Hannes said:

For me the AF is a deal breaker. Had it had the af capabilities but most importantly the spread of even the older 40/50D AF array I wouldn't have hesitated. I could live with inferior AF compared to the 5DIII if it is priced accordingly. I could live with SD cards and the lack of the joystick but something as important as AF isn't nice to scrimp on.

One thing I would have like to see would be an option like a 6D mod. B that replaced the gps and wifi with a pop up flash. While it wouldn't be used much having one as a back up is always nice for when one is taking snapshots and if it could act as a master it'd be awesome.

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There may very well be a "model B" version of the 6D in the future. It seems logical. I owned a 50D for 4 years. The 6D's autofocus is superior to it in most situations. The 50D lacked the ability to tweak the servo mode, for example. It also had less AF points...

The spread of the 6D's AF points alone (and/or the lack of a higher number of points), isn't really that big of a problem. The big problem is all the points other than the center point, are intentionally not cross type. This is the much moaned about "hobbling". They need not be "double cross", in my opinion. But all the outer ones are one direction only, and not very sensitive in low light. However, I knew this long before I bought, or even tried a 6D.

That aside, as I have said in another thread today...I have nearly 7000 cycles on the shutter since March, and I am very happy with this 6D. It is what I expected, and it performs well for the money spent. The only time I get something not in focus, is if I depend only on those outer points...while also in low light...and usually in servo mode...with anything that moves even at a moderate speed. So...just don't do that. Leave them all active, or else use center point only. In servo mode in very bright light with a high contrast subject, you can probably get by with selecting only one outer point. But for servo mode that is critical, or in lower light...leave them all active and make sure you keep the action at or near the center of the frame. If you're hypercritical about not wanting to do this, you probably already own a 5D3, a 1DX, or something else anyway.

Also the choice of lens seems like it is crucial, for AF speed and accuracy during servo mode. In my experience, the "faster" aperture lens, isn't necessarily always going to achieve focus as fast as a "slower" lens, even if the light is less than ideal. In my opinion there are a lot of factors in play here...certainly the "weak" AF sensor in the 6D needs all the help you can give it, in this situation. So if you know you have a shoot coming up where it's critical, try as many lenses as possible, and mimic the shooting conditions as best you can...to decide which one will work best and fastest with the camera.

If I made a living solely with photography, I would probably own all three...the 1DX, 5D3, and 6D. For my current professional and non-pro purposes, the 6D steps up and is always ready for action. My own goal is to own something with a superior image and AF sensor, to the 1DX...which will hopefully happen with its replacement.

One more point...I'm also perfectly happy with the 6D's video ability. I don't shoot video professionally, and have yet to notice any moire. I know it's there, but I apparently don't ever shoot anything that will set it off. I guess I just like the low noise, the color and contrast. But I certainly would like to emphasize, that if you ever intend to shoot professional video with a Canon DSLR, just make sure you use a 5D3, likely with the RAW video hack. Before that hack, to me the Black Magic camera looked better...but not since the hack. My non-expert opinion...

ahab1372 said:

that1guyy said:

tron said:

Dylan777 said:

neuroanatomist said:

19 AF points and a D-pad. To whomever said it would need a joystick, sorry...told ya!

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Joystick will be in 7D II with 1D X or 5D III 61points AF system - 10fps ;D

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Now, that was the worst thing to say. Everyone will wait for that camera and will not buy 70D at all ;D ;D ;D

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Not "everyone" has over $2000 to spend on cameras. And it most likely won't have the tilt screen which is a deal breaker.

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Not "everyone" needs or wants a tilt screen

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With new video feature - why not tilt screen ;D

Thank you for the valuable advice! Regards.

Pi said:

I believe that many posts miss the OP's point. DPI in LR just writes a flag in the EXIF, and it is not used as a basis for resizing the image. For most practical purposes, that flag is completely irrelevant.

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I have learned quite a lot!!!
Thank you guys

And crud...I see I put this in rumors. Mods, please move this to the regular lenses section. Sorry!!!

I have everything except the stand, tripod, softbox and umbrella in a LowePro Flipside 500 AW. My assistant caries the rucksack everywhere we go, except when we are traveling with the car.

.
I don't know if it's improved my comprehension of the fine art concept, but this made for a great Sunday morning read. It's not every day I find cogent and erudite writing, especially on a topic like this. Notapro and Hillsilly, I really enjoy what you've said here.

Recently I've been exploring this more than ever before. A few months ago I walked into a "fine art" photo gallery in a fashionable (people living in the area can afford to buy what they're selling) neighborhood of Philadelphia. Three pictures got my attention.

Famous Alabama artist William Christenberry had a spot. Three of his pictures hung side-by-side as a single work. It was three pictures of a rural roadway corner taken years apart. Interesting to see the change in the landscape over time, but I don't get any great art message from it. If you ask me what human significance it had, I couldn't begin to even imagine. I did however, appreciate it as a depiction of time passing.

The next picture I don't recall the artist. It was a picture of a person holding a fish. I kept looking at it and thinking I'd love to have someone explain to me how this is art. But then, I think there must be people who look at Van Gogh's stuff and wonder the same thing. I'm content at this point to think this question is a beginning to acquisition of knowledge.

The third picture riveted me. I think the title is "Oranges," and it's by Jessica Todd Harper. Apparently, it's the anchor of her book, Interior Exposure, and it can be seen here:

http://www.jessicatoddharper.com/#s=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&p=0&a=0&at=0

There's an almost frightening intimacy to that and other pictures in the book. If I tried for a hundred years I don't think I could ever create even one of those pictures. Also, they are technically perfect or near perfect as photography. She obviously knows what "image quality" means, but then she uses that as a foundation to go way beyond.

While I flippantly say fine art photography is anything created by someone with an MFA degree, I also know there are many people who know far more about this than I do. If they think a person holding a fish qualifies, it's up to me to ask why. And the question, of course, is the beginning.

I don't know if it's something I intuited myself years ago or whether I learned it somewhere, but for years I've comforted myself with the adage: The question IS the answer.

For myself in the world of photography, I don't know that I've yet come to know what the question actually is. So, I'll keep looking and asking until I find that question.

iDphotography said:

Hi everyone,

didn't found any news about this recently.
I just found out that I have the same issue with my 100mm 2.8 macro.

The sound starts quietly but then the volume increases and increases.
I don't want to damage the lens nor the camera.

Any updates on this?
Thanks

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There has been no recent news because the affected lenses were recalled and fixed well over a year ago. The 100mm L macro was not affected, and I've not had a problem with either of my 5D MK III's, and have not seen it reported. its a relatively common lens, so users would be reporting issues by the thousands if there ware some sort of a general flaw.
http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_5D_Mark_III.aspx?faqtcmuri=tcm:14-923859&page=1&type=important
I suggest that you have it repaired.

wickidwombat said:

awesome review thanks for doing that for me dustin!

from looking at it I have to agree with your take the tamron does seem to have noticably smoother bokeh
and it is clear the tamron would be sharper in the corners than a mk1 24-70 canon its here the 40mm blows the doors off the canon

also your pros /cons list forgot to give the IS win to the tamron

So now with some perspective of how it compares to a stellar lens like the shorty 40 its looking like a very good lens!

1 more question how are you going with the reverse direction zoom ring? is it wierd ?

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The reverse zoom ring (which I'm not crazy about) is less of an issue on this lens because it is relatively short. I find it more of a bother on my 70-300L and also the Tamron 70-200 VC that I am in the process of reviewing, primarily because it means it is further away.

P.S. I've done a AFMA in better conditions on both of these lens and they are performing even better. The Tamron really does produce great images.

I would take the 1d4 as it is classified as a pro body and u can get better resale then the 5d3

Is 5D3 the new entry level toy? Just wondering... ;D

ROFL - i'm sending it to the museum

Thanks skfia for the suggestions

IceAgeDX said:

nubu said:

The two "half-pixels" share the same front-lens so they probe the same spatial info and therefore are not increasing the spatial resolution. In order to double e.g. the horizonal resolution they would have to double the little frontlenses too but then they could not use it in the same way for phase contrast autofocus...

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That makes sense.

Moving on, can you tell me about these little lenses? Are there literally 20million little tiny lenses?

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Yes, there are.

And as already noted, these 20 million tiny lenses determine the image resolution - even though there's a 40mp sensor underneath.

The thing is, this 40mp sensor would have likely had quite poor image quality if it wasn't doing the 2->1 merging of signals.

I would go with the EOS M as you will be getting a wider and faster lens. (35/2 vs 40/2.8 ). And for traveling smaller is always better. And at the current price it's a no brainer!

Cheers Neuro.

I did kinda wonder what Canon were on about by saying it has to be done by a service centre. Probably just covering themselves from law suits - "I removed the tripod foot myself and poked my eye out! Gimme $100m!".

Guy.

I really wish it had 1080p 60fps recording. But with the other improvements I can live without it.

I have something similar to the steadicam people are talking about (specifically, http://opteka.com/svexmkii.aspx). I got it because it was pretty cheap and I needed something that was better than nothing. That's basically what I got. I find this thing hard to balance just right (I have a T4i and I switch between a small Canon 50 1.4 and a large Samyang 35 1.4, so swapping between these two very different lenses is especially burdensome), and I find that sometimes even if I align it right the bottom part will loosen and slip, causing balance to randomly reset. If you can get it set, you can get shots that are smoother than what is probably possible with bare hands, but even then they aren't mind-blowing in any way.

It could be that I just haven't mastered this device yet. That being said, I would look further than what I got if I were in your shoes.

Thanks for the input everyone, talk to Canon and they said might as well swap it out since it has only been a week. Unfortunately they are out of stock of refurbs and even new. Might have to grab a new one from B&H before the rebates expire.

Ellen Schmidtee said:

Old Sarge said:

I was reading an article in a photo magazine and came across a tip I have seen before and wondered about its importance or usefulness. The recommendation was to close off the viewfinder when making a long exposure. As I considered that tip I remembered that Canon used to include a viewfinder cover which could be attached to the neck strap.

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Canon includes viewfinder cover attached to the neck strap with the 5Dmk2 & mk3. I'd be surprised if xxD & xxxD models didn't have one as well.

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Even my 300V came with one on the strap, I know because it is my favourite strap. It only says Canon Eos on it and it doesn't have the rubber bit on the back like the new straps so it is much easier to swing round when carried on one shoulder like I usually do.

toodamnice said:

It's back.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-600EX-RT-Speedlite-Flash-Black/dp/B007FH1KX2?tag=crf-20

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Thanks for the head's up! Just ordered a few!

US2013169851(A1) has been published on 2013-07-04. The application was filed 2013-12-19 and has foreign priority data JP2011-288116. The foreign priority date is 2012-12-28, hence the US patent can make use of the this date. We will likely see a Japanese publication within a week or two since the 18 month KOKAI publication date was due 2013-06-28.

The patent deals with the problems of designing gausian or modified gausian type lenses that:
- are relatively wide in a standard context
- are compact (short total lenght) even with a BF of 38mm
- are well aberration corrected, in particular sperical and curvature of field

There are 4 numerical examples given all 1/f2.8 and image height 21.64mm (EF lens)
1) F = 45mm, L = 58mm, BF = 38mm, Effective lenght = 20mm
2) F = 39mm, L = 62.5mm, BF = 39mm, Effective lenght = 23.5mm
3) F = 35mm, L = 63mm, BF = 38mm, Effective lenght = 25mm
4) F = 28mm, L = 65mm, BF = 38mm, Effective lenght = 27mm

Layout and curves for Sperical Aberration, Astigmatism, Distortion and Chromatic Aberration can be found in the patent : http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20130169851.pdf

neuroanatomist said:

Adding a TC doesn't affect the physical iris diaphragm diameter, but since it increases the focal length by 1.4x or 2x, it must decrease the f-number (focal length / iris diaphragm diameter) by one or two stops.

But I think we're all saying the same thing - the 'f/8' MTF for the f/4 lens plus TC is with the lens 'set' to f/8 (because it's a virtual/theoretical lens, it's set independently of the TC). So, 'wide open' and 'f/8' curves are really f/5.6 and f/11 with the 1.4x, or f/8 and f/16 with the 2x. I assume that concept applies to the f/2.8 lenses, etc., as well.

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The charts are thus misleading for when TCs are involved. Nowhere on the Canon site does it explain the situations.

Hey has anyone seen details/specs on the file naming standards on the 70D? Hope Canon will allow custom names of the files (in Camera) with Initials instead of IMG... TD and 1D do this. as does Nikon. or have to use the DPP during import. Some times difficult to keep file seq separate when imports from various cameras. and the Seq # are in the same range.

westie said:

Found this video from Canon Australia which talks about some of the options.

Canon EOS 70D - First Look

includes some shots of the device and menu options.

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Well done. As an Australian, I'm proud to see an introduction to the 70D by Canon Australia, undertaken informatively and professionally.

The features and functionality of the 70D herald great things for the 7DmkII!

Paul

kaihp said:

eml58 said:

Be very VERY careful of South African Airways if you have flights with this Airline, I had one of my Carry On Bags taken from me at the Door under protest (Flying Business Class) and that's the last I've seen of the Bag, around 10k in Lenses stolen, clearly by the Cabin Staff/Ground Handlers

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Fsck, sorry to hear that eml58. I presume you had it all insured?

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Hi Kaihip, Yes, all Insured Thanks for the concern, so just a PIA all round, I've been travelling to Africa for quite a while and had so few issues I'de perhaps become complacent, so this was a PIA for sure, but compared to what can happen, relatively painless, the incident at least made me get my mind out of Neutral and into survival mode, the value of gear we as Photographers carry in our carry on Bags could keep the average African Family for a year, maybe two, it's easy to forget that so this was a timely reminder.

But the Visa on Arrival stuff is a definite super nova PIA, so get your Visa Ex Tanzania if you cam, I wont make that mistake again.
The Beauty though of the Tanzanian Serengeti makes a lot of the PIA stuff something you just Grit your teeth & deal with