Messages

91

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Hand on SONY RX 1.............AMAZING

« on: December 22, 2012, 11:09:38 AM »

Ken Rockwell says the color is crap, so it cannot be worth buying
Oh and it's $2800 BEFORE you buy either the EVF $445 or OVF $650 and the OVF is just glass - no information

I keep telling everyone that the Fuji X-Pro 1 + 35mm F/1.4 has better IQ than my 5D MK3 but nobody believes me
If this were anything but a Sony, I'd be interested.
EVF only is not much use for street photography either (I've been playing with the EVF only Fuji XE-1).

There are serious rumors Fuji is working on a FF version of it's amazing X-Trans sensor, which will positively take names.
I'll wait for that...

ET

Very true, even the lens hood costs something like $200 extra! That's where they really hope to make their cash, or some way to make buyers believe that they really cut down on a lot to make it "super cheap" at 2800, so the accessories are to compensate... or whatever...

The rumors for an FF fuji have been around, but problem is the lenses, they are all built for crop sensors, and the lens roadmap still has many lenses to come, so having to design a whole new set of lenses for a larger sensor/different system, especially when Fuji can't keep up with their own lens production (they delayed one of their wide angles in favor of putting together more zooms), doesn't seem possible. Who knows, if anyone it's Fuji that can wow us again though.

I had a Sony DSC-P30 in Ecuador, and upon return to Switzerland I bought a Sony DSC-F828 only to find out I needed some other memory cards (if I remember correctly) then I crashed it slipping out on ice under snow in early 2006 and that was it. Being amazed by the 20Ds IQ back then, I saved up for a 30D which I bought the next year. This August I got back to FF as I purchased the 5D3. Wouldn't go back to Sony again. For these same reasons as mentioned above. Not even because of better sensor tech. Canon will have to get this fixed, if they want to stay in the market. Maybe they are doing so already, while my 5D gently clicks ;-)

I'm sure Canon is working hard, I'm ready to be wowed by whatever next incarnation that 7DII or 70D will be. Since, we will surely not see any other FF camera next year, and even with my 5DII that I am every pleased with, I sometimes wish my second body were a nice crop camera.
Though at the same time, with the mirror-less cameras going strong, I don't see the point of DSLRs having cropped sensors, and now that the RX1 is out and about too... so again with Fuji, I'm waiting to see what that X200 turns out to be like!

92

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: December 22, 2012, 11:02:52 AM »

I don't recall anyone nitpicking a lens so much for it's bokeh when everything else is fab, generally the consideration for the quality of bokeh of a lens, especially at these price points and class of lenses is always there, but this must mean though that Sigma just has no other faults to look at, so everyone wants to point at something it's not the absolute best at. And talk about onion highlights? The 35L can produce those onions too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pong0814/5596735626/#

And, unlike the Sigma, the 35L doesn't keep rounded circular highlights when stopped down if that matters for anyone.

+1

Very, very well said.

I've always complained about Canon's 8-blade apertures... you start seeing octagons in OOF highlights when you stop down even 2/3 of a stop on many of Canon's primes (e.g. the 'venerable' 85/1.2). What I hate even more is that 8-blade aperture lenses produce 8-point sunstars.

Just adding one blade gives you 18-point sunstars. AND circular OOF highlights.

Nikon's had 9-blade apertures for a while now.

What took Canon so long?

Mmm, yeah, the more I look into these things the more I wonder why I'm with Canon... well, if Sigma made competent cameras along with FF sensors then I'm lookin' at them, I'll practically be all-Sigma after I get that 35mm, just need to see if I'll keep Canon's 50 1.4

93

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: December 22, 2012, 10:58:12 AM »

i don't think this would qualify as thread jacking, but i've seen a few shots from the 50L that showed very nervous bokeh that was really a mess. so much so that photozone even pointed it out in their review. I'm not saying the 50L is a mess, i'm saying that even lenses known for their great ability can trip up sometimes. Most of the early samples i saw on the net of the sigma looked a bit nervous to me, but in my use, so far anyway i haven't seen a problem.

  BTW- and this probably is thread jacking, most people love leica bokeh, and almost everything i've seen from them is clearly a bokeh disaster, so who knows? perhaps dropping that level of cash on something can cloud your vision. hey, i made a pun, hi five!
 

Yeah! *high five*
Even Leica glass has comma and nervousness that can make anyone wonder why all the cash for a few pieces of glass.
But as for me, I love nervous background bokeh, I want a crazy vortex of light and colors! But not always, it does get quite distracting.

Photozone is right, the 50L produces crazy bokeh in the corners, and I've come across several examples of that, nervous triangles tearing apart the rest of the smooth OOF background. I've seen tons of great example with the Sig 35, and like anything, you look for trouble and you'll find it, nit pick and try and find what doesn't look good and yeah, any lens will show a flaw/something dissatisfactory to someone.

94

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Is it hard not to buy 3rd party lenses now?

« on: December 22, 2012, 10:52:54 AM »

Ger what you need now based on what you can afford and whether or not it make the cut.
The lens communication protocol changing could happen, but that's most likely what Sigma is doing with the release of a USB lens dock, not to fine tune and adjust the AF of the lens, but to possibly update the firmware if in case Canon does such a thing.

I started on Sigma gear, I briefly went with Canon, and now I'm back to Sigma and no complaints (my Sigma 70-300 was soft, it's AF accuracy was 1/10, but it was fine as a starter lens until the AF completely died). Anyways, it's hard to say whether it's easier to buy third party lenses, because people looked at alternative brands strictly for them being cheaper. Now, they're bringing out gear that holds it's own against the big names, but of course, you spend more money and anything's possible right? The new Sig and Tammy lenses are fantastic, but are by no means affordable for the masses, while Canon is pushing the price of it's new products every time as well, so relatively Sig and Tam are still affordable.

Like with the Sig 35mm, it's not quite "wow that cheap lens maker made a lens that beats Canikon!" but rather "They decided to make a really expensive piece of glass that... no wonder, beats the older lenses".
As for resale value... well, if you're insecure and feel like you will jump over to another system and need to get all your money's worth out of your gear you're getting rid of then yeah. But at least for me, I'm buying gear to use, not eventually sell.

95

EOS Bodies / Re: why my 60D is working while it is off. help me

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:34:12 AM »

It could be with the on/off switch itself, try messing with the auto power off option.
But that's just to figure out what's going on, that won't solve anything... sending it in is the best option, sorry that this is happening to a camera you just purchased, but electronics are electronics, stuff just doesn't work right sometimes

96

EOS Bodies / Re: why my 60D is working while it is off. help me

« on: December 22, 2012, 12:10:38 AM »

Take the battery out and put it back in while still "off" and see?

97

Lenses / Re: Sigma 50 1.4 or canon 85 1.8

« on: December 21, 2012, 10:39:49 AM »

For video use it'll even be tighter with the 16x9 aspect ratio effectively cropping the image and making the lens feel even tighter. 50mm on crop worked well for video use for me, but only a tripod, for handheld/general stuff it's rather long, a fast wide angle would better for overall use, the Samyang 35mm or 24mm are great options too if manual focus is good. But again for portraits, a 50mm works well enough

98

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Hand on SONY RX 1.............AMAZING

« on: December 20, 2012, 11:50:59 PM »

Ken Rockwell says the color is crap, so it cannot be worth buying
Oh and it's $2800 BEFORE you buy either the EVF $445 or OVF $650 and the OVF is just glass - no information

I keep telling everyone that the Fuji X-Pro 1 + 35mm F/1.4 has better IQ than my 5D MK3 but nobody believes me
If this were anything but a Sony, I'd be interested.
EVF only is not much use for street photography either (I've been playing with the EVF only Fuji XE-1).

There are serious rumors Fuji is working on a FF version of it's amazing X-Trans sensor, which will positively take names.
I'll wait for that...

ET

Very true, even the lens hood costs something like $200 extra! That's where they really hope to make their cash, or some way to make buyers believe that they really cut down on a lot to make it "super cheap" at 2800, so the accessories are to compensate... or whatever...

The rumors for an FF fuji have been around, but problem is the lenses, they are all built for crop sensors, and the lens roadmap still has many lenses to come, so having to design a whole new set of lenses for a larger sensor/different system, especially when Fuji can't keep up with their own lens production (they delayed one of their wide angles in favor of putting together more zooms), doesn't seem possible. Who knows, if anyone it's Fuji that can wow us again though.

99

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Non-Bayer arrays; how is Fuji the only one to have thought of this?

« on: December 20, 2012, 11:37:07 PM »

Not exactly true - Sigma has the Foveon. The SD9, not only had no bayer filter, but no AA filter or MICROLENSES! In theory, this is better, in reality, not so much.

In what reality doesn't the Foveon work? Have you seen the images the DP2M produces, the detail that camera produces is astonishing. Especially for the price.

By what I've seen and understand the Sig sensors are phenomenal, while the cameras themselves are nothing to even bother considering. THOUGH, if they made an FF Foveon, and considering how they're glass is these days???

Also Fuji, with the rumor of an X200 coming out I'm excited to see what that's like. I suggested to and got a friend into buying a used X100, and man I get a little jealous whenever it gets pulled out, and straight from the camera the Jpegs have nice colors and the bokeh is nice, although I found F/2 to be quite soft when up close, but that's about it.
We're supposed to be talking about sensor tech here, yes, I guess the reason for the big boys Canikon haven't really experimented in public with new designs is because professionals want to stick with what works, like if Canon all of a sudden decided to finally add EVFs on all their DSLRs, that's too much of a change that pros won't feel comfortable adapting to.

100

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: The seemingly amazing Sigma 35

« on: December 20, 2012, 11:23:14 PM »

My consideration of getting the Sigma is mostly price, even then it's still expensive so the 35L is totally out anyways.
If you have the 35L, you're happy with it, then stick with it, same story with any piece of equipment.
If the CA, or being-not-as-sharp bothers you then check out the Sigma.
And, I feel the bokeh "not being good" is vastly overblown, while it not being "as good" as what the 35L can produce, sure, it looks to be the case. But by no means is it awful, there has to be certain L owners that don't want to hear smack about how their precious L isn't as superior in many ways, so they find a single flaw and make it look like the end of the world! Because ya know, today's the day But again, the Sigma brand new is still a lot cheaper then the 35L generally is on the used market, so not everything will be as top notch. It's what you need and what you can afford

Here's a wedding photog who really likes the Sigma though, this guy actually used the lens, not a series of bland tests:
http://www.samhurdphotography.com/2012/gear-reviews/gear-review-sigma-35mm-1-4-lens-for-nikon

101

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG HSM First Impressions

« on: December 20, 2012, 10:56:54 AM »

I don't recall anyone nitpicking a lens so much for it's bokeh when everything else is fab, generally the consideration for the quality of bokeh of a lens, especially at these price points and class of lenses is always there, but this must mean though that Sigma just has no other faults to look at, so everyone wants to point at something it's not the absolute best at. And talk about onion highlights? The 35L can produce those onions too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pong0814/5596735626/#

And, unlike the Sigma, the 35L doesn't keep rounded circular highlights when stopped down if that matters for anyone.

102

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Hand on SONY RX 1.............AMAZING

« on: December 20, 2012, 10:47:37 AM »

I was very pleased with the RX1 when I handled it as well. The lack of VF really isn't bad, but that's when I think about treating the camera as a snap shooter and everyday travel cam. Great quality, but especially with consideration of the price, what it's got and lacks isn't so compelling. Again, an early product, could be an experiment, or even a demonstration to all that a compact camera with a full sized sensor will be ridiculously expensive, so, buy our latest FF dslrs or crop compacts!

Meanwhile, I've been venturing with film more, and a Hexar AF looks darn fine to eventually pick up, also a fixed 35mm F2 lens, can be had for a couple hundred $ maybe. And that lens is just beauty~

103

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Help 600d viewfinder issue

« on: December 19, 2012, 10:28:54 AM »

If the camera is still new, or to say at least under warranty then definitely get it looked at/sent in by professionals. If you're comfortable with taking it apart then understand that you're dealing with optical paths and will be tricky putting it all back together (if you can take it apart properly that is), the 600D has a Penta-mirror for the VF, pretty sure it'll mostly be mirrors/glass that have been pasted together, but you may not need to go that far.
The issue sounds like it's with the diopter, with a finger pushed in there, it must have come loose and got pushed too far in? That's why adjusting doesn't do anything, as it's not moving at all possibly.

104

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: I feel like a kid again....

« on: December 19, 2012, 10:22:14 AM »

Ahh, I'm happy just readin' this, whether I get anything for Christmas or not, and I just realized there's 5 days 'till then!

105

Canon General / Re: some money left. what should I buy?

« on: December 19, 2012, 08:57:35 AM »

Donate some of your money for people with hard lifes. Donate 35mm f/2 (old version) to me for xmas too! 
With the rest of the money get a TS lens or prime.

I am donating blood. since many years...
I will never donate bigger amounts of money.

I was about to (half heartedly) post a "give your money to charity!" but I agree, donating something is a lot better than money. You can never be sure where the cash goes to, or what it's used for, or whether or not it ends up in the pockets of certain oppressive entities instead. Blood, food, clothes; those are better options.

With that said, "spend your money on location and subjects, not gear". Go on trips, visit great locations and meet interesting people, new places will spark your interest and give back memories~