Messages

16

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: December 01, 2012, 03:40:50 AM »

Rare appearance of a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, CA.  Taken with 60D + EF 100-400mm, at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec and 150 ISO.

17

PowerShot Cameras / Re: Im looking into getting a new camera

« on: November 14, 2012, 01:40:58 AM »

Costco has a T3i Bundle for $780 + free shipping + Tax.

Includes:
EOS Rebel T3i Body
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Type II Lens
EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Type II Lens
Canon Rebel Gadget Bag
8GB Class 10 SDHC Memory Card

18

EOS Bodies / Re: Plan to get a 5D3 for $1

« on: November 13, 2012, 06:08:50 PM »

I nominate Bernie Madoff to run the plan...only complication is he may be a Nikon shooter.

19

Reviews / Re: Review - Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II

« on: November 10, 2012, 03:24:41 AM »

Good review, but I was distracted by multiple instances of incorrect usage of "it's" for the possessive pronoun "its".  It's worth mentioning because it is a formal review.

20

EOS Bodies / Re: New crop bodies coming!

« on: November 09, 2012, 06:50:38 PM »

Definitely true, CR2+ ... Nate Silver said so.

21

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon unveils 24.1MP D5200 DSLR with optional WiFi

« on: November 06, 2012, 01:55:35 PM »

But, Canon has just announced new cool caps!

22

Lenses / Re: Protective filter [for Canon 15-85]

« on: November 03, 2012, 04:21:43 PM »

You want cheap? Get a non-Canon hood on Ebay -- good protection AND better IQ.  I got a good one for 4 bucks.

23

Canon General / Re: Canon Can't Even Make a Billion Dollars Anymore

« on: October 26, 2012, 01:39:45 PM »

It's probably a tangent to this thread, but a friend with deep roots in Japan explained to me the powers behind companies like Canon and Nikon. In Japan, they have zaibatsu which roughly translates to conglomerates and Nikon is backed up by a giant, Mitsubishi. They started several hundred years ago as trading companies and provided finance for big manufacturing companies later. They are the equivalent of the Rockfellers and JP Morgans.  There are four or five large ones, despite attempts to disassemble them after the second world war. The largest being Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and others.

Nikon belongs to the Mitsubishi group. But, surprisingly, both Sony and Canon belongs to the Mitsui group...which would have made the tie up between Sony and Canon more natural than the current Nikon/Sony arrangement.

24

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: October 25, 2012, 09:26:54 PM »

rpt, thanks. I used a 60D and EF 100-400mm, Aperture priority f/8.0, 400mm, 1/500s, ISO auto 200. I still only shoot in Jpeg, a little embarassing, but I'm a beginner and too lazy to deal with RAW.

Here's another one, heavily cropped, same settings except ISO 320.

Thanks. While I was shooting with my 300D, I only shot JPEG. Since I got the 5D3, I switched to RAW. I can tell you it is a big difference in the edit. Try it. If you are skeptical, shoot RAW+JPEG. I am sure you will like the flexibility. Oh, and get Adobe LR 4.2 if you don't already have it. The second shot is great too. How far we're you from the bird?

I'm guessing I was about 15 meters from the Osprey. Luckily, it was so windy that he decided to move to a lower branch, very smart bird.  I will definitely try RAW in the near future. Thanks

25

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: October 25, 2012, 01:18:53 PM »

rpt, thanks. I used a 60D and EF 100-400mm, Aperture priority f/8.0, 400mm, 1/500s, ISO auto 200. I still only shoot in Jpeg, a little embarassing, but I'm a beginner and too lazy to deal with RAW.

Here's another one, heavily cropped, same settings except ISO 320.

26

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: October 24, 2012, 09:49:37 PM »

Osprey showing off a striped mullet

27

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: October 20, 2012, 03:32:42 AM »

I wanted to share an article with great birds pictures: http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2012/10/18/bob_croslin_photographs_injured_birds_as_if_they_were_human_models.html

28

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: New 60D or Second-hand 7D?

« on: October 09, 2012, 02:50:36 AM »

I'm coming from the limited budget angle: Fry's is selling the 60D + EF-S 18-135mm for only $900.  According to CR price watch the lens alone is worth $400.  In effect, you would be getting a new 60D for only $500!

29

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: October 04, 2012, 12:40:13 AM »

Male Pin-tailed Whydah in Huntington Beach Central Park.

30

Canon General / Re: Space Shuttle Endeavour's Last Flight

« on: September 24, 2012, 04:19:39 PM »

Earthbound...forever.  Note: 747 pilot popping out of hatch with American flag.