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Zeiss Otus 55mm review from Bryan Carnathan

Fortunately, I just got my Helios 77M-4 50mm f1.8 lens yesterday. It's a nice, all metal build w/ manual aperture & focus. The creamy bokeh and smooth action is staving off my fantasies of either the Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro or the 55mm Opus, and for only $140 w/ the EF adapter.

I'm having so much fun with it, I used it exclusively at my son's cub scout blue & gold banquet last night. There were a couple shots I missed that might have succeeded if I had an AF lens, but overall I was quite happy with it. I just feel a lot more involved with the photo process when I'm controlling the focus & aperture on the lens. Maybe it's because if the picture looks good, it was because of me, and not whether the camera decided to focus fast enough or on the right place.

Here's a few shots:


Love by yorgasor, on Flickr


Target Practice by yorgasor, on Flickr
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Ever such Rumours as APS-C, Low Density, Low MP sensors?...

StudentOfLight said:
IMG_0001 said:
...The key idea from the start of the discussion...

is

Khufu said:
Has it ever been rumored for their to be prototypes in testing of what would essentially be a physical 1.6x crop of a FF sensor, allowing the ISO capabilities of the 6D/5D3 in, say, an EOS M or xxD body?

I'd love me an EOS M with 6-9 megapixels of low light goodness!

Thoughts?

Would this be stupid-expensive to develop? I can imagine the right advertising campaign could sell the concept of fewer pixels for low light, arty, shallow DoF shooting with the 22mm f/2 with results that're still 2-4x larger than necessary for Facebook ;)

I wasn't quoting with my reply, I was replying to the OP. Perhaps I should have quoted him in the first place, sorry for the misunderstanding.

Ok, but I still read in the original post that the guy (girl or whatever) wants to know about a compact APS-C body, with improved low-light capability through lower pixel density (APS-C sized sensor with the pixel density of a FF sensor).

I agree it would not provide as good an IQ or low-light performance as a FF because the absolute number of pixels would be lower and the total amount of light on the sensor is lower. However, the per pixel noise would be reduced by the simple fact that larger pixels get a greater part of the incoming light, providing a higher signal, and lower relative noise.

I then still think you oversimplified by saying :

StudentOfLight said:
This is a simplified version of events...
1) A given lens gathers an amount of light (x) through it's image circle.
2) Diffuse light (a) is cropped away at the aperture
3) Then the camera body crops from circular image into a rectangular image thereby losing light(b).

Light reaching the sensor = (x-a-b)

Canon APS-C bodies, by virtue of their smaller sensor design crop away 61% of the light from a full frame lens, which the full frame sensor wouldn't have.

Because you did not consider the fact that larger pixel act at the sensor level just like larger aperture acts at the lens level. The photodiode is part of the optical path.
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G1X Mark II: when should we expect reviews and sample photos, anything?

Canon Europe has posted some PowerShot G1 X sample full resolution images taken at ISO 800 - 1600 (Images 14 through 20 can be seen in full resolution by using the magnify button below the image).

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/PowerShot/powershot_g1x_mark_ii/?WT.ac=SS_G1XMarkii_UK
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what lens's to bring to Hawaii?

I'd leave it all at home and enjoy the vacation. If I needed a camera other than my i-phone, I'd buy the
s110 that one of the new york camera stores has on sale for just over $150 and keep it in my pocket.
Unless your wife is a lot more tolerant than mine, or your children less active, I'd try to remember that it's
"family" time and a good time to be together.
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Hard choice the 50 1.4 or 85 1.8

jdramirez said:
wickidwombat said:
procentje20 said:
Well... things changed a bit... I've gotten a bigger bonus at work then expected. So now it will be bothe the 50 and the 85, and selling the 40 later.

But I'll get the 85 first :)

good idea with good new 50's coming soon i would not bother with any current 50
and also consider the sigma 85 f1.4 its closer in performance to the 85 1.2L than the 1.8 if you can stretch the extra $

I saw the rave reviews about the sigma 85 but I've stayed away from it because of the auto focus issues that have plagued the other lenses in the sigma line... any idea if the 85. Is better in that regard?
my siggy 85 was way off right out the box needed +13 AFMA i sent it in to sigma and less than a week later it was back and basically neutral i've used it on 8 different bodies including ones with no AFMA and i have not even bothered to AFMA it on the ones that do, its probably 2 years old now and been used heavily, It is easily one of my favourite lenses its no action lens and doesn't do well in servo but single shot stuff it is awesome and for the price its unbeatable i got mine for $850 I think?
only problem with this lens is my wife has realised how good it is and has now confiscated it :'(
so i'm now looking forward to sigmas replacement ;D
if the 35 is any indication it will be AMAZING!

but focus accuracy I have no issues unless they are caused by the driver of the camera.
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EOS 7D Mark II Coming in March? [CR1]

candyman said:
J.R. said:
hemanthforcanonrumors said:
I don't know how many people out there are waiting for this Camera. It's a very very long wait now. It is still really surprising still not to have a CR3 news on this.
I've really wanted a 7D2 to be released by canon ... Tired of waiting I got a 5d3 in October 2012. Now I'm not sure what the 7d2 will offer which will make me get one after having been spoilt by the 5d3.
+1
I also got the 5D MKIII in October 2012.
+2
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Soon to be MP-E 65 owner has a couple questions

I own the hood but have never used a protective filter for this lens. Given the size of the element and the protection from the hood, it simply is not necessary. In general I do not use protective filters for any lenses I own. The hood and proper care are enough. I have taken literally thousands of photos with this lens and have never had an issue.


Hangin' Around by CalevPhoto, on Flickr


Aphid Farming by CalevPhoto, on Flickr
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Is 35mm on Crop Wide Enough for Landscape (in many/most cases)?

Mt Spokane Photography said:
Some use 300mm for landscape. Use the lens that gives you the view you want. There are no fixed rules about landscape.
Indeed....

The first landscape/sunset picture was shot at 600mm.... On the second one, 17mm was not wide enough so I stitched together 18 shots.....

There is no right answer to this question...

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Looking for a scanner

I've been quite happy with an Epson V750 for scanning thousands of old family prints, negatives and slides. If you are going to do much slide/negative scanning, support for digital ice and IR scanning can be invaluable to remove dust and other artifacts from the scan. The V700 is similar and you might be able to find a good deal on either. I also found the VueScan software quite helpful with the scanner.
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Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art for Canon Coming in April? [CR1]

Albi86 said:
cayenne said:
I'm curious.

Why do you think, did Sigma for only for a f/1.4 rather than down to the f/1.2 of the Canon L 50mm ?

Because it's going to be 815g with f/1.4 :)

The extra glass for top performance at f/1.2 would have been an overkill. I'm more surprised that Zeiss didn't go for f/1.2 considering they definitely had the budget.

IIRC the Distagon design means the maximum possible aperture is F/1.4.
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Canon DSLR Announcement in March? [CR1]

scottburgess said:
neuroanatomist said:
Don Haines said:
We people in the forum are so smart that we can can make a far better decision than Canon can, even though it is based on biased and partial information.

Indeed. "We" decided long ago that Canon must address their poor sensor IQ.

;D
I need a spirit level in my forehead

Oh screw that. I want a camera that fixes my lousy compositions! :D
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Monitor & Color Questions

Open ended question: I am shopping for a monitor within $400 or so & wanted to ask general advice from folks. Mainly, I wanted to ask what is the make, model & technology (IPS vs TN) do you guys use and would you recommend the monitor you have or any other monitors in general? Does it make sense to spend the extra on IPS when you have to calibrate it anyway, and does a calibrated IPS monitor show the same colors as a calibrated non-IPS monitor? Any thoughts on these questions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Trip to Sri Lanka

Hey guys,

didn't know where to exactly post this but here it goes :D

I'm going to Sri Lanka in April/May and plan to shoot a lot. We won't be going to resorts and such but more to look at temples, a nice beach or two, the cities, tea pickers, we will be going to Adams Peak and to a Natural Reserve to check out some wildlife.

My plan is to take some nice landscape and people shoots as well as usual stuff.

Do you have some good recommendations on what to bring? (Lenses, Bag, other stuff?)

Thanx :)
T

Help: Amateur upgrade from a t2i to....

I would consider the 70D to start with. Keep the Ti2 as a backup camera, and spend some money on good lenses.
The photographer is more important than the camera, and the lenses are also more important than the camera. So buy some quality lenses, try to stick to FF for an upgrade sometime later. The 70D can then move down and be the backup camera.
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EOS-1D X Firmware Version 2.0.3 Released

Gino said:
There doesn't seem to be very much feedback about the new firmware update, so I'm curious to know if the 1DX owners are noticing much of an improvement with autofocus in low light conditions with the new firmware update...or noticing any improvements at all for that matter?

thanks

Shot a lot of low light sports so far from my last post. I haven't noticed anything at all or any difference. My hit rate isn't higher and I'm not tracking anything better.
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Anything to report from the Olympics?

Don Haines said:
Eldar said:
I believe this thread is one of those who really de-railed :)

I conclude that no prototype body or lens was shown, which means we have to wait for Brazil. Then I can open a new thread, which will de-rail into a female spectator contest :)

By the way, curling is a fascinating sport. We lost this year ... but we won a few others, check the medal statistics :)
Despite Canada's success in curling, there are only two gold medals given out at the Olympics.... Men's Hockey and Women's Hockey. The 7D2 did not surface at the Woman's gold medal game, so it should appear at the men's gold medal game.
Well Don(e), and all the other Canadians on CR, you got the two medals that matter the most (to you)! Congratulations with top performances :)
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