From a video perspective an ideal studio would be matte black on the ceiling and walls, matte grey floor.

The set area can be dressed with colorama or curtains etc, but really you don't want light bouncing off anything it shouldn't be, especially anything that will introduce a colour cast.

BozillaNZ said:

I've completely dismantled my 1D Mark III to fix a mirror problem. Whole set of images:

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made my day ;D

Hi, sorry I haven't gotten back for a while. Been busy settling back here in Sweden. Those are very kind words from you guys.

Brett, hope you went out shooting some film and challenge your creativity.

Graham, I have thought of a couple of other projects based in town here. Especially one that I hope to realise as soon as I get back to work in a few weeks, I will spend some time walking the streets on Sundays putting it together over the course of a few weeks. I have another hobby which is golf, but won't find much time for it now. I did some stuff back in Asia, shooting courses and wrote a few articles that I got published (with some of my photos). Hope to get some more of that done, but the only work I've done on that has been in Asia.

Shutterwideshut, thanks for your words. Interesting about Manila. I've been there only once and it was on a quick business trip. Staying at Shangri La Edsa, ten minutes limo ride to the office and then back for a couple of days. Was alone so I didn't really fancy going out in the evenings. But the town looked interesting and I hope to be able to go back one day. You have inspired me and advised med on the long exposures. However, Sweden is located far north and this time of year the sun sets very late and rises very early (3.30 or so) so to catch the golden hour is not that easy. I am normally asleep by then. And I haven't invested in those expensive 10 stop filters you got so daylight is pretty much out of the question for me when it comes to long exposures. I'll wait a couple of months for it to get darker.

Take care all and thanks for the nice words and interesting discussion.

thanks
J

Normalnorm said:

Pi said:

sdsr said:

... the Panasonic equivalent of a 70-200 2.8, the 35-100 2.8, weighs 13 oz.

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That is a f/5.6 eq. lens. The closest comparison is the Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0, which is more than twice (!) the weight and the price of the equivalent 70-200/4 IS, longer, and not as good.

The m43 14-35/2 is 28-70/4 eq., and it is a heavy $2.3K monster. The overpriced Canon 24-70/4 IS looks like a bargain next to it, and it is considerably lighter and smaller, not to mention wider and better.

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The aperture equivalences are only valid if you are interested in equalizing narrow depth of field.

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And noise. And AOV.

Many people and most pros like a fast lens to be able to use a higher shutter speed. The DOF issue in no way affects that.

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Nothing else does. If you are not shooting with a phone or a P&S, you can choose whatever speed you want.

As for the price of any lens, it is either worth it or it isn't. I would gladly pay $2500 each for the f2 Olympus lenses if they would focus quickly on an OM-D. Not only would I be able to shoot wide open at good shutter speeds in dim light but I would also have the advantage of being able to have two people in focus in the frame.

Even though those lenses are large, the comparable lens in terms of true speed will never be made for a FF body.

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"True speed"? What prevents you from getting the same DOF on FF?

eml58 said:

CarlTN said:

eml58 said:

1st Cheetah Kill, Serengeti near the Grameti River, don't think this Lady was doing much more than 70-80Kph, so still had a gear in reserve, This mother Killed every single Day as she had 3 Cubs around 18 Months Old she was teaching & feeding as well as her self, Mothers, where would we all be without them.

1Dx 200-400, shot @ 560mm f/5.6 & 1/1600th ISO800

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I too like this one. How much of the image is cropped, if any?

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Hi CarlTN, Cropped top & bottom only to give the Image more length, overall perhaps 10% of the Image has been cropped, most of my shots of this Kill included only the Cheetah, at 12 fps the sequence still only included the victim in 3 frames, that's how fast the Cheetah was moving, the Thomson's Gazelle was doomed the moment the Mother Cheetah decided he was on the Menu. Once she Killed she stepped back and kept a look out for Lions & Hyenas while her 3 Cubs fed, only when they were filled did she then feed herself, remarkable Animal Behaviour.

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Thank you, and that's a nice story. I've seen cheetahs on the various animal channels. On Nat Geo Wild, they aired a show done by two brothers (can't think of them right now), shot a few years ago. They were on the Serengeti. The mother cheetah climbed on top of their truck to watch her cubs play.

distant.star said:

.
I want to know how you found one in stock. I've been looking for a week or two, and it's never in stock. You must have found the lucky minute.

My fastest ever shipping experience was with a computer software program in 1993. I ordered it a 2AM from a place near Columbus, OH. At 9:30 AM a FexEx driver knocked on my door and handed it to me. Amazing what can happen when you combine credit cards and jet aircraft!

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Mine was ordering a router interface card from California. An hour later it was delivered... and I was 3800 kilometers, 3 time zones, and one international border away...

neech7 said:

US buyers also have the option of buying online from Canada:

http://www.henrys.com/78480-CANON-EF-M-11-22MM-F4-5-6-IS-STM-LENS.aspx

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Henry's sent me a tracking number today ;D

Interesting thing is that Canon appears (from the 70D) to be counting pixels as output pixels (or individual payer pixels), not as per how many photosites are read. Which I think is a good thing, it just makes sense.

RLPhoto said:

8D :-D :-| :-(

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I just pre-ordered mine... :

why don't you just downloard the drivers from the cannon support page and use them.
Most canon scanners also will respond to the standard twain drivers in adobe products.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/scanners/canoscan_series/canoscan_8800f#DriversAndSoftware

The big thing I learned is that compared to APS-c, I can crop a FF image from the 24-105 and still get what I want. Not he best phot, but here's what I mean......

5000 days. (inspirational world around us)

Magnum: Magnum. (the zenith of the art)

The genius of Photography (BBC book and DVD)

The Kodak Encyclopedia of Practical Photogprahy (multi volume, I had the old 70's 80's series. Invaluable)

Badger said:

OK, be gentle. For some of us, photography is just a hobby and we don't get deep into the technical aspects of it all. I have a 6D but I couldn't tell you what processor is in it and I have no idea what dual iso amplifiers are.

Having said that, I am mildly curious about Magic Lantern coming to the 6D. Do any of my more learned friend have any information on when or if that is going to happen?

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I have good news for you my friend. It seems it is already available for the 6D.
As you can read here http://www.magiclantern.fm :

Available for Canon EOS:
5Dmk2, 50D, 60D
500D, 550D, 600D
soon: 5Dc, 1100D, 5Dmk3, 7D, 6D, 650D, EOS-M

If you need more 6D specific information (install guide) look here: http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5530.0 Keep in mind that ML is mainly for video guys but also has some goodies for stills. You should also keep in mind that altering your firmware might damage your camera. You should read the ML how-tos and guides before flashing.

But this specific feature of Magic Lantern which the OP mentioned in his links (dual ISO / dynamic range increase) will never be available for the 6D. It is a hardware limitation, not a software limitation in this case.

ecka said:

Imagine that you are a cyborg and you see the world through cameras instead of eyes. One camera has 8mp APSC sensor from 20D and another one has 21mp FF sensor from 5D2 (yes, it's weird, you must be made in China, or something). Both with 40mm f/2.8 lenses. You see everything in clearest details up to a single pixel, all of them, all the time. FF camera has 60% wider FoV, but with both lenses focused at the same distance you would see that they both produce the same DoF.
This is a very simplified concept (no need to tell me that), because I don't want to waste any more time on this, but it is real and correct. That's how your camera sees it and renders the DoF. The question is not "How do my eyes deal with DoF?". It is "How the camera does it?". It may not be useful for thumbnails and snapshots, but there is a need for it in photography with extremely shallow DoF and a lot of cropping, like macro (where you can't bring it back if it's oof).

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Seriously? A cyborg? Sure, the DoF from the same lens, with the shot taken at the same distance and aperture but two different sensor formats, will have the same DoF. While true (and something quite obvious that doesn't require a preposterous story to illustrate), it's irrelevant. They yield the same DoF, but what is that DoF? Imagine you have been preserved as a plastinated cadaver for an exhibit at the 24th-and-a-half Century Body Worlds exhibit, and me the cyborg is staring at your outstretched hand. Are your wide, strangely lifelike eyes rendered sharply enough to appear unblurred?

The camera doesn't render DoF. DoF is based on 'acceptable sharpness' and only exists when an image is viewed, and thus viewing conditions like output size and viewing distance matter.

Sorry, but it's now obvious beyond doubt that you just don't understand the concept of DoF (and apparently haven't bothered to even read the definition of the term), so this really is a waste of time.

It is indeed an interesting lens, and certainly one I would look into if i had a need.

alek35 said:

mrsfotografie said:

Samyang 14mm: One of the most arty lenses I own. The 'moustache' distortion is no dealbreaker for my use of this lens. Excellent sharpness and colors and the (self added) addition of an AF confirmation chip makes it sweet to use (MF is otherwise almost impossible due to the large DOF in the viewfinder, even with an EF-S screen).

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This got me curious - how did you add the AF confirmation chip ? It works on your Canon, right ?

Br,
Thomas

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It works on any Canon EOS camera

I bought an AF confirmation chip and glued it onto the rear of the lens as shown in the pictures below. I positioned it in the right place using the supplied alignment tool and checked it with a Canon lens. Note that I had to make a spacer to raise the chip to the correct level: flush with the edge of the metal mount. If you glue it inside the recess it won't contact the pins in the camera!

The chip is programmable so that it will report the correct focal length and maximum aperture but will work without programming.

More importantly, it has internal 'focus micro adjustment' which I programmed at f/4 to nail focus every time and give sharp results at f/4 and above which is the aperture range I use mostly. I found there is some focus shift in this lens depending on aperture so at f/2.8 and f/3.2 the focal plane is not the same as at f/4 and above. Programming the AF chip at f/2.8 therefore results in a false calibration for the stopped down apertures.

Now, for stuff at infinity focus, the focus confirmation is still OK even at f/2.8-3.2 but for stuff critically close to the lens at wide apertures I resort to the precision matte focus screen in my 5DII to check focus is in the correct place.

The chip is programmable as follows:

Samyang 14 mm: 14mm F/2.8, AFMA 26

Preparation:

1 Turn camera on and attach adapter with chip,aperture shows F1.4 on camera.
2 set Manual mode.
3 shutter speed to 1/60 second
4 aperture increment step to 1/3 EV. (it is the most Canon digital camera default setting).

set the aperture value to F/64 and press shutter button once.
set the aperture value to F/57 and press shutter button once.
set the aperture value to F/64 and press shutter button once.
Turn the aperture dial, set the Max aperture to F1.0.

For example: 14mm f2.8 micro adjustment 24

Enter programing mode: F64 shutter, F57 shutter, F64 shutter


Setting focal length
====================

Setting focal length mode: F2.2 shutter

Enter focal length value: F2.0 shutter F2.0 shutter F2.0 shutter F2.2 shutter F3.2 shutter (00014)

Store parameter to chip: F57 shutter F64 shutter F57 shutter

Focal length setting done to 14mm.


Setting Max aperture
====================

Setting Max aperture mode: F2.0 shutter

Enter Max aperture value: F2.8 shutter

Store parameter to emf chip: F57 shutter F64 shutter F57 shutter

Max aperture setting done to F2.8.


focus micro adjustment
======================

Enter programing mode: F64 shutter, F57 shutter, F64 shutter

focus micro adjustment mode: F2.5 shutter.

Enter focus micro adjustment value: F2.5 shutter F4.0 shutter.

Store parameter to emf chip: F57 shutter F64 shutter F57 shutter

Micro adjustment setting up done as 26.

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Note that it is possible to have the Exif report the actual aperture selected, but I use the lens with the camera set to aperture priority and maximum aperture ( f/2.8 ), then I stop down the lens manually and let the camera sort out the metering. This works the easiest but it does mean that if I actually take a photo at f/5.6, it is still reported as f/2.8. Focal length and exposure time are however always reported correctly.

Have you tried Calumet?

I use an interfit softbox. I would say it was good value, works well, but is not designed or consructed for serious professional use. My softbox is fraying and the seams splitting, rods losing their shape etc, but then I've built and rebuilt the box 100+ times on location for different jobs.

It was really cheap so it works out at about £2.50 a shoot. The quality of light is really good and subjects can work under it happily without cooking. Low power draw as well, an issue if you also run a monitor and set light off of a single 13A circuit (with reds, you can light and nothing else)

That's the trade off. To get anything much better you would need to spend much more. Law of diminishing returns and all that. If you are going to work it really hard I would look elsewhere.

i find myself a bit conflicted with this poll, because i have one answer for lenses and another for camera bodies

PhotoAviator said:

Ah, I understand the confusion now. Press the "Info" button twice to cycle the display mode. It's a tradeoff; you'll have more stuff cluttering your display, but the metering values will be displayed for the entire 16-sec period.

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Thanks PhotoAviator ! Still getting used to using LV ;D

After analyse the situation, i need a Lense can make a good boken must be sharp and good reproduction color , stabilized for portrait
i have two choice canon 85L 1.2 or 135L 2.0 the best way take twice $$$$
is very difficult to make a choice
both are very good

I have rented the 35L numerous times and let me assure you with MY style of shooting I prefer my new Sigma 35 much more. The CanonL is not just the new overpriced but far too overpriced. I extend that to the 85 1.2 as well and hope with all fingers crossed that Sigma makes a similar lens.

Yesterday I was going to a friend's place to visit. This friend has two one year old twins. So I took my camera with me along with the recently bought four YN 622Cs. I do not have any ETTL flash, so I put three Nikon SB 28DXs at 1/2 and 1/4th power on top of three bookshelves directed towards the ceiling. The walls were coloured, so the white ceiling was my best bet for reflecting the light. Now, earlier I used to use cables to fire my flashes remotely, and that was cumbersome and clumsy. Boy, yesterday with the four YN622Cs (one on top of my camera, and the other three with the three SB 28DXs) it was so much easy and fun photographing the twins. I was not going for any dramatic lighting, I just wanted enough soft light to use a shutter speed fast enough to capture the twins's activities indoors (and the sudden moments like the photo below where one of the babies falling down after throwing a tantrum). It felt so great just to be able to reposition the lights without breaking a sweat. Some photos from yesterday attached. (Now I need to learn a bit of more post processing) Your comments are most welcome.

PS: YN 622Cs are my first remote flash transceivers. And they seem to work just great in manual mode.

I got my camera back one day before I left to go to Tuscany on holiday, this was after having to send it back after the recall service when it came back with the sensor filthy. I've had major issues with my 1Dx since I noticed the oil splatter on it last September, about a month after I got it. Its been to Canon twice since then, and back twice again, once for the recall and again to clean the sensor. On first occasion sensor came back much cleaner but not perfect, 2nd occasion same thing, 3rd occasion (recall) sensor came back filthy, 4th occasion it was spotless.

Anyway thats a brief history of it, so for the first week or so in Tuscany I have used it largely for street images, shots of my kids in the Pool (12fps), the odd landscape but mostly all at the F1.2 - F5.6 aperture range using roughly 3 lenses, 85mm, 24-105 and 70-200. So on Monday past I see some mist forming in the Hills we are in and jump in the car to go to higher ground, and for all of my landscape shots I am using my 70-200, possibly the 24-105 to begin with, then switching but only one lens change. So now I am shooting at F16 and occasionally at F22. Get back to the Villa and dump the images into Lightroom and start to process them and to my horror there they are again, what looks like oil splatters. I can be pretty certain its not dust as all of the marks are the same size size, similar density and one clone/heal brush size in Lightroom fixes them all. There are bout 20 of them, on a portrait orientation image with the bright sky in the upper 1/3rd that is where the majority are showing themselves, in the lower 2/3rds where the landscape is its more difficult to highlight them. I'd need to take an F22 image of a bright sky to be able to pick them all out.

Do Canon have an issue with this camera which is not being highlighted by their main sector of users, sports/news photographers who are probably shooting at F2.8-F5.6 for most of their work and at these apertures the marks which will appear larger but are barely visible if at all at that range?

I'm seriously unhappy about the 1Dx, I've owned 4 different DSLR's prior to this and never had a sensor dust/dirt issue and I certainly did not expect it from this body having shelled out more than the total cost of the previous 4 on this one body. If its acceptable to the moderator I'm going to post this under a new thread too as a general question to get other user experiences.

drmikeinpdx said:

My Canon S90 is now my hiking camera. But I'm old and can't climb mountains like I used to. Frankly, the shots I got back in the day with a film SLR were never that compelling. Most ended up being snapshots of my fellow backpackers/climbers and that did not need a nice camera.

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+1

What us old guys need is a bearer to carry our equipment.

Imagine the days when 11 X 14 glass plates were used. A photographer usually hired a unsuspecting young but strong man to pack his 200+ lbs of gear up a mountain side. He could only get away with it once in a particular area, word quickly got around that it was not worth the money.

WEX have a 40D with a few small scratches for £169 although I would probably have suggested a rebel body before a xxD body for travelling.