Messages

1

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Crop vs FF for landscape photography

« on: December 14, 2012, 11:27:35 PM »

Apart from the heated scientific debate based around personal selection of images collected under controversial but plausible methodology, let me give you my personal experience:
I had a 40D since 2008. In 2010 I borrowed a 5D2 and went for several days of parallel test shooting with my 70-200/4 in pursuit of the same answer you are chasing.
I uploaded the images from both cameras on my NEC PA 27" with Aperture. Well, I did not find much of IQ difference at standard ISOs (100-400) ie my preferred range for tripod based landscape photography. Sure, the FF has a lot more functions, better high ISO etc, but I was not convinced and returned it waiting for the 5D3 while gearing up with some Zeiss. Well, in retrospect the IQ of the 5D3 at lowish ISO is not dramatically different to the oldish 40D. Of course, it is a different style camera, we all know it, but if you are strictly shooting landscapes, lenses and right technique (PP, stitching etc) make more difference than anything. Sorry, Neuro, I did ask my wife to differentiate as well. Hmm, she couldn't and after that she asked unfortunately about the price of the FF... So, I needed a reason to justify the purchase and this was mainly videography of our second son, but not the IQ.
But who does ONLY landscaping with a DSLR. The FF excels in so much else that the discussion shifts always towards them. In your place I'd wait for the full frame megapixel something coming next year or change the company for a completely different sensor.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: My brand new 5D Mark III - what am I doing wrong, please help!

« on: December 14, 2012, 04:36:14 PM »

I received it 3 days ago and the very next day I went to a basketball game of a friend of mine to test it. I am coming from 550D which I know is much less complicated to set up but still the results from my new camera were discouraging.

Hey, Пламене,
Congratulations on the 5D3! Great jump! It is a matter of 1-2000 shots at least to get parts of the camera under control, like AF, buttons and customizations. After a while you realize that the camera is generally underexposing. Mine does that too. I stopped caring. I switched on Highlight Alert blinkies, look at the histogram and try to go AS FAR AS POSSIBLE to the right without clipping my Point of interest. ISO, shutter speed, aperture, whatever it takes for your subject. Pictures look like grossly overexposed on your LCD, you don't like them at all seen there. Software has improved so much that you can control highlights perfectly in post processing. The massive ETTR makes the difference to your 550: the FF goes clean even at ISO 10.000 after adequate noise reduction!!! Some of the shots have bright background around the centre (light reflection from the floor, white advertising boards etc): metering is thrown off by that.

Зала Универсиада не се е променила много. Играех там баскетбол като ученик/студент преди да емигрирам. Тъмно място.
Успех!

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5D MARK III with 50 mm f/1.2 performence

« on: November 26, 2012, 12:23:45 AM »

You buy the 50L for its bokeh and build quality.  For head shots it's too short IMHO, but its bokeh is what you want.  If you have to ask, then the 50/1.8 might be all you want.

My son, born November 14, 2012, 20 hours old, f1.2 @ 1/60, Canon 5D3, funky indoor hospital room lighting.

Congratulations, Daniel! The boy looks really stress free, and well made! I hope you will have time to review the millions of photos you'll take of him:)
I found that the 50 mm FL was the best for babies and children and use the MakroPlanar for that purpose. One problem with these ultra fast primes is that it's often only you behind the camera. For the rest of the family it is unusable, especially if MF...

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Do that many people use Live View for pics primarily over normal Viewfinder?

« on: November 21, 2012, 03:20:19 PM »

I use a Zacuto Z Finder 3.0 on a 5D3 for stills MOST OF THE TIME. I put the ML 2.0 on if lighting is complex with the life histogram on screen. Actually, since I received it I haven't missed focus with my fast MF primes, using magnification 5 and 10 from the SET button. And I manage to go proper ETTR. Composition is easier as the VF assisting lines don't run at 1/3 and 2/3. And I stopped worrying about blinking or not blinking AF dots.

The reason to use a Zacuto was quite tragic. I had ordered a Brightscreen in August but the man making them died two weeks later, so my order stagnated and got lost (with the money unfortunately which I know consider donation to the family). There is NO brightscreen any more. So, I went the other way and must say: LV has it's big advantages with MF Primes. On the 135 and 85/1.4 I don't use it, subjects move too fast.

Unfortunately, even the well praised LCD is not capable at full resolution to give adequate focusing assistance: the 3x magnification from the Zacuto Z F demonstrates just that I can't rely on critical focus without 5x or 10x zoom. Even the ML peaking is not entrirely helpful as it is diffused. Peaking & B/W high contrast LCD &  Zacuto works a dream in videography though. The cam becomes usable for videos suddenly...

I tend to monitor the sensor T regularly as I read here that it gets noisier with higher T. So, I plan the shot a few seconds, switch on LV, press the Zacuto against my (better) left eye, shift the square to 1/3 or middle for composition, have a look at the histo and pik a green ISO value (ML users know about this), go zoom 5x for portraits and more for critical and start shooting. One huge disadvantage is the time lag between a shot and the next one as the machine shows you the taken image, or even if disabled needs time to re-create the LV. But still, it is better than shooting ten times OOF...
Cheers

5

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Panning with 5D3

« on: October 12, 2012, 12:10:09 AM »

Thank you, Bob, good advice on the gym part! I understand that practice is a key to success as usual and I am relieved that you guys don't get every shot straight sharp and good either (I like the plane very much too, Ryan!)
I won't use a monopod initially, though.
So, the most common shutter speed for 100 MPH and around is 1/125. What would your shutter speed be for bikers riding at let's say 40MPH - is this where you use 1/60, Bob? Does your shutter speed depend on the speed of the subject?

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Panning with 5D3

« on: October 11, 2012, 07:52:33 PM »

I need some advice on panning techniques please:

1. Do I need an image-stabilized lens for panning (I tried panning with the 135/2 with less than desirable success)
2. What would be the appropriate shutter settings compared to the speed of the subject

I used AF servo, Mode 1 and 2 for tangentially moving subjects across the plane, the camera could focus well but I got either motion blur on the subject or not enough blur in the background depending on shutter speed.
Thanks for any help!

7

Lenses / Re: Wide or ultra-wide angle with excellent corner performance

« on: October 06, 2012, 05:36:02 AM »

Try a Zeiss 25 f2 before you go ahead with your purchase.
http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/713-zeiss25f2eosff?start=1

It is the new WA from Zeiss.
The 21 is a bit oldish, the new has more "micro"contrast and better colours, as well as corner sharpness. Less moustache as well :-).
The only problem with it is - when you have one of them you want more of them...

8

PowerShot / Re: Canon S100 vs Sony RX100

« on: September 10, 2012, 01:01:35 AM »

Unfortunately I haven't used a S100. But I use the RX100: I forgot the price paid already, still enjoying the excellent IQ, the excellent colours, the rapid AF, the excellent AF-ed registered Face-detected sharp video in stereo, the fun picture modes, the OOF blur @ 1.8, and the form factor. I put it in a soft cover for sunglasses into my pocket.
The UI is good, the customisation is good, yes, it slips a bit in my big hand but hey, I am not throwing it around.
Could be 24-105, but well, you can"t get everything. I shoot it without hesitation up to ISO 1600 but even 6400 is usable for me if needed. I'd say, no mistake.
And, as we are all going to end up with a Sony FF in the long term  it is better to start getting used to their interface sooner than later - it gives an evolutionary advantage...

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Lenses / Re: Zeiss 135m f/2.0 Apo-Sonnar Announced

« on: September 10, 2012, 12:47:48 AM »

It may be boosting amazing optics but at that length having MF makes it impossible for me to focus on (even slowly) moving subjects. And this is what we need a tele most of the time, isn't it? I skip this one. My 135L does more than a perfect job. And for the landscape panos I take my 100ZE. The IQ there is enough for mortals.

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EOS Bodies / Re: 5D3 Viewfinder vs LiveView

« on: August 23, 2012, 07:35:59 PM »

That is strange, usually it is the other way around. I can critically focus my 35/1.4 only on LV but not on the VF.
as an idea, put the LV zoom onto the SET button and work with the left hand on the zoom. May be using this will help you keep the focus after toggling the 5x and 10x zoom.
But actually I have no explanation.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Your Canon EOS 5D Mark III user tips

« on: August 23, 2012, 07:29:34 PM »

AE lock and hold is exactly what I mentioned above - customised to the MF-n button next to the shutter button. Thanx Alex! Good point

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Survival of the fittest/luckiest

« on: August 19, 2012, 04:04:05 PM »

Oh, one never forgets these seconds... It is almost like the birth or death of a child... My son opened carelessly the rear door of the car on a parking slot near Mt Kosciusko and the whole camera bag carelessly packed on top of all tents sleeping bags and virtually sitting under the roof dropped in one go on the road. 40D, 17-55 mounted, 70-200/4, 10-22, batteries and other stuff in a Lowe Pro 200 waist bag gave a sound of 4000 loss. But only the electrics of the 70-200 were broken and the rest was OK. 1000 repair and again, the lens came back sharper than before!

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EOS Bodies / Re: Your Canon EOS 5D Mark III user tips

« on: August 16, 2012, 09:53:04 PM »

Another cool feature is the "Register AF point", the way I use it is:
- Customize the AF-ON button to work as Registered AF point (pressing
- Select a focus point
- Press the "AF point selection" button (The one that looks like a cross) and LCD illumination button at the same time
- Move the focus point elsewhere

Now, with the half shutter you use your main focus point, and with the back focus point immediately shift to the stored one 

Pressing AF point selection + ISO speed will reset the storaged focus point

Note:
This will work too with the "Depth of field preview" custom setting that I already posted

Page 326
http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/8/0300007348/01/eos5dmkiii-im-c-en.pdf

pro tip:
unbind focusing from the shutter button and use af-on and * to focus.
getting used to it might take a day or two. but now even my girlfriend agrees.

yes, but in this case if you want to use the pre-registered point as quoted you need to set shutter for metering only, AF-ON for pre-registered and *(Metering) for AF-ON. I do that and use Mf-n for Metering stop. My pre-registered AF point is usually 2/3 to the left and the set point is to the right so I don't get confused with left and right as AF-ON button is to the left of the * button.
Thanks for the Case 3 tips, I tried to start a thread like this about AF cases but it was too early probably and people haven't had enough chance to experiment and figure out their ways. Good timing now!

14

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Choice of compact: OM-D em5 vs Sony RX 100

« on: August 16, 2012, 08:09:43 AM »

And some NIK-ing on the first and second, the third shows very good sharpness to the corners if stopped down a bit.
That's all, sorry for the huge amount of photos, they are all from today and are probably 50% of what I shot randomly around. The rest was composed even worse than these and does not deserve viewing.

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Choice of compact: OM-D em5 vs Sony RX 100

« on: August 16, 2012, 08:04:43 AM »

And here some experiments: