Messages

211

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mark III & More

« on: May 02, 2011, 06:48:09 PM »

5D3 will be released sooner than later, IMO. 2012 will be too long.

Remember, the last iteration of and Digic 4 came out in September of 2007. That's almost 4 years ago. Canon MISSED their 3 year cycle update of the 1D and the 3 year cycle of the 5D is coming up in September.

5D2 was released 3 years ago in September of 2008. Canon cannot miss 2 product cycles in a row.

Canon is not looking good right now and they need to hit back and release something soon and it better be good.

It has to be sooner than later because they have been lagging on so much stuff lately, and the moire / video problems are so pronounced right now, that they stand to lose a lot of video people to Sony and Panasonic who are making some solid video products already release or to be released in June and July.

And yes, a LOT of people use the 5D mainly for video. That's one of the main reasons why it was such a huge seller in the first place

212

EOS Bodies / Re: Is it a good time to buy a 7D/5DM2?

« on: May 02, 2011, 01:21:40 AM »

I would personally wait. It's obvious that a 5D3 is coming fairly soon.

Plus, if everyone stops buying the 5D2, it will just push Canon to release it that much sooner.

213

EOS Bodies / Re: T3i macro video at 3x digi-crop?

« on: April 30, 2011, 06:36:59 PM »

I seriously hope they have the 3x crop on the new 5d3. It has some serious artistic possibilities with that. Plus, it just makes the camera just that much more flexible.

214

EOS Bodies / Re: What do you want from the 5D mk III

« on: April 30, 2011, 06:35:47 PM »

One thing I really want, besides for it to come out, is the 3x crop mode like they have on the new T3i. That would be really useful for artistic purposes. You could do some seriously cool stuff with that.

215

Lenses / Re: Are there weather seal issues with Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM?

« on: April 29, 2011, 01:45:39 PM »

I think the dust issue was in earlier builds, because I had heard a lot of people complain about that.

I used it for several months filming surfing in a Peruvian desert by the ocean, a very harsh environment with tons of blowing sand, wind, etc... and I never noticed any dust caught inside.

It's a great lens, one of the best zooms ever made.

216

Lenses / Re: Any suggestion before buying Zeiss lens or Canon L* lenses

« on: April 27, 2011, 04:48:30 PM »

To FDRose

The reason why the 17-55mm range is best for APS-C 7D, 60D, etc... is because they are 1.6x crops which is different than the 1x crop of the 5D2 fullframe.

A 50mm Field of view on a 5D which look like 80mm Field of View on a 7D because of the 1.6x crop.

So the 17-55 takes into consideration the 1.6x crop of the 7D and is the perfect range for those cameras

The 24-70 is a similar field of view to the 17-55, but on a Full frame camera like the 5D. That is why the 24-70 is the idea range for Full Frame cameras.

hope that makes sense.

217

Lenses / Re: Any suggestion before buying Zeiss lens or Canon L* lenses

« on: April 27, 2011, 01:53:03 PM »

I think it's strange that you don't have a 50mm listed. That's essential.

I use both Zeiss and Canon L's for video. I have a 60d and had a 7D.

I use the Zeiss ZF Nikon mounts because it will work on any camera. I would NOT suggest the Zeiss 100mm macro. It's the best lens Zeiss makes, BUT it is not good for video because of it's really long focus and macro oriented focus throw, it will not work with follow focus. Also, because it extends really far, you cannot use it with a matte box. Zeiss makes great macro lenses, but they are not very good for video because of the mechanics.

The regular Zeiss lenses are great for video because of the amazing mechanics. Mechanically, I prefer them over my Canon lenses because of the smooth focusing and good focus pulling from the mechanics.

I would suggest from my kit. This is a great range.

1) Tokina 11-16 (works with both APS-C and Full frame. But will be 15-16mm on full frame)
2) Canon L 24mm (I want this lens)
3) Zeiss 50mm f1.4
4) Zeiss 85mm f1.4
5) Canon 100 mm f2.8 macro (This lens almost makes the Zeiss 85mm redundant. If I had to pick between the Canon 100mm macro or the Zeiss 85mm, I would take the Canon. More versatile, but the Zeiss is 2 stops faster but has a lame minimum focusing distance of 39 inches. Not so good. But really nice IQ.
6) Canon 70-200 L IS II (One of my most used lenses. So versatile for everything for filming surfing to portraits. I use this lens for some many portraits). A MUST have
7) Canon 2x extender for the 70-200 L IS II

For zooms.
1) Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS (Best zoom lens I've ever used) for the APS-C

or

2) Canon 24-70 f2.8 if you go 5D2 fullframe.

I just can't wait for the 5D3! Trying to only buy Full-Frame lenses for future proof.

Here's a great article Philip Bloom wrote on lenses. This will help A LOT

http://philipbloom.net/2010/08/20/which-lenses-to-buy/

218

Software & Accessories / Re: Studio lighting kit

« on: April 25, 2011, 09:47:10 PM »

I checked out the interfit and they seem like a good value for the money. I ended up buying Cool Lights which are more expensive for sure.

The thing you have to worry about is green spikes which is very common in cheaper Kino-Flo knock off panel lights like Interfit. If the bulbs don't have a high CRT, they will cast an ugly green tint across what you are lighting. Not sure if Interfit has any of those issues though, since I've never tried one, but yeah... it's a problem with cheaper soft lights.

If you get the Interfit, I would suggest maybe going onto BH and buying a set of authentic Kino Flo bulbs, that way you know you won't get a green spike. Also, cheaper lights with crappy ballasts tend to flicker which is not good.

If you want a very basic kit, I would get 1 Kino Flo style knock off Panel (4 bulbs), 1 bounce and 1 light for a rim / backlight. Maybe a Lowel Pro Light and you can gel it with a daylight gel to match the light temperature of the Kino Flo.

That should be fine for something basic like lighting  a person or a product. Of course having an extra light on top of the basic 2 would be good.

Any you will also need some light stands and to hold the bounce. I got some Impact brand light stands from B&H. Great value for the money.

219

Lenses / Re: EF 24-70 f/2.8L II Patent Published

« on: April 24, 2011, 03:28:15 PM »

Just because IS is the number ONE requested feature on the 24-70, why should Canon address that? Hmmmm......

I think they are making a serious mistake by not offering IS in the 2nd version because there would be no reason to buy it, especially for video. And with it being optically worse? Makes no sense, but then again, Canon makes no sense.

220

Lenses / Re: Will there be an updated 2.8L Macro?

« on: April 18, 2011, 01:45:00 PM »

I concur. The 100mm L Macro is a great lens. Although I have heard that the Zeiss 100mm f2 Macro has even better IQ, but it's a 1:2 macro and no IS.

Simply amazing. I think that and the Canon 70-200 L IS 2 are my 2 favorite Canon lenses. Masterpieces of engineering and aesthetics.

221

Software & Accessories / Re: Insurance - travel within and outside USA

« on: April 14, 2011, 01:49:08 PM »

I had my camera bad swiped in Peru while shooting a doc. I had State Farm and they were great. Full coverage. But that was mentioned in the thread.

Since I've traveled and filmed quite a bit, I think this is a good bit of advice in general. I actually bought a small cable lock, the kind you lock a bike with. Now, whenever I'm on location, I always use the cable lock and attach my Lowepro backpack to something, that way, it's much harder for someone to just walk up while you're working and swipe your bag.

For example, if you are traveling in Europe and have your regular clothing backpack and your camera backpack, while waiting for the train of whatever, tether your camera and regular backpack together with the cable lock, then you're that much safer. Takes about 30 seconds to do.

If I had done that in Peru, I would probably still have my kit.

Lesson learned.

222

EOS Bodies / Re: DIGIC V [CR1]

« on: April 13, 2011, 02:24:08 PM »

I think the Digic V was leaked to save face at NAB. Canon must be super embarrassed about NAB because they had nothing significant to announce 2 years in a row. This year, Sony dominated NAB since they are releasing 2 great video cameras very soon in May and June I believe. And Sony is also going to release several DSLR that are going to take on Canon. Sony is really stepping it up. The Sony F65, while NOT affordable to any of us, is truly the future of high end video.

Last year, Panasonic had the NAB spot light with the AF 101.

Meanwhile, Canon has just been milking profits and not releasing anything significant since the 5d2, which in tech years has been a LONG time.

But at NAB, something must have clicked in Canon after seeing Sony take all the attention with some serious ground breaking stuff. So at the end of the show, they whimper something about Digic 5 to save face.

I'm glad Canon is being forced into action, because with their lack of productivity, their camera bodies, especially on the video end (which is moving so fast with Panny and Sony), is starting to look a million years old.

When the 5D2 came out, Canon was in a really, really unique position. They were the only manufacture with an interchangeable HD camera that had a bunch of really good, modern high end, affordable lenses to choose from. They accidentally created an entire high quality HD system that people could afford.

They just haven't really followed up on it and now they're playing catchup to Sony and Panny, where as they could just owned and dominated the market if they weren't so conservative.

For me, it's been really frustrating, because I have a number of Canon lenses which I LOVE, and it's hard to jump ship when you're vested like that. But customers can only use dated technology for so long before they switch and the stuff goes on e-bay.

I truly hope Canon pulls it off because I love the Canon aesthetic and colors and lenses, and on the video end, they don't really have that much to address (no moire, a better codec and bit better resolve on the image -- basically the Panny Gh2) and they will be up top again.

I think that's why the video people have been so frustrated, because it hasn't been that tall of an order for Canon to do, yet they keep dragging their feet and releasing cameras with the same video problems over and over again (7D, t2i, 60d, 600d).

223

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mark III & 7D Mark II Within a Month! [CR0]

« on: April 11, 2011, 10:37:10 PM »

I've never really understood Still photographer's aversion to a flip LCD screen. To me, even if I only shot stills, I would still want a flip screen because it allows so much flexibility.

As a video guy who has a 60d, I hardly ever use the Flip Screen. I have a Z-Finder attached, but there are times when I just un-do the gorilla plate bolts (takes 10 seconds), and flip out the screen for those odd angles.

Even if you only use it occasionally, the flip screen is much nicer than having the screen locked off. Cannot see any advantage to a locked LCD functionality wise. Some say a flip screen weakens the body, but the only way to test that is if you drop the camera, and flip screen or not, the camera probably will be F#@$ED.

224

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mark III & 7D Mark II Within a Month! [CR0]

« on: April 11, 2011, 07:52:24 PM »

Catz, I agree with you 100%.

With that said, I really think Canon is going DOWNHILL FAST with regard to video, especially since it seems like they have NOTHING to show at NAB except a few PL mount lenses. That's 2 years in a row that Canon has essentially sat out at NAB.

It's really strange because they accidentally created the new niche of affordable, interchangeable lens video cameras. Instead of capitalizing on it, they've let the lead slip away on a market they could have easily owned. Panasonic and Sony have are releasing and announcing great new video products and Canon instead keeps updating their fixed lens video cameras (their only showing at NAB) that nobody wants to buy anymore, and no DSLR that addresses the moire problem.

They really baffle me as a company. They created a new market with the 5D and 7D, which they essentially owned but they seem to be content just milking profits and not innovating or releasing any new products at all, just re-hashes of existing cameras.

If they keep this up, they will always be strictly a stills company when they could have been so much more.

I probably would have jumped ship by now to Panasonic, except I own some nice Canon lenses, and Panny has the lame 2x crop. But Sony is starting to look really good for video guys. Even Nikon is starting to realize how valuable DSLR video really is to profits, with their upcoming cameras

With Sony being so aggressive lately with their camera stuff, I would not be surprised at all if they over took Canon in the near future, not only in DSLR video, but in Still as well. Canon is playing it way too slow and way too safe, which is becoming not safe.

But yes, for video the 5D3 is do-or-die for Canon. If the 5D3 has the moire and aliasing problem still, Canon will be completely done for video.

Which would probably make the stills people happy. hehe.

225

EOS Bodies / Re: What do you want from the 5D mk III

« on: April 06, 2011, 01:59:10 PM »

Since I'm a video guy, I want the 5D3 to have

1) no terrible moire and aliasing like it currently does
2) 60p slow motion
3) Better video codec, preferably 50mb 4:2:2 at the least. There are rumors of RAW codec to an external recorder, but RAW is not a major concern of mine. For work we work with RED regularly, and we rarely color grade from RAW. Usually just color grade from the proxies in After Effects, which ultimately link up the source file. So for me at least, not too worried about RAW as much as a good in-camera codec.

I just hope the 5D3 or a decent video camera comes out at NAB. Canon is making me really nervous lately with how quiet they are. Sony and Panasonic are releasing and announcing all this new and progressive stuff, and it's been quite a while (last 7D) since Canon has released any cameras of merit.

Since Canon hasn't announced any press releases for NAB yet, it's looking like they won't release anything at NAB for the 2nd year in a row. That is so embarrassing and really makes us video guys lose hope in Canon who is started to get dusted by the competition.