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R1-7D · Jun 5, 2013

Dugdale said:
Hello, I'm new here to this forum.

Several times a year I will do a review of Canon cameras. I am an advanced amatuer, I mostly just share things that I have found with the cameras I test. In my last review I compared the Canon 6D vs. 5D Mark III.

At minute 12:13 in the video I compare the center focus point on the 6D to the 5D3, after reading the wikipedia page on the -EV rating I gave up on trying to do the test accurately (as I talk about in the video) so I just set them up under the same low light conditions to see which one would work better. The 6D beat the 5D3 in my tests.

I am always trying to make my reviews better, so I was wondering if someone could help give me with pointers on how to do this more accurately in the future. I am more of a video guy than a stills guy.

Thanks!
Dave

Hey Dave!

Big fan of your videos and online tutorials. Keep up the good work and welcome to the Forum!

I'm sure you'll get some good pointers from the members here with regards to your question.

LetTheRightLensIn · Jun 5, 2013

dirtcastle said:
eyeland said:

When you say that you want to separate conversion and editing, by editing, are you also referring to color management?

Click to expand...

Yes. The optimal workflow for most is to do all non-conversion adjustments in an NLE, such as Premiere, After Effects, Final Cut, along with other programs that maintain a "non-destructive" workflow (e.g., Resolve).

Currently, the ACR/LR workflow outputs a Prores 422 file, into which many people are "baking" the white balance and other adjustments. The reason for making the adjustments prior to converting to Prores 422 is that you get to work on the uncompressed file and get a lot better results (especially with tonal adjustments). But the baking-in of these adjustments violates the non-destructive editing flow. In a non-destructive workflow, adjustments can be made at any point in the process, without the penalty of having to re-bake adjustments (in this case, in ACR or LR).

So the new workflows (similar to basically all other video workflows), will convert the RAW file to a format (e.g., Cinema DNG and CineForm) that maintains the ability to make adjustments at any point in the process, and doesn't require going back and forth between programs to adjust simple stuff like white balance and highlight recovery.

That said, ACR/LR do have some amazing features and I'm sure there will be people who will still use an ACR/LR flow (e.g., for extreme highlight recovery, or specific plugins such as SilverEfex). But personally, I want to take the footage straight into the NLE and/or Resolve, without having to worry about whether I "converted" the files properly.

You can use Cineform with that workflow. I've been using Cineform almost all along. When you make the movie from the PS/ACR or LR/ACR TIFFs in AE just output to Cineform444FilmScan2 or something like that.

Mt Spokane Photography · Jun 4, 2013

Canon has dropped it from their SDK as Neuro mentioned. FoCal has tried to find undocumented commands to no avail.

They recommend complaining to Canon and asking that it be added to the SDK. Otherwise, it may not appear in any of the new pro level cameras.

FoCal Pro does have a mode that only requires two settings, and is then able to predict the AFMA. Its called Turbocal. A third test is merely a verification that it was the right setting. They have done so many tests using the 5D MK III that they have a curve fitting routine based on only two points, its not perfectly accurate, but its still more than good enough.

Download the user manuals from this page to read about this feature.

http://www.reikan.co.uk/focalweb/index.php/why/documents-to-download/

tjlawler · Jun 4, 2013

Yea, you got lucky. I noticed that mine was front focused (it would be focused slightly in front of the marked focus spot. Since I mainly shoot birds with long lenses and want to control the DOF this was very obvious (to me).

Tom

Deva · Jun 4, 2013

You could sell it to me...

drmikeinpdx · Jun 4, 2013

Autofocus performance is in general a mysterious and frustrating topic. I have had a Sigma 50mm F/1.4 for around 3-4 years. I got it to use on my 5D classic, but it front focussed enough to be annoying and there is no micro-adjust on that body. (Canon calibrated the body for me shortly after I bought it used.) I managed to get some use out of it for portraits by focusing on the subjects ear, then the eyes would be sharp! :

When I got my 5D III last Fall, the Sigma worked great with it, needing very little MFA. I use it a lot now for full body portraits at about F/2.0 to F2.8 to get just the right background blur. Sorry I don't have any acceptable images to post right now, most of my work is not appropriate for this site.

Jun 4, 2013

Seemed like this belonged here somehow...

http://slideshow.today.com/slideshow/today/teen-photographer-creates-tiny-portraits-52083634

alan_k · Jun 4, 2013

I'd imagine telephotos follow the Tripod rule of "pick 2 out of three" to the nth degree.

Pick 2 of:

Light/Compact
Cheap*
Good IQ.

*relative to similar lenses

Now that I think about it, maybe telephotos are "Pick 1".

insanitybeard · Jun 4, 2013

My example was merely to give some justification as to why a majority of people are dissapointed in the performance of this lens relative to cost compared to some of Samyang's previous offerings.

bchernicoff · Jun 4, 2013

Q8-MC, those three shots on your Flickr look pretty damn good. I look forward to seeing anything else you post!

RLPhoto · Jun 4, 2013

A sensor may improve on getting light but it's the quality of light that counts.

Hannes · Jun 4, 2013

RGF said:
Canon hoods are poorly designed. Too bad they don't spend more time on the hood

True, my six year old sigma lens has a far better than my 24-105 and the sigma has an rrp of less than a third of the canon.

Maybe you can get zeiss style hoods? They certainly look nice.

RiceCanon · Jun 4, 2013

You guys rock! Lots of great ideas here!

candyman · Jun 4, 2013

shutterwideshut said:
candyman said:

It seems to be a rather "old" list.
In the list the Canon 16-35mm is mentioned but not the MKII. Does it mean that the MKII does not have the hotspot problem?
I also do not see the Canon 24-105.
Are there any updated resources of what lens to use and what not?

Click to expand...

Here's one updated link from Life Pixel I stumbled today that proves that the 16-35mm II has hot spots, indeed. This also includes the superb 24-70mm II. http://www.lifepixel.com/lens-considerations

Cheers.

Thanks. Wow, even the 24-70 MKII.
What about the Tamron 24-70 VC ? I googled but could not find info yet.

sanj · Jun 4, 2013

Thank you all for such SUPER helpful replies. I am soaking it all in. I still have ten days before the shoot and will spend next few days going over all of this again and again.

Appreciate!

PKinDenmark · Jun 4, 2013

.... made up by my eyes, brain, memory and emotions.

I am often struggling to not forget, that when I experience something great or beautiful, I shall first of all be part of the experience and let it sink in - and then (perhaps) take photos.

Also 'technically' the whole human visual system is unsurpassed by any camera (whether we talk DR, 3D, colour, resolution of detail etc. etc.)

Jun 4, 2013

paul13walnut5 said:
Dslr footage needs post, you needn't get into flat shooting, luts or high end grading, but in my experience you'll rarely be able to use footage straight out the cam.

Guilty as charged. I mentioned post. Hopefully the last line of my message creates the context as to why. Not being a know it all, or indulging in information overload, just some practical advice.

Your man might want to make do with a video camera if he want's rushes that look just fine right out the camera. For myself and most others shooting video seriously on DSLRs (and your man must be serious to have asked the initial question) post is an essential part of the process. And thats without getting into editing.

Jun 4, 2013

Crops up on STV now and again, if you see any Daily Record, Sunday Mail, People or Mirror Adverts then I'm likely to have had a hand in them, done insert VT's for STV Sports Awards and Young Scot Awards over last few years.

danski0224 · Jun 4, 2013

Click said:
... You should wait for the 1DVI

I couldn't.

Too many delays with the 1DV already.

bornshooter · Jun 4, 2013

JonAustin said:
bornshooter said:

JonAustin said:

I was shooting outdoor portraits at a corporate event a few years ago, and the wind caught one of my umbrellas. The attached speedlite (a lowly 420EX) broke when it struck the ground, but Canon repaired it for less than $100. After that, I bought weight bags for each of my light stands, although I have yet to use them. If there's any breeze at all, I don't think a small bag of water or sand is going to provide much anchoring.

Click to expand...

i disagree having recently used 2 sandbags after that trouble i have been shooting in a heavier breeze with no issues but i guess it depends on how big a breeze lol.

Click to expand...

I completely understand, and don't object to anyone else doing it. Just wanted to share my experience as a "caveat emptor." It's better to know the risks and weigh the benefits accordingly.

It all comes down to the size of the umbrella, its orientation relative to the direction of the wind, the strength of the wind and the amount of ballast used. Maybe after I've owned the 600's a little longer (they're still "new" to me), I'll get a little more adventurous. One thing I can say is that it's no fun to go chasing after your umbrella in the middle of a paid shoot, or to recover and reconfigure while the client is waiting.

I agree for sure its no fun at all lol so for me umbrellas are a no no now,i am going to stick with my softbox outdoors

christopher cameron · Jun 4, 2013

Zv said:
Sella174 said:

It would be nice if Canon offered both models everywhere, with a minor price difference (meaning the "N" should be cheaper).

Click to expand...

I don't think it would be much of a price difference. Better to have Wifi and gps. Who knows it might come in handy, esp the wifi.

Yep, the WiFi function I initially thought was a massive gimmick, but now I use it quite regularly if I'm doing street photography, very handy. If only it was fast enough to transfer RAW's!

vbi · Jun 4, 2013

I think the OP wants the Sekonic to trigger the flashes using it's test button and radio transmitter, and theoretically it is supposed to work that way, but in reality never does. Ideally one could use the Sekonic to fire the controlling TT5 and it's slaves thereby easily getting a reading on the light meter.

Lawliet · Jun 3, 2013

Drizzt321 said:
So you can sync at, say, 1/4000s at full flash power. Can be quite helpful to balance back lit subjects with fill flash, but having that fill-flash be at higher power to balance correctly with the back lighting.

Thats why I love leaf shutter lenses - sync at 1/1600s, makes the batteries of a pack last longer while cutting ambient light motion blur...

Just one hair in the soup: speedlights are awfully slow at full power. About 1/350s t0.1, thats why Nikon warns that xsync expanded to 1/320s might lead to reduced flash output. Good news: they're IGBT controlled, at 1/4 power you already get better then 1/2000s t0.1. And then we think of the Bron Move 8)

RGF · Jun 3, 2013

gn100 said:
Maybe slightly on the heavy side, but the 70-300L is a good option - sharp wide open, weathersealed, compact and 4 stops of IS. No need to muck around by adding a 1.4 TC to a 70-200.

I was in your posiition a couple of years ago and after lots of looking around this was the option I selected, and was very happy with the choice.

+1. Strong endorse the 70-300L

Skulker · Jun 3, 2013

pup73 said:
sanj said:

Those who have used both speeds, can you actually 'feel' the difference? Thx. Am curious!

Click to expand...

i just tried both speeds, and yes, i can actually "feel" the difference...

-c

Wow that's impressive! You must be very sensitive. It takes about 100 to 400ms to blink and you can feel the difference of a max of 0.019S!

I tried the faster release for droplet photography. It was not very consistent. I never thought to turn if off for a consistent timing. I'll give it a try next time.

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