I am trying to decide on which lens to get next. I want to play with Macro but I like the versatility of the 70-200.

My question is: wouldn't a 70-200mm at 200mm, even with a minimum focus distance of 4 ft., get me a closer look than a 100mm at a min. focus distance of 1 ft.? Will the picture be sharper with the 100mm Macro? I don't know the math to calculate and I don't have the lenses on hand to test it out.

I'm leaning towards the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II. From what I've read, images are very sharp through this lens. They both have IS, they are both f/2.8 apertures. I can use the 70-200 for portraits...i guess I can use the 100mm for portrait work as well. But it seems the macro lens is a specialty lens. Eventually, I'd like to own both but would the 70-200mm get me by on macro work at all? (I hope this is not a stupid question!)

Yes, I've heard about the 180mm f/3.5L and I would be open to considering this lens. I have a 24-105 so I'm also concerned about adding some variety to the focal lengths I already own. I've got the wide end covered but am seriously lacking on the telephoto side. It seems the 100mm macro would only be used for macro.

Any insight from experienced users would be great. BTW, I'm shooting on a 60D. I will eventually purchase a 5D mkiii and keep the 60D as a 2nd body.

Happy shooting to you all =). I look forward to reading your replies.

I've been a long time watcher of the canonrumors and forum websites. My first post here.

I'm trying to narrow down a problem I am having with my 1D X and EF 180 f3.5 L Macro being used with the EF 1.4x III Extender. If the camera goes into sleep mode it won't wake up by pushing the shutter button. Turning the power switch OFF and back to ON the camera is unresponsive (it won't turn back ON). Removing the lens and Extender from the camera and reattaching them, the camera comes back to normal operation. Also removing the lens from the Extender (leaving the Extender on the camera) operation comes back. (Edit: Turning the camera OFF and back ON before it goes into sleep also results in normal operation.) With the Macro lens alone operation is normal.

I have tried this combination of lens and Extender on my 7D and 5D Mark III and it works perfectly. Using the Extender with my EF 500mm f4 L IS and EF 70-200 f2.8 L II IS on the 1D X, again operation is normal.

Does anyone have this combination of lens, camera and Extender who could duplicate what I am seeing?

I have contacted Canon through E-mails and they don't have a resolution for me yet.

Thanks in advance for any help you may have to offer.

My 1D4 is/was in mint condition. I bought it used with a tiny number of shutter actuations. I took it out and it started to rain. No problem thinks me, its weather sealed, a little rain wont do it any harm. Well, it stopped working. Dead. Sent it to Canon repair center, just been returned, "uneconomic to repair". So a pro body, weather sealed against rain etc goes out in one rain storm and dies. Thats £3000 down the drain. I've spent many 10's of thousands on Canon gear and im furious. The 1DS in the same storm works a treat. Any advice on what should be done next other than cancelling my 500f4 and moving to Nikon?
Mick

Ok fellow Photogs,

I know someone just posted a very similar post but he was comparing the f/4 IS w/the f/2.8 non IS.
Canon's having another rebate and I just purchased the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II USM for $2200. However reading some of the posts from the other similar question, I'm starting to think, should I return the 2.8 IS II & get the f/4 IS for a $1,000 less and use that to get my next desired lens, the 35mm f/1.4 selling for $1329 now at B & H. (total of these latter 2 options will be $2528, which is only $328 more than what I paid for the f/2.8 but at least w/this option, I have 2 lenses.

Now, I shoot w/the 5D Mark 2 w/grip and have the speedlite 430EX. I also currently have the 24-105L and 50 f/1.8 II. I do not shoot action, no sports, etc. I do portraitures, scenery, vacations, indoors, and assist w/weddings here and there. What's the better option for me:

1) stick w/the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II or
2) go w/the 70-200 f/4 IS & 35 mm f/1.4 (or something else/a prime you would recommend in this price range for what I'm shooting).

Please share you valuable insights
Thanks a lot!!

I just noticed something on my 1DX. When pointing to some bright area I saw several specks and lines in the upperright corner througth VF. From what I read those would be on either the mirror or focus screen and should not show on the pictures taken (which they did not). Regradless this is annoying especially considering this is Canon's "chosen one". Tried rocket blower and did not help. Just noitices there were hard to clean specks on the eype piece on the back of the VF as well. Resonating with the other thread complaining on dust on sensor, shouldn't Canon do a better job cleaning the camera before shipping out? The camera is only a couple of weeks old with almost no field exposure, so I doubt the dust was due to my use.
Anybody else has this issue?

I've found an oddity with the AF on the 5D MkIII. For a couple of weeks, I've been scratching my head over how I would select the outer points when using single point focus. After playing around this afternoon, I have found that if I select only the 41 most sensitive points, I can only select the central 21 points when using single point, single spot, or expanded, but if I switch to zone, I can select the outer zones. Switching to all 61 points or 9/14 points allows me to choose any point. Trying it out with other lenses (all in group A as opposed to group C for the 100mm macro), I can select any point I wish in any selection mode, including 61 points. I then tried another group C combination, the 300mm L IS iwth 1.4x extender. Again, I didn't have any problems with selecting any point I wished, so it isn't as simple as applying only to certain lens groups. From all of my lenses that are f/2.8 or wider maximimum aperture (I didn't try either the 24-105 or 17-40), it is only with the 100mm macro in 41 point mode where I can't select the outer 20 points and doesn't affect zone AF. I may have mised it, but I couldn't find any reference to the phenomenom in either the 5D MkIII manual or the 1D X AF guide. It isn't really a major issue, as most of the time, I would be using manual focus for macro work and I would be inclined to use the 135mm for the little portrait work I do.

Hi everyone, I am 18 and just about to go to college.

And yes, I took the leap. Dumped all my money that I had earned into a canon body and that "L" (my 24-105mm)

I was happy for a good couple of months until I compared my copy to another which showed me the many problems of mine...

• stretchy rubber grip that would elongate while use (focus ring)
• super stiff switches that would peel my skin while turning MF to AF (really made me think twice about going to MF!!)
• stiff zoom with weird clunks at the ends of the focal range
• worst of all, I found out that the focus ring is supposed to glide while you use it, and not make this grinding noise when I used it.

So, I turned it into repair up in NJ and explained everything.
They seemed to catch my drift and replaced the grip, checked the stuff, lubricated the focus ring (which now glides).

BUT....... Now there is this clicking noise when ever it starts to focus. just a slight touch will start the click,
Reverse the turning direction and within a few mm of rotation, another click will sound.
When in auto focus, it will click once as it goes in one direction, and if it reverses the sound will come up again.

WTF IS GOING ON WITH MY LENS!? Does anyone know what is going on? Any experience?!
Should I send it in again??? It costs me 17 bucks just to send it in.... which is a lot for me.

I know that some people wills say, "oh kid, just use it, its just a little clicking sound!"
But to me... this is extremely annoying to hear a click when ever I focus.
Every time this thing clicks... I swear... its killing me T_T!

Lots of you including me notice that many online store like B&H...etc all out of stock. Since I can't wait any longer, I decided to purchase one from ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-ST-E3-RT-Speedlite-Transmitter-5743B002-NEW-/160860604529?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25740a0871#ht_2261wt_1397

They shipped quite fast. Placed the order on the 14th and I received it yesterday. Its like $30 bucks more than B&H but I don't know how long is the wait lol.


Something just cross my mind, why the Rebel T4i has the transmitter built in and our 5DM3 and 1DX don't have it?
What is the huge different between that one built in and the StE3 RT ?

There's a local seller who is selling a 7D with kit lens 28-135mm. He has no papaer work/ no box etc, just the strap / 1 CF card and lens covers. He says it is pristine condition and 2 years old. He is asking $1100.

How much should I offer and what should I test it for if the deal goes through..

Does anyone know where to find this AF guide for the 5D3 in English? http://cpn.canon-europe.com/files/product/cameras/eos_5d_mark_iii/EOS%205D%20Mark%20III%20Leitfaden%20AF_GER.pdf

The one I have in English is for the 1D X. Thanks!

Dear all,

Just looking for an opinion. I want to get my first L lens and I'm tossing between Canon 70 - 200 f/4 IS vs. 70 - 200 F2.8 non IS. I'm looking to use it for sports photography, mainly outdoors but sometime indoors. I've heard lost of pros for both but I haven't read a review that has given me an opinion between these two lenses. I'm leaning towards the f/4 IS but would the 2.8 compensate for hot having IS?

Has anyone used or have both? Which would people choose - larger aperture or image stabilization?
Any thoughts?

(Thanks in advance!)

Now that the Olympics have come and gone. Those who got to play with the 200-400, thoughts? Comments? Samples?

have seen a few thoughts, but am curious still.

Thanks

Canon should have done it.... Sony does it.

I just learned via (many) trusted sources that the third revolution from Sony is about to happen. After the SLT and NEX introductions (first two revolutions) Sony is about to change the photographic and video industry with the third revolution… a new Full Frame NEX system!

Click to expand...

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/


now sony has to start making lenses... ;D

How cool it would be though?? a 3 in 1 lens would be enough! a prime, a zoom and a ultra wide zoom!

Hello all,
Sorry if this topic has been covered before but just curiosity on my part. Was having a look at the rear mounts of some of my lenses and noticed some have different numbers of electrical contacts on them. My three non-IS lenses have 7 contacts in total, one group of 5 and one group of two which is slightly more recessed into the mount (and of these one of the two contacts is considerably wider than the other). However, my 70-200 F4 IS has 10 contacts, one group of 8 and the other 2 recessed further same as above. Now initially I assumed that the extra contacts were to do with the IS mechanism but having looked at the corresponding contact pins on my 7D body I see that there are no pins on the body to make contact with the additional 3 pins of the lens (ie, the body only has a total of 8 pins and two of those pins contact the single wider contact on the lens)- therefore it cannot be to do with the IS mechanism and the crop sensor body does not support whatever function the extra contacts are for... Do the full frame bodies have more contact pins and if so what additional functions are they for?

Hopefully I have explained myself well enough!
Thanks for your input!

Unfortunately I do not have the option to perform a full calibration at the moment, so I am going to have to settle with AFMA for at least one more month.

I understand that in most cases settings are different for different units, but I am just curious as to what AFMA settings people use for head / torso / full body shots.

I myself find that mine produces slightly sharper images at +5, when shooting from a ~1m. distance.

I am in the dilemma of buying either of the above cameras. My friend has a 40D and he's asking for $320 (body only) and his camera has 15K actuations on it. My brother insists that for the same money, I could easily find a XS with kit lens.

In some forums, people are saying that 40D had a bad shutter durability record. However, XS seems to me a lower end product of canon to me.

My dad promises me to give me a few of his canon lenses to start with if I have a camera body. But, I worry about the err99 and shutter problem.

Can anybody enlighten me in this regard and help me to make a decision.

I'm looking at starting to shoot portrait shots of my new child and trying to figure out if I need a filter to help the photos come out better.

any suggestions?

Both my 5d Mk3's are locking up intermittently. So far I've lost two wedding ceremonies from these cameras. I'm using genuine Sandisk extreme pro 32gb cards. I'm trying now to induce the problem at home to see if I can work out what is going on. So far it seems to me that the camera may be trying to write a file larger than fat32 will allow. Times the cameras have locked up have been around the moment the camera is about to split the file and start a new file to reach the 29 min mark. When the problem happens the footage starts to skip on the display for about 3 seconds then freezes. Only taking the battery out will unfreeze the camera. The footage of the previous 12 mins is lost completely. Does any one know of a forum dealing with this problem I can join? Canon really need to do something about this ASAP. The camera is useless for events until you can trust it will not loose your footage!

Trying to decide between the S100 and SX260. Camera will be used solely in Auto mode. Much feifference in IQ? Solely interested in still shots, no video. This will be used as my sole camera for all purposes.

Is there a way to use a remote trigger (wireless) on a 5D MkII when shooting tethered? I am finding that the remote trigger does not work in live view mode. What I am trying to do is have a tethered laptop show the image in a photo booth so that users can see that everyone is in the scene, and then be able to use a wireless remote to trigger the shutter... i.e. I don't need to be attending to the booth the entire time. I know having a monitor is possible (I don't know how), and I was hoping it could be done via a laptop since I have that already. Any pointers for setting up this scenario would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I bought a 5D3 to replace a 5D2 and 7D - and feel like the 5D3 images I'm getting after cropping are noticeably softer than those my 5D2 produced! I've heard that complaint from other people, too (seen quite a number of threads, including here at CR) and have seen various responses to that. I have seen other people post and get helpful feedback, so I'd love to get people's opinions on whether they think the hyperlinked pictures are soft when zooming in (up to 100%)? I first noticed softness when zooming in before 100%, and then decided to compare 5DMkII images side to side and definitely felt in a lot of my 5D3 shots it wasn't as sharp...

FYI, this is NOT a RAW software issue that some other people had - I shoot in JPEG, and notice the perceived softness relative to the 5D2 when zooming in on the LCD screen, too. I have NOT yet done any focus micro-adjustment, but still think the shots are able to be analyzed for detail sharpness when zooming in. I had other shots which appeared softer, which I'm not including: I'd rather show what I think are relatively sharp shots, to see if those have more softness than they should.

People, please give me your feedback on whether there is more softness when zooming in than there should be! That being said, please don't add comments about why you shouldn't "pixel peep" or what could be improved about the composition - these aren't the best pictures as these were shots taken purely for posting here.

I am attaching a link to a sampling of various 5D3 photos I've shot. These are SOOC, and haven't been edited. Since I'm throwing in a variety, I am not listing all the camera settings (although I believe when you save the photo to your computer you can see the EXIF data and make judgments accordingly). The lenses I use are the 24-105L, 70-200 2.8 IS II, and 100mm Macro (non-IS).

5D3 Samples: LINK http://www.glenargov.com/Other/5D3-Test/24800438_Zw5jbH#!i=2029849496&k=73Mshxf

5D2 Samples (with same lenses):
http://www.glenargov.com/Other/5D-2-Samples/24804618_8rnbGd

Please get back to me ASAP as I need to make a decision whether to keep the 5D3 or return it. Thank you in advance!

I love this non-L lens but I find many here dismiss it as real choice for good results. Here are some examples of the work I've done with it. Please post your shots.

Again I find myself in a state of rage and I am cursing all responsible canon managers. Having shot a group of people at a wedding six times I now find out - sitting in front of my 24 inch screen - that the autofocus six times chose the wall behind the group... I accept one can go wrong once or even twice. But not six times out of six. It is clearly a problem of the product. In the particular case a 1D IV paired with a 24-70 2.8.

Back in 2005 I bought a 5D. It focused well and was a great camera in general. Since then I bought a 1D III which could not autofocus at all. I spent about 7000 $ for a camera that can't autofocus and nobody from canon could or wanted to help me. Then I bought a 5D II. In much too many cases the autofocus just goes wrong. Then I bought a 1D IV. Another 7000 $. And again in much too many cases the autofocus is not working properly (as in the case described above). All in all I spent 17'000 $ on cameras from Canon which can not (or not often enough) autofocus.

Now I come to the point: I feel like going for a new body but I am not willing (and able...) to spend even more money on cameras that just don't deliver what the are priced for. So I would appreciate feedback regarding the quality of the autofocus from people who use the 5D III or 1DX. Critical, honest and heavy users and people who have to deliver to customers. Is the autofocus in the mentioned cameras good - ore just LESS BAD but still not as it should be with such a price tag? Your feedback would help me a lot!

By the way. If you wonder how stupid one can be to still think of buying Canon gear: I have a wide range of lenses from 14 2.8 up to 500 4 and would like to still use it in the future.

If you want to have a look on what level I work you can have a look here: www.peoplephotography.ch

I know that the GP-E2 is available for the newer Canon bodies. I notice that there are a lot of third party options for Nikon bodies. Anyone know of inexpensive way to get gps tagging without the 250$ price tag? I have found solutions for nikon costing 40$ that looks very similar to what the gp-e2 achieves. I have tried EyeFi and I think it is a waste of time. (too small capacity, and it must be uploaded to eyefi and besides it not really GPS, it wont work where there aren't any hotspots). What are my options of i want GPS tagging in Exif, and lightroom comaptible?