Messages

1

Lenses / Re: EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x Availability

« on: April 17, 2013, 03:14:46 AM »

eml58 knows why we have been waiting for this lens.

If that is not your intended use simply ignore the matter.

2

EOS Bodies / Re: Is it too late to buy a Canon 7D?

« on: April 14, 2013, 01:33:21 AM »

+ 1 jrista

Very balanced opinion.

3

EOS Bodies / Out of this world camera?

« on: January 10, 2013, 08:25:40 AM »

Check out this image of Astronaut Chris Hadfield taking photos on the ISS

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/australian_fires_from_space/


This camera is probably higher than the price of the new 200-400 zoom lens.

4

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Thoughts on the New EOS-1D X Firmware 1.1.1

« on: December 10, 2012, 12:36:15 AM »

What exactly was Firmware 1.1.1 supposed to solve?

I have picked up two 1DX bodies on Friday 8 December, numbers 053011002582 and 63012000973.

Upgraded both to Firmware 1.1.1

Went out to do BIF early on Saturday morning using a 400 2.8 Series II lens with a Series III 1.4 extender.
Body 053011002582 freezes solid and gives Error 80, have to remove battery to recover.

Later in the day body 63012000973 freezes solid when used with the 85mm 1.2 lens. Recovers when switched off, occasionally gives extreme overexposure with the 85 mm 1.2.

Let’s face it, on those occasions that the AF actually works, it is an amazing camera! Sharp BIF captures are reduced to merely selecting the proper focus option, pointing in the general direction of the bird and pressing the shutter button. High ISO allows high speeds that takes care of movement, a real pleasure to shoot, but only if it works.

I am not part of a Beta testing program, and I buy my own gear privately, so it is totally unacceptable to get reduced to a spectator with Canon gear in excess of 17000 dollars when the camera fails.

5

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 1DX err80

« on: December 08, 2012, 08:27:31 AM »

Picked up two 1DX bodies yesterday.

Upgraded to firmware 1.1.1

Error 80 after 230 shots on one shooting 400 f2.8 with 1.4 Mk 3 extender.

No customization on firmware.

6

Technical Support / Re: Best Methods For Long Term File Storage ??

« on: November 15, 2012, 02:13:13 AM »

You could also consider Thecus N7700 series.

Refer to http://www.thecus.com/product.php?PROD_ID=14

It basically seems to be Freenas with a reasonable management GUI in a 7 slot box with support for both Apple and PC and iSCSI et al..

Supports RAID 5 and 6 and now has a 10GE interface.

I run a 7x2TB and a 7x3 TB setup which yields 8TB and 12 TB formatted data space.  I prefer RAID 6 as it can take more than 12 hours to rebuild a failed array. This puts a RAID 5 setup at risk during the rebuild window.

The Thecus does only have 1 power supply, so there is no redundancy and hence a single point of failure, but it has been good enough for SOHO use. In three years I have not had any failures except for drives.

I prefer normal Seagate drives, not the more expensive Enterprise quality, they last between 14000 and 18000 hours, that is between 1.5 and 2 years, and the price is OK. In my setup WD has had recurring failures in the first 1000 hours.
 
Swopping drives are easy. The system is hot pluggable so you simply unplug the drive carrier, loosen the four screws that hold the failed drive, replace drive, refasten and plug back. The system detects the new drive and functions in Degraded mode until fully rebuilt. No real impact on user experience.

7

EOS Bodies / Re: Has Canon entered the Graveyard Spiral?

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

@iso79

Absolutely correct observation.

Never even been near a shutter release: http://lorettasteyn.blogspot.com/

8

EOS Bodies / Re: Has Canon entered the Graveyard Spiral?

« on: November 12, 2012, 11:25:43 AM »

Thanks Privatebydesign

Great review.

The Series 2 Teles are superb!

9

EOS Bodies / Has Canon entered the Graveyard Spiral?

« on: November 12, 2012, 10:51:41 AM »

Between the wife and myself we have 5 Canon bodies and 18 lenses of which only the 15mm fish eye and an old 100 macro are not L glass, with 7 series 2 lenses, so there is a sizable investment in Canon kit.

But the dissatisfaction with Canon’s tardiness is steadily mounting.

On a recent leopard safari the Nikon D4 crowd simply ran away with shots compared to the best our 1D Mk4s could deliver. We are not only talking sensor performance, although we lived like lepers with only ISO 1600 max, the most frustrating feature is that the fitting of a flash to the 1D Mk4 forces Auto ISO to fix at 400. Damn nuisance if you are doing night work, want to work Manual at ISO 1600 with a fill flash and the clever Canon firmware decides that it is time to override your settings.  The 1DX has the same problem  feature. This could explain why 7 out of the 10 photographers that joined the leopard safari shot Nikon.

Then there is the long wait for the release of partially sorted equipment.

I waited almost 2 years for the 24-70 Mk II lens. The 200-400 lens, as staple for wildlife shooting in the Nikon stable, is yet nowhere in sight. Would also love a 14-24 for landscape work….

All recently released bodies had significant problems and required post release upgrades and firmware replacement.

A lot of noise being made about the 1DX, probably the best copy of a Nikon 3D that Canon ever produced, and is probably marginally better than the D3, I seems a capable camera but only if compared to the previous Nikon model. It is the probably the very best Canon camera but that is a bit like being the most beautiful girl at an all-male party.

IMHO it seems that the constant release of superior Nikon products is forcing Canon’s hand. Canon has since the release of the D300 been in catch up mode and are being forced to announce products that are still on the drawing board, and then have to rush half-baked stuff to market, at prices that exceed the Nikon range.
Has Canon fallen terminally behind?

My concern is the rate at which the local photo community is switching to Nikon. With profitability already down Canon is yielding significant market share to innovative and high quality Nikon products and that means less money, also for R&D, resulting in less capable kit, resulting in less sales, resulting in less money…..

Should they rather focus on the point and shoot consumer market and leave the high end stuff to professionals?

10

EOS Bodies / Re: Are there 39mp & 50mp+ Test Bodies in the Wild? [CR1]

« on: October 22, 2012, 02:35:46 PM »

Counting pixels versus photosites could be confusing.
On an Foveon sensor  you could count every pixel site a 3 effective pixels due to the stacked sensors.
So the mighty D800 with 36 MP could probably be a 12 MP Foveon sensor. Nikon has long had a use for 12 MP semsors.
In the same way Canon is stuck at 18 MP sensors so look out for a 54 MP Foveon type sensor from them.

11

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Auto ISO and flash usage 1 D Mk 4

« on: October 19, 2012, 06:38:24 AM »

Hi
I am currently in the African bush photographing leopards with a 1D Mk4.
Many of the shots require fill flash.
The use of a Speedlight locks the ISO at 400.
This limits exposure and shutter speed settings as you require a high shutter speed, more than 500, and depth of field, F5.6 or higher, to capture action shots.
Is there a cure for this?
The guys with the D4 Nikons have no hassles as Auto ISO stays Auto ISO, irrespective of flash usage, the flash listens to the camera and does not dictate to the camera as the Canon flash seems to be doing.
Does the 1DX support ISO for flash usage or does it also enforces ISO 400, meaning that I may have to shop on the dark side??