Re: 200 f2.0 first dissapointed customer ever?

eml58 said:

But I also owned the Nikon D800, and my copy had the left/right/upside down/whatever, focussing issue, Nikon "fixed" it 3 times before eventually replacing with a new Body, which I promptly sold, with no regrets.

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Would this speak to the likelihood of a used D800 having such an issue? Btw, just what is the issue you're talking about?

Re: IQ of Canon 135mm f/2 prime on a 5DII VS 5DIII??

In short, no. When the shot is well focused, I find no tangible difference between electronic view or print between the lens on either my Mk III or Mk II.

The lens plays well with both camera's focusing systems, with the well-known Mk II AF limitations being no worse or better with this lens.

The Mk III is more effortless focusing with this lens with the wider, and more accurate array of focus points, allowing off-center composition without focus-recompose technique that can be an issue with super-shallow DOF capable lenses like the 135 L. Nevertheless, understanding the Mk II focus system and it's limitations, I've never really had an issue getting the shots I want out of that combination with the 135 L.

What will be really fascinating is that it apparently won't have video recording...I'll be curious to see how Nikon is pricing this. In some ways, it feels like an extremely niche product that would be expensive; on the other hand, the specs seem to indicate they are gonna price it low.

Kernuak said:

As a little perspective. If you cropped the 5DMkIII 1.3x, you would end up with roughly a 13 MP image, compared to the 16 MP image of a 1D MkIV.

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That is perfectly consistent with what I wrote about the 1D IV having a factor of 1.1x more reach, not 1.3x. The 5DIII 22.3 megapixels cropped 1.3x in both height and width does reduce it to a 13.2 MP image, as you wrote. If you use a lens with 1.1x more reach (ie 1.1x longer) than that added to the 1D IV, then it magnifies the image by 1.1x in width and 1.1x in height. So the image is magnified by 1.21x, and 1.21x13.2 = 16 MP. In other words, using a 1.1x longer lens with the 5DIII expands the 13.2 MP area to 16 MP.

ajfotofilmagem said:

I do not know the specific illuminator , but I'm sorry to take your hopes : Illuminator on camera with 98 LED or 140 LED providing terrible light . Let me explain: These LED "high bright " has very low power ( individually) and hundreds of them are still weak . These have LED angle light scatter about 30 degrees , and the index reprodição color is pretty poor . In practical terms , the range is up to 2 meters, the light only illuminates reasonably well the image center ( wide angle ) and the corners are much darker , and the color is greenish inevitably . If the manufacturer had the courage to inform the specifications, we would see that this illuminator does not emit the full spectrum of light , making pale red , or white balance that can correct . Working with LED illuminators for several years , and build my own illuminators at a time when there was only one brand available . I built my most powerful LED illuminators with these 98 LED made in China , but abandoned some time later . Why ? Because there are now LED much better than these "high bright " cheap . All these LED power budget is 0.1 watt maximum. On the other hand, truly powerful LED (CREE brand) even has a single 5 watt LED, the light scattering angle is 100 degrees, evenly illuminating the entire picture, and the overall color reproduction is much better. So every true high power LED replaces up to 50 LED cheap. Here in Brazil, a reputable manufacturer builds illuminators luminance equivalent to 440 watt halogen illumination. Should be equivalent products in other countries, using CREE LED 5 watt each. See the website link of Brazil, and you can look for in your country a similar product.

http://www.elediluminacao.com.br/loja/catalogo-118970-27-iluminadores_on_camera

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Thank you for the reply... I was wondering if they were any good... I think I'll stick with my studio light stands for a while.. ( a pair of 300Watt incandescent daylight bulbs)

Mt Spokane Photography said:

More and more people are using camera phones, and the Nokia is the best. That means that it approaches the capability of a low end P&S. The Nokia cannot beat even a old Canon Rebel 300D at 6MP. Sensor size is the reason.

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If sensor size is the reason then the Lumia 1020 should not only approach the capabilty of a low end P&S, but exceed it... Like, easily.
That phone's sensor is 2/3 inches big, which surpasses even the size of Canons pro-oriented PowerShots like the G16 by quite a bit, and is the same size as high-end point-and-shoots like the pricey Fuji X20.
The almost two year old predecessor of the Lumia, the Nokia 808, even has a 1/1.2 inch sensor, which size-wise almost plays in the same league as Nikons 1 series of ILC's and Sony's sensor-size-praised RX100.

But neither point-and-shoots nor smartphone cameras yet fulfill my imaging desires, which is why I'll stick to ILC's of at least APS-C.
My phone basically just makes phonecalls and plays music. Where I go, my EOS-M goes.

Cheers friends.

Right now BH and Amazon are offering double dip deals on selected lenses, check canonpricewatch. The last for 24 hours or a bit longer.

You definitely need to buy or rent a 2nd body. I'd make it a 5D MK III so your batteries will fit, and so you know how to use it and don't run the chance of doing something wrong.

chilledXpress said:

neuroanatomist said:

But...who took the wedding pictures??

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I heard it was done entirely with a wrist mount GoPro.

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The President has been known to grab Pete's camera and snap a few photos.

EF is pure electronic, unlike many others, which still kept the mechanical aperture lever.

This made tilt/shift lens easy and consistent to implement.

Take a look at how many mechanical parts in a Nikon zoom lens just to keep the aperture work, and why Nikon PC-E lenses is an exception, you will see that EF mount is superior.

Also, have you seen any Nikon camera that can change Aperture value when recording movie? They can't, because of the mechanical design. To change / step aperture value, they have to activate the aperture lever, which causes the aperture to snap to the fully open value, then re-release the lever again to get to the target value. EF lenses on the other hand, could step aperture value in any direction and steps you want. So EF mount is better for video too.

They only repair in Commack, NY, but they are really quick.

distant.star said:

.
Perhaps some clever (and old) person will develop one of these for folks who started 40-50+ years ago in the recesses of the pre-digital world.

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And pre-auto . Some of it I can relate to, other bits I can't, especially the phone bit, I had a hate/hate relationship with mobiles for a long time and only really found a use for the camera on my current one for work a few weeks ago.

Don't be afraid to go third party. I use a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 on my 5D and get great results. It cost me about $300 used.

Hi,

thanks for the comments and ideas. I can't quite stretch to a 600EX at the mo - would love to, but it is way to pricey for me, but I'll go ahead with the YN-560 conversion and report back, hopefully positively and in the not too distant future!

cheers guys, much appreciated!

Grant

chilledXpress said:

The Fuji files do seem to have a crisper look and the skin tones always look better coming from the X100S, given images from multiple cameras clients always seem to pick the Fuji's over any of the Canons.

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examples?

yes the 580 has the option to use second curtain sync its the little symbol like 3 triangles with the last one solid
looks a bit like this >>>
430 should have it too

set the 430 to slave
580 to master and select that mode and it should all be sweet

look here
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/app/pdfs/quickguides/CDLC_580EXII_QuickGuide.pdf

3rd column on first page about the middle

and here for the 430
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/app/pdfs/quickguides/CDLC_Speedlite430EXII_QuickGuide.pdf

AvTvM said:

tnargs said:

It would be interesting to know, of those here who are saying they would buy the new Sony....
[1] Would it be a supplementary camera, or your main camera?
[2] If it would be your main camera, what system would you be moving from? FF DSLR? APS_C DSLR? Smaller mirrorless?

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1) a mirrorless FF-sensor system camera like the Sony A7/R will be my only camera (other than smartphone)
2) Currently Canon 7D + all good EF-S lenses and a few good EF-lenses and a few speedlites. Will definitely have been my last DSLR system and my last APS-C camera.

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That is almost exactly my kit too.

For my photography as amateur/enthusiast I need only one camera system at a time and I don't want to buy, own, store, insure, carry, learn and use more than one camera system in parallel.

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ditto - we have some things in common, it seems!

Looking for a small light photographically fully capable FF-sensored mirrorless camera and a small set of "AF-only" lenses. [no manual focus ring, no manual focus gear, no distance window, but weathersealed @ IP67].

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It certainly is a nice ideal, one I have thought a lot about.

Ideally a 24-70/85 f/4.0 IS for street/city/events/general purpose/walkaround, a 20mm/4.0 pancake mainly for landscape/city/architecture, a minimalist pancake 40mm/2.0 for street/people @normal angle, a 85/2.0 pancake for studio/portraits/concerts and a very compact and light tele lens for travel, say a 200mm/4.0 plus 1.4x teleconverter. Plus wireless ETTL flash trigger built into camera and 2 slave speedlites. Entire system for less than the price of a Leica M240 with 50/2.0. That's it.

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;-) indeed! But AFAIK pancakes are inherently lesser optically than a 'standard sized' prime, so I have gone off the pancake idea for now. Why get the big sensor and then add a lens that has more blur units? The Zeiss 35f2.8 that came out with the A7 weighs about 120g, nice.

If I had to buy tomorrow, it would be the A7R (preferred) or A7 ... depending on AF performance ... plus 24-70/4 plus EF-adapter.

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For me, right now, I'm starting to think the m43 or APS mirrorless is the right answer. I'm starting to think that, for any given budget, the better lens kit I could buy with a smaller sensor outweighs any theoretical advantage in IQ -- which will largely evaporate without a tripod anyway. And I'm not at all sure *just how much* weight and bag space are saved by going to FF mirrorless, once you include all the lenses for a decent system. Maybe it is a disappointing end game if the real goal was * large* savings in space and weight.

spamis said:

I currently have a T2i and want to purchase a 6D. My 17-55mm is my favorite lens for the T2i but it will not work on the 6D. It looks like the 24-70mm will be very close to the 17-55 (27-88mm) but which one do I get? I really don't want to spend the $2,000 (give or take) for the 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM so I'm left with the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM ($1,200 used) or the a EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM (used for about $1,000). I would consider the II USM if everyone believes that it is the only option but I can't see how I could justify a $1,000 difference in price. And while you're at it, is there really that much difference between the two two f/2.8's? Thanks.

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Does Adorama still ahve the $1620 special on the 24-70 II? A few stores had them for that after special sale and mail in rebate and cash back deals ($1699 without the latter).

There is a huge difference between the 24-70 2.8 I and II (the new one also has a bit better AF, more noticeably so when paired with a 5D3/1DX that use the new ultra-precision mode it has, not sure if the 6D allows that or not though). The 24-70 f/4 IS is better than the 24-70 I too.
The Tamron 24-70 vc might be an option too, although that one I've never tried.

The 24-105 is far inferior to the 24-70 II and quite inferior to the 24-70 f/4 IS. Of course the price is far, far superior so it all depends on how much you have and what your priorities for spending are (and what they are for shooting too, if you just shoot centered subjects with the rest a blur and do it a lot hand-held at slow shutter speed the 24-105 IS might work out fine; if you love 24mm (where the 24-105 is not at its best) corner to corner with fine natural landscape details and shoot against bright skies at times and hate PF and so on the newer ones might leave you much happier; etc.) You can take plenty of awesome shots with the 24-105 and dont need anything else. That said, the others can deliver those shots in nicer technical ways, occasionally by a good deal. Some don't care about that, some do.

ajfotofilmagem said:

Yes, so no manufacturer wants to make a APS-C camera noticeably superior to current models at ISO 6400. This would bring down the sales of full frame, and Canon wants exactly the opposite, forcing demanding amateurs to migrate to 6D (or more expensive) and L lenses.

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I guess Pentax wants the same? Or Oly?

No manufacturer can make such a camera. If they could, they would, and then they will make better FF cameras as well.

This was said many times. The hard limit at a given ISO (more precisely, at a given exposure) is the area. Same exposure (a.k.a. "same ISO ", which is not quite correct) over a larger area means less noise per unit area. As simple as that. Sensors of the same generation have some differences in how they record that noisy image but the the differences are too small to beat the sensor size factor.

Yes. When C.Fn I 2 is set to 1/3 the auto ISO will change by 1/3 instead of full stops. I regularly shoot junior hockey using auto iso on my 70D.

LetTheRightLensIn said:

Lichtgestalt said:

it also matter if you have black point compensation turned on or not.
with BPC enabled the tone curve will be slightly rounded, blacks around the papers DMAX will be slightly lightened. means there is no hard clipping when the DMAX of the paper is reached.

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I took having BPC on as a given.

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yes, but BPC is just a part.

i have been using the lens for a couple days now. if you are interested in this lens you have to get the dock and will need to spend some time tuning it and then it is really, really good it is super sharp everywhere on the 70d especially wide open at 300 where it counts. the lens is internally zooming and focusing, it suffers from heavy focus breathing. it is 300 at infinity focus but only 230-240 or so at minimum focus. that's why lens testers point out its 280 at the distance they are testing at.

you can set custom af speed, focus limit and is behavior with the dock. i have c1 set to fast af, limited the focus from 10m to infinity and set moderate is. using it like this and ai servo it has no problem focusing and tracking low flying geese in the fog as they pass overhead.

i haven't used it with converters and i am not sure i will. its a really useful range on an aps-c body and there is plenty of room to crop with the 70d if you need to. the 70d is too small for the lens, your fingers pinch between the grip and the lens. it feels good on the 40d so i think it would be really good on the 7d and presumably the 7d2.

you have to be willing to spend some time tuning and fiddling with this lens but then it will give you excellent results. it is heavy, sigma tank construction on this one, there does not appear to be any consideration for weight saving, its around 8 lbs with the collar and hood

So, at last - here's an update. We've had some very bad weather 'round here the last few days so I did't have any opportunity to test the lens with natural light as proposed.

First of all, thank you all for your help and your suggestions. I repeated the process outside (didn't have much time til it started raining again) with the following results:

- first of all: the results were a lot better for the 24-105 under these conditions (seems the 70-300mm didn't suffer as much from the suboptimal conditions last time)
- at the long end the lens is still not excellent, noticeably worse than the 70-300L@100mm and much worse than it is @24 to 35mm.
- at the short end the lens is quite good, even slightly better than the 70-300L
- af ist quite spot-on most of the time

After all I've read, I think this is quite how this lens is expected to perform - so I'm happy and I'll continue shooting other things than resolution targets .

And btw: a little skin oil really helped the hood. It's still stiff and not very smooth running, but it is okay for me now.

Here is how I tested:

- Outside, ISO 100 ~1/300s-1/500s, f4
- IS off
- no filter
- Sturdy heavy tripod
- EOS-Utility attached to my laptop, LiveView with maximum magnification
- Distance to Object ~25 times the focal length to keep the target size consistent (target was about the size of the center viewfinder circle)
- Used only the very center to judge the sharpness
- MF and AF (to review the results of my afma settings obtained last time)

- focussed manually using the Liveview on the Laptop and did some Photos.
- with "AF on" I checked if I could improve things by overriding the focus manually (which hardly was the case).
- took some Photos using AF only (for comparison)
- tried to optimize the results using the AF-controls of the EOS-Utility (focus to infinity, phase AF, correct step-wise and count, repeat, feed the result back to afma)

After trying both the manual (operating the af ring by hand) and the AF+EOS-Utility (operating the AF step-wise by software) approach to afma, I think the latter is quite a bit easier/faster to do and yields very similar results.

Orangutan said:

The problem has NEVER occurred with nearly 1000 pics using the same lens on the 5D Mk II.

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There may be other usage differences between the two that account for that. Can you do controlled tests side-by-side? Are you using a faster shutter to account for the crop "zoom" factor of the 70D?

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He should compare the same lens on the 5D2 and on the 70D, same position, same SS, good light, no camera shake, same aperture, the FF image cropped. Did I say no filter?

Sporgon said:

... 'cos I have a disease involving long faces, tails and four hoofs

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You too?