Roger Cicala - Variance in 50mm-58mm primes

I have the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens and as people say it's very nice optically and physically, with a fair price.

Still I think Canon could produce a 50mm f/1.4 update and not have to worry about not matching or exceeding the Sigma optically on every characteristic. They 50mm f/1.2L is still a fin lens and for some is the better choice for portraits, the Sigma is more general purpose but it's not f/1.2 so Canon has a few differentiators in their top model and being a "Canon" lens is one of them.

So on the 50mm f/1.4 update, ring USM should be a given, this might affect the size a bit. Or maybe to keep the lens small they will introduce a new dual or tripple linear motor of some-type and that will keep the lens well suited for video. So they can look at a few features as differentiators and as long as the size is kepts under control I don't think people will expect it to exceed the Sigma Art.
  • Size/Weight - important these days with mirrorless competition, and trends.
  • AF by Canon- go for precision and performance.
  • IS - if they managed to get IS in it while maintaining size/weight and reasonable oprical performance then it seems like a large part of the market would go for it.
  • Price - as reasonable as the Sigma Art is for the quality, some just don't want to pay that much. With the expected market for the lens, maybe Canon could have at-least two of the above and keep the price no more than $500US. There are some good composites that could be used in the manfacturing to keep weigth and costs down, and with the sub-assembly construction Canon has been using lately parts of the lens could manufactured maybe outside of Japan. Seems like with the high resolution sensors and digital in general the newer lenses are assembled with a bit tighter tollerances so they probably have some new QC steps or machines in final assembly.
  • Built-in Hood?

Will it happen... well luckily now with the Sigma I can wait, and I really probbaly don't need any update from Canon as I tend to also use an APS-C mirrorless often now for 50mm equivalent so I can carry the Canon with a large telephoto.
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18 Years - A Story of a Broken Curse

distant.star said:
.
No interest -- until I read some of the well-deserved praise comments. Now I've shared it folks on other media (and got confirmation it's also on Vimeo, which I prefer).

Your own voice works very well, and it adds to the personal story. It would have been diminished if I'd heard some guy saying "Dustin has been looking for a Manta for 18 years, and he's had a string of hard luck. Is all that now in the past?"

Love the soft, mysterious opening. The shots are excellent, growing into the story line. And the closing is perfect -- best fade to black I've seen!!

Congratulations!!

And thanks to other posters for comments that got me to watch this.

Thanks for taking the time to watch it. I also prefer Vimeo. Normally I post that link as well. YouTube is well..a necessary evil...lol.

Also thanks for the comment on the fade to black. That was the very first shot I stuck on my editing line, I knew the second I saw that, I wanted it as an end shot.
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Canon EF 20-35/2.8L: Oldie but Goodie ???

JumboShrimp said:
Have been tempted recently to purchase one of these (used, of course, since it is about 25 years old) and wonder if anyone out there still has one and can offer some first-hand experience. Mostly interested if you can compare it to the current 17-40 or similar-range lenses. This 20-35 lens appeals to me due to its light weight, compact proportions, and f/2.8 constant aperture. And it's available for about $600. FWIW department, our good friend, Ken Rockwell, really likes this one: http://kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/20-35mm-f28.htm

It's not light weight ! At wide apertures more separation, glassy - liquid that 17-40. Otherwise not as good. Corners pretty dire on FF by modern standard. I'm attaching a shot at 24mm f/8, and you can see the corners go to blur.

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Canon 24-70 MKii vs 5D mkIII choice (moved)

Sporgon said:
Pookie said:
You don't need to show your work but I don't and will never understand that coming from a photographer. I gotta say... that doesn't fly in the crowds I work with. You'd get eaten alive here in Cali.

Actually the shot of the girl on the bike was taken by private - quite a few years ago in fact.

CR is lucky to have a genuine professional like private who genuinely makes his living from photography, participating on the forum, and can give a reality check to the thirst for gear now and again.

Personally I've got drawn into posting here too much, and I've got tired of it being used as a platform by those who's main desire in life seems to be to spread misinformation about Canon sensors.

That's quite odd because he can't remember taking this and had to confirm with you what you shot this with? Regardless, you have to admit the quality of light coming from 1 speedlight has nothing on 500ws. There is a real & definitive reason why 500ws on-location professional strobes like these exist and sell like hot cakes.

In regards to this site. It is the main reason I post images instead of talking about cameras and endless blathering about DR/sensors. Call it my personal crusade if you will but I believe showing real world use trumps talk any day of the week. The whole point of a camera and all this gear is making photos, not the other way around. It's what I do for a living and I take pride in it... if I didn't then I would never have survived this long. Too often I find people who complain and moan about their purchase yet can't use 50% of the capabilities of the very same camera they deem "inadequate". One who shall remain nameless here is absolutely delusional.

Prior to these comments about my work from PBD, I use to think he was well intentioned and fairly informed but have always found it hard to understand not showing any work, especially if he's in the business as he says. I used to post here under a different profile but killed it when the 5D3 madness hit here. Now back but really questioning the group of individuals that are frequent posters and whether I should stick it out. I do enjoy photography though and even more, I really enjoy the company of those that share my same interest. I've been in the business paying the bills for 15 years and had photography in my life much longer. I am a member of ASMP, WPPI and WPJA for many, many years... I go to critiques, contests and conventions all the time. Never met a single professional photographer that won't show any work and I have never been confronted by anything less than professional attitude in this realm. I give workshops and share all the time. I am also keenly aware that there is always something new to learn or see from a different POV. When critiques are given in public forum the requirements are mutual share. When PBD makes comments about talent, and I am well aware they were directed at me and not a general statement no matter how much he claims they are not... I will respond. I understand his point that there is little new about this work or anyone else's. Hell, if you get right down to it that is true of most any art these days. To say it takes no talent and quality equipment to perform at a high level day after day is plain and simple wrong, completely wrong and sounds very bitter. Don't get me started on the 50 1.8 or 1.4 you both mentioned. You ever had the AF drive on the 1.4 crap out on ya? I have, more than once.. in front of paying clients. I do get snarky here too when I see less than a solid effort or really poor form because it does take a LOT more to take quality photographs than going out to the mall and buying a camera. It does take more than 20 minutes of fiddling to do what you've shown or I show as our work. It takes years to get past fiddling and know what is needed when you walk on set. It takes years to evaluate the light and then dig into the bag, pull the right gear and more importantly... know exactly what to do almost instantly. Not luck, by design. Sorry, that is directed at the ever increasing flood of soccer mom photographers I constantly deal with but bite my tongue >:(

I'm going to chalk all this up to bad days by everyone involved, I've been hammered by wedding after wedding, and gals wanting beach photos. In the winter I get a bit of a break but right now it's pure madness and I am fraying ever so slightly. But who in their right mind would pass up shooting cheerleaders in bikinis if they want to pay you.

Again, I stand by my words but apologize for the flame war.
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550EX vs Yongnuo YN600EX-RT

I'd skip the now ancient 550-EX for something newer that you can build a system on. In your price range, the YN 600EX-RT would catch my attention way ahead of the old 550-EX which was Canon's flagship speedlight from 1998-2004. So you're talking 1996-1997 tech. It's also unlikely that the 550-EX would still be supported at CPS. Old flashes can be hit and miss. At that age it may have had a prolonged hammering, and on the flipside, an unused or very occasionally used old flash may have it's unique liabilities too. Capacitors in any device perform best with regular use. I've had capacitors go bang in older floorpack and monoblock flashes which had been idle for long periods. It can spoil your day. The principles are the same in a speedlight....just smaller.

FWIW last year I upgraded my heavily used 580EXII's to Canon 600EX-RT's. The 580's were getting unreliable and were going off for repairs a couple of times a year...capacitors, boards & flashtubes. They're not the sort of thing you could ethically sell; I gave them to an assistant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS_flash_system

-pw
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One of Quebec's leading photojournalists has all is archives stolen

tpatana said:
I don't get it. Why the thief(s) didn't take the lenses too?

It appears they targeted the archive, curiously... As we are speaking of a news photographer, I guess one motive could be retaliation from someone or a group that had something against the way he depicted them, or a group that was angry at the subject he covered in his more artistic work.

From my own evaluation, Nadeau was somewhat 'left wing' in his point of view of society and had some work going on about somewhat touchy subjects (although not extremely controversial). I personally found him to be pretty good at showing or right wing politicians in ambiguous or ridiculous postures.
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35L II and New EF-M zoom coming on 8/14?

Had I never bought the Canon 16-35 f4L after buying the two ARTs, I'd still use it. And the 50 is a wee bit sharper than the 35, but barely distinguishable. That's not my reasoning though. I do tend to do more portraiture and 35 frankly just doesn't do it for me, unless I'm shooting really wide and my subject is merely a small piece of the framing. That's more rare for me. But if that happens, I'm not shooting at 1.4. I'll be down to f4 .... and thus the Canon zoom does the same job for me. Plus it's just another lens I have to debate over when traveling "which three do I take this time...hmmmm" and more and more I'm favoring my personal trinity of the Canon 16-35 F4L, 70-200 f2.8 IS II, both flanking my standard Sig Art Prime at 50mm. I get wide coverage for landscaping, tele zoom for reach, and one ultra fast bad ass prime for general street and artistic shots.

I'm already considering selling my 35 Sig now, but I'm waiting to see what I want to replace it with.

I think the new 35L2 is gonna be in the $1500 range +/- $150. SO, maybe 10% more for the 50 when it shows up. Canon knows they have real competition from Sigma. They make more per unit at $1800 but I bet they only sell half as many or less than they would at a slimmer margin of $1400.

NancyP said:
PureClassA, why don't you use the 35 Art much now that you have the 50 Art? Just your style of shooting? It is hard for me to imagine that the 50 Art can be much better than the 35 Art, which I find terrific. I rather like 35mm as a general fast lens. Just curious. I don't do portraiture.
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Is video still needed in DSLRs?

Tugela said:
Because many people want state of the art cameras that shoot state of the art video as well as stills. Why should they have to do without because it isn't something you want?

A modern camera should be able to do both things equally well. If it can't, then it isn't a modern camera. Therein lies the problem - a substantial number of users want and demand that the manufacturer of the system they are using provide such a state of the art camera, and it is painfully evident that at some manufacturers are dropping the ball in this respect. So, yes, these people DO have the right to be pissed about it.

Having a feature you don't use doesn't hurt you - just don't use it if you don't want to. But having a feature you do use absent or otherwise deficient does hurt you.

I don't agree with your premise that anything else isn't a modern camera - it might not be a camera that checks all your boxes, but "modern" has nothing to do with it. You're assuming that adding it doesn't hurt me - I've seen the claim, over and over, that it's "free", but I haven't seen any evidence that the validation, encoding, etc adds nothing to the bottom line.

That, and the constant bleating about it is as annoying as the DR chants You want video. We get it. Whining on the web won't make it happen.
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Very large choppers

CanonFanBoy said:
Hate to be bitten by one of those!

I have when I was a kid (He climbed my leg and got me on my inner thigh), the choppers aren't the painful end the sting is in the back-end. The large jaws are there to hold its prey so it can sting them. You have to be very careful as they have very good eyesight. You can wave your hand and watch their heads turning to where your hand moves to.

Warrick
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Help advice please - Canon 70d AF (AI SERVO)

I think your problem is the limitations of AI servo. It works better for horizontally moving subjects. Set your 70D to back button focus and high speed contiuos shooting. 7 frames per second. I use centre point zone focus on my 7D.
Not all my pics are in focus. But I usually get one or two keepers. I took over 100 pics of a hummingbird flying around a fucshia plant going from flower to flower. I took so many pics my buffer was starting to fill up. I took lots of breaks and watched the red light on the back of the camera till it went out and I would take more pics. Good luck!
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Canon Enters 3-D Machine Vision Market In The US

I suspect that this is a spin-off of Canon's efforts to assemble all of their cameras robotically. Their target was 2015. The description of the tiny parts seems to match up with many camera parts and assemblies.

Canon's strength has always been their ability to manufacture products for less than the competition. That allows them to sell for less and make bigger profits while others lose money.

http://japandailypress.com/canon-looks-to-robotic-assembly-for-camera-production-152162/
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Which 14mm should I use?

RGF said:
YellowJersey said:
The Samyang and Rokinon 14mm are both the same lens, just branded differently. It also appears as Bower, ProOptic, Vivitar, and others.

Samyang recently released a new 14mm 2.8 version with autoaperture as well as a focus confirm chip, so you may want to look into that.

Alternatively, the Tamron 15-30mm 2.8 is supposed to best the Samyang as a night photography lens due to better sharpness and excellent coma. the Samyang is still a good lens, don't get me wrong, but it looks like it's been surpassed by the Tamron.

how does the compare to the Canon 14 on a FF body? If I could afford it, I'd go with the Zeiss 15

http://stormandsky.com/lens14mm

I bought the Rokinon and couldn't be happier. The extra cash went to fund my 17 TS-E.
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Cokin Introduces NUANCES Filters

3kramd5 said:
Canon Rumors said:
NUANCES filters redefine what neutrality means

press releases can be so silly. Not they don't. They're just more neutral than others (supposedly).

Well, to be fair- none of the existing ND10 filters are without color cast. So if Cokin really pulls it off, it'll be worth advertising. Having said that, it's really easy to get color cast off a Lee or a B+W.
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Canon Announces the Speedlite 430EX III-RT Flash

neuroanatomist said:
AvTvM said:
eninja said:
Next, 270ex III - RT.

Plus RT-master capability in every EOS body.
And a cheap, small RT-transmitter to make any ETTL-strobe useable as a radio-triggered slave in an RT setup.

And a partridge in a pear tree. ;)

of course highly innovative "self-lubricating lens caps" http://www.canonrumors.com/2015/07/patent-lubricating-canon-body-cap/ are much more important for Canon and their customers than massively expanding a major unique sales proposition like an excellent radio-remote ETTL flash system ... :P
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Review: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM via TDP

Sabaki said:
Bryan is my go-to guy for reviews.

But this lens isn't for me. If it's decently sharp from f/2.8, I can stick to my 24-70 f/2.8 L II.
It is not my most used focal lenght (I had sold 4 50mm lens including 1.2L and 1.4), I normally go wider or longer in FF. But, I got it because it was inexpensive and if needed it's in my bag when I am with my 16-35mm f4L IS, and it doesn't add weight.
Despite this, I found that my copy is sharp in the center at f1.8 and gets even sharper by f2.8 with acceptable sharpness by the mid and borders. Really a keeper lens
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