I wonder if Canon (or some enterprising measurebator) has actually quantified the autofocus speed/accuracy benefit on the 5D Mark III with f/4 lenses compared to the 5D Mark II with f/2.8 lenses? Anyone know?

Practically everyone has attested to the vast improvements of the 61-point AF system versus the 9 points of the 5D II with the same f/2.8 lenses. But for many of us (non-pros, hobbyists, or just people who don't like the weight/expense of the 2.8 lenses) have built lens kits comprised of slower f/4 zooms and the like. I currently have a 5DII that I like very much, but (like most) yearn for the AF accuracy of the 5DIII. My quandary is, would you benefit more by upgrading to f/2.8 lenses and keeping the 5DII or keeping your f/4 lenses and upgrading to the 5DIII. Which combinations would yield better AF results?

Hi folks, what do you think? Are there any DSLR or Lens announcements left for this year? Or if not, will 2014 look similar to 2010 with a Rebel and the 7DII instead of a XXD?

Hello,

I am a long time reader of Canon Rumours. Today i would like to have your opinion.
I own a 7D, a 100-400mm, a 15-85mm and a 50mm f1,4. I am not a pro, but I am really enthusiastic about photography. I mainly do wildlife, landscape and travel photography. I am very happy with the 7D but for wildlife (here in belgium) photography I often have to raise the Iso up to 1600. Which is already a lot on the 7D. So I am thinking about getting faster lens or a 5Dmiii for it is better iso performance. I cannot afford the 200-400 f4. So I was thinking about the new sigma 120-300 with a tc 1,4.
What do you think? What would you get? Both? If so in what order to spread the expense? Going FF i would loose the extra reach previous switchers' opinion on that are welcome.

Thanks a lot for your comments, advices,...

Vincwat

hi all

I've purchased 5D3 over the 6D, and the main reason was the accurate AF with fast lenses.

I've worked several crop bodies in the past but the FF world plus the accurate AF system delivers something way beyond and solves many many problems such as DOF and focus accuracy.

With that said, i've tested yesterday an EF 85mm f/1.8 at 1.8 on 5D3 and on some EOS Rebel bodies, where this lens failed focusing accurately on the rebels, but focused perfectly with 5D3.

However i'm building a new system and i want to add some lenses but i'm concerned about the age and the quality.
I'm talking about the 50L and the 85L where the price is way up in comparison to 50 1.4 and the 85 1.8 which can be focused VERY properly with 5D3, but however the 3D look of those L are unbeatable. I suppose that justify the cost.

Those L lenses are build somewhere in 2005-2006 i think, is there any word out there about replacements?
There are many complains about the 50L softness at 1.2 and the slow USM moter of 85L

Don't get me wrong, i know the idea of "if you need something now, get it now" but i'm not kinda in the rush.
I shoot weddings and this season is over for me so i was thinking about next year.

I just hate to make a move and buy one of them now and a new model like 50L II comes out soon and fixing the softness and stuff. That'll make me feel like an idiot.. who wouldn't?

thanks for your time.

The guys from BlackMagic Design makes fun of one of Canon biggest CMOS flaws: DR!

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera

Friends I will be in Bangkok for a month from 22nd of this month.
I will be busy during days with my work, but the nights are mine!

Please advice where I should go to do night street photography.

And if anyone of you lives there, lets meet up!

Thx...

This is my first post here, so if I've done anything wrong, please let me know, and hopefully I haven't offended.

I'd like to get into using ring flash, but don't want to drop a ton of cash on it. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the YN-14ex.

http://www.hkyongnuo.com/e-detail.php?ID=328

If you have, or can provide any kind of suggestions regarding ring flashes, I would appreciate it. This will be used mainly for close-up portraiture, so things like the round catchlights are important.

Thanks,
Jason

Freshy Baked 2 by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

Just rented a copy of the version 2 and for some reason it's only opening to f/4, as opposed to f/3.5. Tried on a couple cameras. Anyone ever had this happen??

My wife and I are a photo team. We both have a primary camera and backup body with us during weddings.

The night before the wedding while prepping gear I noticed the shutter button on my backup 50D was no longer working without pressing the button down with extreme force...to the point of why even bother. I'm not one to be happy about gear that isn't up to spec so I opened it up with the intention of fixing it. This lead to the quote of the weekend:

Wife - "I'm really nervous about you trying to fix the camera at 12 am the night before the wedding?"
Me - "What could go wrong?"
Wife - "You have a thousand pieces sitting there, what do you mean what could go wrong?"

Needless to say my repair was a success and we grabbed some beautiful images.

It seems the contacts that lie under the shutter button became corroded. All it took was a little cleaning. Canon charges about $300 for this type of service and for an aging body it wasn't worth it to me. The shutter now feels like new.

If anyone is feeling adventurous and has a crippled shutter button give this video a look, it was my inspiration.
Canon EOS 30D 40D 50D Shutter Button Repair

Gear:

• 5D mk III
  7D
  50D x2
  135 2.0L
  16-35 2.8L
  70-200 2.8L
  24-70 2.8L

Canon 6D +17-40L


Under a Cloud in Maldon by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

B&H is accepting pre-orders for SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro CF card with transfer speeds of up to 160MB/s and fast shot speeds of up to 140MB/s ... but the damn thing costs almost $1000
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1001262-REG/sandisk_sdcfxps_256g_a46_256gb_extreme_pro_cf.html

Why ? Why ? Why ?

Of course, I refer to the TV episodes only.

A few pictures from a day in Dubai
Picture 1 Burg Khalifa
2 Random street view
3 On the left Dubai mall on right The Address, Downtown Dubai
4 View from 124 floor of Burg Khalifa

Self Portrait - 5D Mk11

Inspired by a portrait session with my photo club, I thought I would have a go. A bit of old card board turned into a flash tube, flash on manual at 1/64 pointed diagonal front to my visage. Lights off, run between camera and table where I posed, used wireless trigger for flash.


Self Portrait 1 by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

Hi Guys!!!

So i`m on a dilemma right now, my current gear is a 5D2, 7D, and 17-40 F4, 35MM 1.4 (SIGMA), 70-200 II 2.8.

The reason that i have a second camera is i don`t like to change lens, and i also don`t like that feeling of "I miss that shot" because i`m with the wrong lens... As having this argument pointed out, i use rarely the second body (7D), most of my 7D use is when i travel (one or twice a year), or in special occasions and normally with the 70-200.
The last few days i ve been reading Fuji X100S information, and i`m curious about this camera, i really would like a camera that offer me better IQ than de 7D, and as a 2nd camera that can be a every day camera also.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

I rented a Canon 6D with the 24-105 L lens for a shoot on Saturday from BorrowLenses.com. I went up to New England Dragway for a NHRA event and shot a ton of images but when I got home and pulled the images in photoshop they weren't tack sharp. I shot both RAW + JPEG and used just the center focus point.

I had the IS on and was shooting at good shutter speeds but the images just weren't as sharp as I thought they would be from a full frame camera. Is the 24-105 really as bad as people say it is? I noticed on on some of the images that the center would be sharp but would quickly fall off on the sides even at f11.

With results like this I wish I hadn't rented it and just brought my old Canon 40D along. At least the results would of been better. Now I'm reconsidering if I should even buy a Canon full frame all together and instead get the 70D.

I find myself using Phtomatrix Pro 4 to edit some of my images that I did not shoot as HDR. It does work just fine with a single image. (yes, i understand I am not getting as much Dynamic range as if I'd shot more images) I remember a few years ago, you could do this, but you had to use photoshop or something to make 3 images using the original file (hopefully RAW) to make 3 images with 3 different exposures.

I often use this for action photos where taking 3+ photos is not possible.

One thing I've found is I can layer the HDR on top of the original image in photoshop, and just adjust the top layer's opacity until I get a blend that just looks like it pops, but you would not see as an HDR.

Do you do this? What is your Technique / Software? Lets see some examples.

I am a inpatient photographer. Last night, there was a brilliant red sunset lighting up half the sky. I went into the house, mounted my 16-35mmL, and back out to the front yard. By then, it was mostly gone. I took 4 or 5 shots a few seconds apart.

I admire those who wait and capture that right moment, but I never seem to make it.

Here are the examples, not processed or enhanced. you can see how fast that sunset goes away. less than 30 sec, and I missed about 2 minutes of it.

Hey all,

Thinking about maybe dropping the bucks for this used. Anyone own one or have used one on a 5D3? I've been using a Zeiss ZE 21 Distagon on my 5D3 and even though the 5D III doesn't have a precision focus screen option, I have to say the focus confirmation indicator in the viewfinder is spot on at 2.8 albeit this is a wide angle therefore a little more forgiving than a tele.

Little apprehensive about the focus confirm with the 135 though at f2. Having owned and loved the 85 1.2L II I can appreciate how narrow the depth of field is at 1.2.

Thanks for any info you may have.

Anyone else have these bodies and noticed that the 7D is soft compared to the 5D when both are shooting jpg?

Until I got the 5D I loved the 7D, got the 5D, hated the 7D, then I changed up the sharpness from 3 to 6 and started liking the 7D a bit again. But at the default 3 I hated it.

Is that just my body or have other people seen similar things?

Yes, I pixel peep, I shoot birds a lot.

Hi folks,

newbie here with more money than brains (or technique). I recently was gifted with 600mm II and a 1.4x III (and a 2x III, almost forgot that one).

I did "OK" on a moon pic: http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/moon.jpg

but I'm having trouble learning how to use this beast on other stuff. I'm coming from a 400mm f4 DO + the 1.4x II.

I'll start by saying this 600mm out resolves the 400mm by quite a bit, even with the 1.4x on it.

That said, holding this sucker is a bitch even as "light" as it is for a 600mm (and it is light, you can hand hold it, just not for more than about a minute. At least I can't).

Does everyone who owns a lens like this use a tripod?

On the tripod I got crap results unless I did live view (which locks up the shutter, still have to figure out how to do that w/o live view. I did say newbie, bokay, don't yell at me. Too much).

The moon pic is cropped, 5DIII + 600mm + 2x + tripod + live view + remote shutter release + IS on. Is that just what you do when you have a lens this big? I mean the live view remote shutter IS part.

I'm used to walking around and grabbing shots as they present themselves, the 400mm lets you do that, the 600mm is not so much. I did get some keepers just walking around but a much much lower rate than the 400mm.

I guess what I'm asking is what is the basics of using a 600mm and 600mm+1.4x. What settings do you use, do you always lock up the mirror, remote release, no IS or IS?

I'm new to this big bad boy and still not sure if it is for me, I love the sharpness and the reach, not yet comfortable with my sucky technique.