Topics

1

Lighting / 600ex-rt and the dead zone

« on: December 30, 2012, 06:39:41 PM »

I am a wedding photographer and I have shot 26 weddings this year with three 600ex-rt flashes and for the most part am very happy with them.  However, there have been two occasions where there has been an area about 20-30 feet in diamater that the master goes all screwball and the link goes in and out.  I was shooting a wedding last night and my assistant also had three flashes and hers did the same thing in the same "dead zone"  We were both on different channels so we were not interfering with each other.  I did everything I could think of like change batteries turn them on and off and I even did a channel scan to see which one had them most strength.  Still there was that zone where the flash had issues and the link would go in and out.  It was in the middle of a large room with nothing that I could see that would cause issues.  It wasn't next to anything else electrical that I could see.  The only thing was a florescent fixture about 30 feet in the air.  Once I was out of the dead zone everything was fine.  Unfortunately it was the dance floor so it made shooting the reception harder.  I even tried to stand over by the DJ were I figure there would be the most interference and I had no issues.  The dead zone was in the middle of nothing.  Anyone have any insight?

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Lenses / 70-200 f/2.8L IS II focus issue

« on: November 18, 2012, 03:12:05 PM »

I have had my 70-200 for almost two years now and it has performed flawlessly up until now.  I have shot about 50 weddings with it and no issues.  Now it it having problems focusing at 200mm.  70-185 it is very sharp but at 200 it almost looks like slight motion blur or just plain out of focus.  I can get it to focus accurately sometimes but most of the time it is just off.  I am sending it in to Canon but do lenses get out of calibration like that?  It has never been dropped or mistreated.  On another note how often should you just send your lens it to get it checked over and professionally cleaned?   Especially if it is used a lot. 

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D3 & 600ex-rt + AF assist beam = slower focus

« on: October 18, 2012, 08:08:49 PM »

I am sure this has been discussed before but I just can't figure out why the 5D3 focuses so slowly when the AF assist is enabled on my flash.  Many times I have been at a wedding reception and I get frustrated with very slow focusing issues related to the AF assist beam.  I have messed around with turning it on and off and there is a very noticeable difference.  For example with my 70-200 as long as I find an area of some contrast it will focus almost instantly even dark situations.  As soon as I turn it on it sometimes takes a full second or two to lock focus.  I remember my 5D2 having improved focus with the AF assist from the 580exII.  Is it a flash issue or a camera issue?  I know there are a lot of you who have the same problems.  Anyone find any solutions?  Most of the time I don't need the AF assist but when it is pitch black and I need it it would be nice if I could focus a little faster.  I just don't understand how the AF can be so great in almost all situations except this one area.  Of course when I call CPS they claim they have never heard of an issue.     

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / BG-e11

« on: September 28, 2012, 11:21:07 AM »

I am having issues with my grip.  I have used it quite a bit and it has worked just fine until recently.  During a wedding the battery indicator was flashing showing both my batteries were almost dead.  I found it strange since I had only been shooting for about 3 hours and normally they last me all day.  Later after I charged both batteries it did it again with fresh batteries.  Going into the menu to battery info it said they were both at 100% even with the indicator flashing that they were about to go dead.  Sometimes it will show a message that the camera cannot communicate with the batteries.  After pulling out batteries and disconnecting the grip and putting everything back together it usually works fine for a while.  Do you think the grip is going bad or there is a connection issue?

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Shutter Question

« on: September 09, 2012, 09:17:24 PM »

I have been thinking a lot about shutters lately and I know I should know the answer to this question but why is a shutter even necessesary?  Obviously it is necessary for film but why for digital?  Why can't the power to the sensor power on and off according to the "shutter speed"?  Why isn't that possible?

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 1DX or 85mm 1.2?

« on: August 08, 2012, 08:11:04 PM »

I am a wedding photographer and have two 5D mark IIIs, a 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, a 50mm 1.2L, a 24mm 1.4L, a 100mm f/2.8L IS and three 600ex-rt flashes.  I have more than what I need to take amazing pictures in almost any situation but I after I buy something I find myself looking to the next thing to buy.  I don't know what is wrong with me it is like a disease.  I know I am crazy and should just be content with what I have.  So if you were in my situation and you were going to buy something new would you sell one of the 5D3s and get a 1DX or would you buy the 85mm 1.2?  I am a little afraid the 85mm 1.2 will be a little slow focusing at receptions similar to the 50mm 1.2.  I just don't understand that my 70-200 and 24mm are able to focus really well in almost no light but the 50mm is very slow and unreliable.  If the 85mm is anything like the 50mm in that regard it may change my decision.  I would love to use it for portraits and almost always shoot at very large apertures.  As a matter of fact I love a shallow DOF so much that I usually shoot two or three Brenizer method images each wedding to get the effect of f/0.5 or f/0.6.   

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 1DX vs 5D3

« on: July 27, 2012, 10:01:11 PM »

I am interested to hear from anyone who has used both cameras.  I have two 5D3s and I am a wedding photographer.  I love my cameras but I am always curious if there is something better that will help me do my job better.  I am interested if the AF is just a little faster and better and I have also read that the sensor may be a little better.  Anyone have any experience with the two cameras? 

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / What happened to this picture?

« on: July 12, 2012, 04:47:35 PM »

Anyone see anything like this before? My first thought is a flash sync problem but usually you see 1/4 of the frame dark not a dark line like that. Also if the shutter got stuck wouldn't the frame from that point on be darker? It was the only picture like that out of the entire wedding. I hate wired stuff like this that I can't explain.  Also I have a 5D3 and it is like this on both cards so I don't think it is a card problem.  Maybe a glitch when the camera wrote to the cards?  So the other question is if the camera has two card slots does it write the image to both cards separately or does it write to one card and copy from one card to the other? I would hope they don't do that because it it would negate the usefulness of two card slots.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D3 with AF assist

« on: June 22, 2012, 09:20:14 PM »

I am shooting a wedding reception right now and for the fun of it I turned the AF assist off and the camera focuses a whole lot faster. AF assist is only necessary I guess when there is no light. Why doesn't AF assist slow down the AF?  Shouldn't it help it?

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Lenses / 28mm 1.8 vs 24mm 1.4 AF

« on: June 18, 2012, 07:50:56 PM »

I have the 28mm 1.8 and I mostly use it at wedding receptions and am pretty happy with it. I think it does well at focusing fast in low light which is a must for me. I am not satisfied with the image quality in comparison to my other L lenses. I am interested in the 24mm 1.4 but I am concerned it won't focus as fast as the 28mm. I ran into that with the 50mm 1.2 not focusing as fast as the 50mm 1.4. Anyone with both lenses?

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D2 vs 5D3 low light AF

« on: June 18, 2012, 10:54:14 AM »

I had a 5D2 for years and never really had too many complaints about the AF at dark wedding receptions.  I ended up selling my 5D2 before my 5D3 arrived so I didn't have a chance to do a side by side comparison.  The 5D3 is great and I am happy with the AF but I never really thought it was that much better at low light AF than the 5D2.  Well I shot a wedding with another photographer who has a 5D2 this past weekend and just for the fun of it I took a few shots and compared the cameras side by side and I was amazed at how much faster the 5D3 was.  I could get 5 good shots in the time it took the 5D2 to get focused and take one.  It seemed like night and day to me.  I am sure this isn't news to anyone but I thought I would share just for the fun of it. 

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / 5D3 Silent Shutter

« on: June 17, 2012, 06:40:17 PM »

So I have been loving the silent shutter for wedding ceremonies and at other times when I need to be quiet. Yesterday I was using it during an outdoor ceremony and I started to notice that one of my camera's shutter was lagging every third or fourth time. Almost like I was shooting at a very slow shutter speed. I switched back to the normal mode and there were no problems. Also my other 5D3 was acting fine  The only thing I can think was that it was hot and humid but I don't see how that would affect the shutter. Any thoughts?

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Lenses / 50mm 1.4 rear element broke?

« on: June 15, 2012, 11:27:25 AM »

I hardly use my 50mm 1.4 because I have the 1.2.  I just keep it as a backup.  My 1 year old daughter managed to pick it up while it was out of my bag and it dropped on the hard wood floor.  When I picked it up I discovered the rear element had popped out.  I pushed it back in and it snapped into place.  After a short test the lens seems to be focusing and working just fine.  Does anyone know if that the rear element is just pressed into place or when it fell did it break something I don't know about?  I hate to rely on it one day and find out it is broken but I also hate to send it in if it is fine.  Anyone know?

14

Lighting / 600ex-rt overheating?

« on: June 10, 2012, 09:03:43 AM »

I love the 600ex flashes and don't think I will go back to using pocket wizards, however I have one major complaint about them and I was curious if anyone else had the same problem.  I have three of them that I use at wedding receptions.  One on the camera and two slaves on stands.  I always have the slaves set to manual at a low power (usually 1/32 or 1/64).  I started to notice that some of the slaves stopped working and I just figured the batteries were out.  I got battery packs hoping that they would last all reception which they should because my 580exII flashes lasted all reception with no battery packs.  Well even the 600ex flashes with battery packs stopped working at really bad times which is annoying because if you have them all linked and one stops working then they all stop firing.  I hate that so much and I don't know why it works that way.  Last night I noticed the back of the flash that stopped working the whole display was a a reddish orange.  Anyone know what that means?  I turned the flash off and turned it back on and it worked perfectly the rest of the reception.  Then the other slave flash did the same thing and again I turned it off and back on and it worked perfectly the remainder of the time.  I just don't understand what is going on.  I am using them at a very low power level it isn't like I am rapid fire shooting at full power.  These wonderful flashes seem to have a serious problem.   

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / How may CF cards do you use at a wedding/event?

« on: June 05, 2012, 06:10:27 PM »

So I have been shooting weddings for about 3 years now and I have never had a card issue yet but I know it will happen one day.  I only use extreem pro SD or Lexar Professional cards.  I have herd over and over to use small cards and that way if one fails you haven't lost everything.  My thoughts on that is that if a card is in a camera it is also less likely that it will get lost or stolen than 3-5 cards in your bag/wallet.  One time I ejected one of my CF cards a little too hard and it flew out on the ground.  So I don't really like removing cards unless I have to.  So I guess there are pros an cons to both ways.  Since the 5D3 came out I have been putting two large cards (64GB) in the camera and just leaving them in there the whole 12 hour day.  If the camera is backing up to both cards I should be okay for the most part.  I just herd today of a case where a camera produced some kind of charge that killed both cards so now I am nervous again.  Has anyone ever had both cards in there camera fail before and how likely is that to happen?  I will be happy when the technology is good enough that you can instantly transfer your images to your laptop quickly and wirelessly.  I know the technology exists now but I don't think it is fast enough to transfer large volumes of images quickly.