I was told that macro lenses are always sharper compared to non macro lenses but I was also told that the EF 135 L is called the "Lord of the Red Rings" because it is so incredible sharp, so which one of them is sharper, especially at maximum aperture?

Hi all,

I've given some nighttime tripod work a go recently to shoot the LA skyline, which is not my normal fare. I'm a handheld natural light guy for almost everything I shoot.

I shoot a 5D3, and I'll upload two shots I took -- one with the 24-70 F/4 IS (on the 70mm end) and the other with the 70-200 F/2.8 IS II (around 165mm). I'll run through my method, and I welcome any and all pointers you have for taking the shot or post-processing it. As you'll see, I'm a novice at this -- many simple pointers should immediately come to mind if you've done this before.

Starting declaration: I'm an aperture-priority shooter 98% of the time. I'd rather not climb 'why don't you shoot manual?' mountain in this thread unless you feel it is absolutely necessary, thanks.

SHOOTING

1) Set tripod, frame shot, level the shot in viewfinder, weigh the tripod down, hook on the corded shutter release, etc.
2) Switch IS off (it was windy, but not that windy. Was worried about the IS motor actually inducing shake. Does that still happen, or are those lenses tripod sensing?)
3) Switch to manual focus, turn LiveView on, set ISO to 100.
4) As I was not shooting anything remotely close to me (see shots), I set aperture for the sharpness sweet spot of the lens, somewhere between F/5.6 and F/8.
5) Meter (left it on evaluative, see #7 later for my rinse and repeat method)
6) In 10x LiveView, I manually focused on a building in the skyline. I kind of threw out the classic 'focus 1/3 of the way into the frame', hyperfocal considerations, etc. because, again, most everything would have focused out to infinity with this framing.
7) Take shot. Due to shooting a nighttime scene in Av, it was much brighter than needed, so I used exposure comp and brought it down to something more like my native eye would see (-1EV to -2EV depending on the shot in question). I sort threw the histogram out the window in this case, as the goal of the shot was clearly not a bell-curved histogram.
8 ) Take final shot or shots (sometimes I bracket three on +/- 1 EV just in case). Shot in RAW.

POST-PROCESSING (I use PS's native Adobe Camera Raw tool, which is nutty, I know. But all the sliders are there, running -100 to +100 if you haven't used ACR before.)

1) Set WB to tungsten and that lifted the horrific Blade Runner-ian amber haze of LA at night. We all will likely disagree on that call, but I felt it let me capture the true light were I there on the street near the larger signs.
2) Given the crazy contrast (I don't like HDR work particularly), I push shadows up somewhat (+30) and pulled back highlights immensely (-80).
3) I actually give up on avoiding black clipping and went -30 on blacks and +30 on contrast. The goal to me is a crisp night shot, so I don't want to invest a lot of work to make a murky dark part of the skyline slightly more recognizable at the cost of a ton of noise.
4) I give a slight boost to luminance (+15) and a very small kick to saturation (+3).
5) Skipped lens correction work as this aperture wouldn't vignette, the shot was already straight/level, and chromatic aberration was already handled in camera as the 5D3 had profiles for both lenses.
6) Sharpness runs 0 to 125 in ACR I believe, and with such a low ISO, I can climb up to 75 with both lenses before I've 'overcooked' the sharpening. (I always sharpen and do noise reduction at 100% pixel view.)
7) Didn't pursue noise reduction (again, low ISO shot, didn't want to trade sharpness for noise reduction with so little noise.).
8 ) Exported to PS.
9) Cropped to taste (prefer to do this in PS for some reason) and save as 10 quality JPG. I only save PSD or CR2 files if I plan to take a shot to print, which is rare in my case.

OTHER STUFF

Didn't use filters or deliberately aim for a long or short shutter speed. I left the big stopper in my bag as there were no clouds or waterfalls (lol), and no large field of traffic to blur. This just didn't seem like the right place to use it.

Again, please see attached and help me along.

Thanks!
A

Hey all,

Photozone finally got around to testing the extremely well-reviewed Sigma 35mm F/1.4 'Art' lens on a FF body. (Their FF test camera is a 5D2, btw.)

Of note, that now gives us an aperture vs. sharpness breakdown that's pretty simple to read. See attached. As their test went, the Sigma was an astounding performer wide open, esp. in the corners compared to the Canon. Note the stretchy-fonted Canon section is not stretchy from data-doctoring -- I just stretched that chart to better line up left to right with the Sigma data for comparison purposes. (Raw link below for skeptics. )

Keep in mind that I believe that they only test one lens. Not everyone has LensRentals' statistical power.

For the record, I do not suffer from sharpness syndrome, in which the sharpest lens is deemed 'the best'. So I encourage folks to read the whole reviews...

Sigma: http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/848-sigma35f14eosff
Canon: http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/516-canon35f14ff

...and read about other items, like handling, focus shifting, 'nervousness' of the bokeh, distortion, chromatic fringey stuff, etc.

Or better yet, rent both and see for yourself. Despite the very strong sharpness-per-dollar argument made by an overwhelming majority on this forum, there are many who love their 35L and are holding out for a (weathersealed!) 35L II rather than to go after Sigma's terrific new offering.

- A

...

I'm sorry but I have to share this. Today I went to a nearby park to take some pictures. Very nice place, there is always lots of folks with DSLRs taking pictures there. But today this guy really caught my attention. He was carrying this very expensive Leica rangefinder camera (I tried but could not see which model; digital, for sure), taking lots and lots of pictures. All with the lens cap on.

I always knew Leica makes some very fine cameras and some of the best lenses money (mountains and mountains of it) can buy. What I didn't know, though, was that the camera and lenses were so damn darn good that they could take pictures even with the lens cap on. Maybe it's for protection, a cap for sure does a better job protecting the front element than UV filters. Now that's something worth paying $9,000-plus for!

New here- pardon if this has been asked / answered before.

After some lengthy searches and comparisons, Im about to purchase a new Canon 6D; some of the packages being offered includes a 24-105mm f4 IS L lens and a 70-300mm f4-5.6 EF w/ IS. (one of the local retailers was trying to match this but was offering the tele w/out the IS)

~12 years ago, I purchased a 300D Rebel (1st gen), and with it, a 70-300mm f4-5.6 EF w/ IS lens (and another lens).

My question, then, is

1) is this the 'same' telefoto lens?
2) EF is EF? jumping to the large, full frame format, this telefoto will work?

3) if it is the same, I don't want a redundant model. Suggestions for another lens to fill out the range? My focus is wildlife and landscape along with some outdoor action (lake-based water sports).

Your replies and insight are most appreciated.
T

I bought a used 600mm Sigma lens this morning for $135, and thought I'd compare it with my 100-400mm L + 1.4X TC. First, I took several shots and found that in the dark windy rainy weather that a 1/1000 sec image took a very high ISO setting on my 5D MK III, such that the image was noisy. So, I mounted the lens on a monopod, held my breath, and set the shutter speed to 1/320. My tripod was in the studio, and I did not want to brave the weather to go out and get it.

Then, I used the same setup with my 100-400 + TC. I could immediately see the difference thru the viewfinder, but went ahead and took the image for a first shot at comparing them.

To be fair, $135 versus almost $2000 worth of lens is a bit extreme, but I wanted to see the difference. I may have to get out that tripod after all, because there was a lot of difference, and some of it was movement.

Here is my first try, with images cropped and sharpened in Lightroom.

Sigma 600mm




Canon 100-400L + 1.4X MK II TC




To be fair, if you were printing the images at 8 X 10, I doubt that most people would see the difference, they look pretty good at a small size.

I'll try again later with my heavy duty tripod just to compare.

Canon didn't grace the 6d with the swivel screen of the 60d (turn to protect) or a glass lcd like the 5d3, so I'd like to invest the money Canon saved in a 3rd party glass protector...

... Problem is: As a result of the natural and smooth, round 6D finish (edit: Amazon reviews state that) the screen is not planar but slightly bent, esp. on the top right. I currently have a thin plastic lcd cover, and it does show air bubbles in this region.

Did anybody manage to find a glass or comparably sturdy 6D lcd protection that applies *without* air bubbles beneath?

Esp. anything *glued* to the screen seems to have this problem (see attached image with black glue border), what *might* work is a much more expensive glass cover that only electrostatically attaches (image with "hama" brand). Any experiences?

I guess we all sell and buy stuff of the net but the fees on a certain site are quite a lot when you sell high end stuff. Is there any other place I can sell my 1D4 over here in the UK? Shops would trade it for very little and im no expert on selling gear.

A while ago, after some forum debate, and thinking, I opted for one, then another YN568EXii.

First... hey, good design. I like 99 percent of what they have there. The build quality is pretty decent (with noted exception below). Both flashes run consistantly with regard to exposure and recycle times. They work marvelously with the YN622 remote setup. Zero issues there.

Here's whats going on with these otherwise excellent flashes. After speaking with some other Yongnuo users, It seems the first of the 568EX's had a problem with the tension on the batteries. They sat low in the compartment, had some issues getting good tension and good contact. Someplace along the line, Yongnuo listened, and put taller/stiffer battery contacts in the flash. Thats good! Problem is, they didn't beef up the door to handle the stronger force now put upon it.

Both of my battery doors broke, in exactly the same way, after the same amount of time - and they have only been used so far in the house for testing of the setup. Zero harsh treatment. You can see by the direction the little plastic lock broke off that the force was from the inside, pushing out. Both flashes broke the bottom two rear most locking pieces. Contacting Yongnuo... they said to contact their eBay store, and they'd list the door as part - about $20 each shipped from China.

That prompted me to go for a better solution, since any replacement door would have the same issue. One possible solution, too late for me, is preventative action. If you look at how the locking tab works, and fits, you can see there is room for a fillet of material behind it to give it strength. If I was doing this on a new flash... I'd use some of that great black superglue (StewMac.com). I've used that stuff to actually rebuild bakelite pickup rings on a Guild electric guitar (not standard rings, and long long out of production). Also used it to totally rebuild the lost tip of a Gibson L6-S pickguard (the forward tip, that always breaks). Its good stuff, strong, and easy to work with. Just have to be super patient and go in thin layers, allowing dry time of at least half a day each layer. Think in terms of five or six nights with a toothpick, and an out of action flash during that time.

Ok... thats not for everyone. So, let it break, then fix it.

The YN568 is easy to get apart. Very orderly inside too. Most of all, its easy to get back together! Electrical connections are snap in plugs. You needn't get it far apart though, in order to change the door. Two screws, left and right, on the main housing accessable when the flash is rotated 90 degrees. Four screws holding the shoe/base on. Thats it. It seperates.... you'll need to take the front off, then finagle the pin holding the door out, and finagle the new door into place and slide the pin in. You'll also have to get the spring arm correctly placed in the case. Not hard, just... may take three attempts before you get it right.

However, since I don't have a replacement door, and its just as bad as the original....my option was to be a little more permanent. Remember, the flash is already broken... so how bad can it be right? I evaluated the location spot for an external thumb screw on the door, judging where the hole would appear inside the flash. There's a LOT of open real estate area in that flash btw, and an external power pack would be easy to adapt in. Anyway, about 1/4 inch down from the tip of the arrow on the door, you can make a little hole and fit a nut within the flash (epoxy) and voila....thumbscrew to the rescue. You'll need a 6-32 thread thumbscrew with about a 3/8 inch long thread. Computer case thumbscrews "may" work, as I had one that fit that very description, but I also noticed I had others that were short threaded.

Now for the mod.... I may do this after Biketoberfest. Not before, in case I screw it up. I think I'll be able to fit a power jack under the door, with corresponding opening right through the door for the plug. I plan on using a standard barrel type power connection, and while not the sturdiest, a little velcro to hold the cable from moving about will be good enough - for my use at least. Power to be had from a 6v sealed lead/acid battery, as is available from many sources, and which also fits nicely in a common rifle magazine pouch. Charge with a wall wart fitted with another power jack on its cable. Quick and simple, not high tech at all. The power connection within the YN 568 is the top most and bottom most inner batter connections. The rest just bridge to each other to series fit the batteries. Don't use both power supplies at the same time please, or.... as I may do, is just remove the thumbscrew at that point, and install a flush fit screw. At that point, I'll stick a fork in it, and call it done.

Folks.... this is a good flash, many parts are hot glued in place to prevent them vibrating loose, a nice touch to see a capacitor not just hanging in the air, nice to see the little connector cables all with plugs and jacks inside the flash. This is not a junk item, by any stretch of it whatsoever.

Hope some of you may be of benefit of my misfortune, and my couple of fixes.

Many thanks!~

PS - I went out today and bought some things to actually do the fix. Ended up getting some 8-32 nylon thumbscrews from "that big box home store" for the whopping price of $0.75 American money, and since my 8-32 tap was worn from tapping some stainless steel motorcycle parts... I opted for a new tap and the proper drill as a kit for about $5.25 in similar American money. Total price with tax, just over six quid.

I ended up using a small chuck hand held, and things drilled and tapped nicely. Had to go back and enlarge the hole in the door a little, to allow the thumbscrew to easily pass, and alls well - save for a little deburring to get the excess from the edges of the holes. In nylon, the slightly larger 8-32 size made more sense for strength, and there's just enough meat in the plastic of the body to allow direct threading into the material. Nylon on styrene should be ok. Should it wear, I can always fit the epoxy'd on screw as formerly described.

Pictures in the next post, no particular order

Hello Everyone,

I think I have an issue here. I have a 5DII and tested a 5DIII from CPS for a job last night. I also still use LR3 and have no intention to upgrade. Reason being that I'm happy with the raw engine as it is and would not want anything happen to the files that are already there.

I also have no reason to upgrade to the 5DIII at this point. In fact, after testing it last night I'm more leaning towards picking up a second 5DII body at some point.

In any case, what can I do now with the raw files from the 5DIII to get them into LR3? I understand that I probably need to convert them in another program. Any recommendations? I have DPP from my 5DII. Not sure if I'd need a different version or if I have access to it. Anything else I could use?

My fault as I should have thought about this before.


update:

Noticed that I can open the files in CS5. Any chance I can use Bridge/CS5 to batch convert the 5DIII raw files to DNG? Or should I get the latest (free) adobe DNG converter? http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phscs2ip_digitalwf.pdf

Canon just implemented a rebate program for its most popular (mostly "L") lenses.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=7901

I'm going on a trip to Africa next August. I've searched the forums for other threads on this, and there was some good stuff, but I thought I'd ask for some more specific advice.

It's a two-week "Safari Serengeti" tour. Arusha, Tarangire, Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro Highlands & Crater. It's a more "off the beaten" track type thing. We'll be sleeping in tents and will have to walk fair distances carrying all our gear at some points, so I don't want to bring too much. Plus, there are baggage limits. We'll be given one duffel bag, and everything we need for the two weeks has to fit in it. Plus a carry-on. I presume my camera gear will be in the carry-on.

I was thinking maybe one body and two lenses (and maybe a point and shoot as backup).

I'm willing to buy or rent what I don't have for the trip, so...what should I bring?

I hear such wonderful post about this lens. Has anyone had a bad experience or dislike of this lens?

Hi all,
As many I am sure a common way to grab files from your camera is plugging the USB cable into your computer. Of course, this is much slower than using the SD card directly due to the slow speed of USB2.

BUT, there is now MicroUSB 3.0 which is extremely fast. Anyone hear anything about this being a feature for future canon pro bodies? Thx

Back from Africa, I am have to buy an new Camera, as some Africans misunderstood our friendship and took our money and valuables.
The travelling insurance offered 2000€ for the 2 bodies, 7 lenses, tripod, and a lot of other stuff. Inacceptable.

Looking for an Crop Camera (no FF, as Canon will meet the D800 next year), I tend to buy an 70D. The AF has been improved, as many reviews show.

My question is: How good is the image quality at 100-1600 Iso in real life? I looked at the new DPreview comparison chart and can not see many improvements, the Nikon D7100 seems to be a little bit better. Am I right?
I know the IQ of the 7D and 60D and 100D. Is the 70D better?

Much thanks

so in 25 days is photo plus in new york.
i hear all major camera manufacturer will announce gear in early to mid october.

is there really no source who has something to say?

only old CR1 stuff that some day this year a new EOS M will be announced?

???

I just got my EOS 70D from Amazon, then I tested few shots, i got frustrated because there were some dark spots on my images. So, i ran a thorough test on the issue. The test result just made me more frustrated and disappointed. I know it's normal to get dust on your sensor, but this camera is brand new, I can't tolerate this and I am returning to Amazon.

The following pic is taken at ISO 100, 135mm, f/36, 6.0'', MF

I've been without a camera for too much time (1 month ) and now the itch is too strong to be ignored. I was checking a local ad site for a 5DII and spotted this one: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=it&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.subito.it%2Ffotografia%2Fcanon-eos-5d-mark-ii-avellino-74330351.htm

780€ for a 5D2 is really interesting, since most of the 5DIIs sold in my area are usually priced around 1000/1200€. The alternative is to get a brand new 6D for 1500€ from a retail shop. I know the 6D is a better camera, but getting a camera of similar quality for roughly half the price is really tempting. I think i'll go check it, and i'll bring a 50/1.8 lens to test it. What should i pay the most attention to? Checking the shutter count, the buttons, any dust on sensor/VF, and... What else? Many thanks in advance for the inputs.

I'm planning on buying a 5D Mark III for my son, who is an upcoming martial arts stuntman. We will want to shoot stills and videos for his portfolio and demo reel, so we need some suggestions on lens.

Here is his demo reel to get an idea of what type of footage will be shot.

Noah Fleder Demo Reel 2013

Thanks in advance!

Hello all! My wonderful husband bought me a T3i as a gift, and he has no idea about camera bodies and cropped sensors. Im going to keep this body and one day move up to a full body. Im not to sure which lens to get next! I have the canon 50mm 1.4( I love for portraits), and now I am looking for lens that will be great for portraits / family/ engagement photos that will work good with my cropped sensor and work great when i get my full body. Any advice would be most helpful!!

Im leaning toward these lens:
24-70mm L 2.8
28-70mm L
24-105mm
Any suggestions would be wonderful since I am really new with exploring new lenses!!
Thank you!!! -Tracie-

Another Wedding Film. Please give it a look and tell me what ya think, thanks a lot

Some of the scenes (mostly the sharper ones) are filmed using the Magic Lantern RAW-Hack

https://vimeo.com/75135208

All work did by myself. no helping hands

2x Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 60D
Tokina 11-16mm 2,8, Samyang 14mm 2,8, Sigma 35mm 1,4, Canon 85mm 1,2, Canon 24-70 2,8, Canon 70-200mm 2,8 IS, Canon 100mm 2,8
Glidecam 2000, Edelkrone Sliderplus

http://www.gtzk.de
https://www.facebook.com/StefanGatzkePhotographer

Hallo
Please could any user of 5d help me.
I have just bought one and it seems that it often stacks because it can not write or read from the cards.
The red light is lighted and the camera responds as busy or wait. The speed of the memory cards is 30.
Also when I tried to take several shots after 5 or 6 stopped and I had to wait a few minutes.
The question is, has the camera a problem or do I need faster cards.
Please help
Thank you

I am considering buying a pair of Image Stabilizer binoculars. I have been on various web sites looking at the specifications but none of the sites mention i f these binoculars have Diopter eye adjustments. There aren't any shops within 50 miles so am unable to looks before I buy. Hopeful that someone can help. Many thanks

Just wanted to check and see if anyone else has had issues with their 600 rt zoom not responding? I push the zoom button, then select it, but turning the wheel does not bring up any zoom range number or increase or decrease the range. It just stays "---." I checked my custom functions and auto zoom is not selected. Zoom function works just fine on my other 600s. This is the same flash I just sent into canon to have the bulb replaced when it burnt out, so it may be that this particular 600 is just a dog. Any other ideas on what the cause could be, or should I just send it in?