Just for fun.

I have $1,882 that needs to be spent on camera gear before the end of the year, I have some ideas for myself, but what would you get?

Top of my list, another three 600EX-RT's, or a couple of Einsteins, a 35 f2 IS..............

Hello guys,
Im new to the forum even though I have been lurking for a while...
I found today a Canon 28-80mm f2.8 for 300Euros and a Canon 80-200 f2.8 for 350Euros... I use canon lens for videos mainly but I dont mind shot some nice picture every once and a while...
I was just wondering if you guys had a chance to try those lenses and if they are worth the price (I read online they are both 20 years old lenses!)...
Well I really wanted to hear an opinion from someone who used those lenses...

Thanks very much for any suggestion!

How about a little Friday fun?

The Hipster Doofus - he only shoots film, and then only with a Leica or Holga, but considering a vintage AE-1. Has a custom leather strap made from David Berkowitz's old mail bag. He needs to "get on that Internet".

The Delicate Genius - prone to spur of the moment ski trips, but is highly educated and knows her gear. Her Style is stuck in the past just like her D30, and don't dare cancel your shoot with less than 24 hours notice or you'll lose your sitting fee.

The Scofflaw - always sneaking into unauthorized areas he shouldn't be shooting in, he's looking for the perfect shot. Often seen in the company of a man with an eye patch. Carries a special Moby Dick version of the white SL1.

The Convert - converted to Canon "for the lenses" but still carries a D90 with his 5DIII. If he starts shooting with Sony, there will be no stopping him. Known for his interesting magazines he keeps in his green room. His wedding colleagues will smash your anti-Canonite teeth in if you make fun of him.

The Camera Virgin - she's held a camera before, but has never pressed the shutter. Dated a man whose friends held a contest to see who could stay away from their Canon cameras the longest, but ran away to begin shooting with Hasselblad.

The Shoot Nazi - shoots with a custom 1DX and his work is the best, but he shoots his way and if you even question his advice, he will throw you off the set and never work with you again. Last seen shooting for Vogue Argentina.

The Gymnast - shoots with a Lomo, but is considering Holga lenses for her 5D classic. Known for crazy contorted poses and planking shots. Once dated Ansel Adams, but broke up with him, saying that he might take photos for a living, but he, "is no photographer".

The Latvian - shoots with a 7D because it has the "look" you want in a camera. Cheats on his Canon CPS application (he's not really a full-time pro), and even writes "crib notes" on his hands to keep track of camera techniques. Sometimes combines video on his 70D and Velvia in his old Rebel G because it is the most sensual of all of the transparency films.

Joe Mayo - okay that just sounds made up

and a special one for someone we'll call Surapon:

The Architect - unlike his wanna-be counterpart, he's the real deal. He has nearly every piece of camera equipment ever made, but that's not enough. He modifies and rigs his equipment in creative and crazy ways and can carry more lenses and cameras than the Mandelbaums. It's "Go Time" when he straps up and takes epic selfies. When asked by airport security, he says, "It's called a T-Square."

Anyone using the Kenko Pro-300 extenders with the Canon 70-300L on a Canon 6D or EOS-M ?

Any issues ? Does AF work ? Any lockups or other problems ?

Thanks

Just wanted to let you all know I really like it here. I'm staying.

Anyway to get notified when one of the companies (even big value inc) have a 5d3 for one of those unbeatable prices?
I sold my gear and would like to purchase again.
I want a 5D3 and a 24-105, but I want a price that I can't turn away from (like $650 for the 24-105 and 2500-2550 for the 5D3)
I was an early adopter, so I paid $3500 last time, so this time around I want to make up for it
anyone know of a reputable seller selling these items for these prices or really close, or a way to be notified if it happens?

Good Afternoon,

Santa gave me the Canon EF 100 f/2.8L IS Macro for Christmas, and this is my first experience with a macro lens. I took about 100 photos indoors yesterday, and about every 10th photo the autofocus hunts for 5-10 seconds before it acquires focus. The indoor lighting is adequate, but I would not say the lighting is bright. I've been taking a mixture of portrait and macro type photos.

Most of the photos I've taken appear to be in focus, but I'm still learning the lens. Is it normal for this lens to hunt at times to lock focus, or do I potentially have a bad copy?

Here are my settings with my 5D MKIII

* lens is on FULL mode
* camera is set to Case 1 with AI SERVO
* selectable AF point is 61 points
* manual select: spot AF
* The camera is on manual mode with auto ISO, and I've been taking photos with apertures between f/2.8 and f/8 with shutter speeds between 1/60 - 1/200.

Also, I'd appreciate any advice on recommended aperture and shutter speed settings with this lens for both portrait and marco photos.

Thanks!

Dear vFriends.
Yes, I would like the spare/ tiny EF-M 18-55 mm IS STM in my Small camera bag, But I check at Amazon = Only 99.99 US Dollars Plus Free Shipping too, and Buydig = $ 299 US Dollars, Plus B&H = 139 US dollars after rebate.Why the Price so much difference ?
Thanks.
Surapon


http://www.amazon.com/Canon-18-55mm-f3-5-5-6-Compact-Packaging/dp/B00CJZDL0K/ref=sr_1_2/185-8016610-0491138?ie=UTF8&qid=1388077737&sr=8-2&keywords=canon+ef-m+18-55mm

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CNEFM1855STM&ref=PLA&omid=103&CAWELAID=1682695722&catargetid=1875427183&cadevice=c&&cagpspn=pla

I have some money burning a hole in my pocket (under $1K) and I want to buy a new lens.
I do a lot of portrait work and landscapes and I currently have a canon 50/1.4 and 70-200 (both of which I'm very happy with) and a tamron 17-50/2.8 (which I'm ok with). My body is APS-C so the 50 is a little too long for indoors work, or full body shots, so I'm considering of adding the Sigma 35/1.4 into the mix. Every single review I've read praises the lens beyond reason, so I'm not concerned about the quality, I'm only wondering what other lenses people would consider in my situation.

I did consider the Sigma 18-35/1.8 for a second, but it's not FF and I might be upgrading my body next, so I don't want more crop lenses.

Hello,

Here's the situation: I shot a mix of things, weddings (and portraits), documentary and street.
I currently have a 17-40L that I use 'sometimes' but rarely, I love my primes - 40mm, 50mm and 85mm and when at weddings I hardly ever have the 70-200mm off one of my bodies (I shoot FF btw).
Seeing as I love the primes that I have and rarely use the 17-40, I've got the chance to get the Sigma 35mm f1.4. I know it's close the the 40mm but as much as that's a great lens it's only 2.8 (wedding venues can get dark, even 2.8 is too slow sometimes!!!!).

Basically, shall it change the 17-40 for the 35mm?

Thanks for the input

Got my first camera this week (6D) Been testing out my 50mm 1.4 and 24-105mm kit lens. I feel like I'd be better off with primes than a zoom, may end up selling/switching the zoom to an 35mm and 85mm. Love the 50mm tho, took a few pics with it in some lower light fun at a friends house The zoom couldn't hang but got some good shots with the 50…or what I think look like good shots. Lemme know what you think.

Would like some feedback on this photo. Thanks

How would people feel if Canon released the upcoming image stabilized 50 mm prime as a macro lens to replace the old 50 mm f 2.5? If they could give me an f 2.0, and IS with close focus ability, I would be all over that in an instant. Even if it would only go down to half life size like the Zeis, and old 50 mm f2.5. Throw in compatibility with my life size converter and that would be my perfect lens.

What are other people's thoughts on this idea? Would this be of interest to anybody else?

Reading the latest thread discussing the advantages of the 24-105mm versus those of the 24-70mm 2.8 II, I saw, as usual, a lot of talk about copy variation.

Couple months back while shopping for a 24-70mm and an 85mm 1.2 II, on the retail sites I also saw the usual talk about trying and trying to get a good copy.

It really makes me uneasy to know that so many lenses are getting shipped back and forth to the places I want to buy from. Is it Canon I should be concerned about or are there a significant number of OCD types going nuts looking for perfect lenses?

In fact, I myself actually returned an ef 35mm 1.4 to a big retailer because the front element was full of finger prints. Ironically, the one I got in its place was perfect at a distance but wretched up close and to about 7 feet at less than f/2.0--plus the purple fringing was way beyond what I expected. I didn't really figure this out in the first 30 days, so I sent it to Canon CPS and was told all was in spec. I sold it at a slight loss and bought a Sigma 35mm 1.4 instead--and from the same big retailer. No problems with it whatsoever after an MF adjust of +3.

Back to the 24-70mm II and the 85mm 1.2 II--bought 'em and love 'em. Neither needs any MF adjust. These I bought at a different retailer, one that specializes in photography, because from my experience, this retailer takes a lot more care with padding items for shipping.

When I first started buying expensive gear, I also got nuts. But experience and perspective have helped me realize that the pixel-peeping issues I was concerned about are not influencing the quality of my work.

In poker, there is an expression: Don't play at stakes you can't comfortably afford because you will play badly.

I wonder if some of the apparently OCD behavior with questing for the perfect lens has to do with passionate photographers well out of their spending comfort zone.

Or are there really so many bad copies of great lenses?

I've got two new copies of the 24-70mm f/2.8 II (playing the zoom-tick lottery). I'm wondering, what would be an acceptable AFMA difference between the Wide and Telephoto ends?

1st copy: -1 at 24mm and +1 at 70mm (so a difference of 2).
2nd copy: +2 at 24mm and +7 at 70mm (so a difference of 5).

I'm pretty happy with the first copy, but I'm not sure about the second copy. Practically, I will input the two AFMA values into my 5DM3 and it will interpolate the AFMA for focal lengths between the two extremes. My question is more general, which is "what is an acceptable difference before you should consider returning the lens to the store?"

The main reason I'm asking this question is because I read Roger Ciala's old article about how to test a lens, and he suggested that +/-3 between the two ranges for a 4x zoom is acceptable. Since my second copy has a difference of 5, I was wondering if I should be concerned. I'm also curious what you guys think the biggest difference is before you'd return a lens back to the store.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/11/how-to-test-a-lens

My absolute requirements for an acceptable lens are:
...
3. Front / backfocus is similar throughout zoom range and at near and far focusing. How similar is a judgement call, but if it changes less than +/- 3 for a 4x zoom and +/- 5 for a 10x zoom throughout the zoom range, then I’m pretty happy.

Click to expand...

P.S. I'm not certain about the meaning of his terminology of "4x zoom" and "10x zoom", but I'm assuming that it means it's the longer focal length divided by the shorter focal length? So 24-70mm and a 70-200 would be <4x zoom, and a 18-200mm would be >10x zoom. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Just tried my Kenko 2x Pro300 with 100mmL lens on a 6d and it locks up the camera...can't shoot in any mode, auto or manual focus, etc. and when I shut off the camera, LCD continues to display. Remove Kenko, remove battery, restart and camera/lens works fine.

When used on a 70-300 L lens, the Kenko camera works normally. Any ideas on what is going on would be greatly appreciated!

Just tried it on a 60D body, the 100L works fine. Seems to be a 6D body issue??

I have the most loving and understanding family. For Christmas, I got this beauty. It's a plastic coffee cup that resembles a lens, Canon of course. However, I am concerned with the specs on this one. As you can see it's a white one. BUT the inscription doesn't match up.

On the barrel it says 'ESF 28-135'. By the filter thread it reads 'Zoom Lens EF-S 28-135mm 1:2.5 L II USM'

Obviously made in China. If the specs are real it would be very interesting, an L EF-S (or ESF). The aperture on a zoom is just groundbreaking.

I'll be sure to enjoy my morning coffee in the only cup worthy a Canon fan from now on.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Gentlemen,
I would like to ask for your recommendations of a medium grade ball head and quick release system. I've been searching for a viable product for a while, but haven't seen something that suits my needs:

• Minimum support weight of 12lbs
• Price as low as possible, but somewhat flexible, as utility is primary concern.
• Plates to be on the long side, in order to provide enough surface area for camera to be braced against the flange on a horizontal surface other than tripod.
• Plates to have some sort of safety catch so they can't slide out (I had a camera slide out and fall once with an arca plate)
• plates to preferably have 1/4" thread at the bottom to enable attachment to standard tripod mount without removal of the plate

RRS has a very good system that I really like, but it is so bitterly expensive, that I can't justify the investment. Their plates are just unreasonable.

Any recommendations?

To everyone who celebrates Christmas a Merry Christmas to you! To everyone else a Happy Holiday/Season's Greetings!


Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) by alabang, on Flickr

I am surprised there is no "Asia" regional board considering over 60% of Earth's human population live in Asia.

I'm not even asking for a South East Asian or Philippine board.

The mode dial cap got detached from my 5DIII and lost. It's a pain replacing it because the cap itself is not a Canon part and the whole top unit has to be replaced at a cost of more than £200. I wasn't worried about the cost as the camera is still under a 1 year warranty and I had taken out 3 years accidental damage insurance as well (which is very rare for me to do). Because of the hassle of losing the camera while the repair was taking place, I tracked down a dial cap to glue on, due to arrive on Monday (which it did). But, on Sunday, when walking along with a strap attached to the lens over my shoulder, the body fell off, cracked the top unit and spewed out all of the dial components. So the dilemma is over - the top unit is being replaced under insurance. The camera is still working, the top unit having acted as a crumple zone.

It's back to the 7D as a great back up.

I switched to a 6D some weeks ago, and i'm really loving my new toy . However, i only have a nifty fifty to go with it, and now i'm starting to crave for another toy (some of you here call this condition G. A. S. ). I'm a gearhead, but i'm also budget-conscious, so, before spending big bucks on L glass, i was considering the plan of getting some cheap vintage primes and adapters to see which focal lenghts would fit my needs. I know nothing about vintage lenses, and the variety and quantity of lenses is a bit overwhelming. I can borrow a Zeiss Planar 1.4/85 with adapter from a friend, so i got that focal length covered. Can you suggest me some cheap 24mm, 35mm and 135mm primes?

I have been an ardent fan of Canon Cameras. I recently upgraded to Canon 70D with the 18-135 mm lens kit.

I have read a lot of the features of 70 D before buying and still keep reading whatever I come across about the 70D. There are a lot of features which I like about this Camera which stands out from the rest.

I would like to hear from forum members out there who own or have tried the 70D about the feature that appealed to them the most.

My two favorites from this past weekend and the final appearance of my trusty T1i: