Hello Everyone,

Wanted to share my latest underwater short video. I finally got some good footage of some emperor shrimp while I was in PNG. They are known to be fast and elusive to the videographer. So it was nice to have some cooperate.

As always, comments and constructive criticism, are certainly welcome.
Enjoy!
Dustin

https://vimeo.com/110709885

I was asked about the ability to see a board this morning, which led me to discover than many members were not able to see all of our boards.

That is fixed now, so if you are seeing more boards, that's why.

Dear Friends,

I currently own a Canon EOS 6D and I am planning a cruise to Antartica in 2016. I have several questions about this trip, as it is a very expensive trip and kind a one in a lifetime event. I am looking for opinions and suggestions from people who have been there or on similar environments.

I am worried that the 6D might fail in Antarctica (as several 5D IIs have failed on Luminous Landscape´s Antarctica Cruise in 2009), so I am thinking about taking a 7D II, which is reported to be the most thoroughly sealed camera to Antarctica in addition to my 6D. 1Dx is completely out of my budget. I would like to know if any of you has experience with the 6D in harsh environments like this and if the camera failed or survived and if you agree with this solution to my concerns.

I would also like to know which equipment I shoud bring. I am planning to buy a rain cover for the cameras, either Kata E-702 PL Pro Light Rain Cover or Manfrotto E-702 PL Elements Cover. Would you recommend any of these rain covers (or another one)?

On the lenses department, I am planning to take Sigma 12-24mm, EF 17-40 f/4L, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and Canon 2x EF extender II. In addition to these lenses, I own EF 28mm f/1.8, EF 50mm f/1.8 II, EF 50mm f/1.4, EF 85mm f/1.8, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, EF-S 10-22mm, EF-S 18-55m, EF-S 18-55mm IS, EF 24-70 f/2.8L, EF 70-200 f/4L and Canon 1.4x EF extender II. Would you take any of the remaining lenses? Which lens and why?

On the backpack department, I currently own a Tamrac Evolution 9 backpack, which is my favorite camera backpack ever, but I think it may not be water resistant enough considering that there will be several Zodiac rides from the main ship to the continent. Some people have recommended me the Lowepro Dryzone 200. Would you agree with this recommendation? Would you recommed another backpack?

Thanks in advance.

Leandro

Dear Friends
Yes, These beautiful Thanksgiving Cactus in my Sun Room/ Solarium are full Bloom this morning. By Canon EOS 7D MK II, and Canon Lens EF 100 mm. F/ 2.8 L IS USM., Hand Held Shooting.
Enjoy.
Surapon

I browse this website quite often since 2012. I have never seen so many negative comments about Canon these days in comparison with before.
Does Canon really not satisfying its customers lately or is it that there are new members in the forum who like to put down Canon in comparison with other companies?

Hi,
I discover today an issue when using Tamron 150-600mm live view focusing with 7DII... not sure is it my copy issue only or a common issue, so may be those who had the Tarmon 150-600mm and 7DII can try this out and see whether is it a common issue.

Usually, when the lens cannot find focus and hit the minimum focusing distance, it'll try to find focus by focusing towards the infinity, but with Tamron 150-600mm and 7DII, it'll hang at the minimum focusing distance (it'll happen regardless of the setting in "Lens drive when impossible" is on or off). Please note this only happen in live view.

Below is the procedure that will cause this issue to show:
1) Under live view setting, set Continuous AF to Disable.
2) Now using live view, focus something closer than the minimum focusing distance.
3) Once the Tamron 150-600mm focus till the minimum focusing distance, it'll hang and won't respond on any new AF command in live view.
4) To get back to normal operation, you can: (a) switch out of live view and use normal viewfinder to achieve AF, then the live view AF will be back to normal or (b) Using the manual focus to focus till very close to focus, then your live view focus will be back to normal.

I try the below combination, but only happen when using Tamron 150-600mm with 7DII:
1) Tamron 150-600mm with 60D: Normal operation, after it focus to minimum focusing distance, it'll try to find focus by focusing towards the infinity.
2) EF400mm F5.6L with 7DII: Same as above.

So the issue must be with the Tamron 150-600mm. Also, the Tamron 150-600mm live view focusing is very, very slow... My EF400mm F5.6L is way faster in live view AF.

Have a nice day.

Hi everyone:

I know the subject about the 24-70II's clicking noise has been extensively discussed in another thread, but in my case there is an audible single click that seems to be coming from inside the lens when I turn the zoom ring from wide to long and the zoom ring passes the 35-70mm mark.

Has anybody experienced this issue with a copy of theirs? When the lens was new out of the box, it had the clicking sound like in the other thread (resembling the sound of turning a safe combination wheel). That noise is 90% gone but the click started about 5 days into my ownership of the lens.

Please check this youtube link to see what I mean - the click starts approximately 4 seconds into the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i63EwLvLnh0&feature=youtu.be

The zoom ring itself is noisy/scratchy, but I'm not concerned with that. I'm concerned with that little click that might be a harbinger of a bad defect through time.

What are your opinions about this? I'm thinking of taking it back to the shop tomorrow.

I came across a review of the Sony FE35mm f/2.8 that said it was a great lens... for the "very reasonable" price of $799. That's a lot of money for a zeiss logo. And my thoughts immediately went to my Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM. It's also a great lens with a very reasonable price. We don't even need to bring the 35mm/is into it, and that it's both faster and cheaper than the Sony.

One of the mirrorless arguments is for small form factor. And Pentax have their pancake lenses, which I used for some years with their noisy screwdrives. But I think the Canon is the best of the bunch in terms of quality, form factor and price. When I put the 40mm on my lightweight if a little bulbous 6D, I can easily put it in a waist pack, or dangle it from my hand for hours on end. Add the Voigtlander 20mm and it's pancake heaven. I think the little 40 should get more respect.

Hey Folks,

I was shooting around with my 70-200mm f/2.8L today and when I engaged the Stabilizer it started flipping out! I was just wondering if this is something that you guys may have seen/heard. I think I may have to send it back to Canon.

Click Here for Video of Noise

Many Thanks!

Anyone happen to have a technical answer for why there isn't an EF to FE mount smart adapter that allows for usable autofocus speed and accuracy?

The reason I ask is because I own a Zeiss Contax N mount 50/1.4 that has been modded by Conurus (one of the main players at Metabones) which autofocuses very well on all my Canon bodies. This would lead me to believe that Conurus is significantly tapped into the Canon AF protocols somehow. However, every generation of the Metabones smart adapters for EF to FE so far have not been up to par with speed and accuracy of AF.

Second question is, anyone think that it might be easier to accomplish with the A mount bodies?

Hoping someone here has an explanation for this.

If it were possible at some point to get usable performance with adapted EF lenses, I think full transitions into the Sony ecosystem would be much more painless especially with some of the new features being offered in the latest body announcements.

It seems that I just wasn't quick enough to jump on that Adorama deal yesterday for the amazing Siggy 50. Can anyone tell me if it's gone for good?

If not, does anyone have any leads/tips/rumors about upcoming deals on this lens?


Thanks in advance!

So, I have have two Bowens 500R studio lights. They are rated at 15Ws-500Ws over 5 stops. But what exactly does that mean?

To me I'm guessing that every time a turn it up a stop, it doubles the Ws - but I might be wrong. I would think that it actually has 6 stops which go as follows:

1 - 15Ws
2 - 30Ws
3 - 60Ws
4 - 120Ws (roughly 125)
5 - 240Ws (roughly 250)
6 - 480Ws (roughly 500)

I should also note that I have two dials:

The first is for complete stops (1-5)
The second is for 1/10th stops (0-1)

It actually goes up to 6 (the full stop dial turned to 5, and the 1/10 dial turned up to +1.0), so did Bowens list that incorrectly?


THEN, that leads to my next question - how much dimmer are the 400W and 250W lights? Is the 400W less that 1 stop at full power compared to the 500W, and is the 250W exactly one stop less than the 500W at full power?

I only ask because I'm looking to get a two more lights, and I want to keep my options open. Thanks.

"Light-field photography is the future" - or is it?

Here are two reviews on the new Lytro Illum, still seem to be work in progress, but an interesting concept. And you can emulate a f1.0 lens

German: http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadgets/kameras-lichtfeldkamera-lytro-illum-im-test-a-1000246.html
Foreign: http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/30/5949913/lytro-illum-review

What do you think: Is old-school single-dof photography doomed?

.
Interesting tech piece on new polarizing material that transmits substantially more light...

http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/11/novel-polarizing-filter-transits-more-light

Does anyone here own a set of Profoto B1 lights? How do you like them? How well does the built-in diffuser work? How long does the battery last? I'm debating between the B1s and the Phottix Indras. The players:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1009783-REG/profoto_901094_b1_500_airttl_monolight.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1089949-REG/phottix_indra500_ttl_studio_light.html

I know there is a huge price difference between the two, but the convenience of having the battery packs, wireless triggers, and reflectors built into the heads on the Profoto lights is very appealing, especially for shoots that involve changing locations several times, which means setting up the lights several times. The Indras have a separate battery pack and reflectors, so that's more setup time and cords to trip over. One advantage of the Indras is that they have HSS, which the B1s do not, but I don't see that being too useful for my needs.

My primary objective is trimming down on the amount of gear I have to lug around in the field, as well as cutting down on the setup time. I'm currently using three White Lightning heads triggered by a Phottix Odin/Strato combo. Between the lights, cords, battery packs, reflectors, and triggers I need a big ass Pelican case to fit it all in. In contrast, two B1 lights will fit in a small backpack. I can see myself using the B1s in situations and locations where I would have never bothered with the White Lightnings due to their size and the hassle of setting then up, choosing instead to limp around with Speedlites. Not having to attach the battery packs, power cords, reflectors, and triggers will save me 15 minutes in setup time and 15 minutes in pack-up time each and every time.

For those pixelpeepers and digital noise addicts amongst us:

http://www.clarkvision.com/reviews/evaluation-canon-7dii/index.html

Hello All,
I've used my 7D for five years and other than the high ISO noise issue, I've been very happy with it's performance. In particular when shooting birds with my 400 f5.6.
I see from the specifications that the mk2 is mostly an incremental increase in performance, ie more Af points, more FPS, slight improvement in high ISO IQ etc.
For those of you who have made the jump from 7D to the mk2, could you enlighten me on the areas where you have noted a major improvement and areas which have fallen short of expectation. Please comment on IQ, handling, features and durability.
I'm about to buy mine and really hope it will be a change without reservation.

Thank you.

All,

next month I'm off for a vacation road trip with my girlfriend through Arizona to Santa Fe, NM and I'd love some gear and sightseeing advice.

Note:

• 
  Unlike past trips where I could carve out some solo photography time and shoot some landscapes or macro work, we'll be together for almost all of the trip. So the big GuraGear bag is staying at home and I'm planning on bringing a more modest kit.
  
• 
  On vaca, I shoot a little bit of everything -- walkabout, street, hiking, landscapes and macro. 95% of the time, I'm an available light shooter.
  
• The full gamut of temperature we'll see could run from 15F to 60F. So there will be plenty of large temp transitions where my gear will jump into and out of the cold.
• We'll be staying in hotels -- no need to plan for overnights outdoors.

I have two burning questions:

1) If you've been to or live near the Flagstaff - Albuquerque - Santa Fe neck of the woods, what are the must-sees or must-dos? I don't just mean great vistas for photography -- what's fun to see, do, or experience out there? If it helps, we are in our 30s and we're into food, beer, hiking (medium level, day-hikes only), art, film, music, history, local culture, and odd places.

2) Of all my gear (listed below) -- and considering the four bullet points up top -- what would you bring and why? My gut (just off the cuff) is on bringing the bold items below.

• 5D3
• 28 f/2.8 IS
• 40 f/2.8
• 50 f/1.4
• 100 f/2.8L IS
• 16-35 f/4L IS
• 24-70 f/4L IS
• 70-200 f/2.8 IS II
• 90EX Speedlite (tiny emergency flash if the need arises, works fine on the 5D3 with standard FLs)
• 600EX-RT Speedlite
• Tripod, ball head, cable release, sand bag, etc. (Small Gitzo traveler (1542T) and an Arca head (z1/dp)
• Standard filters - UV, CPL, etc.
• Landscape filters - Lee 100 system, ND grads, Big Stopper, 105 CPL, etc.
• Ziplocks and desiccant for coming from the cold
• Batteries, chargers, yadda yadda
• Rain covers
• Monopod

So? Thoughts?

As always, I appreciate the advice -- you folks have been gold on prior trips.

- A

Anybody know what might be causing the exposure to pulsate from normal to overexposed on my 5d mk3 videos?
Thought it might be an LED light I was using somehow causing frequency interference but that's not the case.

Thanks

I do a lot of event photography here in Denver; pretty much anything from conventions, conferences and lectures, to music and concerts, and everything in between. I know some people have been un-thrilled with the detail the 7D2 gives them in their bird/wildlife photography, but oddly enough, I think the 7D2 is a perfect companion to a 5D3 for events.

The ISOs and the extra reach (especially when you're forced to shoot from the back of a room), are incredible. I essentially got double the megapixels from the 7D2 (compared to the 5D3).

Here's a quick review and image comparo of an event I photographed last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J3pS1-9fn8

PS: For those wondering why I picked 100mm as my point of comparison... I would've much preferred to compare 200mm between the 5D3 and 7D2, I just don't have two 70-200 lenses! Also, the room just wasn't big enough to justify 200mm on the 7D2, but hopefully, you get the point about cropping (images) vs. reach.

Very sad day for a strobist. One of the best makers of alternative speedlites is going under.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6718942318/lighting-equipment-manufacturer-metz-files-for-insolvency

I received my 7D2 last Thursday and immediately set out for wildlife to photograph. My primary interest is wildlife photography and I spend one hour in a park every day before going to work. I currently use a 5D3 with a 200-400/1.4x and a 6D as my backup body (mainly for landscapes).

Going in I expected ISO 1600 on the 7D2 to be roughly the same as ISO 3200 on my 5D3. On my 5D3 at ISO 1600 I can still count the feathers on a bird, while at ISO 3200 the feather detail begins to break down but the image is still usable for most purposes.

What I found was that on the 7D2 there was still a noticeable lack of detail at ISO 1600 compared to ISO 3200 on my 5D3. Even worse, when I went down to ISO 800 there was still noticeable noise, though the images were certainly usable. This morning I spent some time photographing identical subjects with the two, and I came to the conclusion that the 7D2 simply would not work for me.

I am glad I bought it at unique photo - who said they'll take it back as long as the box is in good condition. I had hoped this would give me a bit more extra reach, but again I found myself learning the painful lesson of cropped sensors. Instead I intend to wait and see what Canon does with the 1Dx2.

Unfortunately my sample images are not up, but you can get an idea from this one (ISO 400).
Predator by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

First of a number of mountain images I will post. This one taken from my Supercub of Denali, the Great Ice Mountain. Canon 5D II, 24-70, polarizer. Note the standing Lenticular clouds, indicating a strong flow over the mountain from the South. Ever since I began mountain photography years ago I have generally preferred the expressiveness of B&W.

Cheers: Tom Falley

i've been looking for quick hand mid zoom sine moving from a eos 3 to T4i to 70D to 6D.

The 24-70mm f2.8 Tamron i got at the same time as the 6D is pretty but for a burlesque, band or belly dancer shows it's zoom ring too tight too slow. Canon EF-s 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM was nice but it's a EF-s

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM = better but spongy and so thin and far back to the body

Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM = better but even more so with being too thin and far back to the body

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM II = even at $1800+ well

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM = looked nice but i herd AF lock was slow so i put some hope into the Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM .

last 3 years Canon DXO marks stats seem nice other than the EF-S-STM lenses and all Canon lenses ive had on anything as new as T4i to 70D AF lock in the dark for me has been good

so it was crazy to find a Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at the locale shop to play with last week.


i Found Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM over the f4 L lens's on a 6D is 2X - 3X faster (on the 7D mark II 4X -5X) to lock on to a target with AF and 40% or more to times able hit it right in focus with changing target to target and zooming in and out back and forth (on the 7D mark II too good to say). zoom ring is very good for smooth but fast finding targets And shots.

i feel if it's better than the Canon EF-s 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM with the image IQ and dose not suck dust in as it zooms this will a good close action lens leaving my Tamron for non-flash-low-light and posed shooting.

some reason there's no real tests or reviews on the Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and it being the 2nd FF STM lens and the 6D a STM body and find it having the fastest AF i've ever seen AND that i could buy it in store over a week and a half ago odd

i'll take it if

Sharpness 12P-Mpix or more
Transmission 4.3TStop or lower
Distortion 0.4% or lower
Vignetting -1.6EV or lower
Chr. aberration 10µm or lower. all.