Any time is a good time to get the 135mm f/2 L. My favorite lens by far.

If you are really looking for a tilt/shift lens for wedding photography, you should probably at least look at the TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L, in addition to the TS-E 45mm. I've seen a number of photographs from very good wedding photographers, and the majority seem to use the 24mm if they do creative focus. That said, the TS-E 45mm is the second most used lens for wedding photography that I know of. One of my favorite wedding photographers who uses T/S is Sean Flanigan, a wedding photog in Seattle, WA. His work is quite amazing (although for more than just using T/S, and is a great example of how to apply creative focus (most of which I believe is done with the 24mm given the wider field of view, although the 45mm may be in the mix at times as well):

http://seanflanigan.net/blog/page/6/

Another great T/S wedding photographer is Bobby Earle. He is quite skilled, and uses both the TS-E 24mm and TS-E 45mm lenses. I will point out that there are quite a number of similarities between Earle's and Flanigan's work...tilted, desaturated, grainy, often black and white with high contrast. Not sure if that is simply a strange coincidence, or if it is the consequence of using creative focus...maybe it has a concurrent narrowing of style while at the same time offering greater freedom. Anyway, these two photographers should be more than enough inspiration, regardless of whether you pick up the 24mm or 45mm. And, according to Earl, he really loves the 45mm for vertical wedding portraiture.

http://bobbyearle.com/blog/tilt-shift-lens-use-in-weddings/
http://bobbyearle.com/blog/tilt-shift-lens-tips-for-wedding-photography-part-2/

The real edge the 24mm has over the 45mm is a far newer optical design, and sharper optics than the much-vaunted EF 24mm prime. The 45mm is an older design, and still has some flaws. I can't say I've ever noticed that actually mean anything in the creative focus wedding photography I've seen (although again most seems to be with the 24mm), but it might be something to think about.

Zv said:

Just did a metadata search on LR, most of my shots are either at the wide end (17mm - 28mm) or the tele end (mostly around 85mm). I also tend to crop a lot. So I guess my style is a mix of wide and close-up.

Next experiment - stick my 17-40 on 35mm and shoot at that focal length all day, see how it goes.

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While you're at it, since you have the 50mm 1.8, compare it with 35mm to see whether you think 35 would be much more useful than 50. For my taste, on FF 35mm is too wide most of the time, partly because I prefer not to get very close to the subject, especially if the subject is a person. My inclination is to go longer, and would take the 135L for the reasons given by others. (That said, the Sigma 35mm is so good I've found myself going out of my way to find way to use it, which has been a rewarding experience in itself....)

My experience with 70-200 L II IS and 2x III on a crop body is that you have stop down to f/8 or else the image will be too soft. Also hand-holding 400mm is hell. You need fast shutter speeds and with f/8 or f/11 you will need a lot of light. Direct sunlit subjects are best in this case.

The 70-200mm f/4 IS is sharper than the other two, the 70-200mm f/2.8 non IS is very good, and bringing up the rear is the f/2.8 Ver 1 IS model.
All of them are reasonably good, so its just a matter of what you need. I've owned multiple copies of all the f/2.8 versions and kept the f/4L IS. If I were to buy the f/2.8 version it would be the non-IS or the MK II.

The 60 D and the D7000 are the competitors, and sales wise, its far ahead, simply because it costs less.
Nikon has yet to produce a competitor to the 7D, which is one of the reasons we do not see a MK II. The D300s is almost dead, and does not match the 7D.

Well, if you find yourself shooting at 8mm often with the 8-16, consider the full-frame equivalent of this lens: the Sigma 12-24. Since you have the 24-70, the 12-24 would fit nicely into your lineup.

There are two versions of the 12-24; version one is very good stopped down and remarkably has almost no distortion. Version two is sharper in the corners but has some barrel distortion.

zim said:

I think you need to have wifi and gps disabled even with camera switched off to stop battery drain.

Sorry to hear your predicament it must be incredibly frustrating to put it mildly. I really hope your find someone willing to help you out.

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i have those off. something is really wrong with this camera. need to find canon shop in london so i can sort this out.

spinworkxroy said:

I own both the 24-105 and 24-70II
I bought the 24-70II even though i own the 24-105 for 1 reason, sharpness at f2.8. That's also a big reason why many other buy this lens isn't it?
Depending on what you shoot, for me, it's 90% portraits, 10% events and for both, i don't need IS.
What i need is a sharp lens.
If possible, most times i'll use my primes but there are situations where a good zoom is essential and this is where the 24-70II really shines..it's almost as sharp as my primes for portraitures..

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+1 I ended up selling my 24-105. Not nearly as sharp. The extra stop of light comes in handy too.

I shoot wedding, portrait, babies anything with people. And I also shoot mostly in daytime and if I do shoot at night time, I use strobes using ISO 1000 at the most.

Thanks for the recommendation and advice! Really appreciate it.

I do not worry about the user interface, as I can always find the setting I need on both system. Of course the 550D is beginner level DSLR, so it doesn't have much short cut button like D7000, and because D7000 is mid-range DSLR, and it offer more details setting than the 550D, the most important thing is, both camera take picture!

I feel like go back to Nikon mostly because of the direction of Nikon for their DSLR and the quality issues for their products.

I will move to full frame after I build up the lens and flash that I need. I mostly shoot family photo, and of course will carry it whenever I go travel. I mostly shoot people and some landscape.

Nikon seems preferring to make camera they want rather than what user needs, put D4 aside, I don't think my Computer "afford" to manage 36mega pixels files, the D600 is just another full frame DSLR will all AF points "gather" at the center. Quality issues are also another matter that worth to consider.

Canon DSLR and lens are mostly made in Japan, compare to made in China and Thailand products, I prefer Japan. That's one of the reason I choose 550D initially, but it let me down...

Canon full frame seems a better choice that suit my needs, except the expensive 1DX.

Of course, no one can tell what will both company offer in future, but let's say in this 3-5 years time.

I understand that no perfect camera in the world, and I'm not looking for perfect camera either. But just need some opinion from You all.

Thank you!

jdramirez said:

wickidwombat said:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SALE-BRAND-NEW-SAMYANG-8mm-f-3-5-FISHEYE-DSLR-LENS-for-CANON-DETACHABLE-HOOD-/330815197919?pt=AU_Lenses&hash=item4d061f52df

pretty decent price
if its gonna be used on a crop that is

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I think I paid 245 from Buydig. There was a coupon so I was able to pay less. Brand new... full warranty... all very happy with the price. I get to play with it in two weeks when my birthday comes.

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cool let us know how it goes i'm just playing with the EOS-M and the 18-55 at the moment. I bit the bullet and installed the ML alpha on it to see how the intervalometer goes, it looks pretty good so far. I think ML is really gonna unlock some serious potential in the M

RLPhoto said:

Buy LEE or schnider optic.

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Lee had some of the most variability in quality control and colour casts of all the filters I've tried their ND grads often have a purple cast in the darker densities. The B+W cast is very strong and like a copper tone. Very odd and quite harsh.
Heliopan are my preferred choice and offer more options in their range. I personally find their 5 stop to be the most useful. The Hoya 9 stop has a nice pink hue, which I really like too.

Considering buying the Samyang 14mm f2.8 for landscape photography. I was wondering if anyone out there knows if I can attach a filter holder/adapter with this lens. I found this site offering the holder and the adapter for the Samyang but I am not sure about the quality of this product. Anyone used this product from Lucroit (Hitech Filter Systems) or know any other brands that make filter holders/adapters for this lens? Also, was wondering if system will take Lee's square ND/GND filters?

dolina said:

For $4,000 center to edge sharpness and optical quality should be = 1 and no < 0.9

For that money I' rather buy a Leica lens.

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+1 on that.

If this was f/1.2 (or even f/1.0) it would be closer to being worth that amount of money.

But just seeing the comparisons in the video, the 55 f/1.4 is incredibly amazing.

imagestoreindia said:

Why you not choose Canon Lens - EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens . best budget lens online.
get more specification or buy online from Canon official Store Online - http://www.imagestore.co.in/

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I wouldn't go for a zoom like that when it's better to learn from the primes forcing you to think. And why the 17-85 and an only lens when the 15-85 would be a completely superior option for just a little more.

Since this has inevitably moved on to the merits of filters as protection...

...the simple rule of thumb is that lens hoods improve image quality, protect against all the common types of damage lenses suffer, and under no circumstances will cause damage to a lens; and protection filters degrade image quality (even if imperceptibly with the best of filters), protect against only those situations where you as a human should also be wearing safety goggles; sometimes are necessary to complete environmental sealing; typically cost almost as much as replacing the front element; and will likely further damage the lens in common damage situations (especially by jamming the filter threads).

So, if you yourself should be wearing eye protection (such as if you're getting gravel kicked in your face at the rodeo, or if you're ringside and are getting splashed by bodily fluids); or if you're using one of a small number of L lenses in inclement conditions (including seaside); or if you're handing your camera to people (especially children) who can't keep their grubby fingers off the lens; then a protection filter is called for in addition to the lens hood.

The lens hood is always called for, except for situations where it's causing a physical obstruction.

Cheers,

b&

Marsu42 said:

AvTvM said:

And I will happily repeat, that the 6D is a poor piece of crap, a warmed-over 5D2, without any real advantage as far as sensoran d IQ is concerned.

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The 6d has less banding, a problem that seems to have plagued a lot of 5d2 shooters, and Nikon only has more dr in low iso. That doesn't make the 6d a more innovative camera - but without putting too much a fine point on it, I don't think you'll let facts stand in the way of your opinion anyway.

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+1 ... Apart from the AF, there is very little I don't like about the 6D. It is a great camera!

In fact I find it amazing that some people who have never ever shot with a FF come out denouncing the 6D citing DR while they are perfectly happy with their APS-C cameras. If you want to jump ship, please do so and do it right now what's the point in moaning?

Personally I've not found the 5d3 or the 6d's lack of DR limiting my shots (maybe its just me). More DR is most certainly welcome, but simply because a camera doesn't allow recovery of x number of stops doesn't make the Canon cameras 'crap' as suggested. ETTR and you'll be just fine.

Sneakers said:

kphoto99 said:

Keep in mind that any other non STM lens will be (very) loud while doing autofocus in video mode. This is if you are doing any video.

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Good point, but I'm disappointed by the performance of the autofocus and don't think I'll use it much.

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The more you read CR the more you will find out that Canon cripples its products to make sure they don't compete with more expensive ones. The video in the dSLR is not as good as the Cx00 line for the same reason. Some of that crippling is by software limiting what the hardware can do and not by hardware limitations.

I have the 135STM and I find it very sharp compare to the 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS and the 55-250 4-5.6 IS lenses that I have. My sharpest lens Tamron 17-50 2.8 XR Di II and the 135STM is very close to it.

I had a similar experience with one of the standard UV filters. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend.When I complained to him that I thought the images were a little soft, and maybe he had steered me wrong we got together to compare. What I discovered is that I paid around $30 for my filter and he had paid almost $100. Both Promaster UV filters. The salesman tried to sell me the better filter but did a really bad job of explaining why I needed it except it was easier to clean. I took the filter back to the store to return it and get a B+W. The store manager took the time to explain the real difference between the standard filter and the better filters including both the B+W and the Promaster better filter. It seems that most of the inexpensive filters from Hoya, Tiffen, Sunpak, Promaster, or others are only coated on one side of the glass or not coated at all. The higher end filters are coated both sides with multiple layers of coating that helps eliminate the ghosting which impacts the image sharpness. Anyway, the manager convinced me to trade for the Promaster HGX and save the extra $30 since it had the same level of coating etch as the B+W MRC. They said if I was unhappy, they would swap me for the B+W. So far, no soft images and I am as happy as my friend.

CarlTN said:

Thank you eyeland. I have no doubt the CPU needs a heatsink, but I think I read that the 1Dc's sensor had a heatsink. Either way, wherever the most heat originates, it will propagate, and accumulate...as you said. And you don't want the CPU or the sensor to overheat.

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I'm not doing video, but anyone interested should search in or ask in the Magic Lantern forum, the people there have lots of experience with video on different eos camera bodies and use firmware with modified bitrate, i.e. potentially generating more even more heat - and I vaguely remember problems with the 7d: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/

neuroanatomist said:

tpatana said:

Tried the Lowepro tool to estimate which bag I need. It told me I should get the Flipside 500 AW. Hmm...

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I've loaded the Flipside 400 AW with a gripped body, 430EX II, and either one big white zoom (70-200/2.8L IS II or 100-400L) and four black lenses (e.g. 24-105L, 16-35L II, TS-E 24L II, 100L Macro, 135L, etc.), or two big white zooms and three black lenses.

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I bought the Flipside 400 about six months ago based on your recommendation, I think it's a great solution especially since the gear is not accessible while you're wearing it, this is valuable where I live.

I have also a couple of Crumpler bags that I like alot. Then a couple of more Lowepro bags that I mainly use for storage at home. I have yet to match my wife in terms of number of bags though, which is a good argument whenever I bring home a new bag.

Thanks for all the feedback. The book "Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites" has been ordered and should be in my hot little hands next week

And I'll order a couple of cables, the 1m coiled and the 10m straight, simply for diversity. After reading about the ST-E2 unit, I'll hold off for the time being. The cables are cheaper and will probably give me the flexibility I need at the moment

digital paradise said:

If you want to go with cables
http://ocfgear.com

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After months of development and research at the massive canon R&D department we present to you, the professional consumer..... An AF-Assist beam that actually works. ;D ;D ;D





:|

Policar said:

I wouldn't take this so personally!

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Not taking it personally at all. Just got tore a bit to shreds for suggesting that a 5D3 would ever under any circumstances have the potential to exhibit moire. You could buy six 5D3's for the price of my work ENG camera, which has occasionally exhibited moire.

Thank god for the tools to fix it.

The problem with the land of milk and honey is curdling and bee's.