Topics

1

Third Party Manufacturers / The best kept secret/ deal in mirrorless cameras...

« on: June 19, 2013, 01:47:42 PM »

Is the Pentax K-01. And I'm not even joking.

I just recently picked one up because the prices are crazy low. <300$ USD low. But they are now discontinued, so fading into oblivion.

Why?
• Price is nice
• This camera is actually WAY more attractive in person (I picked up the white model)
• Build quality is great (except for flappy side cover)
• It has the same sensor as the Pentax K-5 & Nikon D7000!?
• Great focus peaking
• Can use all K mount legacy lenses! It's fun to pick up old metal film lenses and use em on this body
• Pentax also has some really cool "L" lenses of their own... Limited. These things are sexy (but expensive)
• In body IS
• Pentax is so NOT trendy right now that they are cool

Anyone else?

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Images to follow.

2

Technical Support / Is it bad to keep photography gear in a basement?

« on: June 18, 2013, 05:08:13 PM »

Hi all,

So I am about to move out of my condo in NYC to a house, gulp. The good news is I will have a TON more space!

Included in this space is a completely finished basement. I'm trying to decide if I should set up my home office/ studio down there. Not sure if it is a good idea to have computers, hard-drives, and most importantly lenses down there though. Is this an increased risk of damage/ mold?

Thoughts?

3

Third Party Manufacturers / Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 lens price announced!!!

« on: June 14, 2013, 12:26:19 AM »

And it's 799! (USD). That's a pretty sweet price if the lens is as good as the hype. I'm definitely interested now.

4

Lenses / 85mm f/1.2L II soft touch.

« on: April 22, 2013, 05:27:24 PM »

So I just picked up this lens. Um, it is sick.

My point of posting is to just bring up an aspect of the lens' design. The underside of the lens has like a soft-touch coating on it. I was just surprised when I first held it because no other Canon lens I have ever used had this finish. And I have never read about it in any reviews on the interwebs. Any other Canon lenses have this finish?

Also- is there a way to disable full-time manual focus on a 5DII?

I'll post some first shots from this new guy on the coming days. I have a feeling it is gonna stay stuck to one of my bodies for a long while

5

Pricewatch Deals / Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "in-store" deal

« on: March 22, 2013, 11:36:50 AM »

Hey all,

I just wanted to pass on a deal I came across yesterday.  I was in Adorama yesterday to test out the new Sigma 35. I decided to buy it. I was prepared to pay the 899 when the store rep said there is actually an "in-store" price of 849! So I chose to pay that price instead

Just thought it was really cool of them to do that when I didn't even ask.

6

Third Party Manufacturers / Toymaster War Journalist (with Canon gear). Aka: the coolest action figure ever!

« on: February 19, 2013, 01:23:43 PM »

Since I'm a toy designer during the day, I may need to have this...

http://www.petapixel.com/2013/02/06/war-journalist-a-16-scale-action-figure-of-a-conflict-photographer/

7

Lenses / TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift for product photography?

« on: February 10, 2013, 10:07:28 AM »

Hey all,

So I do a lot of small product photography, mostly with a 100mm f/2.8 macro on a 7D and a 5D mkII.

My goal is always to get the largest image in the frame, with the MOST depth of field- I know, this is probably the first thread where someone actually wants more DOF! Lots of bokeh junkies here. Me too

Anyways, I've been looking into the 90mm TS-E. Anyone here have any experience with it and product photography? I've never used a tilt-shift lens. I know (from research) it actually doesn't give more DOF but you can control it as a "wedge" of focus that is a different angle from the sensor plane. So will it help in getting more of the product in focus? Sometimes even at small apertures, up close, I can't get all of the product in focus.

Sometimes I need to photograph flat items (like a board game), but on an angle. I don't want to focus stack and combine in post- don't have time for that anymore.

Thoughts?

8

Portrait / Happy Holidays Photos!

« on: December 18, 2012, 12:42:06 PM »

As the Christmas/ Hanukkah / New Years holidays are upon us, I thought I'd start a thread for posting your holiday pics!

I hope everyone has a healthy & happy holiday and new year!


Gingerbread Girl by Philip DiResta, on Flickr

9

EOS-M / The Mirrorless Party

« on: November 30, 2012, 09:35:30 AM »

This video is really funny.

http://youtu.be/LO7rxitFLZg
	Small | Large

10

Pricewatch Deals / Canon USA refurbished stock reduced?

« on: November 28, 2012, 08:22:34 PM »

Anyone else notice that Canon has completely removed the listings for all the high-end gear on their refurb store?

Usually it just says, "out of stock".

Now all the top cameras, flashes and lenses are gone.

Odd.

11

Pricewatch Deals / Best Buy in NYC has "pro" cameras in stock?

« on: August 01, 2012, 02:17:12 PM »

I was in the Best Buy near my office today (6th Ave bet. 23rd & 22nd St.), and noticed they had the 5DIII, 5DII & D800 in stock?! They weren't on display, but I noticed them up on the shelf locked away.

12

Pricewatch Deals / Rokinon (Smyang) 35mm f/1.4- on Amazon Lightning deal today!

« on: June 01, 2012, 09:15:59 AM »

Just noticed that the Rokinon 35mm 1/4 is listed in the Amazon Gold Box/ lightning deal section today! I believe it starts at 12pm EST (I'm in NYC).

A few months back they had this deal and I believe the price was around 375.00USD! Pretty nice deal.

13

Lenses / Calumet tax free!

« on: May 24, 2012, 11:13:13 AM »

Just got an email that Calumet is offering tax free discounts on all Canon lenses & Speedlights in addition to the current instant rebates. Oh, and free shipping.

Pretty good offer till June 2nd. Just thought I'd pass it on to anyone who might have missed it.

I'm in the US, not sure what the deal is worldwide as it was a Memorial Day email.

14

PowerShot / Canon PowerShot D20 hands on + photos

« on: May 21, 2012, 01:30:55 AM »

So I wrote this whole long hands-on recap/ review of using this camera over the last week while I was on vacation in Turks & Caicos with my family. But then I went to post it and got an "Access denied error"... So there went that.

To sum up:

I got this camera because it looked cool, then learned that the odd design shape is brilliant & actually allows you to hold it in a more natural way (groove is for left thumb- think like how you hold a lens in your left hand)

There are also some BAD design choices- like the top 3 buttons (power/ shutter/ playback) all being basically the same size, shape & height. I turned the camera off a few times while about to capture the greatest photos of my life. Why.

There were other things I wrote too, like how it's basically a fully auto camera with very few creative controls & there is noise all over the place, blah, blah, blah, but it's late now & I don't want to re-type it all. Thanks CR.

I still fell in love with this stupid camera because it actually is really smart, and nails exposure, white balance, focus, etc on every shot!? And the dynamic range rivals the Nikon D800. Probably not. But I'm happy when I can take a photo in the middle of the day on the beach, or in a pool/ large body of water- and there is sky and people exposed properly


With all that said (and not said), here are a few pics.


Pool View by Philip DiResta, on Flickr


Violet in paradise by Philip DiResta, on Flickr


Beach Girls by Philip DiResta, on Flickr


Blue by Philip DiResta, on Flickr


Beach Entrance by Philip DiResta, on Flickr

15

EOS Bodies / 5Dii refurbished- instock at Canon store for 1500!!!

« on: April 17, 2012, 10:05:11 AM »

I just picked up this now "classic" for 1500 AFTER tax and shipping!!!

http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductListingViewAll_10051_10051_-1_29252?WT.mc_id=C126149

Promo code for 20% off:
20SLR412

There are awesome deals on the 7D, 60D, etc too!