Messages

1

Canon General / Re: Seeking advice for corporate sporting event gear

« on: May 20, 2013, 04:19:00 PM »

I think in this situation, less is more.  I would bring the 5DMIII, the 70-200, and either the 24-70 or the 50mm.  If I were doing this just for the Company, I wouldn't want to be bogged down with all this equipment, changing lenses, toting around a big camera bag, etc.  You want to have fun at this event too, I'm guessing.  Being outdoors, the 70-200 I think is plenty to catch the action up close.  The wide angle or the 50mm prime would be good enough to capture the scenery surrounding the events. 

I don't think you need a backup body.  If your camera bugs out, remember you aren't getting paid.  Same thing could happen with someone who volunteers with a point and shoot.

Less is more.

2

Technical Support / Re: Is this dust or sensor damage?!

« on: April 11, 2013, 08:29:40 AM »

dust shouldn't show up at f/2, but see if it is more pronounced stopped down.

3

Canon General / Re: Physical Ailments From Heavy Gear

« on: February 05, 2013, 09:56:14 AM »

I have found if I am shooting in excess of 4 hours and mainly with the heavier kit like the 70-200, I experience pain and fatigue in my 'trigger' hand between the index and middle fingers - I wonder if there is some kind of long term problem. It goes away after a couple of days. I suspect that the longer lenses further complicate the equation as it not only weight but a combination of weight and the moment forces due to the perpendicular direction of the forces.

I had the same issue, shooting with a 50D after a 5-6 hour wedding.  My right hand would just pure ache.  I determined my problem was that I was using to much grip power with my right hand and not enough support power with the left hand, which caused the aching after several hours.  It was not a conscious thing I was doing, but now that I am more aware of what I was doing, I have consciously made an effort to provide better support with my non-trigger hand.  This has helped.  I also mainly shoot with a larger body (5DM3) now and have had no issues.

4

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Best HDR Software?

« on: January 14, 2013, 10:04:55 AM »

I use Photomatix Pro 4.  I don't use it to make unrealistic photos.  I really like the B&W presets it has, then fine tune back in Lightroom. 

IMO, the photo used above isn't a good HDR candidate to compare processes.  In Lightroom, you could probably use the Highlight and Shadow slider to get the same end result as the photos shown.  If you took a photo will a dimly lit room, lit by lampshades, that may have been a better candidate to work with.

5

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d2 officially discontinued.

« on: December 24, 2012, 08:36:56 AM »

Does this mean that Canon will no longer service a discontinued item?  Just bought mine as a backup a month ago and has a 1-year warranty.  I'm sure they will honor the warranty, but what about after the year is up?

6

Canon General / Re: How to shoot parties (general stuff: birthday, halloween, casual gatherings)

« on: October 26, 2012, 08:56:52 AM »

First, why f/8?  During your test shots, a low ISO and small aperture is making your flash work a lot harder.  A hard working flash will overpower any ambient light in the room and only light up the subject in the foreground, leaving the background dark. 

If you have several people in a frame you are photographing, I would shoot at f/4.  If only one person, you can open up the aperture to let more light in.  You can shoot at 1/60 to 1/80, or less if you can.  The flash should help freeze motion in the foreground.  Also increasing your ISO will help with the ambient light in the background.  Bounce the flash as said previously.

For tips:  Don't always shoot standing tall.  Take photos from different perspectives.  Stand on chairs, crouch down, etc....  Also, know what's happening and when and be there to catch it.  Sometimes this doesn't work, as parties are mostly spontaneous.  Just be aware of what's going on and enjoy yourself.

7

Software & Accessories / Re: Lightroom 4.2 update

« on: October 03, 2012, 02:17:17 PM »

Once I import photos from my harddrive into LR, before I go into the Develop module, I wait for all the photos to "load", by waiting for the 3 tiny dots to disappear from each photo, indicating the photo is loaded.  The problem is, only the photos that are displayed on the screen actually "load", so I then have to scroll down to have the next line(s) of photos to show on the screen before they actually load.

You don't have to do this.  It sounds like you have LR set to build "minimal" previews on import.  Then it has to work hard to load them later.  Instead, set LR to build "1:1" or "standard" previews on import.  This way the import process takes longer, but the previews are all built when it's done.  This setting (called "Render Previews") is in the top right of the Import screen. 

Also, I've heard it's good to give LR a big cache for Camera Raw Settings.  This is done in LR Preferences, under File Handling.

Awesome, I'll take a look when I get home today.  Thank you.

8

Software & Accessories / Re: Lightroom 4.2 update

« on: October 03, 2012, 02:01:14 PM »

So basically nothing to fix the VERYVERY uselessly slow performance.....

I don't have a performance problem.  Sounds like a configuration issue if you have a PC.

I have a PC (with plenty of RAM, etc.) and maybe someone can answer my problem about loading photos into Lightroom.  Once I import photos from my harddrive into LR, before I go into the Develop module, I wait for all the photos to "load", by waiting for the 3 tiny dots to disappear from each photo, indicating the photo is loaded.  The problem is, only the photos that are displayed on the screen actually "load", so I then have to scroll down to have the next line(s) of photos to show on the screen before they actually load.  I have the thumbnails set to the smallest setting so more photos are on the screen at once in the Library module.  Is there something I'm missing or I'm doing wrong.  I would rather have all the photos load on their own and go do something useful, instead of having to scroll down every 30 seconds until my 1,000 photos or so are finished loading.  The reason I make sure all the photos are loaded, meaning the 3 dots have disappeared, is so that in the Develop module it doesn't take forever for a single photo to become ready for adjustments.