Ricku said:

Are there really no leaks about the new lenses? Isn't 2014 supposed to be "year of the lens"?

If a big number lenses are coming this year, we should have some bits of info by now.

So far Sigma is the only one who delivers. :-\

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This is a film festival, not a trade show. Don't expect announcements. NAB is where new Cinema equipment will be announced.

As for leaks on lenses, they just don't happen. Canon keeps the information held very closely, few people know what's actually coming, and they aren't talking. Those who have been caught revealing details of new products have been severely punished, and that's a big deterrent.

I happen to really like Canon's naming scheme. It make logical sense and is easy for me to know which camera someone is talking about and how it fits in to the line up.

Can't say the same for Nikon. I always end up googling it and trying to figure out what the person I'm talking to is going on about! I usually just smile and nod my head and say things like "ah! Yeah that's a nice one!"

One thing that I wish Canon would abolish is the rebel cameras and their 3 variations - xxxD, txi and kiss xx. It gets a bit confusing. The xxxD is easier to understand.

All naming and numbering schemes break down or have to be extended. Canon Started with a D30 and a D60 before coming out with the 10D.

I used to work for a Airplane Company. They made a 707, 717 (actually a DC-9), 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, and now a 787. There are different versions of each, they were up to 737-800 when I retired. After the 797, there will be a new numbering system, I believe its already in place, but not for the public. There was also a 2707 that never left the ground. It was also known as the SST.

RGF said:

wsmith96 said:

I don't get this. Is this post saying that they are continuing to split the 1D product line? I thought the 1DX was created to be the camera that could do it all, so wouldn't it make sense to just upgrade the 1DX?

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Marketing 101. Maximize profits by segmenting the market.

High FPS market
High DR / high MP market
Perhaps even small sensor or high mm (long lens) market

If you have 1 product that it all, it will be a compromise or it will be very expensive.

Think of cars: Porsche 911 vs Ford F150. Very different vehicles which go after different segments of the market

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It isn't even that, it is that one camera can't do it all. Back in the film days the 1VHS could, it suited pretty much every pro shooting 135 format. It had speed when you wanted it, it had resolution when you wanted it, and it had high iso or large DR when you wanted them. The tech has moved on to the stage where one digital camera can't cover the best of everything, sports and press shooters really don't want 30+MP, they want 12fps and super fast AF, many other pros do want 30+MP and don't give a fig for 12fps.

It seems to me the speed of processing is a bottleneck, you can choose high MP and lower fps, or the other way around. Most that prioritise fps don't prioritise MP, there is such a split in photographers needs that one camera just can't cover all the varied desires.

jrista said:

The dot tune approach is not accurate.

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Agreed. I've tried it on my 1D X (the 'original', obviously not the ML implementation), and the results were unreliable. OTOH, manual AFMA with a LensAlign Pro and FoCal give accurate results that are equivalent to each other.

neuroanatomist said:

Andy_Hodapp said:

Having a 1120mm F/2.8 sounds pretty awesome to me!

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Such a lens would likely weigh over 100 lbs. The 'crop factor' applies to aperture (in terms of DoF for equivalent framing) and ISO noise scales inversely with total light by approximately the same factor. The only thing the smaller sensor buys you is more pixels on target (and that's only because smaller sensors usually have a higher pixel density, but for example the Nikon D800 puts more pixels on target than the Canon T3).

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I understand that it would not have the equivalent DoF. I was more thinking that it would allow for a faster shutter speed then say something like an SX50.

xvnm said:

A lens designer can always increase the flange distance at will by extending the rear end of the lens barrel. Think a lens with a fixed, built-in extension tube. That is exactly what Samyang did with the 5 lenses they released for the Sony FF MLC E-mount. Their Sony MLC lenses have exactly the same flange distance as their Canon and Nikon DSLR counterparts: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/12/17/samyang-says-five-of-its-full-frame-lenses-now-available-in-sony-e-mount

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We had those back in the 1970's and 1980's with the Vivitar/Soligor T/TX mount and the "universal" T-mount (not the same as the former). Worked pretty good, actually. Even Pentax made some of the tele-photo lenses with swappable mounts, usually for Nikon F-mount.

The problem is that extending the flange distance by way of an "extension" tube, makes the lens longer. This obviously negates the current objective of mirrorless and a short flange distance: compact size. A further problem with such designs, as those from Samyang and Sigma illustrate, is that they are usually "catch-all" designs, without fully realising the true benefits of any particular mount.

I can't believe I overlooked this post the other day.

This is exactly the direction I've been hoping Canon would take dslrs and will be a very exciting development, if true.

MLfan3 said:

do not waste your money on this crappy lens , it is a good lens optically but its mechanical quality is very bad.
it is cheap and there are many reasons for it.
my 24-70VC and 90 macro broke up into many pieces just after a few months of light use.
and , I sold them and decided never get Tamron, Samyong and Tokina.
I think Sigmas primes are fine but Sigma zooms are also as fragile as Tamrons'.

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With all due respect, do you have any supporting evidence to this claim? "Broke up into many pieces" seems unlikely. I have used the 24-70 VC for close to ten thousand frames in countries around the world in all kinds of weather conditions without any issue.

Yes, it's bulky. But no cords is nice.

Figured it was worth a mention for those that may have the RT stuff to give it a shot vs buying a dedicated macro flash.

I want to update my canon to 70D

I found this comparison of the Canon 70D vs 7D, check the features
http://thedigitalcamera.net/canon-eos-70d-vs-7d-whats-the-difference-between-them/

Don Haines said:

You could also look at gear-heads... VERY good for precise positioning, but much less convenient than a ball-head.

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+ 1

405 or 410 Jr gearheads top my tripods and I reserve ballheads for lightweight gear or monopod.

Great idea. I think it looks great. I generally keep a stofen with my 600ex

Thanks a lot for the replies which has made things quite clear in my mind.

I have ordered the strobes and will give it a go with the manual mode for now even though it feels a bit above my head it's another steep learning curve I guess.

The FRX 400 is basically the 400w strobes made by Elinchrom in India. Getting these locally in india is costing me less than $500 which I feel is a good price

The dealer who is selling the Elinchroms told me that he would be getting a cheap 3rd party trigger/transceiver in the next 15 days which will be able to trigger the strobes as well as the flash ... Youngnuo perhaps! I'll let you know

I have been using one of these on my 70-200 F2.8 IS Mk1 for 4+ years. It has never moved, never needed re-tightening etc. I simply put it on the lens foot when it was new and forgot about it. I also use a longer (115mm) version on my 300 F2.8 L IS again no twisting, loosening or quality issues. I also have longer plates from Kirk and Wimberley - they are no better.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lens-Plate-for-DSLR-Canon-Sony-Nikon-Pentax-Sigma-Minolta-Tokina-Leica-Tamron-/310788470687?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&var=&hash=item485c6fb79f

Sorry, haven't read the whole thread, but from my perspective, Darwin Wiggett's ebook on TS was particularly helpful for me:

http://www.oopoomoo.com/ebook/the-tilt-shift-lens/

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I'm not intending to be confrontational at all, but I found the Darwin ebook ("The Tilt-Shift Lens Advantage for Outdoor & Nature Photography") to be a complete waste of $20... It's overly simplistic and too full of "pretty pictures"... But my biggest problem with this book is with regards to his approach to finding the correct "balance" between lens-tilt & focus to achieve the "infinite depth-of-field effect" that most beginning tilt-shift-photographers struggle with... His technique of "bend (tilt) for background, [and then] focus for foreground" is the exact opposite way everyone else does it; and his insistence that "if you mix these up, you’ll likely never find optimal tilt" is just flat-out wrong...

A quick Google-search will show that everyone else tells you to "focus for the background & tilt for the foreground." It really isn't difficult at all to find the correct "balance" between lens-tilt & focus to get the "infinite depth-of-field effect." It's just really hard to try to explain to someone who hasn't spent an afternoon playing around (experimenting/practicing) with a TS lens. Those animated gif's referred to by privatebydesign (over at northlight-images http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/using_tilt.html) are a great way to get your head around the whole tilt vs focus thing... And once you're comfortable with the idea of balancing tilt & focus, a great short-cut (that I use all the time) is described here: http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/focus-with-tilt.html.

Richard

For me( and Some minority of CR. Members ? ) always buy the new equipment after the company improve their new products/ equipment, just 10 cents of It's better Quality, and WE HAVE A HEART TO SPEND $ 1000 US DOLLARS MORE , for the equipment that ALMOST THE SAME QUALITY OF OUR OLD EQUIPMENT AND HOPE TO GET BETTER AND SHARPER PHOTOS---YES, We have 90% Pure Heart but only 10% BRAIN, to create our happiness but less money in our pocket.
Just want to have FUN to talk with you.
Have a great weekend.
Surapon
[/quote]

Mr Surapon,
Yes indeed. But we buy because the purchase inspires us to take new images and try the new (or old) gear and see what we can do with it. Maybe we can take a special image that only that bit of gear allows? Maybe. Tilt and shift? Macro? White lens at max aperture? It is the trying that makes the difference. If a new bit of hardware inspires you to go out there and try something new, then get it. Old or new does not matter either. My T90 can take a brilliant image but only if I go our there and us it!

A 60's phrase was 'any is sufficient, enough is too much'. For photography this translates as 'kit is sufficient, but more is better'

Which reminds me, I better get the T90 out and take some shots...

I agree, left side is awful, worse at f4 than at f8.
Right side is none too sharp either, though not as bad as the left, Again, better at f8.

vscd said:

@bdunbar79

I looked at the graphs, and why in the heck would you post graphs of the 1D3 instead of the 1Ds3?

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If you read carefully you would've seen that I already mentioned this, but you can compare by yourself on DXO. The results don't differ that much.

I'm no pixelpeeper, but there are some legends out there which people tend to build up further and further. In fact I think the 1dx is superiorexcept of resolution, but I don't think someone has to buy it if he already has an 1ds3. The differences between the 1-series and the 5-series are even well documented:

http://www.robo47.net/media/data/martin-wieser-kamera-setup.pdf

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In a thread about 1DX and 5D MkIII raw files we diverted a bit to the 1DsMkIII raw files, but I fail to see what relevance a setup PDF, in German, for a 1D MkII/n 1DsMkII has to do with anything?

Take a look at my post here for some pointers on technique - the shot in the post was shot using that same lens/extender combo on a 60D:
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=18528.0

A star field test is not a good test for lens, unless your main subject will be star fields.

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atmospheric conditions will make way more difference to your apparent sharpness than anything else

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+1 I do believe that privatebydesign has nailed it...

Just got a notification from Apple today for EOS-M2 RAW Compatibility Update 5.03 on Aperture 3 and iPhoto 11 ... but other than Amazon Japan, I can't seem to find it being sold anywhere else.

Reach isn't the greatest on full frame, but this is one great lens. It is very easy to hand hold and is balanced well. You can hike all day with it and not notice. I use mine on APS-C except for one trial of 6D on owls at dusk (really a trial of 6D AF, which is certainly sensitive in the dark). As mentioned, a monopod can be helpful when staking out a nest or pond, and you can still (awkwardly) move for BIF shots. I shoot at 1/500 or above, faster is better. Good technique, smooth panning are the key to good flight shots, and the perch shots require good to excellent technique for high keeper rate. I shoot bursts (on the 60D at least). The lens is at its best wide open at f/5.6, and I rarely shoot at smaller apertures, aside from the effective aperture decrease that occurs with a 1.4x TC. The 400 f/5.6 image quality is reasonable with the 1.4x TCII but autofocus is lost, so I use the TC mostly for pre-focused stakeouts. 6D as a birding camera is best applied in very low light situations.