No, you guessed it: It's Nikon ... http://www.nikon.com/news/2012/1024_acil_01.htm

What is interesting is that this really shows the advantages of a mirrorless design, I'll be interested to see how the af performs: "The V2 is equipped with the advanced hybrid AF system, which utilizes both focal-plane phase-detection AF (75 points) and contrast-detect AF (135 points). The speed and capabilities this system offers can be clearly seen with certain capture of the perfect moment with a wide variety of scenes, from moving subjects, even those that move unpredictably such as children and animals, to dimly lit indoor scenes and night landscapes."

I'm being dubbed as the party photographer for some friends and they're expecting images that are printable. I'm not talking about like 16x20 canvas print. Just like normal 4x6s and the occasional 8x10 enlargements.

I'll be bringing my 17-35mm and 50mm. Along side that I'll have my speed light attached the whole night. I've been practicing around my house taking sample photos. I want to shoot at f/8 but I also want to keep the ISO low but my flash fires at full output every time. Is it safe to bring the ISO up to about 400 without having grainy images?

Any thoughts on how to capture a moment without actually having to interrupt it?

Basically, I'm asking tips on how to be a casual photographer who takes great shots at parties without seeming like that one"photographer" that run around with a kit lens and their popup flash and act like they're Scott Kelby, Ansel Adams, or Chase Jarvis. (I'm not saying people like that are all horrible but they kind of give a negative outlook on photography now.)

I'm a first time poster... I have an important photo shoot coming up and am seeking advice regarding a weekend camera rental.

I currently use an aging 40D with 110,000 shutter actuations and a Sigma 28-70 2.8 lens. I'm long overdue for an upgrade and I'm looking forward to buying a 5D III with the 24-105 kit lens by the end of the year.

But before then, I will be doing a portrait shoot in a studio, using 3 strobes (Alien Bees). I'll be shooting around 30 models, one or two at a time, during an all-day shoot. Nothing too dramatic; the photos will be rather flatly lit. I will rent a camera and lens for this shoot, and my question is the familiar Nikon D800E vs Canon 5DIII question.

Others have posed D800E vs 5DIII questions before, but for my particular circumstance I am very much on the fence. For my specific need of a strobe-it studio portrait shoot, which system would you rent? The D800E with Nikon 24-120mm lens, or the 5DIII with 24-105L? (I need the zoom for a variety of full body shots and tight shots, and these are the perfect range.)

In Nikon's favor:
I've been reading about the superiority of the Nikon at low ISO - I will be keeping it at ISO 100. But I'm wondering if that is very relevant, since these strobe-lit portraits won't have a huge DR.

In Canon's favor:
I am a lifelong Canon user and have rented the 5DIII previously - it was like an old friend, there was no learning curve whatsoever. I don't know Nikon and I'm a little apprehensive about using an unfamiliar system for an important shoot. But then again, I will not be delving too deeply into the capabilities of the camera - I will simply be composing (zooming) and shooting away. Should the comfort factor concern me?

Or:
Would you say that it ultimately does not matter? I won't be printing these photos at 6x9 feet - in fact, I won't be printing them at all. They will be used for an online portfolio. If the consensus is that the difference between the results of the 2 systems would be negligible or non-existent, I would go with the Canon just for the comfort factor. But if there would indeed be a noticeable difference between the images, that would ultimately seem to be the most important factor.

Which system would you rent for a weekend studio shoot? Thank you in advance for the benefit of your experience!

I've been proudly pimpin' my ancient 550EXs for quite some time now, and decided to step up from infrared to a set of Phottix Odins. With my 5D3 in Av mode, I've noticed that the flash exposure is pretty accurate and consistent up to ISO 400, but drop off a table after that. From ISO 800 and up, it seems like the Odin's don't "meter down" the flash exposure enough, and the result is way too much light output. Either that, or the Odins don't recognize that the ISO has been increased.

Here are some sample shots with the flashes set to the left and right of the subject. To keep the ambient light levels consistent, the aperture was kept at f/4, but the shutter speed varied from 1 second to 1/125 second.

ISO 100


ISO 200


ISO 400


ISO 800


ISO 1600


ISO 3200


ISO 6400


ISO 12,800



Interestingly, the ETTL flash metering is much more accurate with the camera in manual mode. To make sure the ambient light in the room didn't affect the exposure, these shots were taken at f/8 and a 1/90 shutter speed.

ISO 100


ISO 200


ISO 400


ISO 800


ISO 1600


ISO 3200


ISO 6400


ISO 12,800



Do the Odins just not like working in Av mode, or maybe it's just a compatibility issue with the 550EX's?

When powering on one 5D Mark III, during sensor cleaning, a very noticeable squeaky noise (3-4 squeaks) is produced. It can be heard from around 0.5m away (~1.6 feet).
When turning it off, on the other hand, you can't really hear it (only an occasional squeak).
This has only happened recently.

How bad is this (if bad at all)? And does this need attention?

Hello,

My wife and I are going on holiday to Italy toward the end of November (first time, and yes we're very excited), and I need your collective advice. I've seen a lot of posts for FF travel suggestions, but not so much advice for crop bodies.

If you could only take two lenses with a crop body, what would you choose and why? (or do you have a compelling argument for bringing a third lens as well?) My reasoning for only bringing two is weight, space, and not having to change lenses too often.

I have a preference for L lenses because of weather sealing and quality (November in Italy is supposed to be rainy), but I want to hear your arguments for any other lens\es you would suggest.

I'm curious to hear your suggestions! Thanks in advance,
Seth

(current setup - yes, it's simple )
Body: EOS 7d
Lens: 24-105 f\4L

With the news of the clean HDMI out, I have been searching for different external recorders. I know about the atomos ninja, but was wondering if this product would work as well...? thanks!!

http://www.markertek.com/Video-Equipment/Digital-Video-Recorders/Blackmagic-Design/HYPERD-PT2.xhtml

It's between the Sigma 50 1.4 and the Canon 1.4

I've had the Canon in the past on a crop and wasn't that impressed by the micro motor. The DoF wide open was nice but not THAT good and the price is right. I believe on a FF it will shine a bit brighter.
I hate the dicey risk you take with Sigmas. I have had decent luck with them but I know it's hit or miss.

Is the Sigma THAT much better that it's worth it to try 2 or 3 attempts at a good one?

(On a 5D3 and Elan 7)

Last night I got my new 24-70mm II from B&H – I noticed the serial number was xx00000050. Knowing this lens is in high demand, I was a bit puzzled to see such a low number.

I tested the lens and at first sight it seems to be in good condition. I need to test more this week-end though, especially the sharpness in corners and edges.

I guess my main concern is making sure I got a brand new lens, and not something that was returned by a previous buyer, Is there any way to check that out?

Thanks
Luc

Maybe Canon will learn that we want new camera with new potentiel.
http://www.slashgear.com/canons-q3-2012-crunch-income-down-a-third-as-cameras-struggle-25253973/
It's not because people doesn't buy new camera, it's because you don't sell new product.
Why not doing digital camera with all the feature you got 15 years ago in the eos 3, EOS elanIIe or EOS 7e etc.
Why not a "real new sensor"
Why not a real good AF like the one in the eos 3, EOS elanIIe or EOS 7e etc.
Look Canon you loose the game, time to act.

I think I probably heard a thousand times in our forum ... "22Mpx is more than enough ... how much more do you need?" ... Whenever this question pop-up at me, I always wonder ... if there is ever a living Ansel Adam or Richard Avedon hearing this .... what will be their responds?

Back in the old film days, these two Grant Masters used 8x10 films to create the absolute best images (both in terms of IQ & creativity) in the field of Landscape (Ansel Adam) and Fashion & Portrait (Richard Avedon) respectively ... and I am sure their works will always remain in the books and museums for generations to come!

If one converts a 8x10 film with a modern scanner ... say with 4000dpi ... a single 8x10 film will look like (4000 ppi)(8 in)(4000 ppi)(10 in) = 1280 Mpixels or 1.28Gb !!!!

So ... my question is ... is our current DSLR technology still coming a long way behind, in the eyes of the Grant Masters? Or ... if you are a Grant Master, will you be happy with 22Mpx or even with the Hasselblad H4D-200MS of 200Mpx, if you are leaving a legacy of works behind?

I'm considering switching out my older 580 EX II's with a set of new 600 EX-RT's. I was also considering Radio Poppers to get my 580's wireless TTL. I've seen the 600EX's for as low as 550$ on Evilbay.

Is they're a better or cheaper way to get TTL off-camera flash? I like the idea of not having to mess around with triggers but If its cheaper, Why not?

Hello all,

I have been asked to shoot an event tonight, kind of a last minute thing. It's a cocktail party at a museum. My understanding is that they want pictures of the guests, atmosphere, etc. The event is indoors and the room has *decent* lighting. I'm told the photos will be used primarily for their Facebook page.

I'll be shooting with my 60d, and the lenses I have are the 50mm 1.4 and 28-135. I do not have an external flash.

I realize this is all kind of vague...but any advice? This is entirely on a volunteer basis, so I'm not all that nervous. And of course I'll do some minor post processing before I hand the images over.

Thanks!

I dug through the forums here, and I didn't see a dedicated thread (there was some good info in the 12-24mm thread tho).

I'm looking into this lens mostly for astrophotography, so I can shoot a wide view of night skies, milky way mostly.

I tried this out with my 24-105 for the meteor shower last weekend, and found that I need something faster, and something wider, so the Rokinon seems to satisfy both of these needs.

I have two big questions:

1) does anyone have any experience shooting at infinity @ f/2.8 with this lens, does it have a fairly flat field of focus?
2) Has anyone had experiencing correcting the strong distortion in ACR 7? Is there a profile for a FF camera plus this lens in it that works well?

And of course, any general opinions about this lens would be great.

Thanks in advance!!

Has anyone here used a B+W ND1000 Filter on a 5D MKIII and knows the correct white balance setting to avoid the red shift of this filter which it usually produces on daytime long exposures?

An interesting couple of articles from Chipworks [via Canon Watch]:

http://www.chipworks.com/blog/technologyblog/2012/10/23/full-frame-dslr-cameras-part-1-nikon-vs-sony/
http://www.chipworks.com/blog/technologyblog/2012/10/24/full-frame-dslr-cameras-canon-stays-the-course/

Refreshing to actually read some facts amongst all the rumours and speculation. The second part throws some light on why Canon seems stuck around 20MP and what the future might hold.

do you guys know is there any sample pics around? any reviews?
when is the release date??

I disassembled my 5DII to get some dust out from behind the focusing screen and the superimposed indicating plate by the prism. There are two metal shims between the focusing screen and the SI indicating plate - one a gold colour and the other silver.

When I took it a part I swore the gold shim came out first and was closest to the focusing screen, and the silver spring second and closest to the SI plate.

Now I am not too sure...

My questions are:

1) Does anyone know the correct order of them?, and

2) Does the order even matter as long as they are both there?

For those who are interested are examples of 1DX low light performance in high DR environment.

Also this is illustration why high DR performance is required for those who keeps repeating " why on earth your need high DR and why you need to underexpose images"
Image RAW conversion is in LR4.
Screen snapshots for posting by Win7 Snipping tool - to be quick

1. Image "AS IS" from 1Dx - evaluative metering - camera is trying to protect highlights so average weighted image exposure shifts to the left (to the shadows) - so most part of the image is underexposed
2. 1Dx Image is normalized as close to human vision - image DR compressed in LR using basic tone sliders
3. 1Dx ISO1000 crop 100% - no NR
4. 1Dx ISO1000 crop 100% - NR Lum=20
Please observe noise in shadow recovered areas and sky and what we could do with it in LR
Next post is the same for ISO100

I haven't still read this in detail, but it looks incredibly interesting:
http://www.chipworks.com/blog/technologyblog/2012/10/23/full-frame-dslr-cameras-part-1-nikon-vs-sony/
http://www.chipworks.com/blog/technologyblog/2012/10/24/full-frame-dslr-cameras-canon-stays-the-course/

A few things I've learnt here already:
* Nikon still designs some of its own sensor. The one in the D800 is a Sony model, but the on on the D4 is a Nikon design manufactured by Renesas.
* Sony uses the most advanced manufacturing process by far: Sony=180nm, Renesas = 250nm, Canon=500nm
(I think it was in 2000 that a 500nm process was state-of-the-art for manufacturing CMOS image sensors)

I'll soon be giving a number of presentations using various digital projectors (those owned by the hosts: typically libraries, schools and businesses). The ambient lighting and age/quality of the projectors will vary.

Sadly, the projectors I've seen typically lack adequate contrast and sharpness--especially in rooms without good window blinds--resulting in washed out photography that diminishes the quality of the show.

My question is this: I currently shoot RAW with a T3i, 10-22 EFs, 15-85 EFs, and 70-300 EF DO. I need a compact/lightweight kit, since I travel solo and internationally via motorcycle. The results I achieve with this body and these lenses is acceptable when zoomed out to maybe 50%. But when I'm editing at 100%, I'm more often than not dissatisfied with the sharpness, color fidelity and detail (on a Dell 24" Ultra-Sharp, color-calibrated monitor). This leads me to spend too much time in post trying to right the wrongs.

So, being a perfectionist, I'm considering biting the bullet and purchasing bigger/heavier/more expensive gear, in spite of my serious space/weight limitations, in the hopes that IQ will dramatically improve when I peer at it at 100%. But then I think, "you're only posting to the web in small sizes that already look fine. You rarely print anything (although I'd like to start printing more). And you just don't know enough about projection technology to say whether a 5D3 image is going to look one iota better than a T3i image, regardless of lenses employed, when thrown across the room onto a screen or wall."

Any advice from those of you with projection experience would be greatly appreciated.

Do you keep 5DIII's High ISO Speed Noise Reduction off or enabled. If enabled, then do you set it to standard, low or high? It says in the manual that at low ISO the noise in the shadows are reduced if NR is kept on. What are your thoughts on this? I dont like the smudged look when heavy NR is applied, and I was wondering what others have experienced with this feature turned on. Is it helpful for night time shots? Or do you feel keeping NR off, and handle it in LR.

Same question for the Long Exposure Noise Reduction.

Another question, out of topic though. How do you guys downsample? I end up downsampling within LR when uploading to sites like flickr. Do you feel the downsampling appears to be better in PS or is it just as same?

I am trying to do more portrait photography and so far my equipment consists of a 5d3, 2x 580exII and some lenses.

last weekend i had to do some portraits and what i did was borrow another 580exII to mount on the 5d3, then put my other 2 580 behind the subject shooting at the cream coloured wall behind them to make it white. All this was fired via the 580's master/slave function.

However, when i did some group shots after, the single output light from the camera mounted 580 wasnt even enough although i used a lightsphere (yea yea not the best, but it was a small room, worked well enough and was nowhere near as harsh as bounced/straight flash)

So what i want to do is potentially get some cheaper yongnuos as background lights so i can then relocated the flashes to have 2 behind, 2 infront and 1 on camera for a better distribution of light.

Which yongnuo is recommended if all i want to do is get them to fire via optical slave and they will be in manual mode?

Alternatively is there a better solution?

Im also researching to buy some light stands and umbrellas off amazon too as they ship to australia (cowboystudio umbrellas and manfrotto stands maybe) if anyone has any suggestions on that too.

Thanks