I'm not suggesting that bent pins in the OP's 5D MkIII are the cause of his troubles, but in case anyone doubts the existence of bent pin problems, here's a quote from Roger at LensRentals:

"However, some common problems we saw a year ago like the 5D Mk III having bent CF pins and the D800 battery doors snapping off seem to have been fixed and have ceased to be an issue at all."

So it seems it was perhaps a problem in earlier Mk III bodies but not in LensRentals' newer Mk III inventory. The full article is linked below.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/08/lensrentals-repair-data-2012-2013

takesome1 said:

For a great picture get it right at the camera first, the less you have to correct in PP the less it will look fake.

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This works great if you know your destination, sometimes you don't though. If I'm shooting images for a fun photo book, I don't know if my photo will be cropped to 4:3, 4:5, 16:9 or some other aspect ratio.

Framing for a perfect 4:3 composition would really limit which photos I could use where.

Similarly, if I'm shooting an event, I'll usually make a slideshow 16:9 if it's full images, or any aspect ratio if it's more like a collage. Also, I'll probably wind up printing some of the images as large 4:3s. I like having some space to work with.

I've had the 28-300L for a while, and I used it frequently as a travel lens - it was more convenient than the 24-105L + 70-200/2.8L IS II (since the 28-300L is equivalent to the latter in size/weight), and delivered IQ equivalent to the 24-105L across it's broader range.

However, after getting the 24-70/2.8L II (and selling the 24-105L), I also picked up the 70-300L as a travel telezoom. I find the combo of 24-70 II + 70-300L delivers better IQ across an even broader range, takes up the same room and similar weight in the bag, and I don't mind the lens changes. I'll likely sell the 28-300L in the near future (I bought it used on CL at a good enough price that I'll likely make money, or at least break even, on the sale - a long term free 'rental' like that is my favorite way to evaluate a lens.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

I'd be concerned about investing in a PW or any other such unit myself. Every time a new Canon body comes out, they will not work with it, so you have to wait a long time, 6 months to a year for a firmware update. If you must have one buy the cheap throw away Chinese models.
Another alternative, if you don't want to buy a 580 EX II, or ST-E3, get something like a $99 Canon 90 EX flash which can be used as a master and will work on new Canon models. Its far from a perfect compromise, but its cheap.

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+ 1 for me too.
Well, If you still want to buy Canon ST-E2 for $ 215 US Dollars just for 10 meters or 33.33 Feet for Transmission range, I would recommend the great Unit for my Canon Old flashes system = Youngnuo ST-E2 ( ETTL ) just for $ 87.50 US Dollars and get the Transmission Range up to 25 Meters or 82.5 Feet---Yes, on the bright sun shine too, Plus this great Unit use 2 AA batteries, Not Expensive 2CR5 Lithium Battery that very dificult to buy in the third world country.
Nice to talk to you, Sir
Surapon
PS, I got Canon ST-E2 , Youngnuo ST-E2 System + Fomex/ Dr. Ray system and Super cheap ( Made in China) $ 20-30 system, before I brough Phottix Odin---Yes, All the Old system will be in the boxes for a long long time.

http://www.amazon.com/YONGNUO-Wireless-Speedlite-Transmitter-Camera/dp/B0055QPKKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381598863&sr=8-1&keywords=yongnuo+st-e2

+1 Post a sample.

Is one camera set to manual level and the other auto? Auto level will add gain (hiss) until it reaches a predetermined recoridng level, so when its quiet the hiss ramps up making it more apparent.

If you are serious about audio there are three possible ways forward:

To record audio seperately on something like a zoom h4n or similar (has built in ok mics or can take good externals)

To record audio seperately on something like a tascam DR-60D which also acts as an interface with the camera, so you have the security of the audio in two places, on the devices own SD card and in the cameras SD card as part of the movie file. (no built in mic, externals only)

Finally, an interface only device, such as a beachtek or juiced link. (no built in mic, externals only)

The main benefits of each of these approaches is more control over levels, cleaner sound and headphone monitoring. The Tascam & zoom stand out in this regard as you are actually listening to the recorded audio that will be on the Tascam, there is the the potential for there to be a problem between the beechtek or juiced link and not realise as you cannot monitor from the camera.

Because of the lights behind, I don't think you could do the longer exposure with model jumping out thing. She may not have motion blur, but the city lights would burn through her body. With this background I agree with the shorter exposure and keeping extra ambient light off of the model. I also agree that the 1st curtain flash will let the model know when to pose.

If she were twirling a sparkler or a LED light or something to create light trails, I would suggest the opposite; long exposure, heavily underexposed to reduce ambient light and ghosting, and then 2nd curtain sync.

JPAZ said:

Are those "vignettes" shots up cropped from your FF? If so, that degree of vignetting is easily cropped off and the remaining photo is still remarkable.

JP

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Yes, Sir, Dear Mr. JPAZ.
These Vignettes are very easy to crop/ Clean by use Photoshop Program, And After Crop and Clean--The Photos are remarkable Sharp Picture as the Super Distortion as we see in the Viewfinder. Yes We still can control the Horizontal line distortion , buy put the horizontal line in our point of view at the center of the Viewfinder ( The canter of the Photos) and that will be good photo with minimum distortion, after Crop the Photo as we need to see.
Thank again , Nice to talk to you.
Surapon

6D +17-40L does street in East London


Friday Frolicks by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr


Well Red by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr


Street - Hoxton 310813 by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr


Street - Hoxton 310813 by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

Any suggestions?

AlanF said:

Pi said:

Looks good for that ISO but try ISO 100, tripod, no IS. Better yet - natural light, speed faster than 1/100.

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It's a shot of an LCD screen (at an angle as well). So, how would natural light be better?

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Natural light would be better if direct, natural light shining on a backlit LCD makes it brighter and increases contrast. In my experience, neither is true.

LetTheRightLensIn said:

Since my earlier posts in this thread I have actually used the 24-70 f/4 IS and just as the MTF predicted it is much better than the 24-105L on FF, especially on the all critical wide end.

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+1,

Well said. There is no substitute for practical experience with a lens. Unfortunately the 24-70 IS is a lens which is going to have to overcome it's negative reviews.

As I've said before; whether the improvement is worth the extra cash over the now very reasonable 24-105 is up to the individual.

wickidwombat said:

I agree most hoods offer some protection but the 16-35? really its he most useless hood out there and it takes. heap of space

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+1000 on that one. It's the most annoying thing to pack. Period. At least it's cheap. My 400 5.6's built-in hood took not one, but two impacts with concrete and cost over $400 to replace each time. And now I have a carbon fiber hood on my 300mm 2.8 IS II that costs $400, not to mention the $125 lens cap. The $150 deductible on my insurance isn't so bad considering the cost of our hobby.

As for the OP, that sucks, but hopefully it will work out okay and you'll just be out the filter. The threads look a bit damaged, too, but hopefully it's just cosmetic.

Rick said:

Canon Rumors said:

<p>We also understand that Canon is redesigning the shift mechanism on the new tilt-shift lenses and that they won’t share the same design... I would gladly welcome a more reliable design to the shift unit, and hopefully Canon can make the new lenses a bit less prone to broken knobs and other issues that I have seen.</p>

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Problem with the shift mechanism on the TSE-17? News to me.

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If they're redesigning ONLY the shift mechanism, perhaps they're looking at the post-style shift like the PC-Super-Angulon and older shift lenses. The new Schneider PC-TS lenses use barrel rings to adjust both tilt and shift independently. Very cool, indeed.

I will say the post-style shift is really a joy to use. I have the 75mm shift lens for the Mamiya RZ, and I previously owned the TS-E 24L II. Both are extraordinary. I do find the TS-E knobs a bit tedious now that I've experienced a post mechanism. Big fan, though the Mamiya post lacks a way to lock things down.

I frequently use my Canon 300mm F2.8 L IS Mk1 with the 2 x Mk3 (not Mk2) extender and get very good results if the light is good. No it is not as good as my 600 F4 L IS (now sold to pay for 800mm) but it is not that far short in good light and weighs/costs a LOT less! Camera is a 1D4.

I think you did great to catch it like that. I tried to catch it one time without the moon and it was way too fast for me. I'm not sure, but I suspect that even with a longer focal length, the ISS would still just be a dot.

Rat said:

I really think (or at least hope) no one seriously expected to get a €400 lens for less than €90. I for one was buying full well knowing that an error was much more likely than this insane discount. But who knows what happened, so why not take a free gamble if you could do with 14mm FF anyway?

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well... i buy on amazon for years.

i once got a 230 euro gfx card for 80 euro.
another time i got a asus sonar DX card and one day later i got another one.
of course i payed only for one.

never heard anything from amazon.
sometimes you can be lucky.

i did not thought it was an discount..i thought it was an error.
but there was a chance that i get it for 88 euro.

i guess the main problem was.. to many have ordered.
and they did not send out the same day.

when they send you the email that they have send the product, you have a valid contract and they can´t cancel.

Yes.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/workshops-and-seminars/

The guy is a master of flash techniques.

chauncey said:

I doesn't take a genius to use the ruler method if you're adept at Photoshop focus stacking.
Simply take a series of images at incremented adjustments>import them into PS as layers and stack them...the masks will tell you where you ought to be.

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+1

CharlieB said:

You didn't have the lens to take the shots you had pre-determined that you'd wanted. But think of the shots that you didn't take, and could have, because you were wishing for more.

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Not exactly true. I had no photographic plans per se. This was not a planned photographic outing. In fact, my original thought was just to hang around the resort and spend the time reconnecting with my brother who I haven't seen in 3 yrs. Other than our usual Wally-mart trip for groceries, I could have easily remained at the resort. Travel arrangements at this particular resort are handled by Thomas More Travel.

Everybody wants to go to Chichen Itza, Tulum, Xcaret, Xel-Ha. I've been to those places. Its the excursions like Sotuta de Peon and Ek Balam that are hit or miss and more likely to get cancelled. As it stands both groups for these tours were small (Ek Balam there were 6 of us; Sotuta de Peon and Merida, 15). These were perfect size groups but I just got lucky and why I basically was pessimistic of being able to go to Ek Balam in particular in the first place. As far as Ek Balam is concerned, I think I got what I wished for. Sotuta de Peon wasn't even on my radar.

If the travel agent hadn't mentioned Sotuta de Peon as an alternative to going to the Mayan ruins at Coba (which is where I WANTED to go), I would not have gone. Up until that point, I new absolutely nothing about Sotuta de Peon. It wasn't even on the tour board at the desk and there were no tour brochures. The agent went in the back office to get one for me after he told me about it.

The T3i/24-105 (with the exception of the 17-55 or maybe a G11), was really the only combo I considered taking.

I wasn't looking forward with having to deal with TSA and especially Mexican customs personnel. I've had enough trouble with the later to not even want to take anything that might get confiscated. For example, my last trip to Mexico in 2006 resulted in having my cologne confiscated, even though it was well within the regulated size. Security/Customs in Mexico can be unpredictable. There have been times where I've had absolutely no issues entering or leaving Mexico; and there have been times where I felt I was living a nightmare. Generally speaking, I don't travel with both a camera and a laptop in my possession, so this was my first time where I had both. I like to travel light. The less I have to carry and/or check the better.

My next trip to Mexico will be a planned photographic outing. I will definitely be taking a tripod on that trip along with a variety of focal lengths to cover most possibilities.

Lichtgestalt said:

what is hard clicking on the link?

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I see it clearer than the sun now... yes... thank you...

Lichtgestalt said:

brad-man said:

At the top of the article you will find a link that reads "Follow On Our Forum." Be forewarned though, there are crazy rude people in there...

Welcome to CR!

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yeah for example people who have to explain everything twice even when there is already an illustration..... ;D

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Thank you.

ScottyP said:

Alright. I'll admit it. I have never noticed that link either, and I have been reading this forum for 2 years! Derp on me. Thanks to OP for asking, and thanks for the answers.

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Thank you.

Marsu42 said:

Fyi all: I just read about a fix to remove aliasing from the 6d (I didn't try it myself though yet): use Magic Lantern and shoot 720p raw at 5x zoom ... it's a tight crop, but it's supposed to solve the problem for good. Read more on the Magic Lantern forums: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/

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Yes, you record 1:1 from the sensor, so no line-skipping and so no aliasing issues, but...
1- With such a high crop, you convert a wide angle lens into a tele. This could be good to reduce your equipment, but it also means that you can forget about wide angle shots.
2- You see 5x, but you record 3x, so framing correctly is very tricky.
3- Definition it's obviously lower, it's like watching at a 100% crop of an image.
So, I wouldn't call it a "fix".

Sporgon said:

Bet it was your Mum who said 'you don't even need that lens'

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Oddly enough, No! She'd just question why I "need" that lens.
[/quote]

jdramirez said:

what did you start off with? I bought my daughter a used xti and a used 18-55, but every now and then I'll let her use some of my nice lenses.

a 9 year old with an slr, even an old one draws attention... I imagine at some point I might hand her down my mkiii, but I really don't see that happening any time soon.

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I started off with a 60D when it first came out (back in the highly pretentious stage of teenage years) and just an 18-55, but slowly expanded with getting a 10-22 and I think what topped it off was the 580EX II and BG-E9. Now I just get people complaining how heavy the 5D 3 is.

When I had a 60D and upgraded from an EF-S 18-135 to 24-105, I soon realized that the 24 (FOV same as 38mm) was definitely not 'wide enough' for most indoor photography. So I complemented it with a 16-35 f2.8L for when I needed 'wider'. That solved the problem.

So, as the OP already has sufficiently 'wide enough' with the 15-85, it's probably worth keeping as is, unless the f3.5-5.6 becomes a hinderance (definitely too slow for indoor, low light, no flash photography) or, like me, plan to upgrade to full frame in the future...which I did.

cid said:

When on second day of our US national park trip ranger informed us, that parks are closed and we can't even get refund for our annual pass (bought two days before that day)

Yeah, I am first time in US and all I got was one afternoon in Grand Teton and one day in Yellowstone, i felt pretty miserable indeed and we had to rescheduled the rest of our trip ...

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i feel with you... that sux.

my sister has cancelled her 3 weeks USA trip in november.
she is an avid photographer too.

she is going to patagonia for 2 weeks now. i envy her...

privatebydesign said:

Interesting. This is from the Move 1200L manual. I am sure Broncolor themselves are wrong.

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Not wrong, just assuming people are capable of reading the right column. Try the one relevant for shooting outdoors/in mixed light.

I wasn't espousing the benefits, advantages or disadvantages of HSS, I was pointing out the limitations of leaf shutters in the context of a Canon Speedlites and ST-E3--RT thread.

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In a fatally flawed way...the limitation, based on SK's leaf shutter, costs about 1.5 stops of required power reduction but gains 5 stops via shutter speed - unless you're deliberately doing it wrong you increase the relative power tenfold. That's about the kind of limitation I'd like to see in every field.