Messages

91

EOS Bodies / Re: Will the 70d have a new sensor?

« on: February 28, 2013, 10:53:09 PM »

.
Yep.

Next generation of crop sensor starts now. Kiss the venerable 18mp goodbye.

Agreed. They have to start somewhere. Might as well be the 70D. Nothing says the 7DII has to have the same sensor as the 70D either. As has already been pointed out, every full frame model has a different sensor.

I'd expect 22-24 MP for the 70D to match Nikon's D7100 and then 20-22 MP in the 7D with the emphasis on better high ISO performance.

92

Lenses / Re: Buy EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II now or wait until September?

« on: February 28, 2013, 01:56:02 PM »

I owned this lens ("loaned" it to my daughter, so I suppose I still own it technically, but I will never see it again). It's one of Canon's best bargains. It's very sharp and has IS.

Maybe it's just me, but on a lens this cheap, I would pay the small premium to buy new from an authorized dealer rather than risk buying used. Particularly because it isn't the most robust lens in the world and you just never know what kind of abuse a used lens has been subjected to.

93

EOS Bodies / Re: New DSLR at the End of March [CR2]

« on: February 28, 2013, 10:03:42 AM »

Thanks Nikon. With your release of the D7100 you pushed Canon to release the 70D.

Now, please release your D400, I want a new 7DII.

94

Canon General / Re: How well do you see color?

« on: February 25, 2013, 05:48:34 PM »

Without any negativity,   isn't it a little bit funny how several people don't have time for a short color test, yet found the time to write a message to inform us that they don't have time for it? 

You are right and I thought about that when I responded. I plead guilty to an unnecessary drive-by comment.

95

Canon General / Re: How well do you see color?

« on: February 25, 2013, 04:13:51 PM »

.
Hell, even being retired I don't have time for that.

People are actually sitting there dragging those chips around?

I'm going out and get some pictures!

Lol, I just opened the page, then closed it again.

Opened page. Dragged about three chips, decided I had better things to do as well. Seems like the only point is to sell X-Rite software.

96

EOS Bodies / 7DII and D400 Specs

« on: February 25, 2013, 10:42:32 AM »

There is an interesting letter over on DPReview http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3387936#forum-post-50901841 that purports to be from Nikon Europe that unequivocally states that the D7100 will not be Nikon's flagship APS-C format camera.

On paper, the D7100 is impressive. If Canon responds with something close in the 70D, it makes me wonder what they'll put in the 7DII.  I'm not sure the current rumored spec list for the 7DII would be sufficient to justify an $800 difference in cost.

On the other hand, I keep wondering if the 70D and 7DII will share the same sensors (Or for that matter, if the D7100 and D400 will as well). There is a part of me that thinks Canon may differentiate the two by offering slightly fewer megapixels but better low-light performance in the 7D, as they have done with the ID-X.

Hard to say. I just thought the letter was interesting and worth starting a thread for people to consider what it might mean for the 70D and 7DII.

97

Canon General / Re: With the Yen plunging, will we see price drops now?

« on: February 23, 2013, 11:53:43 AM »

International corporate finances are complex, they have operations all over the world. I guarantee that currency fluctuations (which continually change) play some part, but thinking that end price will change due to that is simplistic.

This is no doubt correct, but my point is:  where was this sentiment when the True Believers were defending Canon prices as clearly being due to the high Yen to low Dollar exchange rate?

To be fair, I think there were only a handful of people pointing to the exchange rate and even among that small group, there were several who said it was only one factor, not the primary cause. I never bought into the exchange rate argument in the first place.

98

Technical Support / Re: Sharpening question for Photoshop experts

« on: February 22, 2013, 04:27:45 PM »

Some general sharpening advice:
...high pass sharpening is great for bringing out edge detail, and personally I prefer to mask it in for areas that I want to draw more focus/attention to (i.e. the eyes in a portrait)

Definitely. High pass sharpening is kind of a secret formula that can really make an image pop. Like Vlad says, I like to create a high-pass layer and then mask out virtually everything but the eyes and maybe the lips, it's subtle but really works. I've even been able to save photos where the original focus was ever so slightly off.

It also works well on cars and metal objects, especially if you mask out everything but the edges. Be careful though, it can increase noise in the sky or restore all sorts of skin blemishes that you thought you had already fixed. Hence, the need for masking.

Highly recommend Scott Kelby's books for more tips on sharpening.

Here are a couple of examples that I did for my stepson and his girlfriend – starving actors in need of headshots.

http://unfocusedmg.com/Photos/People/Patrick_8663-web.jpg

http://unfocusedmg.com/Photos/People/April_8506-web.jpg

99

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon 7100 has been anounced

« on: February 21, 2013, 06:04:16 PM »

Neuro, you had me up until that "ship is sailing along fine..." stuff.

Not trying to single you out, because I know you know better and I know you aren't guilty of the sin I'm about to attack. But, I can never figure out why otherwise intelligent people think a multinational, multi-billion dollar, profitable company is stupid.

Far from it.  My point is that Canon's current strategy is working.  They are doing their R&D, developing new cameras with improved features, releasing them into the market, and those cameras are selling like gangbusters.  I don't understand why otherwise intelligent people are clamoring for Canon to do something different, and be more like their competitor that isn't doing as well as they are in the market...

...We heard all of these arguments about the D800, and the 5D Mark III is apparently outselling it by a wide margin.  Now the D7100 is the best thing since sliced bread, and while is does seem like a well-spec'd camera, I suggest we wait and see how well it sells, compared to a camera Canon may or may not release, before we declare victory for Nikon and claim Canon 'had their ass handed to them'.

Oh dear. We are going to have to agree to agree.

Seriously, I absolutely do agree with the points you have made. I thought I detected that you were starting to buy into the argument that Canon has fallen behind and I was trying to nip that in the bud.

I'm not a blindly loyal fan of Canon, but I have great respect for their ability to manage the company and return profits in a challenging environment. I also note that in the polls that count (buyers) Canon does extremely well and it seems that over the long run, their recent introductions (5DIII and 6D) are actually becoming more popular while their competitors' products are slipping.

At one point I worked for a major telecommunications carrier and the CEO used to say something to the effect that he would take an average plan that is well-executed over an excellent plan this is poorly executed any day of the week. Regardless of what anyone thinks about Canon, the fact is, they consistently know how to get the ball across the goal and do it more frequently and more consistently than their competitors.

100

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon 7100 has been anounced

« on: February 21, 2013, 05:48:05 PM »

Agree to disagree.

I'm not sure we disagree. I have no problem with anyone buying any particular brand of any product. And, I certainly understand the need for someone who is earning a living in any profession to buy the tools that may give them an edge.

In fact, I think it is probably those of us who don't do this for a living that are more trapped than those who do earn a living at it, as we don't have any means of recovering our investment.

My point was never that no one should ever change brands or select a product that better fits their needs. My complaint is about those who cannot see past their own narrow obsessions and react hysterically on the internet to each new product introduction by competitors as though it's somehow going to drive Canon into bankruptcy.

As I said, I am thrilled by Nikon's efforts to aggressively compete on both price and features. As consumers, whether professional or amateur, we can only benefit.

101

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon 7100 has been anounced

« on: February 21, 2013, 03:54:53 PM »

Update: this does sound off-topic, but I wrote it to respond to the conflict that was beginning about the "color palates" of Nikon vs. Canon, a conflict that is fundamentally flawed...

...For example, there was a photo of a bee and sunflower on here. The white balance on that was not quite right...On the original user's monitor they may have been perfect, but on my precisely calibrated screen they were considerably off....

While you may be correct, I have to add that you have also illustrated why trying to achieve perfect white balance in anything other than print is pretty much a fool's errand. Most images today will live only on a computer screen. They will never be printed.

The only way to achieve perfect color balance is to go around the world and personally adjust the monitors of every single person in the world. And, while doing that, you would also need to adjust their phones and tablets. (That's not to say that we shouldn't all take more care to try to get the color balance correct, or at least get it to match what we envision).

Seeking perfect color balance on a perfectly calibrated monitor is one strategy and works fine if you don't intend to ever share your images with anyone. I think a better strategy is to follow the model used by web designers and test your images on as many different devices and under as many different conditions as possible to try to achieve the most appealing "average" appearance.

102

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Nikon 7100 has been anounced

« on: February 21, 2013, 03:37:47 PM »

Hopefully Canon is very scared - and taking Nikon's recent R&D push seriously.  They need to respond immediately...

Respond to what?  Sorry, but no, they really don't.  To those who say, "Nikon is handing Canon their asses," or "Canon should be scared," understand that at the most fundamental level, camera sales are what matter.  The finance and marketing divisons within a major corporation, especially a conservative one like Canon, are the voices that determine the ultimate output from the R&D side of the organization, in part because they control the input (i.e. funding) into that R&D. 

As long as Canon continues to sell more cameras and lenses than Nikon, the finance and marketing folks will continue to say that the ship is sailing along fine, it ain't broke and there's nothing to fix...

Neuro, you had me up until that "ship is sailing along fine..." stuff.

Not trying to single you out, because I know you know better and I know you aren't guilty of the sin I'm about to attack. But, I can never figure out why otherwise intelligent people think a multinational, multi-billion dollar, profitable company is stupid.

Canon is successful because they produce excellent products and they do so at a price that customers view as good value for the dollar/yen/euro,yuan etc. I can't understand anyone who buys Canon products and then says they are "crap" etc. What kind of consumer are they if they buy stuff they don't like. Everybody makes a few mistakes, but for the most part, I like the stuff I buy. I wouldn't buy it if I didn't.

I also don't understand people who whine about marketing. It's particularly funny when photographers complain about marketing, since photography is pretty much all about marketing. If you take pictures to express beauty -- that's marketing. If you take pictures to convey an idea -- that's marketing. If you take pictures to entertain -- that's marketing. If you take pictures to share memories -- that's marketing. And, of course, if you ever take a single dime for a picture, that's marketing. It's ALL MARKETING. That's what we do.

On a more practical level, what kind of products do you think Canon would be producing if it weren't for their marketing divisions? I can guarantee you that if it were left to the engineers, not one of us would want what they produce. It's that market research that allows them to develop products that people want to buy.

Finally, I don't understand all the Nikon vs. Canon hate stuff – both the self-haters who buy Canon gear and participate in a Canon forum and then constantly complain about Canon. Nor do I understand those who act like Nikon is the worst thing ever and get all upset when Nikon produces a good quality product at a good price.

Personally, I've loving the D7100. I will never buy one, but I know that Nikon's aggressive strategy toward both features and pricing will put pressure on Canon to give us more for less. Why do people think the street price of the 5DIII has dropped since introduction – competition.

Congratulations Nikon, you've introduced a fine camera.

103

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Spec List [CR2]

« on: February 20, 2013, 06:03:57 PM »

Where did you get this rumor from - CR :-> ? I think the decisive Canon people are in Japan and a small circle of execs (like the CEO in a recent interview) and maybe some tech people, and I would be very surprised if any information from places like this would reach them - most likely they rely on their internal marketing studies and some direct feedback from cps professionals and beta testers.

How harmful would it be for them to pay a small team of photo nerds to surf the web all day and find out what buyers want?
(Heck, I'd do it for free if they let me try some prototypes every now and then.)

Very harmful.

The data would not be simply useless, it would be misleading garbage.

Market research is a science. Canon has decades of hard data based on its sales figures. In addition, everyone who fills out a warranty card goes into a data base that Canon can mine for additional information. They scour competitors annual reports and sales figures, just as the competitors scour theirs.

The data is supplemented with surveys that adhere to strict standards to assure that they are polling a representative sample of customers. Those surveys are no doubt conducted on every continent to study trends in each region. They also likely use focus groups of key customer subsets to flesh out the data. They use field testers to try products out in the real world and give them feedback.

A basic rule of any polling is that you never, never use subjects that self-select. They are notoriously unreliable and not representative of the larger universe. Just one tiny example shows how fruitless it would be: there is zero ability to match up the data on this website with actual buying patterns. There is nothing that could assure Canon that the whining, trolling and fantasizing that goes on on internet forums has any relationship whatsoever to sales.

At most, they may employ robots to search the internet for key words and associations. The best you can hope for, is that if Canon finds a spike in the internet on some word string, like: "5DIII, Weak Focus, Low Light " they might investigate it further to see if there is a trend or problem developing.

But, it is crazy to think Canon or any other manufacturer is going to waste valuable resources trolling internet forums.

104

EOS Bodies / Re: 2013 Predictions for Canon EOS Products

« on: February 19, 2013, 11:34:36 PM »

Anyone know what Canon camera is in this below linked picture?  Never seen one with the red piece by the hotshoe.   

http://500px.com/photo/26318243

Update:Even more suspicious is the Canon logo has been removed, this has a pop-up flash and looks to be in new condition.  Can't place the lens either the more I look at this - size wise looks like the 85mm 1.2 but the bulge appears different by the camera mount from the current 85,1.2???

Lens is the 50L. Camera looks like a 7D.  If it was a new body, it would have the locking mode dial. The 7D has a separate piece of plastic where that red piece is, would be one click with the PS magic wand and a color change.

That's what it looks like to me as well. As for the red panel, could also be paint or tape. Perhaps a test body?

I don't want to falsely accuse someone, but does anyone else think there is something weird going on with this picture? The monk's left hand isn't supporting the camera and doesn't appear to be anywhere near the camera actually. I can't imagine why anyone would Photoshop the camera in and maybe it's just my imagination, but something doesn't look right.

105

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Spec List [CR2]

« on: February 19, 2013, 01:07:28 PM »

cant i ask  why 6d  hasnt got the features the 7d has? if im paying more money for something that is supposedly above it in a camera range (going from 1-7, generally the cameras get better and more expensive) then surely i can ask why the 7d has so many more af points or a better body casing or a better iso performance etc etc

the people on here are seriously up themselves sometimes. im guesing that comes with the vast disposable incomes most seem to have.

You can ask anything you want.

Here are the answers: 

In the 6D you are paying for a full frame sensor, which is much more expensive to manufacture than an APS-C sensor. This has been discussed on this forum and on others many, many times. Canon even has a white paper on it.

Model numbers don't have to mean anything. There is no law that says that the order in which cameras are named makes one better than another. People get hung up on the numbers. What's the point? Who cares? Nobody even knows the model numbers except geeks anyway.