/2.8 Macro (yet). Some years ago it was on my list since I wanted to try Macro, but I bought "magnifying filters" instead and realized it was nothing for me. But now the lens is forgotten. I will check it immideately!

Since I will be using a FF 200 mm as the longest reach feels short. But perhaps I put too much value into those last 100 mm...

I'm sure you have thought about that already but I'll mention it anyway:

If you go beyond 200 you might want to factor a decent tripod and/or monopod into your calculations as well. If done right, unfortunately not a cheap additional tool...

499

Lenses / Re: Hello and What to put in my camera bag to come?

« on: August 16, 2011, 05:13:50 PM »

If you have a 200 mm, how often do you think you should have had a 300 or a 400?

Almost never. I have a 500 for my film camera and stuff beyond 200 to me is highly specialized. It's good for sports and wildlife obviously. I don't do a lot of that. And if there was ever a need I'd rather rent a really good one in that range. I mean, it all depends of course. I actually shot a few nice portraits with my FD 500. But you can do the same with a lot of other lenses. Or better.

I like the fixed 200 for outside stuff with the kids. You have to think of course and move around. But the 2.8 aperture and small form factor beats the zoom option for me. And the 70-200 2.8L is just too expensive and too big - and too white for me...

But think about it like this: if you had to decide to get 2 lenses only and only those for a long period of time, what would you be the most comfortable with?

I'd either go with a good 50 and the 135L or the 24-70 and the 135L. 50+135 would be more likely, which is by the way the first combo I had when I started using my Dad's camera back then. There is not a lot that this combo won't do.  Later I relied on and traveled a lot with a Sigma 35-135. I mostly used it either at 135 or between 35-50ish.

500

Lenses / Re: Hello and What to put in my camera bag to come?

« on: August 16, 2011, 09:00:30 AM »

Isn't it fun? Seriously, as somewhat of a gear head I kind of like this aspect of photography - without forgetting about the most important thing which is to go and take pictures and learn how to get better.

I kind of was in a similar position last year. I've been shooting 35mm film since the 80s and have a bag full of nice Canon FD stuff that I acquired over the years. I never went over to the EOS system because I never was a big fan of AF (and honestly, I still am not). So when digital sort of became unavoidable I knew I wanted to keep the "full frame" format and I knew which my most used and favorite lenses had been (not compatible unfortunately...).

So the obvious choice given my budget was the 5DII. No complaints (other than it being an AF camera). With lenses you seem to have a thing for primes which I fully understand. But why is that? I like primes not only for their good performance (not really a big problem with any reasonable lens these days, but primes are still somewhat sharper on average) but mostly because they are faster and offer shallow depth of field.

To me the latter is one of the things that helps with producing nice pictures of, e.g, our kids compared to "snap shots". Yes, good zooms can do that as well to some degree.

With your potential choices I don't think you can go wrong either way. I have the 24-105 because it was a good deal together with the camera. It's very good and very versatile. I go back and forth if I should trade it for the 24-70. In an ideal world it would make sense to have both really.
Then I also got the 50 1.4. It's been my most used and most favorite lens in the FD film world. Optics are the same they have ever been. Unfortunately, the EF version is rather flimsy compared to my old copies. I'm hoping for Canon to come out with new 50mm lenses at some point. I considered the 50L which is much more sturdy of course but also way more expensive - and has some issues as well. So, sitll waiting for the "ideal" fast 50mm here. But the 1.4 takes fabulous pictures.

I considered the f4 70-200 zooms but then went with the 200 2.8L II prime. Fast, affordable, exceptional lens. I noticed that I had used my old 70-210 mostly at the longer end so the decision made sense to me. YMMV. Great lens by the way for active little kids...

That being said - another favorite was always the 135 prime. So the 135L is next on my list. Other nice to haves: 85 1.8, 100L macro, and a wide angle prime or zoom. But that is not that important and I kind of feel that I may rent those as needed. Not to forget: speedlights. One of the great things about modern DSLRs is the stuff you can do with flash. That's my main learning area at the moment and can get expensive quickly...

Good luck and have fun.

501

EOS Bodies / Re: 1D Mark V Information [CR1]

« on: August 07, 2011, 06:50:52 PM »

I wonder what "Articulated LCD Fixed" means. I really hope they don't put a 60D-like screen on the 1 and 5 series now.

502

Lenses / Re: EF 70-200 F4 L IS or 70-200 F2.8 L

« on: August 01, 2011, 05:26:07 PM »

Just to throw it out there and I'm not sure if 200 is the right range for your application: if money is an object you can get the 200 2.8LII for a lot less then the fast zoom and have (at least) the same image quality and aperture. No IS and I'm not sure how useful it is in your case.

I have that lens and love it. But it's for different use. Other than that I would second the 100-400 for what you are doing. Who cares if it's an "old" lens? There are lens designs or even actual lenses that are 30 or 50 years old and still hold their ground.

503

Lenses / Re: Thoughts on primes

« on: July 11, 2011, 10:45:06 AM »

For your 1.6x camera format I second the 85 1.8 for what you're planning to do. And it's very reasonably priced so you can put the rest towards your godchild's college fund ;-)

504

Lenses / Re: recommend me a telephoto lens

« on: July 11, 2011, 08:13:14 AM »

Just as some food for thought:

Have you ever considered primes instead of huge, heavy and white zooms? Probably all depends on what exactly you are going to use it (them) for and what the most important focal range is for you.

I personally prefer a 135L and a 200 2.8L II over, e.g, the 70-200 2.8L.

505

EOS Bodies / Re: 135mm f/2L USM, any other option for this range lens for 5d? in zeiss or canon?

« on: July 02, 2011, 08:00:37 AM »

For photography the Canon 135L is probably one of the best lenses for anything that is smaller than medium format. Other than it being an EF autofocus lens (I always prefered manual focus FD lenses in the film days, but that's no longer an option...) I don't see how anyone could have any beef with it.

I don't know if it works for video. For video (if I have to) I use a designated video camera and call it a day. But from what I've heard and read you really want old manual focus/manual aperture lenses for that (old Nikons for example) - and then a bunch of other gizmos and contraptions to deal with the fact that SLRs aren't video cameras.

506

EOS Bodies / Re: End of the APS-H sized CMOS?

« on: June 22, 2011, 02:23:10 PM »

Pros that "live and die" by APC-H? I'm not a pro but that sounds weird. I would think that most pros work with anything that they are given or that works for a specific need. Correct me if I'm wrong but I would think that APS-H was a compromise back then because "full frame" didn't yet deliver the speed that journalists and sports people were used from their film cameras.
And it appears that this is now obsolete and things could slowly return to a "normal" sensor size across the board. So where would be the benefit other than the current price difference?

507

Software & Accessories / Re: 430 ex II or the 580 ex II ??

« on: June 13, 2011, 11:57:50 AM »

I have both and you can't really go wrong either way. Some considerations/observations:

- The 580EXII is a little more powerful. There may be situations where that is a plus. For the most part it won't make a difference

- The 430EXII is lighter. With my 5DII (plus grip and slightly heavier lens) I am reaching the point of slight discomfort with the 580EXII attached. Nothing major though.

- The 580EXII buttons/wheel are much better. The 430EXII buttons need to be pressed pretty deeply and are not very responsive in comparison.

- The 580EXII can act as a master. The 430 can't. Though both can be triggered from your 7D (I think).

- According to reports on various forums the 580EXII can (!) fail every now and then. Lot's of speculations and conflicting information around this. The 430EXII seem to have a slight edge in that department. Both, in my opinion, suffer from the hideous "quick lock" mechanism. Some people like it. I find it impractical and it looks error prone in the long run to me. If you buy used or refurbished anyway you might look at previous models that work equally fine and have the traditional locking screw (e.g. 580EX or 550EX)

- There are some alternatives. The best probably being the Metz 58. It has some pros and some cons. Other off-brands don't seem to have any pros other than price.


Here is how I use things:

If all I carry is one flash I bring along the 580EXII. Just in case I do need the power and because I like the buttons better. When traveling light (just camera and one lens) I bring along my 270EX as it fits in a shirt pocket or so and still gets pretty good results for a lot of applications.
I bring both the 430 and 580  if I want to use off camera flash.

For anything where the flash will remain attached to the camera for longer periods of time (e.g. any function with a larger group of people in a large room with high ceilings) I'll bring my old Metz 45 CT-4 (manual control, no TTL etc).

I don't do any of this professionally.

Good luck.

508

Lenses / Re: 24-70L or 100-400L ??

« on: June 09, 2011, 08:29:02 AM »

That's not an easy question because there are a few things going on here at the same time. One thing that sticks out to me is that you are now using two different formats so your lenses behave differently on your 1V and your Rebel. And once you go full frame with your digital camera as well you'll have to decide what to do with the EF-S lenses. Honestly, all this is exactly the problem why I never went near digital until recently when I finally decided to shell out some doe for a 5DII and a few EF lenses.

If, however, for your prefered shooting (e.g. street photography and portraits) you are happy with the "reach" you are getting from the EF lenses then you may have to rethink a few things. And you didn't say what your preferred lenses for any given situation are.

So given that I don't know your preferences I can only speak from my experience. For the long end, I decided against the 70-200 and went with the 200 2.8LII. Again, this is on full frame. Love this lens and wouldn't want to swap it for any of the zooms. The 135L you already have. The 24-70 is next on your list and that makes perfect sense when going full frame. In my opinion, you're pretty much set at that point. Leaves the question if you need wider than 24mm or if you want to add another high quality prime for your street photography like a good 50mm or 85. You already have a 50 so you may be set in that department already.

Am I biased towards primes? Yep. When I'm finally done filling my bag there will only be the 24-70 and perhaps the 16-35 as far as zooms are concerned. Add a 50, 85, 135 and 200 and you're done. Gives you a lot of choices even when travelling depending on how much stuff you want or can carry.

For a trip like your's I'd then take a full frame camera (what's your beef with the current 5DII?? And what do you expect from a 5DIII that you're lacking now??), a 50, the 24-70 and the 135. And a flash and a cheap macro extender. Done.

And to suggest something radical: I'd get rid of the Rebel and EF-S lenses, buy the 24-70 and stick it on the film camera and make the trip with a bag full of slide and B&W film...and/or trade the 70-200 for a 5DII or 1DsII.

509

Lenses / Re: Why did Canon make EF-S lenses

« on: June 08, 2011, 02:39:21 PM »

It`s stupid that they make lenses that doesent fit on a 1D serie. I want a 10-20 zoom. But it is only for 1,6 crop kamera. Canon is here forcing me to use a Sigma lens like 12-24 instead of providing a quality wide zoom to use on a 1D camera

Well, I think there are technical reasons and marketing reasons. They needed something to sell to their crop sensor customers that provides the wide angle that is lost due the sensor size. And they needed it on the cheap. From a marketing standpoint it comes in handy that those cheap(er) but relatively good lenses don't fit the full frame bodies, because they want you to buy the very good and expensive specialty lenses in the EF lineup.

And my guess is that in order to prevent people from buying third-party lenses they introduced kind of the mid range lenses that are optically pretty good but slower like the 17-40L.

And for everything wider than 16 or 17 they have a wide variety of primes primes and now even the new 8-15. I mean, seriously, there are maybe a few things that I would like Canon to do differently, but it's really not fair to complain about their lens line up. There is something for every purpose and budget - and still at a better price point than what the other company has to offer, while the quality is traditionally as good or better.

510

Lenses / Re: 24-70.. bite?

« on: June 08, 2011, 11:02:51 AM »

I see that the 24-70 II is coming out soon. I probably won't be able to afford it, but the original 24-70 has dropped in price far enough that its within reach.

MY QUESTION IS: When the 24-70 II comes out, how much do you think  the original 24-70 will drop in price?

Do lenses usually have a fast drop in price when the replacement comes out? Because it seems like the 70-200 2.8 IS didn't drop in price too much even after its predecessor came into the market.

questions questions questions

I had that same thought as I'm still thinking of trading my 24-105 for the 24-70. I don't think it'll drop that drastically. It's a great lens and there is demand for it. And it would probably disappear quickly as a new item once the updated version comes out (when ever that is), so the new version would probably be more expensive at first and the used prices shouldn't drastically change.

And there is always the potential that the new version doesn't become a favorite and people start looking for old ones. Let's assume for a second for instance that the new version came with IS then I'd quickly try to still get the current version while still available (either new or in really good shape). But who knows.