Z said:

hhelmbold said:

I advised about 3 or 4 people in the last week to buy Nikon, and it really hurt! I still love my Canon gear, but Canon left a deep scar with the delays of the 1D X, the delays in the 5D III and now the EOS 650.

Click to expand...

Why did it hurt? Brand loyalty won't improve anyone's photographs. On the other hand I would say there is no clear winner between the 650D and the D3200. The D3200 has more pixels and better DR (the standard 'Nikon advantage' these days) but just 1 of its 11 AF points is a cross-type versus all 9 of the Canon's. Plus a flippy-outy screen and pseudo-video autofocus might be important to a beginner.

Maybe in future you could forego any sense of guilt by telling them that the two/three/four obvious choices are the 650D, D3200 and whatever else, and that they should go to a camera store who will allow them to play with each of these cameras for a bit, to see what fits them best. For a newbie the feel of a camera will be more important than the megapixels or dynamic range - and they might just prefer shooting with the Pentax after all.

Click to expand...

Indeed, especially since the Pentax will have good image stabilization built into the camera.... I was a complete and clueless novice when I bought my first dslr a couple of years ago, a Nikon D3100, but fairly quickly switched to a Pentax K-5 and, a year after that to a Canon 5DII (plus a Rebel t3i as backup) - each better than its predecessor, and not just because I've become less clueless along the way.

So I still have a pretty good memory of what it's like to be a complete novice and despite that don't really know what I would recommend if someone asked me. If I knew for sure that they wouldn't want to upgrade to FF and wouldn't ever want to spend a lot of money on lenses, no matter how good they were, it would be easy enough to recommend Pentax. But it's almost impossible to predict such things - you don't really know until you get into it how much you might like doing low light photography (if you came from a point-and-shoot, how would you?), whether the effects obtainable via shallow depth of field appeals, or how far in you'll want to zoom, etc. So it makes sense to buy into a brand that gives a lot of options, both its own and third-party (Sigma & Tamron make far more lenses for Canon & Nikon than they do for other brands, DxO has proportionately far more modules for lenses that fit Canon & Nikon cameras, etc. ).

Between Canon & Nikon it could well be a toss-up (if I could afford it, I would probably want both). At any rate, it's not clear to me that a 3200 is a better place to start than a Rebel; a newbie who doesn't care about ISO etc. will likely care even less about dynamic range, especially the relatively slight differences in question and especially if he ends up knowing how to get exposure right in the first place (I don't know about the 3200, but my Rebel does that better as a matter of course than my 3100 did (as does the 5DII, of course)). But he might care that, like other low-end Nikons, the auto-focus won't work on some otherwise appealing Nikon lenses, whereas all Canon EF-S and EF lenses will work just fine on a Rebel.... (And he might, if he reads enough reviews, conclude that the D3200 isn't a better camera, period.) In any event, given all the Canons I see around the necks of tourists every day (they seem to outnumber Nikons), Canon seems to be doing rather well among newbies (yes, I know, that's hardly a scientific observation).

Ultimately I don't think it matters much. If a newbie likes the camera he buys and doesn't really get into photography, he'll be happy with what he bought and stick with it; after all, the differences among photos taken with any of the cameras under consideration will be pretty trivial to the non-obsessive, and the standard is very high. And if he does turn into an obsessive for whom these differences turn out to be important, it still doesn't matter much if he decides he should have bought into the other brand because - as I have found out twice - jumping ship isn't really that expensive. Unless he bought the latest camera body at its highest price, chances are he can sell what he initially bought for almost as much as he paid for it; any "loss" can be justified because he will nevertheless have taken some good photos and learned a lot in the process.

I've just gone from 7D to 1Dx.

Dont plan anything untill you see how the 70-200 performs on the FF. With the 1Dx the focus is so fast and so good it has really surprised me. So if you want to you can crop harder. AND with the 2X it is still as quick as the 7D with the lens only, well that's what it seems like to me.

So my advice is WAIT and try it for yourself before you do anything.

Sounds like they're getting closer to clearing the preorder backlog. It's still not in regular stock, but I was at the Superstore today, and they have one on display...

New bridge PowerShot SX500IS

jgunduck said:

briansquibb said:

It is the 1DX compatibility that I want.

Click to expand...

Me too. I now have a 600, a 580exII , an einstein, and 2 B800's that I use 3 flextt5's, a mini, and power MC2 that I can not yet REALLY use.

I have to set the strobes to trigger using the eye on them. inside that is fine but outside it can be tough. my triggers stacked together right now are a $900 paperweight lol.

Click to expand...

You *can* use the MiniTT1 on the 5DIII to trigger Einsteins with the PowerMC2. I know because I'm doing it. The only thing is that the AC3 ZoneController won't work if you have it piggybacking on the TT1/TT5 that's on the hotshoe. It was working fine in version 6, but after they released 6.021 beta (and all later releases), it killed the AC3 functionality with the 5DIII.

But it will still do basic triggering.

Although, what I was doing as a workaround if I wanted to use my Einsteins+PowerMC2 with remote power output control, is putting the TT1 on camera, and then placing the AC3 on a FlexTT5 in my pocket. Then I simply did the power adjustment on the AC3+FlexTT5 in hand. Since the TT1+5DIII wasn't sending any power settings even with the in-camera FEC, my AC3+TT5 settings weren't being overridden.

Not optimal, but it works and I can use my 5DIII and not have to fall back on my 5DII.

He was quite impressed with the 1DX when he reviewed it, enough to make him teeter about whether to return to a Canon system... coming from a D4 convert, that says a lot.

They are Powershots but not as we know them Jim!
They already announced these two weeks ago didn't they, still no new G12 sucessor!

Keep the 70-200 2.8 IS II and save for the 35L.

Agreed, give it a good work over and make sure you are satisfied with it, otherwise contact Canon.

Lecaramel said:

I ordered mine few hours ago, then I'll see. The vendor told me it's a new model which doesn't have the battery drain issue.
I'll test later the official grip to see the real difference, and when I'll have some extra cash, I may buy one

Click to expand...

Congrats on your purchase, I'm looking forward to hearing about the differences

Thanks for sharing your cleaning routine & tips
Here is what I do:

1+2. I take off the eyecup, clean it and also the area on the camera where the eyecup is attached. I clean the LCD, the batterygrip (I take it off as well). I clean the Pop-up flash, put it up in flash position and take dust under it. I clean the sensor.
3. I use a blower for the sensor. A small brush to clean the eyecup, batterygrip, pop-up flash and the rest of the camera. I do not remove the memory cards.
4. I clean my camera every 3 months. But, extra cleaning while shooting in humid weather or when shooting in the desert. When returning from shooting in the desert I use a damp cloth to take of the sand dust and continue with a brush.

I like to hear more tips.

Still not available from Canon USA. Why don't know, but several camera stores on line in Canada have it. They will ship to US but hefty shipping charge and likely have to pay 6% duty also.

1500 FPS and a 16TB CF magazine memory card

Bosman said:

http://fakechuckwestfall.wordpress.com/

These guys crack me up but they also have tests and proof as well as real experience with both. While they inform, they add a little "color" to explain.

Click to expand...

Ever since Canon had their team of brain washers and re-programmers get to him he rarely says anything on point (well he did have a few points regarding the D4, such as terrible video and such, but he is just making an absolute laughing stock fool of himself with his rants against the D800 sensor and DxO, he is so utterly off-base and clueless I'm not sure where would even know where to begin when it comes to his 'discussion' about sensors).

circuito said:

Here a interesting video review of the 1DX.


http://philipbloom.net/2012/08/14/1dx-2/

Click to expand...

So much for the talk from Canon that the 5D3 would be tops for DSLR video from their line and the magic of 22MP choice.

That said even on the 1DX they still left out the basics of something to help focus while shooting, focus peaking or a moveable 100% overlay box and zebras and, I believe, zoom modes.

mdm041 said:

I've also been looking at the 28-300 as a walk around lens for travel but if I buy it then I can't afford to go anywhere. So I've been looking at the Tamron 28-300 as a much cheaper alternative.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with the Tamron unless you're OK with soft shots and very slow AF performance at the long end. I own the Canon 28-300L but tried the Tamron 28-300MM F/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC LD (that's a mouthful) when it came out as an alternative lens when I wasn't in the mood for the weight of the Canon. I shot with it a couple of times before deciding it wasn't for me. The VC did work fairly well and of course it is much cheaper and lighter but a lot of the images were soft compared to the Canon and the AF was very slow at the long end of the zoom.

Now for the Canon 28-300L, I use mine a lot for travel photography. Maybe mine is a better than normal copy but for travel it can't be beat for a full frame camera. It barely cuts it on the wide end on the 1.3x crop 1DM4 and so I ususally carried a 24 and 17 along with it for some shots if I was using it with that camera. I use the past tense because I sold the 1DM4 to help finance a 1D X so I'm now full frame all the way. I personally wouldn't consider it for a 1.6x crop camera because of the lack of wide angle. A big plus for the lens is that it focuses down to 2.3' through the entire zoom range; not quite a macro but close enough for great flower and detail shots. For an older lens design, the IS works very well and the lens focuses quickly. One thing I'll point out about the lens is that it is a big heavy lens. Even when pulled back to 28mm is looks like you are shooting with a telephoto zoom. When traveling with it, I've gotten quite a few "evil eyes" from people thinking I was zoomed in on them when I was taking wide-angle "street" shots. As a lot of people usually suggest, if you have somewhere to rent one, I'd do that first to see if it is for you.

or any other optical view fined for that matter...

Hi guys, I was just wondering if any of you are using Really Right Stuff plate on your camera with Zacuto Z-Finder Pro.... Obviously mounting hole is in different spot (on my 20D RRS plate) and I assume it is not going to be any different on new 1Dx plate that is still on back order for me.

Is it still possible to use Z-Finder Pro with slightly different mounting hole location? What other view finders are popular/good on the market.

Please advise...

Thanks Charles

I liked the Camerastore review of it vs the D800 in a 3 part series. I also thought the DigitalRevcom Review was funny. Drumat5280 has another great side by side. Alot of people hate him and I don't agree with everything he says but Ken Rockwell does a write up as well.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

DMITPHOTO said:

I focused on the word "mixed" and so far this looked the best of all the other adjustments

Click to expand...

Your AFMA method is a formula for disaster. Focusing on a book that way, the camera might grab anyone of the horizontal lines.
Use a target designed to make sure that you are forcing the camera to autofocus exactly where you want it to.
Using software like Reikan FoCal is far better, but at least use something like this. Its free!
http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart

Note how the center horizontal line is isolated so the camera can only lock onto the one place. There is a lot of other good info there as well. Proper setup and exact perpendicularity to the target is a must.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link

I've got the 100 2.8, and when I first got it I used it at 2.8 all the time. After a while I realized that I usually works, and looks better, if you stop it down to somewhere around 5 when doing macros.

Of course, this isn't always the case, but when I do macros I basically take a bunch of shots at different apertures, because it's hard to tell what looks good on those little screens.

The 2.8 is amazing when you use it on portraits and other things IMO.

I have the Photoflex version and it does the job well, however the Impact model you posted has a counter weight that would be very handy to have -- I might even order that one to replace mine. The clamps that hold the reflector look identical and they are very strong on the Photoflex version, so I would assume the same on the Impact model.

(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/744219-REG/Photoflex_DL_BHLDRCOMP_Telescopic_Light_Disc_Holder.html)

The only thing I have seen that may be more promising is the Lastolite Tri-grip Reflector and Holder. This holder only works with the the Lastolite reflector, though.

http://www.lastolite.com/trigrip-bracket.php

This is a sweet idea! Much harder for a thief to walk away with too!

Menace said:

Well done for your first attempt. My advice is to practice and more practice.

Watch out for light burn outs on the model such as photos 7 & 8 - shoulders on both.

Apart from that - have fun

Cheers

Click to expand...

Thanks. After I read your comments. I started to google overexposed background portrait images and came across some very good advice with bg explosure and using flash for fill light. wish i had thought of it during the shoot.

At first, I thought the images came out pretty good for my expectations, but after reading the comments here. I now know there's much more that could have been during the shoot (exposure & composition) and in the post processing.

Thanks for the invaluable tips.

There are several packages on the market as photoshop add-ins that do an excellent job of resampling.
My favorite is Genuine fractals- developed at Pasadena's space lab to enhance data streams from satellites
)think photos from mars) and later made commercially available. Extensis and Corel both had similar programs
and each was about 100-150 bucks. I've used them to take low res web files (like gif logos) to put in business
show displays at about 3 feet square with excellent results. Routinely take 8 -10 meg digital camera files to
print at 24X36 or 30X40 sizes with excellent results. Photoshop's getting better at resampling, but these programs specialize in it and do an excellent job.

Before the Proms recently


Reflecting by RCARCARCA, on Flickr

EXIF: Canon 7D, 15-85mm at 15mm, ISO 1250, f5.0, 1/1000 sec

Richard