Messages

4306

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Doesn't Need a Compact Camera System

« on: March 12, 2012, 01:23:11 PM »

This is a year old article from March 2011.

Canon has the G1 X which what he was pointing to without revealing anything in that interview.  Several other interviews also pointed to the G1 X. 

4307

Lenses / Re: Canon 16-35L II vs Tokina 16-35 vs Sigma 17-50 2.8 lenses

« on: March 11, 2012, 11:22:10 PM »

Get a EF-S lens, and don't spend money on a lens that will not help you on a crop body and may be outdated by the time you upgrade to FF.  A Canon 17-55mm would be preferable to the 16-35mmL on a crop body, and the IS does make a difference.  By the time you get a FF body, you may have additional choices.

4308

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon Lens Prices

« on: March 11, 2012, 11:18:11 PM »

The older lens was designed when Nikon did not have a FF Body, and when the FF body came out, there were a lot of people who were unhappy with its high price and performance on FF.  On a Nikon Crop body it is supurb, so no need to think about upgrading unless you are moving to a FF body.

Canon's has been increasing both lens and body prices to the point where some high end Nikon lenses may cost less.  However, if buying new lenses, I'd pass on the "D" lenses with a mechanical screw drive.  They are always going to focus slower than the "G" lenses.  If you are buying used lenses, as long as the price is right and you have a body that can drive them, they will fill in gaps in focal lengths that are not used everyday.  Nikon has not necessarily replaced all those old D lenses with G lenses yet either, so  you may not have a choice.  Many third party lenses are screw drive, but third party lens makers are producing electrical focus lenses as new ones come out.

4309

Lighting / Re: Blackest material. Paint or, fabric?

« on: March 11, 2012, 11:03:13 PM »

I like black velvet, it does not reflect light as much as some fabrics.

Do you use just any black velvet you can find?

I buy mine from a Fabric store named Hancock Fabrics.  I think they are all over the US.  Its very deep black, and very expensive.  However, you can signup to have them mail coupons weekly or bi weekly, they often have a 50% off one item coupon.  I mostly use white velvet, but have black, white, green, purple, blue, and some other non velvet colors.  I use clamps to clamp fabric to some 3/8 stiff construction foam boards which I can store easily.  I have two of each, one for a vertical back and one for the work top.  I can use two different colors as well.

This one is not velvet, but a example of two different fabrics.  I think it was taken with my Nikon CP-990 and a high wattage Tota light about 2001, so the resolution is not up to todays bodies.  That was a wonderful camera, and was expensive.

4310

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Do FF cameras perform better in low light conditions?

« on: March 11, 2012, 10:51:45 PM »

My grandchildren's soccer meet with 5D MK II and 70-200mm f/4 IS:

it's about time they livened up the game with a few hurdles.

LOL! No, genuinely - I laughed out loud just then. And it's currently 2am in the morning here and I just woke up my wife next to me in bed... Thank you for the awesome post, at least in my mind - made my day, morning, night, whatever. Hats off.

My granddaughter is a soccer nut, and it just slipped in rather than track meet.  I wonder how a combination soccer / hurdles would play out?   

4311

Lenses / MOVED: Nikon's 135mm f/1.8 Patent

« on: March 11, 2012, 10:46:40 PM »

This topic has been moved to Third Party Manufacturers.

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=4210.0

4312

Software & Accessories / Re: Which compact flash card do I want for a 5D3?

« on: March 11, 2012, 10:45:52 PM »

Amazon UK has them but I have no idea if their UK pricing is competitive.  Do we need "Sandisk Extreme Pro" 90 MB per second?

I use the 16GB 60mb/sec cards with my 5D MK II.  I'll buy larger and faster ones if the price drops, but some of the really big and fast ones cost $$$.

I remember buying a 85mb card back around 2000.  They cost about $160 as I recall.  That reminds me of my next door neighbor who dropped in while I was assembling a new computer in about 1997.  I had installed a 250mb hard drive, but the first 1gb hard drives had just hit the market and ere selling for $2,000.  He told me he had just bought one, and it was the last new hard drive he would ever need.  A bout two years later, I built my next system with four 13gb hard drives in a raid array, and it cost a fraction of what he paid.

That taught me to be patient and wait until the price and capacity reaches the sweet spot.  I can fill up four or more 16gb cards in one night when I have a heavy fingered assistant taking too many shots rather than just anticipating the right moment to take one.  I really don't care how many shots he takes, its the processing and sorting them later that is the real work.

4313

EOS Bodies / Re: Copyright metadata 5d mark III

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:51:11 PM »

Yes, the cost of such doings would exceed the benefit, and hackers would find a loophole in short order.

Putting a password in the camera firmware to prevent changing the owner name might make it tougher to sell a stolen camera, particularly if it included a phone number or e-mail address.  It would also generate a ton of complaints about lost passwords, just as laptops do.

We can't win, but why make it easier for crooks?

4314

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon 1Dx vs 5DIII vs Nikon D4 Processing Power

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:44:38 PM »

The processing power question is difficult to compare.  Canon uses ARM processors that are customized in its Digic Processors, and there are lots of ARM processors to choose from.  Its likely that Nikon uses a ARM processor, but maybe a more powerful one, until we find out, we can only look at data rates, and the 1D X seems to have faster data rates.  Both of them have plenty of power to meet their specifications.

All that high speed processing really uses up batteries though.

4315

EOS Bodies / Re: Copyright metadata 5d mark III

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:36:24 PM »

Probably.  That way, when someone graps your camera and has no software, they can change it immediately and show everyone its theirs.

That is a concern I have.  I always have the canon utility installed on my pc, and adding the information is a one time thing.  Its nice to have it difficult for a thief to remove, I wish there was a password.

totally agree making it easy to change in camera kind of defeats the purpose
also if you change the firmware does it kill the info so you have to set it again?

I've never lost my copyright due to a firmware update.

4316

Lighting / Re: Blackest material. Paint or, fabric?

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:34:26 PM »

I like black velvet, it does not reflect light as much as some fabrics.

4317

Lens Gallery / Re: EF 70-200 2.8L (old boy)

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:17:42 PM »

I bought a used one today, actually, it has barely been used, it was used for film only, probably less than 100 times, and is like new. 

I bought a 1.4X TC with it.  Its gray and rainy today, but I put on the TC and snapped a image from my front porch.  I had to crop 100% due to the distance, and there are some blurs from branches in the image, but is looking good handheld at 1/320 sec due to the lack of bright light.  I tried a high iso to get fast shutter speed, but noise was a issue.

Canon 5D MK II, ISO 400, 1/320 Second lens is wide open (f/4 with TC)

4318

EOS Bodies / Re: Copyright metadata 5d mark III

« on: March 11, 2012, 07:05:40 PM »

Probably.  That way, when someone graps your camera and has no software, they can change it immediately and show everyone its theirs.

That is a concern I have.  I always have the canon utility installed on my pc, and adding the information is a one time thing.  Its nice to have it difficult for a thief to remove, I wish there was a password.

... and Canon could provide a list of stolen gear, so when trying to use DPP on a stolen gear it would report this to authorities Who would like such a feature? Helpful but big-brother-ish. Like reporting one's speed exceeding in  a driven car.

How would that work?  I do not see lens serial numbers in the exif info.  Canon would call the police and report someone used a body that was reported stolen, but they don't know who or where they are?  How many use DPP in any event??

4319

Lenses / Re: What's the best deal you've ever gotten on a lens? I'll start...

« on: March 11, 2012, 06:54:38 PM »

There's been a couple of 24mm TS-E lenses listed in the Chicago Craigslist photo section for $900. They are listed as version I.


No connection. If you are in the neighborhood and want one of these lenses, check it out.

The going price should be from about $750-$900 for the old TS-E 24mm Mark 1 lenses.  If these are mark II, its likely a scam.

4320

EOS Bodies / Re: Profit to be made on mark iii?

« on: March 11, 2012, 06:48:52 PM »

It would be a risk. 

Europeans can buy from Hong Kong and not only save money, but get the Canon Warranty.  There is zero warranty when you buy a camera from a non authorized seller.

Canon has two dedicated factories building the 5D MK III, and production should catchup very fast with pre-orders.

Ebay / Paypal fees will eatup a lot of a sale price, $200 and more or less, depending on domestic or international sales, and your ebay cost structure.  So you might need to get $4200 to make it a reasonable risk, and most would not pay that.

A ton of authorized sellers will be offering them for 200-500 over retail.  They can do that, because they get them wholsale.

Thats just a opinion, but I have well over 10,000 ebay sales for my business and for personal items like cameras and lenses.