I had a similar issue that I only noticed on FF. It cost me ~$200 (and 2 trips) to the service center to get it close to 'perfect' (it's still not spot on at 17mm, but OK - I just need to check the focus on the left side).

Just FYI in case you decide you can't live with it.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

They were giving gifts for upgrades to gold or platinum that were worth $100, so its not actually a bad deal. The free cleaning and repair discount will pay for its self the first time its used. However, its not for everyone.

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Oh... I will definitely take advantage of the gold option when I finally deem it time to have my body and lenses cleaned... but I just go through gear SO quickly that it rarely ever gets to that point to where I NEED to have it cleaned in order for it to sell.

So one day... maybe.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

Bob Howland said:

neuroanatomist said:

I don't think we'll be seeing STM used in L-series lenses. AF during video is a consumer 'feature' - pro video shooters focus manually (often with a whole host of accessories to facilitate that - looking at a complete dSLR video rig, it can be hard to spot the camera!).

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According to the professor at RIT's Imaging Arts & Sciences school that I asked, that isn't always true. For documentaries, where subject/talent motion isn't tightly controlled, AF is routinely used. Where the motion is controlled, yes, MF is used. At the time, he was conducting a shoot with two of his students at a local historical village, using a Canon XF305. Because of the subject matter (static Civil War cannons being fired) AF was used to set focus, then MF was used to hold it. Without MF, the camera kept trying to shift focus from the Cannon to the smoke.

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Some high end camcorders do have autofocus, and for TV and documentaries, they use AF.

However for Cinema or high end commercial use, the use of autofocus is rare, in fact, few if any Cinema cameras or lenses have autofocus. I don't think Panavision makes a autofocus lens, for example, and the Zeiss Compact Primes are manual focus. Sometimes there is a bit of footage inserted into a movie taken with a camcorder, but its not the rule.

Its just a matter of what level of professional use you are dealing with. Does the professor belong to ASC?

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Haven't a clue if he belongs or not. I didn't talk with him all that much. All I know is that the documentary is supposed to appear on PBS nationally some time next year (confirmed by a museum employee). I explicitly asked him about AF vs MF because I'd already concluded what he confirmed, that it isn't a matter of amateur vs professional but rather a question of how much subject motion can be anticipated and/or controlled. It makes sense that, for an expensive feature film or commercial, greater efforts would be made to control everything possible, not to mention putting their expensive talent through multiple rehearsals and takes.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

Canon should fix it, and might give you a loaner. Certainly, they are not going to give you $$$ for the loss of use. That is explicitly covered in the warranty.
There is no lemon law for cameras, but call and talk to a manager. Explain nicely and ask that your camera be replaced with a new one after failing to be repaired three times.

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Nice to see the Mods cleaning up here.

Mt Spokane's Probably your best advice, I don't see Canon/Nikon etc giving Money out in these sort of situations, Your best bet is to work the issue up the chain of command and ask for the unit to be replaced.

I purchased the Canon 100f/2.8 Macro L II a while back, opened the Box and the Focus Rubber Grip was completely Loose, walked it back to the People I purchased it from, but ended up with Canon Singapore, discussed the issue with the Technical Manager, he authorised a New Replacement on the spot as it would have required a 6 week turn around return to Japan for repair.

Had an issue with focussing on the Nikon D800 when I owned it (the Big Issue), had it back to Nikon Singapore three times, they eventually replaced the Body with a New one, I promptly sold it as "Near New" & ate the small Loss.

You need perhaps to try and work your complaint above the technician level and get into a discussion with management, 3 times in for a straight forward initial issue, caused by Canon I might add, seems a damn poor response from any Canon service centre, I had both my own 1Dx Bodies into Canon Singapore for the Focus Motor Lubrication issue, returned in 2 days all good no issues, maybe try a different service centre that others here at CR are reporting good responses from, I don't know if that's possible though in your situation in the US.

.....and a 17-40L.

First time poster here, but long time poster on Fuji, Ricoh and other sites.


All the world is a stage........ by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr


All the world is a stage Pt2 by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr


Exit stage right....... by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

MrFotoFool said:

You should absolutely get to Northwest Trek whenever you have the chance. I am a zoo fanatic and have been to over 70 zoos across the United States (and a few in western Europe). It has been many years since I was at Northwest Trek, but it far exceeded my expectations. It is unquestionably one of the best zoological parks in the country. It is also one of the best if not the best for photographers. I am not talking about the special photo tours, which would make it even better, I am talking about just going as a regular visitor. The enclosures are massive and are just built into the existing forest, so it is one hundred percent natural. You will not be disappointed.

To get a feel for the place, look at their image gallery on ZooChat.com, a website for zoo fanatics like myself. Here is the direct link to the Northwest Trek image page: http://www.zoochat.com/gallery/northwest-trek-wildlife-park

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Yes, it was a disappointment to miss out. I used to live in Orting, just a few miles away, but that was before the zoo was there.

Maybe next year. It was a foggy misty morning, so I would not have had ideal opportunities. Then, the tram broke down, and he had to be transferred to a different one, so it was somewhat of a bust.

Re: EF 50mm f/1.8 MK I (metal bayonet, distance scale, actual focus ring)

My 50/1.8 II got broken right after warranty expired, AF stopped working. I sold it for a few bucks, repairing it was way too expensive for such a cheap lens. I had never tested it on a digital body and the results with a 5D MK II really impressed me.

Here in Italy, the f/1.8 II costs 100 €, the f/1.4 350 € and you usually find the f/1.8 I for 150-200 €, which is truly a daft price...

RAKAMRAK said:

Viggo said:

RAKAMRAK said:

You can use something like this on your belt (I am not intending to advertise this particular piece or shop, just I bought this a few months back and found the link easily)......

http://www.adorama.com/GBSFP46.html

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Thanks, I have one like that, mine folds and folds, I like it a lot, but I'll try to find something for my strap for just that one filter.

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Sorry, you need for just one filter, then get a fishbomb..... no I am not kidding search FishBomb ...

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Thanks!

RGF said:

It will take time to get use to it. Not rush - moving from 135 to 24 is a shock. Give it time, then try a 14 or 15mm and you will see what wide truly is ;D

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That's pretty good. Personally I shoot at 24mm quite a lot. If you are space restricted and want dramatic exaggeration of the forms of your subjects, you will be better off with a 24mm lens. This should work well with cars. The only trick behind this is the old saying I quote below:

BozillaNZ said:

If your picture is not good enough, you are not close enough!

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Do give it a try and then you can rethink your options. There is no need to be in a hurry to correct what may not even be wrong.

I have the 400 f2.8L and 600 f4 version II. Of the version I lenses I had the 500 f4, primarily due to weight. So the first thing I would do is to ask myself a very critical "Will I be able to carry this mastodont?".

I have not heard of any systematic faults with this lens. Optically it is still great. Beyond a physical inspection, I would stress the autofocus as much as possible and listen for strange sounds, hunting etc. I would also bring a chart of some sort, an ISO chart or something that could fill its role, to verify lens alignments and sharpness. I would also do an AFMA to check that it is within reasonable limits.

In my end of the world there are still very few of these available on the market and they get fairly good prices. Probably because their current owners are very happy with them.

Good luck!

Hi all,

I got my wife (and by extension myself) the 100D + 40mm combo. She likes it and wants to keep it in her bag with some added protection. Do you think it would fit in a lowepro Dashpoint30? Anyone have any n for other suggestions of small pouch for protection of this compact combo?

Thanks,

John

Thanks, guys- this is all very helpful.

A feature find this helpful is worth the revival for those of us new to the 1D X world...

One thing I would add here is that the AE* custom setting recall feature is one that you can setup for all different standard shooting modes. What I mean by this is that you can setup different recall settings when you are in M than are set when you are in C1 vs C2 vs C3, etc. So that gives you up to 8 different custom recall options. Of course this is not something you could switch to quickly having to remember what all 8 are and what option you have programmed in your current mode. But one use I found to be very cool about this is, that you can setup shooting setups that compliment each other. For instance, if I have C1 setup for fast motorsports I can set AE* to be panning motorsports. So with a simple press of a button I can go from C1-Manual to Tv 1/125 + auto ISO for a few panning bursts and then back to C1-Manual for more speed shooting. This is something I wish existed on the 7D or 5D3.

Very cool!

Lots of info to really digest here, thanks to all for your viewpoints. It's nice to see after the bashing the 6D took when it first came out that it's actually a decent camera and there's some good arguments for it. It's a shame I didn't have the 6D or 5dmkiii when I was photographing killer whales at 5 in the morning in Canada, I could have done with the better noise handling of full fold and the 6D low light focus ability. Oh well, never look back

The only thing I missed in my 6D (that I had in 5D2) is the CF card slot. In most other aspects it is better than 5D2 and just as good in the rest of it. Ergonomics is a very personal thing. I like this smaller and lighter body and the ability to operate most of the buttons using only my right hand, while holding the lens with my left. IMHO, Canon should have put CF (or CF+SD) in 6D and dual CF in 5D3, but it's not as bad as CF+XQD in D4 .

Marsu42 said:

My envy comes from a photog acquaintance of mine who has the 200mm Nikon with a 2x extender and is extremely flexible with this combination next to having top-notch sharpness - that's why I also want it, but with IS

Btw for a macro, there's no need for f2.8 on 180mm as far as I understand it - I don't need that thin dof & it would add much more weight, I'd prefer f4+IS...

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Yes, the 180mm works incredibly well with both extenders - which is why I went for it over the 100mm. Having extenders is awesome for skiddish or dangerous critters. Even shooting less than 1:1, it gives a unique look you can't seem to get with an equivalent telephoto, such as this one of a green anole with the 1.4x extender (on a crop sensor with a 403mm effective focal length):


As for the f/2.8, I want it to for a brighter viewfinder and AF with the 2x extender. Even though the supposed max aperture with the 180 is f/7, the 1DX and 5DIII don't support AF with it. Also shooting wide open can be used for creative photos such as the one below shot at f/3.5:

risc32 said:

talking out my ass... hmm. well, i think you're talking out your ass. my shutter that's probably older than you are, probably 1.5X as old, doesn't have any hard stops for shutter speed, or aperture. i'm sure it would work just fine somewhere in between for aperture values,( i doubt shutter speeds), but that's about as accurate as you'd be. somewhere in between one stop and another.
i don't shoot much velvia, but i haven't had a problem with exposure when i do. i mostly run provia and astia.

seems the meter companies played their cards very well during the transition to digital, to bad kodak and many others didn't.

anyone want to tell me i haven't watched BTS videos from true pros using all sorts of light meters all over a studio only to use a take an "instant" to see where they really are, only to find that they are way off. now days we should do this the other way around? ha!

Don Haines, thank you.

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I did not say they were not needed, I said they were a lot less needed. For simple setups, the on camera metering is so good now that most people will get away without one.... Remember, most people will be shooting with no external lights, and if they do use a flash, it is a pop-up flash.

If you are dealing with multiple flashes.... Get a light meter. If you are dealing with studio lighting, get one. The on camera metering is not designed for those conditions... Yes, you can go by trial and error to adjust your settings and digital gives you instant feedback, but the more complex your setup is, the more time it will take, and eventually you start guessing what to do instead of knowing what to do.

Before someone asks when it will appear in a DSLR, here is their current plan. its a video sensor BTW.

It is likely why Canon has recently announced a move into the video surveillance field, but it will be pricey. Military and law enforcement use are the most likely first adopters, people who will pay $100K + a copy.
In addition to astronomical and natural observation, Canon is looking into applying this CMOS sensor to medical research purposes as well as surveillance and crime-prevention equipment.

cayenne said:

I've got a video shoot coming up in about 2x weeks.

Some of the footage is going to be at night, in some bars here in the New Orleans area.

I was thinking that one of these fast lenses might be good to try out and use.

I've never tried either of them before for stills or video.

I was looking at lensrental come....4x day rental is comparable in rate between the two.

Since this is video primarily, I'll be doing manual focus.

But the shoot is only one day/night, and I'll be playing with it for stills too before I send it back, but I was wondering which might be best to try to video in a dark room and why?

Would the 85L be a little too long for small bars?

Since it is manual focus, I'd not have a problem with the 50L with any backfocus, right?

Also, is lensrental one of the good places to rent? Other suggestions?

This will be my first time to rent a lens.

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

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I know next to nothing about video and hopefully never have to but from all I've heard you are likely better of with something that has manual focus and manual control of the aperture.

RLPhoto said:

I did recently jump on the tamron boat with the so-far superb 24-70 VC. Which it seems like I've been holding out forever on a 24-70 zoom but at 800$ on Craigslist. Why not?

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I take it you haven't observed the peripheral point AF issues that I mentioned in http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=11251.msg311218#msg311218.

A very fair and honest review of the 50mm f1.4 and those photos show the "warts and all" for this lens (not the subject matter!).
Wide open, it's sharp enough in the centre but could be better. It's really low on contrast wide open and flares quite badly (compared to a modern zoom or the 1.2L). The reason I went for the 1.2 L was for a more solid build, far better AF, better contrast, better flare control...but most of all, the out of focus rendering is cleaner. I've never cared much for the nervousness of the out of focus areas taken with the 1.4 USM version.
I've three copies of this lens over the years, one fell apart, the other two I've bought and sold on whims.
The 50mm f1.2 L is a far better lens in every regard except cost...but it's still a very flawed optic.

Bolt said:

Well, after selling my 7D and 5D Mark III to purchase a 1D X to act as my workhorse I have encountered a minor setback in my journey to become some sort of 'artist' or whatever photographers are these days.

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a better camera will not help much on that journey anyway...

all our 1D X are fine. thought they are studio cameras.
do not even need to be cleaned since we bought them.

we never had problems with dust etc. after service.
but hey every service has different employees.. ours here in germany seem to be very good.

Whenever I buy a new lens or a camera, I end up reading/watching reviews but invariably the reviews I read/watch, recommend the product I considered, but did not buy ... take for example my decision to buy Nikon D7100 ... I am primarily a Canon shooter but I went with the Nikon D7100, then comes Michael (and a few other reviewers) who highly recommend the Canon 70D ... what the hell? ;D ... does it ever happen to you guys that you buy something and everything you hear is for the gear you decided against?

if you want quality, skip the zs3, or skip any smaller sensor.

buy something that has RAW capability. S100 refurb for $200 sounds very good for the money, and don't forget the Fuji XF1, i believe the sensor is even bigger. and i have seen it for $299 in Canada

Mt Spokane Photography said:

Mine also reports 200mm just fine. Have it repaired.

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Thanks. I have given it in. They even called and said it is fixed. I will get it tomorrow. Will AFMA it again then.