Messages

16

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

« on: December 08, 2012, 04:39:37 PM »

When I turn my GPS feature on in my 6D, the battery drains very quickly.

Smartphones are bound to be more optimized than this, but for a dumb device you'd better turn gps off in difficult situations.

It's been my experience that any GPS application is a rapid battery drain. Even an hour car trip on a top line Android with GPS enabled the entire time can drop you down to 50%.

The GPS feature on the 6D is kind of a bonus but I don't think I will use it. Maybe it would be useful to tag the first photo of a set to mark them, but in all honesty, it's just as easy to tag your own images and excepting industrial applications for Long/Lat in a consumer level camera, I don't see the point.

However I'm glad someone brought up the grip - It's my opinion that two batteries (one acting as a critical spare) is a bare minimum. Why not add the joystick plus the extra grip and add the option to use AA's?

17

EOS Bodies / Re: Canon 6D Dominates Low Light Focusing Test vs 5Dii, 5Diii & Nikon D600

« on: December 07, 2012, 12:27:29 AM »

man, u guys are too smart.  i just like to take pictures of things/people.  sometimes, when it's dark, I use a flash =)

^ This.

Not that I don't appreciate the tests, because I do - and the responses too.  But this one is my favorite.  "things/people."

18

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: The Future Speedlites, Not Far Off Now? [CR2]

« on: December 06, 2012, 09:38:22 PM »

Well it's about time. I'm just getting into speedlites and am not interested in:

1.) Spending $1,200+ for a two light kit, or
2.) Buying a bunch of optical-only flashes and being restricted to line of sight.

A 4XX RT flash, if miracles exist, will be priced at or below $399 and I'll be able to afford two for the price of one 600RT.

The 4XX RT flash, when it is released, will almost certainly not have a transmitter. Add in another $300 for that.

Right, but neither would the 600's - I can't avoid that cost, which is why I'm happy to save some money for a lesser flash. Valid point though - you have to include the transmitter with the kit and it's way, way too expensive.

19

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Canon EOS 6D Service Advisory

« on: December 06, 2012, 09:14:18 PM »

Well, I can think of worse post-launch problems.

20

Speedlites, Printers, Accessories / Re: The Future Speedlites, Not Far Off Now? [CR2]

« on: December 05, 2012, 10:46:34 PM »

Well it's about time. I'm just getting into speedlites and am not interested in:

1.) Spending $1,200+ for a two light kit, or
2.) Buying a bunch of optical-only flashes and being restricted to line of sight.

A 4XX RT flash, if miracles exist, will be priced at or below $399 and I'll be able to afford two for the price of one 600RT.

21

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: What is the 6d actually good at (*positive* fact list)?

« on: December 02, 2012, 08:28:35 PM »

Awesome list - thanks for putting it together. Since I started using the 5dmkIII at work, all I've been wishing for was a lighter, less complicated camera for personal use - specifically one with a less complex autofocus system.

Tough to say until I see more reviews but with the early discounts on kit lenses I'm really hoping to see prices come down a touch after the holidays.

22

Lenses / Re: 16-35 ii on crop

« on: December 02, 2012, 08:22:07 PM »

Was wondering if anyone else loved using their 16-35mm on their crop cameras.

Personally I didn't find a lot of use at the 16mm end because of distortion. I tried the 14mm f2.8 prime (not a fisheye) and ended up with some really great shots, way better than the 16-35 on the low end.

I wound up rolling with a 14mm for close up action and a 70-200 for normal-telephoto. I virtually ignored the inbetween range.

23

Lenses / Re: Best Value "Normal" Lens for 6d?

« on: December 02, 2012, 08:19:06 PM »

No votes for the 40mm f/2.8? Talk about "best value", that lens is awesome.

Gets my vote - at $200 it was the easiest decision I've made. incredibly light, great focus, sharp images, and a metal mount.

The 50mm 1.4 is also great and about the same price, really. It's brighter, but the 40mm has a newer "STM" drive, which is supposedly nearly silent when paired with newer Canons. I'm assuming it will work for near silent focusing with the 6D as well.

Depends on your needs really - do you think you'll be taking a lot of videos? Is size and weight a consideration? Do you need silent focusing?

24

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: DUST!!!!!!! WHAT TO DO!?!?!?

« on: November 14, 2012, 11:16:12 PM »

Thank you Ryan,

I had actually yet to take a deep breath. Very relaxing. I am in Stillwater, OK but two of my shoots are in Tulsa this weekend so I'll take it in then. Good call on the consistant cleanings!

Neuro,

I have not yet bought a rocket blower, as Ryan mentioned, I assumed I would just get mine cleaned from time to time. Now is the time to invest a little in the rocket. (by the way, I saw some of your pics on flickr, great work!)

-Tabor

Right before NATO hit Chicago I had what looked like a spaghetti noodle (it was an eyelash) inside my body that put me through a few extra hours of grief in post processing.

Neuro is spot on. I carry a little puffer everywhere just in case. But it can be hard to see the specs on your back screen. Also, I'm just so, so lazy. I don't trust myself to not blow dust onto my sensor and would rather just leave it up to someone else.

25

EOS Bodies / Re: Hands On with the 6D at Photoplus CPS Lounge

« on: November 14, 2012, 11:06:19 PM »

The pattern detection of the 6d will be as bad as the 550d - non-cross points except for the center one. This is different from low light af performance, and here afaik Canon hasn't released any specs for the outer af points except that they are not as capable as the center one - so only real life reviews might be able to tell us.

Wouldn't the pattern detection benefit from the improved AF system like found in the 5DMkIII? I'm specifically talking about the new multiple AF scenarios and thresholds.

26

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: DUST!!!!!!! WHAT TO DO!?!?!?

« on: November 14, 2012, 10:52:35 PM »

First thing to do is take a deep breath. Then find a camera store that will clean it for you. Locally in Chicago we have Calumet. I think it's $35. I get my bodies cleaned every few months no matter what.

27

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 14, 2012, 10:50:47 PM »

Convince me to shoot in RAW

So that you can wear Jared Polin's "I shoot RAW" T-Shirts.

Dumb question: Are these shirts intended for people that proudly exclaim the format in which they shoot, or is it meant to mock RAW shooters who think they're better photographers just because they shoot RAW?

Not a dumb question. Very dumb t-shirt.

28

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Convince me to shoot in RAW

« on: November 10, 2012, 12:51:57 PM »

Especially if you have only been taking your photography seriously for a few months, you should be shooting in RAW.

1.) You're likely just finding your internal eye. A year from now, you will look back and find that the photo you thought was garbage is actually pretty remarkable, your RAW file will let you print it full size and correct it far better than a JPG will.

2. RAW is the raw data from your camera. Shooting in RAW will force you to be a better photographer, because all the easy-fix bells and whistles like Auto Lighting Optimizer don't work with RAW. Shooting in RAW shows you what mistakes you're making and doesn't let you get away with mistakes.

Learning to shoot, in my opinion, is only one part of the greater ecosystem of photography workflow. Learning how to edit your files and what to do with the images is the larger challenge. By shooting in RAW (or converting to DNG) you will be able to come back to these files in 5 or 10 years when you've accumulated a huge amount of knowledge and tweak them to your particular style, fixing exposure, contrast, and noise at a far greater level then you will with JPGs.

The "pro" photographers aren't just shooting photos and handing them off. They're manipulating their work, creating projects, and creating value far beyond just a simple photographic capture. When I shoot, I charge clients a matching hour for post processing for every hour of shooting. That's how important post processing is to me, and that's why I always shoot in RAW.

If file size is a problem, yes, you're going to have to boot for a new hard drive. You can get a terabyte for $100 these days. Another option is to get critical about your work and trash anything that isn't top notch. In my first year of shooting professionally I produced 12,000 photographs and in the end I kept 6,000 for my personal portfolio and passed maybe 1,000 on to clients. The rest were trash.

29

EOS Bodies / Re: How the iconic post-Sandy 'New York' cover photo shot w/ ID-X

« on: November 05, 2012, 07:19:25 PM »

Thanks for sharing - just goes to show, the gear helps but in the end it's the ingenuity of the photographer that tells the story.

30

EOS Bodies / Re: 6D or 5D Mk II

« on: October 31, 2012, 10:15:53 PM »

The question still is how power-efficient the gps will be because the solution inside a camera might need more juice like a $40 external tagger that runs 24h+ on one battery load. And I'd be surprised if the 6d will be as precise as dedicated taggers, esp. inside or in semi-shielded areas (houses, trees, ...).

Are there commercially available GPS applications that can connect while the user is indoors?