Thanks! I'm sure your pics will turn out great. You will have to post them when you get back. You will get a great workout carrying all that gear and getting some miles under your feet. Be sure to stop on occasion and enjoy a 5 euro cup of espresso at a sidewalk café and do some people watching... There are lots of good looking people in Paris!

pierceography said:

nmccrea43: Great pictures, I can only hope mine turn out as nice.

Thanks again for all the replies!

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Question - is there any difference in a lens made for a mirrorless camera from what is available today? With all of these new patents, I'm wondering if canon is optimizing for a new mirrorless camera. It looks like Sony is undergoing that right now, so that made me wonder about all of Canon's patents.

awinphoto said:

Since my other lenses AF alright, i'm thinking it's a lens issue or lens communication issue...

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It doesn't have to be. It depends on the depth of field for the lenses you use. A longer focal length and/or larger max aperture will suffer more from AF drive when focusing is impossible being set to off than a slow wide angle lens will.

Don Haines said:

Rienzphotoz said:

Just got the 70D earlier today (along with the 100-400 L IS) ... I am very impressed with the lightning fast auto focus with the touch screen ... one touch and it just locks on instantly ... excellent value for money.

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I've heard a lot of praise for the touch screen interface.... my bet is that it will become standard across the Canon DSLR line.

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It really is awesome, its faster then any iPhone or Android phone touch screens ... I'm just blown away by how fast and how accurately it focuses ... I hope they introduce on all of the DSLRs, coz it's a great feature to have ... I think it would be even more awesome if they can make it possible to to use the touch screen while using the view finder, like the Pansasonic GX7 ... but the only problem I see with that, in a DSLR, is our face covering most of the screen and getting in the way of the touching the screen. Maybe if they implement electronic view finder then they can place it to the left of the screen, allowing easy access to touch the screen while viewing through the view finder.

slclick said:

I love this lens, especially the corners in comparison to my 2 former copies of Canon's version. This has become my new favorite black and white lens. Super contrasty but not crushing my blacks. Kind of reminds me of TMax 100 but with more latitude in post

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Very nice image ... by the way, thought you might be interested to know that "BJP" is the main opposition political party in India ... from 7 April to 12 May 2014 India will have elections to elect 543 members of parliament ... many predict that BJP (along with its allies) will be forming the next government.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

Its pretty unusual for something like this to make it to court. There is usually a less costly settlement out of court. The legal fees alone are going to be huge.

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Maybe Nikon sees Sigma as a threat now, especially because of their new line of "ART" lenses that seem to have better built quality and image sharpness than Nikon lenses, that too at a significantly lower price. That being said, I did try the Sigma 35 f/1.4 and 18-35 f/1.8 recently and are magnificently built but they were a tiny bit slower to auto focus than the native Canon/Nikon lenses (its almost like they hesitate before latching on to the subject), but not a big deal though, as they still make amazingly sharp images.

If you want something long enough, you're going to find a way to get it. If you don't get it soon you'll go a little nuts with regret.

distant.star said:

.
Looks like it was a lousy year. Sure doesn't make me proud to be one of the humans on this planet.

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I get a little sad to see that the most striking images are those of violence and disasters. But we have to be realistic and admit that our planet has never been a safe place. Perhaps the perception of violence is becoming greater in developed countries. After World War II, many Paisses not seen major conflicts, except for television news. With the globalization of the economic crisis, conflicts are ignoring the boundaries of "peaceful" countries. But there has always been violent conflicts, and photojournalists have a duty to show the reality and facts.

I bought a new Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens a month ago. I am a professional photographer and am not biased towards or against Tamron vs. Canon, as I own prime L-grade lenses from both companies. Unfortunately, this lens is not weather sealed, and after using the lens for two weeks outside, the amount of internal dust was atrocious. Regardless of being meticulous and using a blower at all times, the lens quickly absorbed dust onto the frontal glass element internally, including moisture, via the cork-screw barrel that retracts into the upper chamber. Closely inspecting the markings on the lens, I saw that it was manufactured in China, as opposed to Tamron's traditional Japan manufacturer, which was a big shock, so quality control has definitely been compromised in order to sell the lens at $1069 :-\. In the end, the build quality really comes down to the poor engineering design from Tamron.

Additionally, image stabilization for action shots (specifically bird shots) is not reliable. Even though the proper autofocus point speed and tracking can be adjusted in the Canon 5D Mark III to compensate for the lag, shutter speed has to be at least 1/2000th+ of a second in order to prevent motion blur for hand held action tracking shots (coupled with f/6.3 on a cloudy day and ISO 1000-2000, this creates photos worthy of entry level DSLR bodies and stock lenses - which means not good!). Unlike my Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6 L lens, which has 2 modes of image stabilization and creates very fast and stable shots, the Tamron 150-600mm lens only has one on/off VC switch with no additional stabilization mode selection settings. Gimbal shots are naturally improved, but AF adjustment at 15m to infinity is still sluggish when trying to focus on objects 200ft and further (creep still occurs with the limiting switch). I called Tamron directly, and their technical support team confirmed that their teleconverters are not compatible with this lens as Tamron engineers have officially discontinued all TC's and did not design this lens with the 1.4x or 2x in mind. Additionally, they confirmed that both converters should not be used with the lens, as unpredictable results can occur and are not guaranteed to work properly.

Static shots are amazing with very comparable MTF chart optical clarity to Canon, and portability of the lens is great ; nevertheless, I need a telephoto lens that is fast, reliable, and has excellent build quality for shooting Ospreys, Eagles, King Fishers, Herons, etc. while panning for fast track motion. Sorry everyone, but this lens is not quite the "big white killer" that many individuals thought that it would turn out to be. I too thought that this was the lens that would allow me to save several thousand dollars; however, I have now returned the Tamron 150-600mm lens for a full refund and consequently have to save up in order to purchase the real Canon 600mm f/4.0 L II (weather sealed, improved pre-set focus ranges, stabilization modes, etc.). On another note, even though the "Sigmonster" 800mm f/5.6 is less expensive than the Canon 600mm, I am not even going to touch it, given that it too is not weather sealed and that other professional birders have complained that the focus ring breaks over time, has a fragile body shell, and is extremely sluggish to maneuver; being confined to a gimbal for the majority of the time. In the end, you get what you pay for! :-\

ETA: ??? The post above me disappeared while I was typing. It basically just complained about IS on the Tamron lens, maybe mods took it down?
Ah, I see users can remove their own posts. Must have been having second thoughts.


It's funny how the more I read about products from other manufacturers the more I realize how good Canon products actually are. From the different IS modes to being able to shoot with a full buffer, sometimes reading about other manufacturers just turns into a list of problems that Canon doesn't have.

mackguyver said:

Nalle Puh said:

http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/DxOMark-Camera-Sensor2/DxOMark-Score

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Don't you mean this one?

Either way, it doesn't give you anything other than the general criteria for each "score", and it still doesn't explain their calculations/formula for how they determine the numerical value of the "score".

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As I pointed out in another thread (from which I'll just paste the following), the article's author, Peter van den Hamer, goes on to describe some of the problems with DxO's sensor analyses, such as the low ISO bias of the sensor score (one reason I call them Biased Scores = BS), the fact that measuring color depth (i.e. chroma noise) at low ISO is basically meaningless (and yet it's a major factor in the Sensor Score), their confusing nomenclature for the subscores (e.g. Sports Score), etc.

He also takes issue with DxO's refusal to divulge the way they calculate the overall score. He has come up with an approximation which he suggests is usually to accurate to within 1-2 points: DxOMark_Sensor_Score = 59 + 4.3*(ColorDepth-21.1) + 3.4*(DynamicRange-11.3) + 4.4*log2(ISO/663) -0.2. He also states, "My guess is that the actual formula is non-linear and may use (under some conditions) coefficients of 5/5/5 rather than 4.3/3.4/4.4." His suggestion that the 'master formula' which DxO uses may be modified under some conditions further supports the claim that DxO's scoring is biased.

Sporgon said:

How about 'SET' button returns AF point to centre one. One of the most annoying features of the 6D - no way to change straight back to centre.

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Magic Lantern does it (I added it myself to ML ).

Dear Surapon

I would like to know how is your experernce with the two halcyon LP-E12 Batteries as I am looking into buying a pair myself
Dragonmage

Good point re the m43 lens prices. I was actually considering it since speed boosters have been surfacing for EF to m43 on eBay.

Don Haines said:

Click said:

I use CUT /GMT « Coordinated Universal Time » no problem.

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Same here....

I also use cUT for all my work computers....

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I use the GP-E2 GPS accessory on my 5DIII to set the time - it saves some headache...

Cheers

Stig said:

or, (maybe) take it to a higher level: GPS + compass + orientation sensor + inclinometer (or how its called) + focal lens info + focus distance... could end up in subject location... or?

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The focal length is part of the EXIF data already. I use it all the time. Annoyingly, Canon apparently used to include distance information in their EXIF data, but stopped doing so. (My XTi provides it, but my 6D doesn't.)

Edit: Correction, my XTi provided the data, but only in manual focus mode.

What do you mean by 'wobbly' - what's the direction of the movement? The focus ring always rotates very freely, since the 85L lenses use electronic manual focus (focus-by-wire). When I grab the barrel of mine in one hand and the focus ring in the other, I can transversely shift it very slightly, but it's not something I've ever noticed when using the lens.

Congratulation for that latest addition to your family.

I think that you are covered for a while with your lenses going up to 105mm. Of course, in 18 months or 2 years, you may find you need more reach to play outside, but right now, I'd refrain from buying a lens I don't need but that stretches my budget... I know, that is a bit of a dull advice, but you already have enough to take great images for some times. If anything, I'd buy a good flash and get used to using it for fill and bounce it.

I'd also advise you against the non L 70-300. That is the only lense purchase I made that I regretted. First, it is way to slow for anything inside and second, it is nowhere near sharp above 200mm. If was to do it again, I'd go for a 70-200 F4 as the 70-300 is really not providing anything useful above 200mm anyways.

Finally, if you do buy a non-IS 70-200 F2.8, i would not worry to much about IS unless you plan on using it for still life. In this range, most things I want a telephoto for require shutter speeds above 1/focal lenght (1/200s) anyways. You are not going to get a sharp picture of a kid at 1/30s as IS has no effect on the subject.

Mind however that I don't have first hand experience with the 70-200 2.8 (any of them) so I could only comment on their respective strengths and weaknesses based on reviews... and so I won't.

Have a nice time with your new kid (and kit).

Best regard.

tron - 'tis I. High ISO ight be the problem, the camera is still set up for night/indoor shooting. I will run the test at ISO 100 as you suggest. Camera is all packed up for an early start off to Spain in the morning so it will be Tuesday probably.

Digitalrev posted the below video on youtube ... and it got me thinking about the amount of DLSRs out there. Ever since the DSLR "revolution" began I've had a total of 11 DSLRs (6 Canon & 5 Nikon) and most of them are obviously sold to upgrade to the next "better" DSLR (and I now have 3, i.e. 2 Canon & 1 Nikon) ... so, just like me there must be tons of people who have bought and sold their used DSLRs ... now if you think of all the millions of DSLRs that have been bought, most of them must have got resold to other beginner photographers or those who can't necessarily afford brand new DSLRs ... obviously there are a lot of used DSLR cameras out there that must be putting pressure on new DSLR sales ... in a way Canon/Nikon are also competing with millions of their own old models.
DSLRs For Under $100

Niki said:

tron said:

I have sold my 5DMkII and bought a second 5DMkIII. No regrets. Now both of my cameras are the same model so no thoughts in choosing.

In addition when you shoot with both cameras the controls are the same and this is a plus.

I would suggest to upgrade if you can afford it...

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this is what I was going to do…(i'm working enough now and i can afford another 5dm3) but I think there is something unique about the 5dm2…(on some jobs I use an old film camera for the same reason…there is something still very unique to me about film)….getting back to the 5d mark 2…I think it works well as back up camera and has a unique image..??

thanks to everyone at the forum for your replies…!

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If you believe so. However, when the 5D2 was the current model, the same was being said (a unique film-like image) about the original 5D...

Pieces Of E said:

Fimmakers shoot with film cameras, videographers shoot with video cameras. The C100 is a video camera, not a film camera.

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Real film makers spend $100 thousand on film school to learn how to order around 300 people drawing cables and shooting on 15 cameras at the same time, never touching a camera themselves. The cameras must be branded Arriflex and must use 35mm film stock. The 75mm film stock is reserved for the really good film makers. They also learn to order around 100 more people to go through the 300 hours of footage and cut it, grade it and add special effects to get 1.5 hours of usable footage. They also learn you can only make movies in Hollywood sets or on location if you have to pay $1000 / day to use the location. Without these qualifications it's impossible to make a movie!

drjlo said:

And it seems like some new "problem" is reported weekly for A7R, e.g. shutter vibration, "light leak," lossy RAW, not really weather-sealed, etc. The lossy sony RAW thing especially bugged me in the back of mind, especially since this kind of thing really shouldn't happen if you are aiming for the semi/professional photography market. It's also something Sony can fix *IF* they wanted to, but they don't seem willing to do so, just like they are not willing to admit to the FVL60M flash overheating problem after 20 shots.

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According to sonyalpharumors, a firmware update is due for release for the a7/a7R on the 19 March 2014, and they claim that the firmware update will bring "image quality improvement" ... maybe they will fix the RAW issue ... below is the content of that post:

Sony Japan officially announced a new A7 and A7r firmware release for March 19! And these are the improvements (translated from Japanese):

- support for the focus hold button of the new SEL 70-200G lens
- Start up time reduction
- Image quality improvement
- Adds Live view grading and smooth reflection application. Improves “Time Laps” APP.

I am now wondering what they mean with “Improved Image quality”!

Definitely sounds like either a trip to Canon Service or some sort or return/dispute resolution with the seller is in order. Good luck!

I wonder if they would offer this upgrade to current 1DX owners. Would be interesting to see how easily swapping a sensor would be and to measure their confidence in doing so. Would also milk more money from current 1DX owners while they wait another year or two for a replacement to come out.