Messages

31

Street & City / Re: Marid Gras Photos (and photography restrictions in Trinidad)

« on: February 14, 2013, 09:08:28 AM »

The move is being hotly discussed, by all concerned including the general public and participants in the festival. I suspect that they will retract this at some point.

32

Street & City / Marid Gras Photos (and photography restrictions in Trinidad)

« on: February 13, 2013, 12:39:05 PM »

Hi Mardi Gras is a big thing in Trinidad and Tobago - where I am from I have posted some highlights in this gallery:

http://www.wilmark.johnatty.com/c2k13

In Trinidad Mondays are quiet and most of the masqueraders dont come out in their full gear. Trinidadians like to think that they have what is most likely one of the most popular Carnivals in the world (it definitely is the biggest in the Caribbean). However there is a new challenge on the landscape for photographers - it is the biggest photography event in Trinidad and the government has copyrighted the entire event even making it risky to put carnival photos on Facebook, they want all photographers to pay a royalty fee of over 10,000TT$ (6.30 TT$ = 1.00 US$) for a 2 year license. Most of the photographic community has raised an alarm that it will destroy the art form and international interest in Trinidad Carnival. Personally I believe it is very shortsighted and I dont know of any situation similar to it anywhere in the world (where photos of a public event or art are seen as valuable and automatically assumes a copyright infringement of the artwork) . I have linked a few press/blog articles on this:

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,173304.html
http://lyndersaydigital.com/brain/pix_files/axis_of_copyright.html
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/Pain_for_Carnival_picture-takers-189935931.html

33

Canon General / Re: Physical Ailments From Heavy Gear

« on: February 05, 2013, 09:37:19 AM »

I have found if I am shooting in excess of 4 hours and mainly with the heavier kit like the 70-200, I experience pain and fatigue in my 'trigger' hand between the index and middle fingers - I wonder if there is some kind of long term problem. It goes away after a couple of days. I suspect that the longer lenses further complicate the equation as it not only weight but a combination of weight and the moment forces due to the perpendicular direction of the forces.

34

Lenses / Re: Canon 200-400 video review

« on: February 04, 2013, 01:24:03 PM »

He implies that IQ at 400mm F4 it is as good as the 300mm or 400mm primes at F2.8. I find this difficult to swallow. This also means that you have much more light to play with when stopping down when using teleconverters and autofocus etc.

35

6D Sample Images / Re: for those who snub the 6D AF...

« on: February 01, 2013, 12:28:27 AM »

What part of that image is in focus? The plane looks soft...

36

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: a digital photography noob has a question about image quality

« on: January 30, 2013, 09:26:09 AM »

I am amazed that so many posters here are trying to recommend to the OP to keep the 5D3 which is so much more expensive and way in excess of his needs. Too many users in this forum are gear heads. The gentleman stated that he couldn't tell the difference with his test shots. He knows enough about photography to understand the impact of lighting and lenses on the results. And I am sure he understand the differences with features etc. His main concern was IQ! Yet he was expecting something different - its a real eyeopener if you ask me.  We assume that everyone has the desire to pixel peep and find the most discernible difference while forgetting that photography is an art and a pastime not something to keep our wallets empty. I say to the OP to SEND BACK THE 5D3 and stick with what works for a little money and go from there. Later down the road if you want the performance or 61 focus points etc you could buy the 5DMk4 or something better. In the end i think this guy knows something that us gearheads dont!

37

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

« on: January 23, 2013, 08:33:13 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.

38

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Canon Counterfit .... Third party batteries

« on: January 21, 2013, 06:03:25 PM »

I think the distinction between counterfeit and after market/third party need to be made. I have never bought a genuine canon battery but have bought several after market non canon batteries and chargers/grips accessories etc based on user feedback usually from amazon. And I have had no regrets. I looked over the canon website about counterfeit and it looks like they are trying to kill two birds with one stone. They are using the dangers of counterfeit products (non genuine canon labeled products which are risky) and advising you to buy ONLY genuine canon products in other words discouraging users from buying third party/OEM etc. I think this is DISHONEST on the part of Canon.

39

EOS Bodies / EOS Interface/Display

« on: January 19, 2013, 11:37:31 AM »

I have been wondering why Canon in its wisdom have not come up with a better user interface over the years especially with the units that have a high res (retina quality) display on the back of the camera. All of the text is just so large and clunky, given that the user is very close to the screen. You have to spend so much time dialing and figuring out which switch or know to use in combination with what. These displays have a very high resolution that can display text far more clearly than canon uses. Many of the cameras also have a joystick to navigate (pointing device).

The interfaces today are pretty much the same since the beginning of digital cameras. They have just become more crowded and jumbled due to features. It is surely an opening for Magic Lantern to exploit.

40

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon EF 50 f/1.2L

« on: January 12, 2013, 02:19:00 PM »

I too have found this lens to be disappointing. It is really a different beast. It is quite good for cinematic video. Unfortunately most of the reviews dont make these differences well known - that is the focus and CA issues.

41

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D3 vs 6D AF in low light

« on: December 18, 2012, 01:22:59 AM »

It is obvious that some users experience difficulty in what is to them low enough light where the camera has difficulty in focusing. Saying things like "I shoot alot of low light" doesnt mean anything really... One many lows may be another mans hights, you want a good documented example of what we are talking about see here

http://youtu.be/omTo7UxbJX8?t=8m6s.
	Small | Large

I for one hardly take my flash with me - the camera takes great pictures in low light with some help from lightroom, but getting it to focus sometimes is a problem.

42

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D3 vs 6D AF in low light

« on: December 17, 2012, 12:43:49 PM »

I find its amazing that there are so many posts here that appear to be defending the 5DMk3 ability to focusing ability in low light. Guys, the 5D3 are many things and it has a great focusing system - but its ability to focus in the dark is atrocious, compounded by the lack of a pop up flash i would say it is one of the most significant short comings of the 5D3. Canon recognizing this have improved low light focusing in the 6D and I am sure that every pro dslr released henceforth will be superior to the 5D3 in low light focusing. If this could be improved via firmware I wish canon would fix this. There is no easy solution for this other than to walk around with a flash light. I heard that there was a laser assist someone was working on but i have not seen it.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Out with my 7D....in with what..? 5D MkIII or 1D MkIV..?

« on: October 22, 2012, 09:07:52 PM »

I would say get rid of that dog the 7d. Its a rebel in a hardbody that has to be the most mismatched sensor with the rest of the cam. When you go to the ff body you will never look back at the 7d. I am amazed at those who try to be kind to the 7d through out these forums. Like the girl above who says that she still loves the 7d but is really impressed at how much better 5D3 is - jeez please be honest.  BTW why would you want to wait for the 7dii its not like you existing lenses/equipment/compatibility are 7D series lenses. Consider even the 6D.

44

5D MK III Sample Images / Re: 5D mkIII with Tokina 11-16mm tests

« on: October 19, 2012, 07:14:35 PM »

I use the same combo but I dont think its worthwhile unless you use the narrowest focal length. Some vignetting is still there but it quite good for a superwide - I imagine its about 10mm at 16 (widest on FF) if my calc is correct.

45

Lenses / Re: New EOS Compatible mount tested in Germany - Polar Mount

« on: October 12, 2012, 10:35:26 PM »

You get an idea of how big a polar bears head is.