CanonFanBoy said:

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What would you recommend?
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Hi CanonFanBoy!

Quite difficult little task you give us here. Why?
Because reality looks different

I think there are a lot of good answers to your definition of task, so I don't need to add another.
But I did give a lot advice to friends of mine asking me for good camera equipment.
That's what I was asking them? (in addition I did some explanation, if they weren't familiar with photography)

• What's your budget? Answers: mostly far below 1000$/€
• What do you want to take pictures of? Answers, differing a lot: children, friends, animals, nature, vacation, etc.
• What are your preferences for equipment? Answers, differing a lot: high IQ, weight, size, versatility
• Do you think of exchangeable lenses and would you really use it? Answers: mostly no
• Do you prefer low light capability or wide zoom range? Answers: both *lol*

So for those, who still were interested in an ILC system the budget was still far away what you give us here.
And I ended up in suggesting them a good Rebel/xxxD body with the STM double zoom kit and a explicit recommendation to take a closer look at the 50/1.8 STM and the pancake lenses, because of their IQ and low light capabilities. Of course other systems were also taken into account. But only those that had something similar to the EF 50/1.8 STM. That is a real stunner when it comes to beginners and low budget.

Another story fitting quite well here, showing you need to know, what the beginner wants:
When I asked a friend of mine if she was still dedicated to photography after she bought a double zoom kit in parallel to the birth of her first child, she said "No! Because the pictures don't pop!"
I took a shot from the hip of her toddler with my portrait prime - small DOF - and asked: "Like that?"
Answer: "Yes! That's it."
Now she's heading for a 50/1.8 for her APS-C (because the 1.4 is too much for the budget).
And she has to pay a lot more because she decided for Nikon before she asked me So no EF 50/1.8 STM

PBD - that's exactly what I did...viewed the RAW comparison, downloaded the files, played with them and came to a conclusion. I've also downloaded RAW files from other sites. I stand by my observation.

On average it took about 0.5 extra sharpening in DPP for the 1DXII to match the others in sharpness. Even then, I still found certain fine details remained "smoothed out". Again, to most people this is splitting hairs, or "pixel-peeping" or whatever you want to call it - and this doesn't mean the camera is bad (I'm still in the market for one should the push arise)...but it is something I've noted and will be keeping a close eye on with the upcoming 5D4. My guess is a stronger AA filter but I don't know.

This is mainly at lower ISO settings - once you get to ISO 3200 and higher, dialing down the noise reduction a couple notches below the default on the 1DXII image more or less appears to equalize things.

chrysoberyl said:

slclick said:

dslrdummy said:

Thanks for the heads up slclick. Presumably all manual focus.

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Oh for certain, but still 5 releases is pretty cool

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Manual focus only? Wasn't there talk about Samyang autofocus lenses?

But what I'd like to see is a 50mm manual focus 1:1 macro. Or 2:1.

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++1
or A++
:

That particular accent is called "Tankero" and I know it because I come from where it is spoken.

slclick said:

Like I said for people new-ish to the craft as I knew there would be multiple out of context or supposedly better advice from seasoned shooters. Everything has to be picked apart I guess online.

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I'm with you on this one and learned the hard way.

When I decided I wanted to move up to FF I bought the L glass first so that I would have it when I got the camera. This gave me great glass for my crop camera at the time, but also made the move to FF all that much more enjoyable.

AlanF, a very happy golden anniversary to the two of you. Many more happy years to come. Have fun on your trips shooting and doing other stuff

Look forward to the pics.

vscd said:

GMCPhotographics said:

I think one of the biggest weaknesses of the 5DIII camera is the SD slot. Pop a card in both slots, put the camera into max fps mode and the buffer lasts a few seconds. Pop the SD card out and the buffer lasts for 5-6 seconds before filling up. So yes, it's good news about the 5D4.

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So what's exactly the good news here, as the 5DM4 is supposed to have a SD Card slot again? I never trusted SD-Cards, by the way, as they often failed. While CF Cards were always relyable.

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The 5d3 had the second gen SD card slot which would only read/write data at about 21mb per second. The specs seem to point to the much newer UHS-II format which could give speeds of upto 156mb per second and thus is a lot more useful (and cheaper).

Anyone have any experience with the Sigma 300mm f2.8 prime? I'd be interested to hear any and all experience but particularly that of anyone who has also used the Canon 300's (Non IS, IS I and IS II)

I always use OEM inks - not worth traying anything else.

Paper stock is a very individual thing and I've got 3 or 4 favourites depending on gloss / matte / fine art / cheaper prints.

It can take all eternity to find the right paper and I have to persuade paper suppliers for free samples or else those sample packs can add to up to many £££.

The thing that drives me mad is getting profiles for each paper. To properly evaluate each I need to get a profile made up and then test. I have a couple of great images that show up issues or character.

Even when I've got a profile (professionally) done it can often require a little editing. Fortunately I've got an old icc profile editor.

Prints now are looking great - after going through the whole process all over again... grrr...

neuroanatomist said:

Glad it was an easy fix, even if not totally painless.

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Yep, totally painless ;D
It's time to pay attention to the prevailing CR viewpoint with filters...
Just Get B&W Genuine-only. That eBay deal that looks too good to be true... ???

-pw

Act444 said:

I have zero experience with extenders so I will defer to someone who has used them before. If AF tracking and speed is critical, the 7D2/500 may be more responsive, however that's just a guess...

But I will say that the thought of a 5D3/500/1.4 combo enters my mind occasionally as well. As if the cost barrier wasn't enough to overcome, there's also the weight/transport barrier as well! The largest/bulkiest lens I have handled up to this point is the 28-300L (a lens I no longer have), and I understand the "great whites" are in a totally different category otherwise...Constraint: I need something I can handhold.

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Sorry I thought I was replying to Alan who has experience with many combinations! But all opinions are welcome. To tell the truth I do have these combinations but never manage to make comparisons. I have used mostly 7D2 with 500 (with some AFMA). 1.4XIII needs also the same amount of AFMA and ... a tripod.

The 500 works fine with my 5D3 . But I have not tried 5D3 with 500 + 1.4XIII up to now.

Now back to handholding: 7D2 + 400DO IS II is an excellent (and handholdable) combination. I have tried that many times when I was getting tired of holding the 500 (So I guess 600 is out of the question for me!)

CanonFanBoy said:

pj1974 said:

Hi Everyone

The new Cactus v6ii (and v6iis - for Sony) have just been announced... and I, for one, am impressed. Early this year, I heard about the v6ii versions coming out (including their basic specs), and that prevented me from buying any other radio triggers.

http://www.cactus-image.com/v6ii.html

…
Would appreciate hearing from 'lighting / flash folk' here, on your thoughts about these new Cactus triggers, and whether others think they'll buy (with reasons) or not (with reasons).

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I've not used them myself, but if it will work across all your flahes and you can use them all together it would be a no brainer to me. Good luck Paul.

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Thanks CanonFanBoy for your reply and contribution.

Yes, this is one reason why I am attracted to the Cactus v6 ii triggers, the fact that they are compatible with my current 4 (non radio) flashes, AND can use these should I add other gear, or ‘change system’ (e.g. go mirrorless in the future, or even change brand). My current 4 flashes will work with the Cactus triggers on the most likely combinations of system and brand that may be in the future.

Not that I’m necessarily wanting or planning to do this (I love Canon DSLRs at the moment, and am very happy with my DSLR bodies and EF & EF-S lenses). However I am keeping my options open, and the Cactus system currently presents the most attractive option in terms of future proofing across systems and brands.

I would love to hear (read) more from CR folks in this thread, and discover whom have used the v6 (or even better the v6 ii) with regards to usability, functionality and reliability, as well as cross-brand experiences.

Regards, and also best wishes to you too CanonFanBoy. 8)

After a bit more testing with Zone AF and then single point AF (which I've always used in the past) it seems single point AF is somewhat quicker; I guess the camera doesn't have 9 points to check for focus...

Eldar go the whole hog and get a digital director

Use manual mode in FoCal - quite easy to do and we've discussed it in earlier threads. I verified with LensAlign or similar setup (target and angled yardstick) afterwards.

As almost all my Canon gear has AF problems, this concept would be really welcomed !!

GMCPhotographics said:

I've been using 85L and 35L's for more years than I care to comment on. Using the 85L you will always need spot focus on the 5DIII to nail the thin dof. I've never had any issue with the af accuracy. The only time the 1Dx's af is superior is when it can use face recognition and colour tracking during AI servo with all the points enabled. Other than that, the AF is so close there is no appreciable difference. I've tracked razor bills in flight with both using my 400mm f2.8 LIS. 80K for a 1Dx or is barely broken in. Most of the S/H ones I've seen for sale in the UK have had 700K shots and look pretty worse fro ware and the retailers still want over £3K for them! Insane pricing.

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I do have very good accuracy with the 5Ds+85LII combo, but my impression so far is that I have more misses when using off center AF-points on the 5Ds, than I see with my 1DX. The most significant difference is AF-speed.

In Norway, I´ve seen several used 1DXs with low shutter counts and prices at or lower than £2600/$3400.

AlanF said:

Also because a particular detail is spread out over more pixels, the transitions of contrast are spread out and there is lower perceived acutance.

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Logical!
Thanks, Alan.

Mikehit said:

[email protected] said:

Both the 5D3 and 1DX are great choices. Buy one, but do so based on your sense of the form factor. You really need to handle the 1DX for an afternoon to know if it's for you. When the 5D4 comes out I'm going to sell and get the new 5 series.

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Thank you for your feedback comparing the different models, Tiggy.

I agree with the comments about the form factor - what is your thought on a 700k 1Dx? If the shutter is new is there anything else I should be considering?

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I would be concerned about a 700K camera - mirrorbox might need adjustments (bdunbar has some problems in his two bodies). I recently purchased a 1DX with just under 55K clicks. Before committing, I called the local CPS repair center and asked them what I should be looking for and based on the serial number, they could tell me the service history.

Personally, I don't notice the size/weight difference between the 5D3 and the 1DX, partly due to using a monopod.

LDS said:

UnholyRacket said:

Thanks to Canon for the fix, but why did this not get picked up in testing? Sandisk are hardly a niche card manufacturer.

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Probably because tests weren't designed to pick this. Hope Canon updated its tests now (and the 5D4 doesn't need workarounds) . It would be interesting to know why - AFAIK - only the 1Dx II + SanDisk combination triggers this, and if there are issues at the hardware level - and on which side (if not both). If hardware is OK, maybe they will eventually deliver a full fix (which may require more complex changes, and time to test them to avoid another bad situation), if a recall is needed, well, that's expensive, and will be the last option.

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Certainly the SanDisk card operates in a slightly different way than the other manufacturers' cards. From what has been written publicly, it seems like it needs to have the power on slightly longer than other cards, to avoid the last ~5MB written getting corrupted.

Testing is based on many criteria, but one of them is usually worst-case scenarios; e.g. highest number of new files being created/second, highest bandwidth written (both user-seen BW and internal BW) and so on.
For example, the flash memory in the CF/CFast is written in "chunks", so you will have an expansion of the data-rate when you spill over to using just one byte of the final "chunk" (Unrealistic example: 16MB+1byte becomes 17MB).

My guess is that even though stills can be shot at up to ~450MB/sec (16fps * 28MB/image @ ISO3200), the Motion-JPEG video storage requires even more bandwidth, so this was a metric to test for, but the test engineers didn't expect the power-off/change-cards scenarios to be important.

The old RISC-processor maxim comes to mind: "Make the common case fast and the rare case correct".

The trouble is that rare events like the power-off/change-card scenarios are notorious for taking a lot of time to simulate or test for.

My gut feeling is that this is also why Canon has pushed out the current solution; it is an obvious workaround where you are guaranteed to avoid the problem, without having to go through a vast regression suite. Once Canon have had time to fully understand the timing issue and do a regression for it, they might issue a new FW update (together with some other updates).

The inner mechanism rides on some nylon bushings that can break or be damaged. When that happens, AF slows down or even jams. I'd have it repaired, it might be something else or a combination of things. If you are adventuresome, you can possibly repair it, but if pieces of the bushing are not easy to remove, its better to have a experienced tech to repair and check it.

There may even be some tear down videos on youtube.

Breakthrough has piss poor service. I would look elsewhere.

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After much deliberation I ignored Bryan's review on the-digital-picture, and purchased the Hoya ProND 1000. Initial impressions are good, with no sign of the ghosting mentioned by Bryan in his review, when used on my Canon 5D mk2 with any of my L lenses. I'm guessing that Bryan's results were being effected by the eye piece not being shielded, something I've been doing as a matter of course since experiencing light leakage issues, when using the Lee Big Stopper.

F35B Hovering @RIAT 2016 - Canon 7D + 400m f5.6

jogeshs said:

One more sample shot taken with 40d

Happy Onam by Jogesh S, on Flickr

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On what aperture did you take this?
It's awesome! Keep doing

Ditboy said:

Boy just what we didn't need, another slow general zoom. Fast primes Canon, please. I'm holding off a couple purchases of 3rd party lenses to see what you are coming out with, which is dismal.

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A medium fast zoom like 20-60 f/4.0 in a moderately compact form factor would be interesting for me if it has good mfd for closeup / near macro photos.