Autofocus performance is in general a mysterious and frustrating topic. I have had a Sigma 50mm F/1.4 for around 3-4 years. I got it to use on my 5D classic, but it front focussed enough to be annoying and there is no micro-adjust on that body. (Canon calibrated the body for me shortly after I bought it used.) I managed to get some use out of it for portraits by focusing on the subjects ear, then the eyes would be sharp! :

When I got my 5D III last Fall, the Sigma worked great with it, needing very little MFA. I use it a lot now for full body portraits at about F/2.0 to F2.8 to get just the right background blur. Sorry I don't have any acceptable images to post right now, most of my work is not appropriate for this site.

I'd imagine telephotos follow the Tripod rule of "pick 2 out of three" to the nth degree.

Pick 2 of:

Light/Compact
Cheap*
Good IQ.

*relative to similar lenses

Now that I think about it, maybe telephotos are "Pick 1".

My example was merely to give some justification as to why a majority of people are dissapointed in the performance of this lens relative to cost compared to some of Samyang's previous offerings.

Q8-MC, those three shots on your Flickr look pretty damn good. I look forward to seeing anything else you post!

A sensor may improve on getting light but it's the quality of light that counts.

RGF said:

Canon hoods are poorly designed. Too bad they don't spend more time on the hood

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True, my six year old sigma lens has a far better than my 24-105 and the sigma has an rrp of less than a third of the canon.

Maybe you can get zeiss style hoods? They certainly look nice.

shutterwideshut said:

candyman said:

It seems to be a rather "old" list.
In the list the Canon 16-35mm is mentioned but not the MKII. Does it mean that the MKII does not have the hotspot problem?
I also do not see the Canon 24-105.
Are there any updated resources of what lens to use and what not?

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Here's one updated link from Life Pixel I stumbled today that proves that the 16-35mm II has hot spots, indeed. This also includes the superb 24-70mm II. http://www.lifepixel.com/lens-considerations

Cheers.

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Thanks. Wow, even the 24-70 MKII.
What about the Tamron 24-70 VC ? I googled but could not find info yet.

Thank you all for such SUPER helpful replies. I am soaking it all in. I still have ten days before the shoot and will spend next few days going over all of this again and again.

Appreciate!

.... made up by my eyes, brain, memory and emotions.

I am often struggling to not forget, that when I experience something great or beautiful, I shall first of all be part of the experience and let it sink in - and then (perhaps) take photos.

Also 'technically' the whole human visual system is unsurpassed by any camera (whether we talk DR, 3D, colour, resolution of detail etc. etc.)

paul13walnut5 said:

Dslr footage needs post, you needn't get into flat shooting, luts or high end grading, but in my experience you'll rarely be able to use footage straight out the cam.

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Guilty as charged. I mentioned post. Hopefully the last line of my message creates the context as to why. Not being a know it all, or indulging in information overload, just some practical advice.

Your man might want to make do with a video camera if he want's rushes that look just fine right out the camera. For myself and most others shooting video seriously on DSLRs (and your man must be serious to have asked the initial question) post is an essential part of the process. And thats without getting into editing.

Crops up on STV now and again, if you see any Daily Record, Sunday Mail, People or Mirror Adverts then I'm likely to have had a hand in them, done insert VT's for STV Sports Awards and Young Scot Awards over last few years.

Click said:

... You should wait for the 1DVI

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I couldn't.

Too many delays with the 1DV already.

JonAustin said:

bornshooter said:

JonAustin said:

I was shooting outdoor portraits at a corporate event a few years ago, and the wind caught one of my umbrellas. The attached speedlite (a lowly 420EX) broke when it struck the ground, but Canon repaired it for less than $100. After that, I bought weight bags for each of my light stands, although I have yet to use them. If there's any breeze at all, I don't think a small bag of water or sand is going to provide much anchoring.

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i disagree having recently used 2 sandbags after that trouble i have been shooting in a heavier breeze with no issues but i guess it depends on how big a breeze lol.

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I completely understand, and don't object to anyone else doing it. Just wanted to share my experience as a "caveat emptor." It's better to know the risks and weigh the benefits accordingly.

It all comes down to the size of the umbrella, its orientation relative to the direction of the wind, the strength of the wind and the amount of ballast used. Maybe after I've owned the 600's a little longer (they're still "new" to me), I'll get a little more adventurous. One thing I can say is that it's no fun to go chasing after your umbrella in the middle of a paid shoot, or to recover and reconfigure while the client is waiting.

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I agree for sure its no fun at all lol so for me umbrellas are a no no now,i am going to stick with my softbox outdoors

Zv said:

Sella174 said:

It would be nice if Canon offered both models everywhere, with a minor price difference (meaning the "N" should be cheaper).

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I don't think it would be much of a price difference. Better to have Wifi and gps. Who knows it might come in handy, esp the wifi.

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Yep, the WiFi function I initially thought was a massive gimmick, but now I use it quite regularly if I'm doing street photography, very handy. If only it was fast enough to transfer RAW's!

I think the OP wants the Sekonic to trigger the flashes using it's test button and radio transmitter, and theoretically it is supposed to work that way, but in reality never does. Ideally one could use the Sekonic to fire the controlling TT5 and it's slaves thereby easily getting a reading on the light meter.

Drizzt321 said:

So you can sync at, say, 1/4000s at full flash power. Can be quite helpful to balance back lit subjects with fill flash, but having that fill-flash be at higher power to balance correctly with the back lighting.

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Thats why I love leaf shutter lenses - sync at 1/1600s, makes the batteries of a pack last longer while cutting ambient light motion blur...
Just one hair in the soup: speedlights are awfully slow at full power. About 1/350s t0.1, thats why Nikon warns that xsync expanded to 1/320s might lead to reduced flash output. Good news: they're IGBT controlled, at 1/4 power you already get better then 1/2000s t0.1. And then we think of the Bron Move 8)

gn100 said:

Maybe slightly on the heavy side, but the 70-300L is a good option - sharp wide open, weathersealed, compact and 4 stops of IS. No need to muck around by adding a 1.4 TC to a 70-200.

I was in your posiition a couple of years ago and after lots of looking around this was the option I selected, and was very happy with the choice.

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+1. Strong endorse the 70-300L

pup73 said:

sanj said:

Those who have used both speeds, can you actually 'feel' the difference? Thx. Am curious!

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i just tried both speeds, and yes, i can actually "feel" the difference...

-c

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Wow that's impressive! You must be very sensitive. It takes about 100 to 400ms to blink and you can feel the difference of a max of 0.019S!

I tried the faster release for droplet photography. It was not very consistent. I never thought to turn if off for a consistent timing. I'll give it a try next time.

I shot a mitzvah and a wedding this weekend with an upgraded 1DX and a 600EX-RT flash with mostly low-light setting and I can confirm a substantial improvement with the speed of autofocus lock. It's soooo nice to have make my subjects wait any more for that painful pause while the camera locks in focus.

Pi said:

Another thing - do not leave too much empty space above the head. This is a common mistake when using the center AF point - I know because I have done it. Read this, for example:

http://www.gieson.com/school/photos/

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lol @ Don't be a "grid nazi." hahahah Great tips!

Nice video!

phixional ninja said:

karminator said:

It really depends on what you are shooting. I would consider the 135 f/2L. Amazing lens. It gives you two more stops, and isn't a big white lens to attract attention for street photography.

However, if most of your shots are at 200, you would need to be getting in a bit closer to the subject.

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I've looked at the 135mm. It looks like an absolutely stunning lens, but I don't know that it's different enough from the 100mm f2.8L to justify buying it. I really like having the 200mm reach, both for street photography and wildlife.

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A 70-200mm close to min focus distance looses a bit of focal length. The Canon variants are better than most in this regard, but it does loose a bit. Neither of the primes loose much focal length at MFD, but it's interesting that the 135L close to MFD needs only a few steps forwards to make the same framing of a 70-200mm lens on the same subject @ 200mm. So often at weddings, I get more milage out of the 135L and moving about abit.
If you are in a fixed position and don't have the luxury of moving about then a 70-200 makes more sence.
The non is F4 lens is very capable, although it's quite old. The newer IS version is a toally new optical design and is a peach of a lens. It's optical quality close to the mkII f2.8 version, although it looses a stop but is a heck of a lot lighter and smaller. Given my choice I'd have the 135L. if I needed longer, pop a 1.4x TC on it or pop it on a 1.6x crop camera. If I needed a zoom, then either the 75-300L (a very underated lens) or the 70-200mm f4 L IS would be my choices. Naturally, its' your money and your choice....only you can work out what you really need. If you are caught between two lenses it's usually becuase you really want/need both.

my sigma doesn't have any CA problem, and neither did photozone's or lentip's. was that " longitudinal chromatic aberration" or " lateral chromatic aberration" that was bothering you? either way, it shouldn't be.

and the answer to your question is no, sorry. you'll have to find a RAW solution.

My recommendation is to shoot Manual exposure with Manual power flash. From the problem you explained it doesn't seem like time is an issue since you took multiple shots testing things out. 99.9% of the time that should fix your problem from my experience.

Having crawled out of bed late today, we bombed out of Versailles, took a stroll onto the islands, Notre Dame, Ile Stait Louis, Justice Courts, then over to the Louvre... After a rest back at the hotel, been back up to Montmarte and Sacre Coeur to get some dusk photos, get robbed in a local resturant etc ;-) took my Eos M as a low profile shooter and thankful that I did, so many shifty looking characters at Savre Coeur, pickpocket types, people selling Paris tat, laser pens, flying things, beers from 24 packs etc - thankfully the Police kept rolling by and scaring them off, grabbed a few photos as the lights on the basilica came on, then beat a hasty retreat to Montmarte around the corner where the local resturants and bars appear to keep the dodgy characters at bay - taxi back to the hotel from there.