So just thought I'd share some findings that happily surprised me today. I have a wedding this Sunday and decided to to rent the Tamron 24-70. As always I setup Focal to calibrate AFMA all the rented lenses. I was surprised when it came time for the Tamron that it's focus accuracy was right around what I get with Canon's L zooms. The only other Tamron lens I've owned is the Tamron 17-50 which while a great lens has fairly large focus accuracy issues. For this reason I often use it at f/4. It also sharpens up nicely I've noticed vs 2.8. Anyways, attached are the Focal reports for both lenses on my 50D and the 24-70 on my 5D. We'll see how well it does Sunday but this definitely gives me a little more assurance than before.

beside using this at home (http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/how-to-test-a-lens/)
what are your basic testing method in the store for a new lens?

Went and shot volleyball tonight and THIS was on my CF card!!

I got tons of good answers before, but meanwhile I added the sayang 14mm to the pack. Now, is no question it has to come along, along with the 80-200 2.8L.
That leaves a big gap in between, and I have no choice to carry a third lens for my vacation in Nepal.
So in sum:
CONFIRMED
- Samyang 14mm 2.8
- Canon 80-200mm 2.8L

OPTIONS for a third lens:
- Canon TSE 24mm 3.5LII
- Canon 35mm 1.4L
- Canon 17-40mm 4L

I will be shooting mostly landscape, people, maybe some night shots, and few days in city environment.
Weight is not an issue.
What would be your choice and why?
Thanks
Phil

So I've been noticing lately that it's hard for me to see the entire frame when looking through the eyepiece. If I push my eye against it really hard I can see all the way but it's very uncomfortable like that. As a result of this, a lot of my shots end up with more head room than I'd like. Has anybody ever had this issue? With the smaller mirror on my 50D I don't have this issue. I wasn't sure if there was something I could do that might help this some. I don't wear glasses FYI.

Hey...

Long time lurker,first time poster.

Have had d60, 10d ,1dmk2, 5d , 5d mk2

Gear is 35L , 85Lii, 100macro, 17-40L , 70-200mk2, and just this week a 24-70L mk2
And 600ex plus stert3, 2x550ex

Anyway,to the point- I've been sitting on the fence about jumping to mk3....
Have mk3 owners here generally upgraded from a mk2 or something older?
Since I now have mk2 of 24-70 and 70-200 plus new flash I'm thinking the mk3 would compliment my gear very well

I shoot mostly family stuff with a little concert photography as a sideline

I have heard people complain about LED lights and excessive blown highlights, but I finally ran into a problem with it this week. Unfortunately it's on performers' faces. Here are 2 shots that were perfectly exposed for the subject but pretty much unusable in color because of the blown out faces. Dropping down the highlights in Lightroom made it look even worse. Converting to B&W makes it reasonable.

Both pics shot with a 5D3, 70-200 f/2.8II, ISO 3200, 1/100, f4.0, daylight wb. Straight conversion to jpeg with no other adjustments.

Hi all

I'll shortly be buying my first Canon DSLR. I shot just about everything with the exception of birds. I am tending toward the EFS 15-85mm and the EF 70-200 f4 as my first lenses to go with the 50mm f1.8 mk1 I have retained from my film bodies. Are these a good choice or would there be a better combination to cover a similar range?
Any thoughts appreciated!

I know IS would sometimes (old lenses) get confused, but I wondered if that's still the issue?
In other words, is IS on newer lense smart enought to recognize there's no shake/movement so it disables itself?

Just got my new 17-40 f/4L lens to add wide angle capability for my 5D3. Now I can go wider than the 24-105 f/4L kit lens. Looking forward to running AF MA tests to see how it performs.

A first for me: the 17-40 was packed with a "EF lens" CD that has PDFs of user's guides for all Canon EF lenses. Saves Canon from publishing handy booklet size guide that can be easily stashed in my camera bag. Lens User Guides don't always have much in-depth info, except for speciality lens, like macro, tilt, etc. With PDF substitute, not as convenient as booklet size I've gotten with my previous lens purchases. Another cost-savings move by Canon.

so i just got my new 5D III del. at my work. I did'nt sign for it and the Adorama box looked a little rough. The 5D III box looks fine. Any simple test / workings of the body I should do?? Thanks!

So this is a pointed question, but could certainly turn into a broader topic of lens testing.

So yesterday my brand new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM arrived, and I couldn't have been more excited. I've been scoping it out for awhile, and finally pulled the proverbial trigger when I'd squirreled away enough money. I'd long heard about how amazingly sharp this lens is, and already owning two other L lenses, I definitely have the red ring addiction.

So I got home and decided to test the lens, since I've had some some copy issues with Sigma (I know, they don't have Canon's QA). I compared it to my primary lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8L. I took pictures of one of my wife's cookbooks at 70mm (obviously the only comparable focal length) at apertures f/2.8, f/8, f/11, and f/16. Camera (5Dm3) was tripod mounted, ISO set at 100, mirror locked, and shutter triggered by a two second delay.

I gotta say, I was a little surprised when the two lenses came out pretty close in terms of sharpness at 70mm at f/2.8. While the 70-200mm was a hair sharper, it wasn't the "omg the 70-200mm blows the 24-70mm out of the water" that I had expected. I wish I had comparison images to post, but unfortunately I left my camera at home, and wanted to post this topic while it was fresh in my head. I'll post the photos when I get home tonight.

So I have two questions:

1) I'm no professional, so does anyone who is or has experience with these lenses have any input? I'd heard the 24-70 was notoriously soft (never really noticed it myself), and expected the 70-200mm to be noticeably sharper. Bottom line, I'm concerned I may have gotten a soft copy of the 70-200mm, and at $2500, I'd likely get it replaced if that's the case.

2) Does anyone have a favorite method of testing lenses? I've often photographed a newspaper taped to a wall or something similar (cookbook) to check the center, corners, etc at various focal lengths and apertures. I'd love to get one of those testing charts, but they're wildly expensive online and I'd rather buy actual gear.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

* Posted this in rumors by mistake. Moving to Gear Talk.

Saw a 6D on display today. Not sure if anyone is interested in pics or whether there are plenty out there already?

Does anyone know of a way to remove the registered focus point on the 1DX?

thanks,
Michael

Well, I can tell you I am ready to buy a new video cam where I can use my existing Canon glass. Right now I have a Canon video cam and a Canon DSLR. I am watching technology race in the video cam world like the rest of you and I am licking my chops for low to no compression and high frame rates. Although I have been a Canon guy thus far, I can not help but feel that Canon is falling back off the leading edge of the wave. Cameras like the Sony 700U and BMDCC have me thinking about jumping ship. I really feel Canon is trying to push us into paying more for these features, but with new camera mills bringing in more bang for the buck almost every week, is that strategy plausible? Four years ago it was Canon that was shaking up the video cam world, but now I am beginning to think that was dumb luck. They certainly seem to be on a very different road now. They have been introducing many new cameras in the last six months, but they all seem to have the same message...." You need to pay the big bucks to get the options we know you want" Canon.......COME ON ....SNAP OUT OF IT..... your shooting yourself in the foot!!!!

Sincerely,

Waiting for the new ride :-\

Honestly, this is not intented to bash Ken's +4 setting, but looking again at his photos I am intrigued - maybe this really normal and people really need to add so much?
I use 0 or +1. Very rarely, if it's underexposed and hard pushing was neccessery, I have to give +2.
What settings do you use?

Hello to everybody,

I´m going to order one of these lenses soon for my birding trip to Australia.
I was more of the macro and underwater guy.
Now I like to get a really long lens for my 5D III.

It´s just not a lot of information to find about people having these and using filters.
Usually I have a B+W Käsemann circular polarisation filter with me for my 16-35 II or my 70-200 II.

Does it make sense to get this at all for a 500mm or 600mm ?
Since I haven´t got a lens with drop in filter slot before, if I do get a filter, how do I adjust it to the situation ?
Is there a nob to turn ? or do I need a Canon filter that come with some kind of possibilty to adjust without getting the filter out?

Thanks for your input and this great page, reading it for years now since I got my 5D II.
Sorry my bad English I´m from Germany ;D

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/lensrentals-repair-data-january-july-2012

Roger Cicala at LensRentals.com has another one of his great articles posted on his blog. This one talks about the repair history of the various cameras and lenses that his company stocks. LensRentals.com is in a great position to comment on the durability of lenses and cameras.

Since a lot of us are starting to use the 5D3, I really appreciate his warning about seeing a lot of bent pins on/in the Compact Flash card socket. When I get mine, I'll be very careful.

He also has some comments on the service departments of the major manufacturers that you might find helpful.

Hi everyone, first post here... been trolling for ages but starting to get back into this and need some feedback.

With some cash to spend (approximately $1300 for the body, other money used for quality glass) I'd like to upgrade my body but obviously now is a tricky time to do so with somewhat dated products vs. new releases that are possible for the near future. I'm looking for the best bang for my buck but don't want to regret a purchase not knowing what's coming. Here are some key points I have in mind:

• $ - Price for body must not exceed $1300 (found authorized reseller w/Canon Warranty for this price)
• Love the build quality of the 7D
• I expect the successor to the 7D (if there even is one, ever) to be far out of my price range upon release
• I expect the successor to the 60D to be on or slightly over my price range unless they replace both with 1 body
• I just don't feel the 60D feels good in my hands vs. the 70D, build quality matters
• DIGIC 5 intrigues me - obviously want the latest, especially for IQ and high ISO performance
• whatever I decide it will be teamed with 17-55 or 24-105 with a wide angle and 50mm 1.4
• IQ - IQ - IQ! - will there be that much of a difference?
• Patience is not my thing but thinking if I wait the price will drop a little, who the hell knows.... I can wait a little longer

Basically, it's going to come down to performance for me and build quality. Is the successor to the 60D going to outperform the IQ of the 7D and by how much. Does the price difference warrant the decision for either... ugh so confused.

Appreciate the feedback, I hope to be more active here to help others in the future.

i think about buying this monitor.. but i read very mixed customer reviews.

some praise it as the best 27 ISP you can buy for the money.

some say it has problems with color accuracy over the screen area or suffers from backlight bleeding.

i have a colorimeter and i don´t care so much about if a display has great deltaE out of the box.
but when the upper right corner shows some red cast and the lower left a green cast im a bit worried.

so to those who own this monitor... are you happy with it?

Hi

I have 2 Sigma-lenses for crop-cameraes, 18-200 DC and 10-20 DC (in addition I have the sigma 150-500 lens)and I am thinking about changing the 18-200-lens with a better lens. I have a canon 40D-camera, but possible will go full-frame in the future. I am thinking about the Canon 24-105L-lens. Is this the way to go?

So again I'm admired to Roger Ciala's blog entry. You can take a look on which lenses in their business require more repairs and why, as well camera bodies. There is Canon as well.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/lensrentals-repair-data-january-july-2012

The quality of his posts is really really high.
BTW: Words "Nikon fanboys" were often used

Quote: "Would I change brands or something over it? Of course not. That’s silly. Nikon makes excellent, reliable equipment and most people need a repair maybe once every couple of years. But I certainly am advising newcomers in a different direction, and I’d be a bit hesitant about picking up used Nikon equipment."

Another quote: "Among the Canon zooms, the 24-105 L is one we just think of as bulletproof. Never fails. The Canon 17-55 IS used to have lots of IS failures but obviously got fixed a couple of years ago. Another lens that rarely fails."

Mulling over what my best FF option is now that the (pathetic) 6D has been officially announced. I want to add a FF body for landscape, architecture, portrait, and flash work. I would like to get it soon, preferably before year's end, but could wait as long as March 2013 if there is a reason to wait. I consider myself a passionate hobbyist, I do not make any money or plan to from photog. I’m interested in the CR community’s thoughts and suggestions.

Current Gear
- 7D (with low shutter count)
- 16-35 II (less than a year old)
- 24-105
- 70-200 F4 IS (may sell for 70-200 2.8 II)
- 100L
- 1.4 II
- 600EX-RT, ST-E3-RT (plan to add a couple of 440EX-RTs)
- Plan to get a 35L or 50L (waiting to see if a 35L II is going to be announced)

I plan to buy new. I may consider a refurb from Canon but not likely since after shipping and taxes I’m not saving much.


Option 1:
- Buy a 5D3 (got the money but really don’t feel good about spending that kind of money on a body. Besides that would delay some of my other intended purchases. Could wait for a price drop but really don't see it dropping below 3k, don't expect anymore $2750 deals--I'm still suspicious about that.)

Option 2:
- Buy a 5D3 – and sell some gear to help offset the cost.
- Sell 7D – Hate to give up reach. I like to shoot MLB games and have wildlife option.
- Sell 16-35 II and buy a 17-40 (plan to use this lens for landscape at small apertures so soft edges on 17-40 shouldn’t be a problem. BTW, how is the distortion on the 17-40 compared to the 16-35II?)

Option 3:
- Buy a 5D2 now (had ruled this out but now reconsidering). If my crystal ball showed that Canon would release firmware for better RT flash support, this would make this option easier but we all know that’s not going to happen.

Option 4:
- Nothing at this time. Wait and see if Canon decides to build a FF camera between the 5D3 and 6D that their customers actually want as opposed to reacting to Nikon's D600.

Option 5:
- Your suggestion

Right now I’m slightly leaning towards option 3. Thanks as always.

The 35 f/1.8 is an excellent quasi-normal prime for the DX cameras (I say quasi-normal because it does not emulate my vision like a 50mm does although it has a similar field of view as 50mm in a FF). But on the Canon side, even though I have used the 28 f/1.8 I didn't like it much (I wouldn't say sharpness was the issue- I am not a sucker for pixel peeping- I just didn't like the images I shot- maybe my mistake), the 35 f/2 lacks USM which I prefer very much. Also both these are more expensive. Anything on the horizon for us crop-sensor users who cannot afford the 35 f/1.4? Any ideas?

P.S. I acknowledge there are other non-Canon primes in this range, but here I want to know if Canon has anything in the pipeline.