Messages

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Software & Accessories / Anyone got Eye-Fi working with 5D3 with FW1.2.1?

« on: May 06, 2013, 08:10:42 PM »

Has anyone had Eye-Fi problems since updating their firmware?

My camera will no longer activate my Eye-Fi card when I "enable it" in the menu.  It's not working but I don't know whether it's the new firmware or the card is just bad since I haven't used the Eye-fi wireless in awhile.

EDIT:  Never mind, I got it working.  It turns out that the firmware update changed playback of my dual cards to use the CF card which means images I lock as a flag to selective transfer via Eye-Fi wasn't getting recognized and thus the card didn't think there was any images to transfer.  Changing the playback card to the Eye-Fi card fixed this.

PS. the good news is that I haven't had any occasional Err80 issues since the firmware update, but it's perhaps too early to conclude that issue was completely resolved with the new firmware.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: EOS 5D Mark III Firmware 1.2.1 Available for Download

« on: May 06, 2013, 08:08:22 PM »

Has anyone had Eye-Fi problems since updating their firmware?

My camera will no longer activate my Eye-Fi card when I "enable it" in the menu.  It's not working but I don't know whether it's the new firmware or the card is just bad since I haven't used the Eye-fi wireless in awhile.

EDIT:  Never mind, I got it working.  It turns out that the firmware update changed playback of my dual cards to use the CF card which means images I lock as a flag to selective transfer via Eye-Fi wasn't getting recognized and thus the card didn't think there was any images to transfer.  Changing the playback card to the Eye-Fi card fixed this.

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Pricewatch Deals / Re: Nik Collection Bundle for $126.65

« on: March 31, 2013, 04:55:07 PM »

I use Nik quite a lot in my workflow. It's great for adding a little punch to a photo. It integrates very well into CS6 and Lightroom. Silver Efex Pro and Viveza are the ones I use the most. Usually for messing with the Sky. The u-point makes it very easy to make local adjustments without complicated work with Layers. I'd say its a bargain . The downside is lots more people will use it which makes the effects less special and more common. What was a hidden secret (especially Silver Efex Pro) will now be commonly used
www.flickr.com/fergalocallaghan

Hi, since you use it, maybe you can answer my question I had just before your post.
Working with these NIK plugins....are you doing this to RAW files non-destructively...or does using each one of these plug ins (not the HDR one)...output like a TIFF file....

Just wondering if these fit into workwith with RAW all the way through, and then outputting TIFF or Jpeg at the end...or if these plugins put out TIFF/jpeg, and you should only use them at the end of the workflow?

Thanks,

C

Works OK with LR work flow.  When you open a file to edit with Nik products, it produces a virtual copy (tiff) that you can edit to your heart's content.  The original RAW is preserved as its own file.

Hmm..ok, that's what I was afraid of....I'm using Aperture. I like that it, much like Lightroom, allows you to make all the adjustments to the RAW file (well, technically just keeping track of what all to apply to it)...but you don't actually move to jpeg or tiff till you're finished.

These plugins, would be best used at the very END of your workflow, after you've done everything you want with LR or Aperture....and do these as final steps before outputting the images.

That kinda blows, but seems the nature of the beast with plugins to our 'development' software....was hoping these weren't that way.

Thoughts?

C

In Aperture, I usually only adjust the overall exposure in Aperture before going to NIK (usually Viveza for couloir photos). As I said before, once you use their u-point tonal mask adjustments, you'll realize how foolish it is trying to do global adjustments in Aperture. Seldom do two tones in any given photo need the same adjustment.  After NIK, I use Aperture to sharpen the final TIFF (I still prefer Apertures sharpening in most cases).

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Pricewatch Deals / Re: Nik Collection Bundle for $126.65

« on: March 31, 2013, 02:21:53 PM »

For those wondering where the power in NIK lies, in my opinion, its in Vivezas u-point tonal mask adjustments. If you've ever heard about luminosity masks in Photoshop, they are a powerful tool for applying adjustments naturally to select tones or regions of an image. They are much more natural than painting with brushes as they feather naturally with the change in selected tone. NIK has made this complicated and time consuming task a point and click exercise. Once you've used it, you will realize the folly of applying global adjustments to your entire image. That's barbaric in comparison to what you could be doing

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Lenses / Re: Why aren't zoom lenses faster than 2.8?

« on: February 22, 2013, 03:41:38 AM »

Canon makes a wicked 35-3500mm f1.7 IS lens for HDTV... The only problem? You need a trunk to carry it and it costs $200K 

http://www.canon.com/premium-lib/movie/t002/index.html

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: What is white balance and what's the correct way to use it?

« on: January 17, 2013, 10:51:51 PM »

Dear Original Poster,

If this is your first experience with White Balance ... stop looking at this post and immediately run into the other room where your significant other is sitting and give them a big hug.  Then swiftly seize your camera and using whatever settings are full auto (green box) take a bunch of pictures.  Burst, Timed, Horizontal, Vertical, anything.  Then download them onto your computer and look at them together and talk about the great expressions, and the fun you had taking the pictures, and then go get an ice cream.  When your done, come back home and snuggle and then right before bed, when you are sitting up reading a book... reach over, grab your camera, and snap another few pictures under the soft white light of the lamp on the nightstand.  Maybe even splurge with a couple of hilarious self portraits together.  Then go to bed and dream about how you'll look at these great pictures tomorrow. 
This is immensely important.  If you don't do this, you'll be missing out on your last chance to take a picture and ... deep breath everyone ... not be critical of it.  The fact is, white balance is an enormous rat hole.  Once you start down this path you won't ever go back to that happy place where a sorta exposed, lamp lit, color suppresed, low contrast image will do.  Oh no my friend, from now on its not about taking pictures ... its about taking pictures with grey cards and modifiers and obsessing about Kelvins.  In fact, you wont even be able to walk into someones house without thinking 'You really should have used color balanced 5500k bulbs in those lamps with white shades'.  And for awhile folks will think ... maybe he's got something there.  But then after hanging out with you and your custom white balanced buddy's for a night, the rest of your friends will start to think ... 'Man, if I'm not wearing a shirt with a red ring on it or holding a grey card this guy doesn't even notice me'.  And they couldn't be farther from the truth because you and I both know you for sure noticed them.  In fact, you noticed they were lit with a 2700k soft white bulb from home depot and its not doing much for their skin tones.

  Cheers!

LOL... Book worthy!   

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EOS Bodies / Re: New 5D Mark III Firmware Before the End of May [CR2]

« on: January 17, 2013, 01:46:25 AM »

Perhaps it will upgrade the 5D3 to match the performance of the 6D

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Canon General / Re: Hey Canon, I've got cash to burn, but...

« on: January 15, 2013, 03:30:58 AM »

I'm with the OP... Canon does seem to be making too many compromises lately and not delivering products people really want.

I can't recall a single product announcement in the last year that wasn't met with some level of disappointment in capability and dropped jaws on price.

Consider:
- A 5D3 with no improvement in sensor tech but launches at almost double the price of the 5D2
- A 6D which is basically a 5D2 in new clothes at a 50% premium over a 5D2
- A 24-70 f4 IS that offers less focal range at double the price of the old 24-105
- A 24-70 f2.8 still without IS at double the price of the old 24-70 (Tamron is now out-innovating them on IS?)
- Yet to rub it all in, we get new wide primes with IS that no body wants

Has there ever been a time in history when Canon has disappointed this much? 

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 and FoCal errors

« on: January 04, 2013, 04:37:10 PM »

I really don't think you can beat shooting pics of an angled yard stick when it comes to MA.

If you're going to use a DIY setup for AFMA, do it right - use a flat focus target oriented in the same plane as the image sensor, aligned and level, and if you use a yardstick, use it only to judge the DoF, not as the focus target.  There's a very good reason why all of the commercial solutions use a flat target perpendicular to the lens axis.  Here's a viable DIY setup that mimics the commercial tools. 

That's exactly what I meant.

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Site Information / Re: Smartphone users - interested in Tapatalk?

« on: January 04, 2013, 03:30:38 AM »

I recently discovered Tapatalk... Awesome app for notifying you when someone replies to a thread you've subscribed to. A much better alternative to filling your inbox with email notifications.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 and FoCal errors

« on: January 04, 2013, 03:18:57 AM »

I really don't think you can beat shooting pics of an angled yard stick when it comes to MA. Your brain is bound to be much better than any software at determining where the focal plane is.  Just a few shots will tell you if you have front focus or back focus issues (or both - usually confirming your lens is a Sigma) and you can narrow in quickly on a good setting you know you can trust later. 

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Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Eye-fi card and 5D3 experiences

« on: August 22, 2012, 02:42:05 PM »

Is anyone getting an occasional Error 80?  I have been having the odd Error every few hundred shots.   There were a number of folks reporting this when the 5D3 first launched, and one thing we all had in common was an Eye-Fi card.

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Software & Accessories / Re: Any Apple Aperture users? Please chime in!

« on: August 14, 2012, 06:51:10 PM »

I use Aperture and the whole Nik Suite - which is an awesome combination

Ditto.  Awesome!

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EOS Bodies / Re: NEW FF Body that is able to take EF-S Lens

« on: June 19, 2012, 04:51:50 PM »

It's silly if you think about it... The image circle of an EF-S lens is not large enough to fill a FF sensor.  Even if you could make it work mechanically it will look like you have massive black vignetting on all your images, forcing you to crop the image to what a crop sensor would produce.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon's Mirrorless Entry

« on: June 19, 2012, 04:48:10 PM »

I don't understand how this would be appealing to anyone.  One advantage Canon has over most others is their amazing EF and EF-S lens selection.  To start from scratch with a whole new mount does not help differentiate them at all.