Messages

31

Canon General / Re: Why did you choose Canon?

« on: January 30, 2013, 10:44:02 AM »

I've owned a number of Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Minolta, and Canon digital cameras over the last 12 or so years.  My first Canon was the G7 that I used for travel, and I really enjoyed it.   My DSLR at the time an Olympus E520 (or something like it), and it had awful noise.   So I went looking for a new DSLR brand.  Initially my plan was to get a Nikon D7000, since it seemed to have good noise performance, however then I discovered it had a half-backed LiveView system.  So I picked up a Canon 60D, and loved the controls and LiveView functionality - and just about everything else about it.  I've been shooting Canon almost exclusively ever since - with the 6D being my latest toy.

32

Portrait / Re: We, The Photographers......Self Portaits..a Who's Who on CR

« on: January 24, 2013, 07:33:05 PM »

Here are a few of my favorites.


Day 176: The self-portrait artist's dream by Area256, on Flickr


Two-sided by Area256, on Flickr


Treasure Hunter by Area256, on Flickr

33

Lenses / Re: Your favorite lens is?

« on: January 22, 2013, 08:21:24 PM »

100mm f/2.8L macro on a 6D.  It's hard not to get great results with that lens, both for portrait and macro - great colour, contrast, sharpness, and bokeh.   However my most used lens is the 24-105mm f/4L, just since you can do so much with it - and I'd say it's a close second for favorite.

34

EOS Bodies / Re: 6D is amazing... Review and image samples coming soon...:)

« on: January 20, 2013, 03:02:30 PM »

6D should be considered as 1point AF camera

For sports sure, the other AF points aren't so hot, but for portraits I've actually found the outer points to work quite well. 

I tend not to shoot faster than f/2.0 for portraits, so maybe the f/1.2 shooters will have issues, but then again, the outer points on the 5D3/1Dx aren't super sensitive anyway.   The vast majority of my shots with off centre focus points are spot on, and for portraits that's all I need - the few that miss aren't a big deal.

35

Lenses / Re: Canon U.S.A. Introduces Two New Cinema Prime Lenses, Expanding The Cinema EOS Prime Lens Product

« on: January 10, 2013, 09:18:26 PM »

The price seems comparable to the Zeiss CP lenses, so if the quality is about the same, then they are technically competing at market prices.   I'm sure they won't sell as many of these as they do L lenses, so it seems like the price is justifiable.   As much as I wish it was lower...  Still with more players and buyers in the cinema lens market, it should slowly force the prices down.   There was a time when these optics were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

36

Lenses / Re: Prime Lens for 6D

« on: January 09, 2013, 10:26:15 PM »

I have both the 40mm f/2.8 and the 50mm f/1.4.  I think the 50mm f/1.4 can do a lot more, but the 40mm is awesome in it's own way (really small, and really sharp).  Actually I find I'm using the 40mm more often than the 50mm on my 6D. 

Of course a lot of that comes down to your style of shooting.  I like the slightly wider 40mm for walking around with (possibly because I grew up with a 38mm film P&S), and the f/2.8 isn't all that limiting with the high ISO of the 6D.  However when I want to shoot people, the 50mm f/1.4 just gives way more options in terms of the DOF control that lens can give you on FF.

Although I've never actually used it, I'd suggest staying away from the 35mm f/2 - most review sites suggest it has poor edge performance, and the 40mm in actually really good in that regard.

I'd play with both in a store, and just get the one you feel best about.

37

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Inside the Canon EOS-1D C

« on: January 09, 2013, 04:52:32 PM »

There's a big difference between what corporations put in end user license agreements (ie what they wish to happen) and what is actually legal.

For example Apple said much the same thing about all iOS devices in their EULAs - however when they went to the US library of congress to ask to have iOS jailbreaking formally declared to be an illegal act, their case was thrown out as it was decided that once a consumer has purchased a device they are free to install whatever (legally created and obtained) software they wish. That doesn't stop Apple releasing firmware updates which patch the methods by which jailbreaks occur, and Canon could certainly do this, but simply saying it's illegal to install software on devices which own isn't true.

I would imagine that in the US at least this would set a very strong legal precedent should Canon actually decide to go after anyone for writing custom firmware for a 1DX

I think if someone unlocked code features in the firmware of the 1DX to let it do 4K, than Canon would have a case - it would be like using software you didn't pay for.  If, however, someone writes 3rd party software, like ML, to do 4K video without using hidden Canon code, than they have less of a case in the US (based on the above ruling).  Although it's possible that like nVidia's graphics cards, they have some kind of hardware switch that will make it impossible to access the required bits of hardware.

38

Landscape / Re: Post Your Best Landscapes

« on: January 09, 2013, 11:02:24 AM »

Some more 6D Landscapes.



Cloud Island by Area256, on Flickr


Day 193: Good Morning Vancouver by Area256, on Flickr

39

Pricewatch Deals / Re: EOS-1D C in Stock at B&H Photo

« on: January 08, 2013, 12:26:59 PM »

Gonna be hard to sell this next to the C100...

The C100 doesn't shoot 4K video, The 1D C does.  That's really the selling point of the 1D C.  4K may not be big yet, but it's coming for sure.

40

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: I bought/would buy a 6D and not a D600 because...

« on: December 30, 2012, 03:07:51 PM »

Mostly I got the 6D since I already had a lot of Canon lenses, and I like them.  However there are two main reasons I wouldn't get a D600 regardless:

1. No exposure simulation or live histogram in LiveView, and strange (annoying) aperture behavior in LiveView (although sounds like they may fix that last point someday in an update). Also the live magnification in LiveView isn't very good; Canon's is much better. Since I shoot a lot of long exposure landscapes and macro, both those features are really helpful to me.   

2. There is no way to turn off auto focus from being attached to the shutter button without going into manual focus mode, at which point the AF-ON button doesn't function.  I've taken to shoot with focus attached to the AF-ON button, and not on the shutter.  This is a minor thing for most people, but I really like shooting that way for a verity of reasons.

Actually the LiveView issues are why I went with Canon in the first place.  I was going to buy a D7000 until I saw how bad the LiveView was, and got a 60D instead.

Also I didn't like the placement of the ISO button on the D600, but that's kind of a minor thing.  And now that I have the WiFi and GPS, I'm finding them very useful - although I'm not sure I'd switch my choice because of them.

41

EOS Bodies / Re: 6D's Wifi Drain on Battery (?)

« on: December 30, 2012, 12:46:13 AM »

I used the 6D for some travel photography last week.  I found the GPS power drain (with update frequency of 30 seconds), to be quite acceptable.  I shot about 200 pictures a day, left the GPS on for about 8 hours of the time, and the battery level would be around 60% by the end of the day.

WiFi on the other hand will eat through batter life fairly fast if you leave it on constantly connected to a Smartphone.   However for the times it's needed, it comes in very handy, and it means I didn't need to take a remote release.

42

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Shooting With the EOS 6D Part 2: Costa Rica

« on: December 30, 2012, 12:25:05 AM »

Battery life seems most effected by the WiFi.  I used the GPS extensively traveling over the last week, and I didn't have any problems.  I had to charge my batter every night, but it wasn't draining my battery fast enough for me to worry about.

43

Landscape / Re: Post Your Best Landscapes

« on: December 30, 2012, 12:22:05 AM »

Some 6D landscapes:


Day 189: Christmas Eve Light by Area256, on Flickr


Orange Mist by Area256, on Flickr

44

6D Sample Images / Re: Anything shot with a 6D

« on: December 29, 2012, 11:33:16 PM »

Did some serious landscape work in BC last week.  These have been fairly heavily edited, but hopefully they will give an idea of what can be done with the files from this camera.


Christmas Eve Light (crop) by Area256, on Flickr



Day 192: Vancouver Dawn by Area256, on Flickr



Orange Mist by Area256, on Flickr

45

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Shooting With the EOS 6D in Costa Rica

« on: December 29, 2012, 04:42:44 PM »

I just spend a week in British Columbia with the Canon 6D, and it performed very well.  I left the GPS on full time and the batter drain seemed minimal.  It rained lightly almost non-stop, and the Camera didn't seem to mind getting a bit wet.  I did a lot of landscape, and the DR proved to be quite good in most cases.

I must say having the GPS is a nice feature; I can now use the map in Lightroom 4 to locate images taken at specific locations. 

The exposure preview in Live View worked very well, which was the reason I got the 6D over the D600.  It made my long exposure landscape photography far easier.

Here is an example:


Morning Light by Area256, on Flickr