Topics

1

Third Party Manufacturers / Kenko teleconverter questions

« on: May 19, 2013, 03:10:11 PM »

1. How do teleconverters affect a lens's Minimum Focus Distance?

2. When I AFMA a lens with FoCal, it gives me a figure (+3 or -2, etc.) that I manually dial into my AFMA menu on my 5D3. But when I then attach a Kenko 1.4x teleconverter between that lens and body, the body goes nuts. To regain control, I must remove the battery for at least 5 seconds. If I disable AFMA, I can attach and use the lens and teleconverter without a problem. So, is there any way to get AFMA to play nice with Kenko teleconverters, or must I always remember to disable AFMA before using it? And do Canon teleconverters face this same issue?

2

Canon General / Photographer for Apple uses 5DIII + 24-70mm (Peter Belanger)

« on: May 08, 2013, 02:56:04 PM »

Interesting article on The Verge about Peter Belanger and how he uses his 5D to shoot Apple product photos. He does some amazing stuff with lighting to get his creative results. Here's the link:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/8/4311868/the-illusion-of-simplicity-photographer-peter-belanger-on-shooting

3

Canon General / Any CR folks headed to NANPA?

« on: February 14, 2013, 08:32:55 AM »

NANPA (North American Nature Photographers Association) is holding their annual Summit in Jacksonville, FL, Feb 28 - Mar 3, 2013. Canon Professional Services will be there. I'll be there, too, and was wondering if any other CR Forum members are planning to attend.

4

Lenses / Lens mount play

« on: January 06, 2013, 10:44:16 AM »

My new 5D3 has a bit of play in its lens mount. Regardless of lens, once fully mounted you can move the lens slightly left and right while on the body. This doesn't appear to affect performance in any way, but the loose tolerance seems strange to me. I then checked my year-old T3i with a similar group of lenses and found that it too has a bit of play, although it seems to be a bit less.

Is this considered normal? Has anyone else noticed this with their bodies?

If my 5D3's mount needs tightening, I'd like to get it done while it's still under warranty. But it says a lot about QC if Canon is letting these things out the door with loose mounts. Can anyone else chime in on their mount(s), so I'll know if my situation is an anomaly? Thanks.

5

Software & Accessories / AFMA advice sought

« on: December 30, 2012, 01:28:55 PM »

I recently purchased a 5D3 after owning only Rebels. I would like to insure that my 5D's auto-focus is as accurate as can be with my lenses, present and future. With much talk of AFMA on this forum, I was hoping to get some advice on which tools are best. It seems Lens Align II and FoCal (I use a Mac) come up more frequently than homebrew solutions, but I'm not sure where to start. Can those of you with lots of AFMA experience offer any words of wisdom?

6

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Birds in flight, advice wanted

« on: November 28, 2012, 12:50:20 PM »

I took my new 5D3 out over Thanksgiving weekend to try my hand at birds in flight with decidedly mixed results.

Having never attempted this before and having done no research, I did my best to find the optimum mix of ISO to shutter speed to aperture to AF traits with my EF 35-350 (no IS) mounted to a purposefully loose tripod head.

I chose AI Servo, Case #3, focus first, center zone. I found that in the early morning/late evening light an ISO of 800-6400 was required, but 3200 and above seemed awfully noisy. My slow lens begged to be shot wide open at f/5.6. And I was surprised that I was unable to stop the action (mostly gliding sandhill cranes, but some excitable geese/ducks, as well) with anything slower than 1/4000 of a second.

I'll attach one of my better shots from early morning. f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 800, 350mm, tripod

Can anyone offer some general rules of thumb for setting up to shoot birds and birds in flight, especially with the 5D3? 1/4000 seems awfully fast, requiring a high ISO and wide aperture. When comparing my newby results to the many amazing BIF shots on this and similar forums, I realize that I have A LOT to learn. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

7

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Projection question

« on: October 24, 2012, 11:25:19 PM »

I'll soon be giving a number of presentations using various digital projectors (those owned by the hosts: typically libraries, schools and businesses). The ambient lighting and age/quality of the projectors will vary.

Sadly, the projectors I've seen typically lack adequate contrast and sharpness--especially in rooms without good window blinds--resulting in washed out photography that diminishes the quality of the show.

My question is this: I currently shoot RAW with a T3i, 10-22 EFs, 15-85 EFs, and 70-300 EF DO. I need a compact/lightweight kit, since I travel solo and internationally via motorcycle. The results I achieve with this body and these lenses is acceptable when zoomed out to maybe 50%. But when I'm editing at 100%, I'm more often than not dissatisfied with the sharpness, color fidelity and detail (on a Dell 24" Ultra-Sharp, color-calibrated monitor). This leads me to spend too much time in post trying to right the wrongs.

So, being a perfectionist, I'm considering biting the bullet and purchasing bigger/heavier/more expensive gear, in spite of my serious space/weight limitations, in the hopes that IQ will dramatically improve when I peer at it at 100%. But then I think, "you're only posting to the web in small sizes that already look fine. You rarely print anything (although I'd like to start printing more). And you just don't know enough about projection technology to say whether a 5D3 image is going to look one iota better than a T3i image, regardless of lenses employed, when thrown across the room onto a screen or wall."

Any advice from those of you with projection experience would be greatly appreciated.