Messages

46

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: Next Canon Flashes With Exposure Based on Color Temperature?

« on: November 21, 2011, 05:57:17 AM »

Gothmoth, it's not your English. The post is pretty much grammatically nonsensical. It seems to be poorly translated.

47

Lenses / Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome: please help!!!

« on: November 12, 2011, 09:39:51 PM »

The AF on the 85mm f/1.2 L II really isn't that slow (it's significantly faster than the mark I version). Unless you are shooting kids or sports or something else fast moving, I don't really the the AF would be a problem.

48

Lenses / Re: Want to buy a portrait lens

« on: October 25, 2011, 01:50:22 AM »

I'm with papa-razzi on this one. I also shoot indoor sports (among other things) on a 7D and I'm not very impressed with my Canon 50mm f/1.4. It's quite soft wide open and auto-focusing with it isn't terribly accurate. I've tried the micro-adjustment a few times without much luck. Even using live view contrast focusing zoomed all the way in for maximum accuracy still yields rather soft images unless I stop down the aperture a bit.

I've not tried the 85mm f/1.8, but I rented the 85mm f/1.2 II once for a wedding and it was amazing.

49

PowerShot Cameras / Re: S100 vs S95 Photos

« on: October 22, 2011, 04:17:45 AM »

Nice. The jpg at IS0 3200 is way cleaner on the S100 than the S95. Even at ISO 6400, the S100 has much better detail. It seems to have some banding issues though. The S95 looks like it had heavy in camera noise reduction applied.

50

EOS Bodies / Re: What's Next?

« on: October 19, 2011, 03:34:59 PM »

Common 14-24 lens!

+1. I think we're the biggest fans of this idea.

I must be missing something. The 14-24 is a common lens?
Nikon makes one, but does anyone else?

51

EOS Bodies / Re: EOS-1D X Canon USA Press Release

« on: October 18, 2011, 02:31:01 AM »

A Lord of the Darkness Speed Monster! This camera sounds amazing.

My only gripes are the size, lack of 1080p/60fps or better, and lack of video auto-focus. I can always attach a battery grip when I need one, but this is too much bulk to carry around all the time. I guess I'll have to wait and see if the 5D III or whatever is coming November 3rd will have the video features I want.

Those might be deal breakers considering the price. :-( If I'm gonna spend that much, I can't afford to compromise. If a hypothetical 5D III can match the IQ and has superior video functionality, I might be able to compromise on the speed given that it will probably be about half the price.

52

Canon General / Re: Canon EOS 1D X Press Release

« on: October 18, 2011, 12:02:14 AM »

The 7D shoots 18 MP RAW files at 8 fps with dual Digic 4. If the Digic 5 is indeed 17 times faster and the 1D X has dual Digic 5 plus Digic 4 for metering, why can't it handle RAW at 14 fps? That's not even twice as fast at moving data as the 7D, unless it turns out to be foveon type sensor or something.

53

EOS Bodies / Re: Nikon D800 at 36mp, Will Canon Respond?

« on: October 06, 2011, 02:21:44 AM »

For me, 36mp for portraiture is just too much. I would rather see less MP, better focusing and higher ISO.

I love to shoot at 6400, it gives a lovely grainy feel to a mono shot; but think how much nicer it would be if I could do that in even lower light.

Every one craves grain free, but grain can be a good thing!

Sorry, noise for the non film users   

The 5D2 is only really lacking a decent focusing system. It has demonstrated over the last few weeks just how good a camera it really is during opposing lighting conditions that change by the minute...

A 36mp D800 would be interesting and most definitely bring about a release by Canon, who I believe pretty much already know what the D800 specs are, but would it be at a price that people are willing to pay - given the price of the 5D2's?

You can always add grain in post. It's a bit trickier to take it out. I'm definitely hoping for a big improvement in high ISO performance. There's never enough light when I shoot indoor sports.

54

Canon General / Re: Nikon's FB Page "A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses..."

« on: September 29, 2011, 01:54:20 AM »

The way I interpreted it, it seems Nikon wanted to say that No matter how good a photographer is, the equipment is one of his/her limiting factors. Isn't that why we all make choices with what gear we pick? I don't see anything wrong with that statement!

Yeah, equipment can indeed be limiting. I don't care how good of a photographer you are, you won't be able to get acceptable images in the situations I frequently shoot in (e.g. fast sports in poorly lit gyms with no flash allowed). My 7D with f/2.8 glass wide open is barely good enough sometimes. I can't wait to get a 5DIII and some fast primes!

55

PowerShot Cameras / Re: Canon Announces the PowerShot S100

« on: September 19, 2011, 02:10:01 AM »

Yep, if I place the S100 in my cart and go to check out it estimates the delivery date to be Oct. 5-13.

mrbill, Amazon doesn't usually collect taxes on the items they sell in the US, so that really is a huge difference.

56

EOS Bodies / Re: A New Entry Level Full Frame Camera? [CR1]

« on: September 18, 2011, 12:27:14 AM »

7DII with FF just won't happen. It would shut out too many potential upgrade customers with a current 7D and a bag full of EF-S glass.

Paul Wright

I can count 4 EF-S lenses that would make people possibly hesitate at FF and nothing more:
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

I own and use the last 3; they wouldn't stop me from getting a FF camera. The above lenses resale isn't all that bad, if you got them at a reasonably good price to start with.

Whatever the badge is, an entry level FF is DEFINITELY aimed at  the 60D/7D owners and potential buyers.

We also don't know what's going to happen with the next gen of cameras.  I've seen more than a few people on this forum mention that they do not like the articulating screen for robustness reasons, but it'd be hard for a company to explain why an articulating screen isn't added to any 'entry' level camera in almost any camera.

Personally, I like the rumor but won't get my hopes up . . . I wanted a 7D but could not force myself to pony up the cash and not get FF.  I guess we'll see.

Don't forget 3rd party crop lenses like the Tokina 11-16mm. The FF ultrawides are not cheap.

57

PowerShot Cameras / Re: Canon Announces the PowerShot S100

« on: September 15, 2011, 04:56:06 PM »

One [undoubtedly stupid] question: what does HS stand for?

Hybrid Stabilisation.

It is the newest form of Canon's IS technology as introduced by the latest 100L macro lens.

Ummmm...no. You're referring to Hybrid IS (H-IS) in the 100L Macro, which corrects for angular motion like traditional IS, and for translational shift. There is no system in PowerShots that corrects for translational shift.

HS = high-sensitivity, and refers to the combination of sensor technology and Digic image processing that allows for cleaner (relatively, at least) shots in low light conditions.

I think the S100's macro/hybrid IS mode is designed to correct for shift-type camera shake.

58

EOS Bodies / Re: 1Ds Mark IV/1D Mark V Spec List [CR1]

« on: August 04, 2011, 01:24:46 AM »

For some reason I just glommed on to the fps. Assuming they didn't make a major change to the internal bus, 3fps sound about right for 32mp. What seem really cool to me is that the 7 and 9fps number work out just about right for cropping to APS-H and APS-C equivilents. Obviously they could also be talking about the difference between a large, medium, and small raw output that doesn't crop, but stays full frame on a effectively smaller res sensor. In theory we could be looking at 9 options...large/med/small for each of full/aps-h/aps-c.  That would make it a first rate replacment for both the 1d and 1ds. The only problem is they would need some internal optics to magnify the image in the viewfinder so you would see the effective crop through the lens. Nothing about the design suggests this.

Sorry, I know I'm a bit new here to be speculating so wildly, but the info is just so suggestive.

I would hope that with new dual Digic V processors, a new 1D series DSLR could process shoot faster than 3 fps at full resolution. Heck, the current 7D does 18MP at 8 fps (144 MP/sec). 32 MP at 3 fps would only be 96 MP/sec. Processors have advanced in the years between models. I would expect significant performance improvements. 32 MP at 9 fps doesn't sound absurd to me.

59

EOS Bodies / Re: No Finalized 5D Mark III Yet [CR2]

« on: July 27, 2011, 02:31:56 AM »

Signed up to put in my two cents on the wish list.  In order of priority:

Video autofocusing.
Significantly better DR by say...at least 1.5 stops.
Very clean images at high ISO's.  Perhaps 4 stops better than we have with the 5dII.
Better autofocus
>5 FPS
Slightly more resolution, but not at the expense of the previous high ISO performance or DR requirements.

I would pay much more than a paid for my II to get it, and I'm sure I'd have to.

Your wish list is similar to mine, RSBJ, but I don't think 4 stops better at high ISO is going to happen any time soon. It may not even be within the realm of physical possibility given the quantum nature of light. My rough estimates put the top DSLRs currently on the market within about 3 stops of an ideal sensor limited only by photon shot noise. (No, I don't have any references handy for my back-of-the-envelope calculations.) I'd love to be wrong though. High ISO performance is vital to my needs.

60

EOS Bodies / Re: Indoor event tips

« on: June 29, 2011, 03:31:14 AM »

Oh god, the flickering lights. How I despise them.

I shoot gymnastics on occasion and need about 1/400 sec. exposures to freeze the movement (slower or faster depending on the event). With the lights cycling at 60 Hz the colors and exposures are all over the place. Flash is never allowed at competitions.

I tend to shoot wide open with a Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 on my 7D and the ISO is often over 3200. I plan to get the 5DIII if/when it arrives (and maybe shoot more often with fast primes) for optimal light gathering capability, but there is nothing I can do about the damned flickering unless I shoot slower than 1/60 sec. and deal with bad subject blurring instead.