wickidwombat said:

I'm suprised you didnt get an old school 1Dmk1 with the 4MP kodak sensor
I sold mine for $500 a little while ago
they still take decent pics and while have tones of pattern noise still have pretty decent
iso performance up to 800
also for such an old duck still has a bad ass 45 point AF

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$500 - I could have had one of those and a D800 for the price of the 5DIII

Mind you I would not have used the d800 because of the missed pictures due to the low fps

Excellent I did see a T and a W in the MA for the 5DM3 so I guess the W setting would be for 16 and the T would be for 35 in the 16-35 lens example...makes sense - thanks

5D MK3.

The battery is charging and then I'm open to any requests for test shots to help answer any questions people have. I'll then upload the RAW/JPEGS. I only have my 24-105 with me at the moment.

Ed

SandyP said:

I have a 5D Mark II, and a 5D Mark III.... but 90% of my portrait work is actually with film. For a year now.

Let's just say this:

I scanned my own film = 1/10 for happiness of tones and range/colors, etc. 3/10 happy with resolution.
I send it to a local lab that I prefer = 7/10 happy with tones and range/colors, etc. 5/10 happy with resolution.
I send it to a pro lab in the USA (I'm in Canada) = 11/10 happy with tones and such, 10/10 happy with resolution.


The thing is, there are three major labs in the USA that (well there are many more than three, many more) but there are three in the USA that are extremely popular, and people from around the world actually send them film. Myself included. These are (Richard Photo Lab, Pro Photo Irvine and Indie Film Lab, I personally use Indie Film Lab).

These labs will bring out every last ounce of quality and tones/depth from your film photos. The difference is literally MASSIVE.

I'm tired of shooting my film and knowing that there is so much beauty locked inside the film, and knowing that it's a pain in the ass to get it out of there myself. So.... off to the pro labs it goes. Results = better than any editing I can do on my digital. End of story.


Medium Format to me is a nice middle ground.

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Thanks for this post SandyP I found it very interesting indeed.

I was wondering if anyone has experience (recommendation) of scanning houses in the UK that would be equivalent to what Sandy describes?

Jettatore said:

... there aren't a whole lot of major features differentiating the various cameras between the 7D ...

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???

There a major differences between the 7D, the 60D and the rebels. First of all, the speed and buffer of those APS-C Cameras. The 7D can shoot a continuous burst of 25 RAWs at 8 fps. The 60D is limited to 16 RAWs at 5,3 fps and the 650D/T4i can only shoot 6 RAWs at 5 fps.

Secondly, the 7D has 19 cross-type AF points, the 60D and the new 650D only 9 cross-type AF points. Before that, the Rebel line of DSLRs was limited to a 9 point AF with only one center cross-type AF point.

The most significant difference between the cameras is imo the viewfinder. Where as the 7D has a pentaprism with 100% coverage (1x magnification), the 60D offers only ~96% coverage (0.95x magnification). The 650D has only a pentamirror (95% coverage and 0.85× magnification).

And those are only some of the major points which differentiate the 7D, the 60D and the Rebel line of cameras.

The TS-E 90 does indeed work well as a macro lens. It has a native magnification of .29x, which is a bit above the Schneider's .25x. The Nikkor PC-E 85 does exceed it at .5x though. When you add extension tubes it is quite easy to gain more magnification.

Here is an example where I used it.

Future Cherries by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

The TS-E 24 II also has macro capabilities, though given it is a WA the effect is completely different. Still, here is one time I used it more as a macro.


Northern Alligator Lizard by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

thebowtie said:

It's made in China (allegedly by the people who made the 580EXII for Canon under contract, or so the local sales agent told me).

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) We thank our underpaid, ex-communist brothers behind the great wall!

thebowtie said:

The metering and controls are much the same, except that it's ETTL not ETTL2 - at least the bit that's not the same is the lack of high-speed flash sync

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There are very split opinions on the Yongnuos, maybe due to viral Canon marketing, but I really cannot say. Let us know if you find any other problems in contrast to the 580ex2 - the latter is sold very cheap used because lots of people seem to be upgrading to the 600rt.

Personally, I at least got one 600rt to be future-proof because for off-camera flash radio remote seems to be that much more reliable. But I'm sure the 660rt with ettl-iii (inc. 2nd curtain sync on remote) is just around the corner

so... I've tested the USM IS MKII and it's awesome... now I understand what a stupid question I've done...

Yep, fireworks do not require high ISO.
I nice tripod helps.... my style...

Marsu42 said:

Mt Spokane Photography said:

the 70D may be coming on July 24

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Where did you get that date from? The earliest date I expected to see anything new was photokina in late september.

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Although a mirrorless is predicted on July 24, I'd still wait and see. If not July 24, then late August / early September later for Photokina.

Mt Spokane Photography said:

briansquibb said:

The 5DIII I borrow uses expansion so you get the cluster of points

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You have many options for setting AF points, single and clusters as well, but they are all difficult to see in low light, and when using just one, nearly impossible.

I'd like to place the select point over the subject, not half press the shutter just to find out its missed the subject. When the subject is moving, its useless to try it that way.

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Bring back the tried and tested ways. Little red dots work even in a low light disco like this one from last night where even the smoke machine didn't stop the 1D4 AF. Got low ISO as I was using my 3 x 580EX light stick plus 580EX on shoe

I ordered mine from Amazon yesterday for $312 and it just shipped today. 8)

Renato said:

This makes for a great birding and macro combo in one lens.

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The guy I bought my first real macro 100mm lens from sold it because he though even the 70-200(+tc) does great macro shots. I agree that it's mighty convenient, and I sometimes use my 70-300(+tc) for the same purpose if I'm too lazy to change lenses or if I'm shooting some animal that is bound to panic.

However, you're not mentioning an important fact: Lens shake is much stronger with the tele lens, so you can use much slower shutter speeds (= lower iso) with the 100L for the same magnification until you reach "real" macro distance and the max. usable aperture drops.

Of course it was a Kodak design. Canon bought into it warts and all.

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And thank god they did. Canon could have went the way of Minolta if they hadn't got a DSLR in the hands of the pros in a similar timeframe to Nikon (also Kodak based in the early days)

neuroanatomist said:

For smaller items, the TS-E 90mm is ideal. For larger items, the TS-E 45mm would be the way to go.

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Agreed, they both are superb and tack sharp. This, plus good lighting should do the trick. Remember since it is metal, not to flat light everything, but give it some depth in highlight / shadows by biasing your lighting.

Good luck with it and have fun!

Just wanted to add in on the subject. I just got the 600ex rt and the st-e3-rt and used them for the first time on a wedding shoot.

I can confirm that you can enable high speed sync on the st-e3 and it will allow high speed shooting on the 5D mkii... I did syncs in the 1000s and the flash still served well as a fill in daylight sunny.
The mains issue though being that the flash gets hot fast and the batteries last somewhere around 500 shots.

Nevertheless... it possible. I did notice on some of the smaller speeds around the 200/500s that there is some power loss, but I can work out how this all fits together.

EDIT: by the way... I also got the Lastolite Ezybox (38cm X 38cm) and had the assistant fire it up in the air in the churc. At full power, even through the Ezybox, the flash provided a very nice ambient fill!

Also for getting colours right think about getting a screen calibrator - colormunki or Spyder are two of the most well known as sometimes what you see on your screen isn't what your camera captured.

drjlo said:

Did anybody hear any confirmation about the T4i sensor being new, old, "improved"?

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It's definitely no very big improvement at medium or high ISO shooting RAW, but serious reviews should come out any day now.

A couple legit authorized US dealers (Profeel or PhotoVideo4Less) have been selling it in the $3250 range, and have touched as low as $3149. You just have to watch and wait, as ebay prices fluctuate a lot.

I suggest using canonpricewatch -- they track the authorized dealers who sell using ebay too:

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/product/03868/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-III-price.html

Marsu42 said:

n0iZe said:

Cameras don't fix pictures, they just take them.

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While it the shortcomings of the op's shots are obvious and don't need to be discussed further, I disagree with you on this one: Of *course* I want my camera to fix my pictures = enabling me to fix errors in post!

Exposing correctly might not be an issue while shooting landscapes, but if you shoot events then you're quite busy with the things around you, so a lenient camera (good af, much dynamic range beyond the scene dr as a fix for wrong exposure, low noise at high shutter speeds to fix my shaking hands while holding heavy gear for hours).

I'm sure future camera bodies will cover up photog's lack of experience even more in the future, so as a pro it's less and less about exposing correctly by running around with a light meter...

Not too long ago I even saw a sensor concept enabling you to shift the *focus* in post, so you can just shoot away and wonder what to focus later on. But for the moment, this was a proof of concept and made for mobile phones rather then dslrs.

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Of course you do want them to do fix the pictures. However, they are just not capable of this at this point.

I do not question that it's not always an easy job. However I feel free to question it when it comes to still photography - afaik neither flowerpots nor flowers move a lot. So you have all the time you want for exposing, taking several photos at different exposures if necessary. Digital photography gives you way more space for trying out things. It won't harm your CF card if you take three different shots when not sure about exposition.
I catch myself doing this sometimes aswell, since the display on my Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II is so poor you can't actually judge the photos in daylight. Indoor, it's okay. But never try to judge the photos outside, lol. It doesn't work well.

Regarding shifting the focus after taking the actual picture, I think you refer to the Lytro. However I'm not sure how great the photos will come out: check out the "Play with the picture" function on the right of the main frame on their website lytro.com . I think sharpness is really poor. Also this is an easy picture since you can't really play with focus - you have two choices; either you focus on the girl or on the guy / wall. No matter what you focus on the girl, ring, tea cup or face - it always looks the same to me.
Don't know if this is a problem of illustration or if it's actually that bad in real life use.

GaryFong said:

I spent four hours at the Canon booth, and they couldn't figure it out either until the second day when we discovered - and this is important - that the 600ex/rt on Master setting has to be on infrared (not radio) mode when using with a 580exII or 430exII. Little is known about this (because Canon really doesn't do a great job with instruction)

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This is embarrassing for the Canon staff - with the 600rt display, most things are self-explaining. For using the 600rt with older optical remote flashes there's even a custom function to disable the radio part (and features that depend on it like group flash), so the 600rt basically behaves like a prettier 580ex2...

pwp said:

I wouldn't shoot events without the Gary Fong modifiers.

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There seem to be very split opinions on this, and I'm not sure what diffuser to get. Some people saying these are extremely overpriced and you can re-create the collapsible Gary Fong with plastic for $1 yourself - but I guess that's paying for r&d.

But many people seem to rely on the less expensive and less bulky Sto-fen Omni-Bounce - could you please share your experiences about the differences? Or do you have even both for different occasions?

I want to thank all those that kicked in their 2 cents. Looks like it's a mixed bag. I want to replace my kit lens from a Rebel XS. I am not making money on any of my photos, and have no delusions about that, so spending 2.5 times the coin on a Canon lens of comparable status, is out of the question.

I just took delivery of this lens, and I have to say, the build/construction of the lens is not what I expected.

1. It's heavier than any of the Canon lenses I own. This is not a bad thing, but it did surprise me.

2. When I unboxed it, I found out why... The lens is a whopping 72mm in diameter! I wasn't sure how it would fit on my Rebel XS... but of course it was fine.

I have taken some indoor shot of my lazy cat, and have plans to take it out "in the wild" this weekend, but so far I am happy with the lens.

As stated in the manual - which is a boring read, but necessary - the VC kicks in a split second after the shutter button is half depressed, and last for a split second after you release the button. I find it far more smooth than the Canon 55-250mm IS lens once it gets started. The stabilization on that lens hops all over the place when racked out to 250.

While I agree with your flash set up as is, I have never found when I liked photos from my 7D in flash situations or low-light situations. The 5D Mark III is the camera you'll be wanting to use in those situations. 7D works great and is a lot of fun in situations where ISO is 100-200. I was unhappy with cropping and higher ISO's.

Thanks Axilrod. The ideas are perhaps thousands of years old- updated with our current understanding of the universe, iterative computation, and biology.

The script for the next episode discusses the nature of the universe in more detail. Later scripts will discuss mind/body/nutrition, probably with documentary style interviews. All of it relates back to the two generative concepts in the first episode.

RLPhoto said:

But the 10-22mm has almost no distortion. :'( It'd be hard to part with w/o renting the tokina first.

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If you rent it, please let us know your findings - I'd be very interested since you seem to be very specific about the lenses you use. But everything I've read about the Tokina is very favorable (it's nearly a prime lens with the tiny zoom range), it's f2.8, it's very sharp and while Canon might be better the little distortion is simple to correct in post.