Hi,

Has anyone got any experience of using this lens for field sports (with and without 1.4x and 2x converters)? I'm considering it for use with my 5d Mark III.

What do you think of the lens compared with the Canon EF 300 F2.8L IS II USM? Would also be great to see any in-depth reviews from a sports shooting perspective if anyone has seen any.

Thanks
Nick

Now that we know that the 5D Mark III will be getting clean uncompressed HDMI by April 2013, I think it's time Canon also confirms this feature also will be made available for us who chose to spend even more money on buying the 1D X.

I work with both stills and video, and I bought the 1DX for it's extra low light performance and DR over the 5D3.

Given what we now know, that the much cheaper 5D3 will get clean HDMI out, it will be absolutely unacceptable if the 1DX does not get the same upgrade!! We know it is possible since the 1DC already have this option on 1080p footage.

So I really hope Canon would please give us who spend all our money on them, what we want!!

It would be remarkable if the 1DC and the 5D3 should have clean HDMI out, and the 1DX would not!!
This would mean Canon would try to force me to sell my house to get the ISO and DR performance on video of the 1DX through the 1DC. Which of course will not happen!

A faster and cheaper solution may be to just buy the Nikon D4!

Your thoughts?

Ola

I was just hoping to get some info regarding how they stack up against each other,u don't care about weight or lack of is
I'm interested in af contrast and sharpness. And oh yes flare control.

Just want to know if its worth the premium is I'm not a big fan of is

Thanks in advance

One of the big stories in the business world today was that Nikon’s stock took a historic fall of nearly 19%. The company is weighted so heavily in the Nikkei Stock Average that the news had a rippling effect across the market, causing most Asian shares to drop.

Businessweek writes that the price drop was the largest single day decline in Nikon’s stock since 1985. It happened after the company cut its profit forecast due to decreasing demand and plummeting prices.

For the fiscal year ending in March, Nikon now predicts that it will pull in roughly $407 million in net income, down from the ~$643 million it had previously forecast.

Nikon expects to sell 7 million DSLR cameras (down from its previous forecast of 7.1M) and 9.8 million lenses (down from 10M). Its forecast for compact camera sales remains unchanged at 17 million units.


Both DSLRs and compact cameras are losing ground as consumers turn to smartphones and mirrorless cameras

The company also paints a picture of how the digital camera market is currently doing. It says that demand for entry-level DSLRs is falling and that new entrants in the market are competing against the camera style. This naturally leads to falling prices as DSLR makers struggle to convince photographers not to purchase mirrorless cameras.

Canon and Nikon have both been slow to engage the mirrorless camera market, which has led to both companies being squeeze from both sides. Their compact camera sales are struggling due to the rise of smartphoneography, and now mirrorless cameras are chipping away at their DSLR dominance.

Click to expand...

http://www.petapixel.com/2013/02/07/nikon-stock-plummets-19-biggest-drop-since-1985/

I am finally starting to get some time shooting with my Canon 7D and my EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM. I really love the lens but recently discovered that the focus lock only works at 70mm. I had started to play with a bit more BIF shooting and wanted to lock the lens at 300 mm but no go! I tried other focal lengths also but the lens only locks at 70mm. It locks with a positive snap at 70mm and does not need to be forced and I use it a lot when traveling with it in my LowePro so I started wondering if the lock might be only for travel. Is this normal?

With the advent of Mosaic Engineering's VAF-6D Optical Anti-Aliasing Filter, one would hope that Canon would come up with a firmware solution... if possible. Maybe the 6D doesn't have the processing power to do it.
But, when a third-party offers a fix for a problem... you've really got a problem.
http://www.mosaicengineering.com/products/vaf/6d.html
Here's the demo video:
https://vimeo.com/58335679

Thanks,
Drew

Hi Rumoreros,

I am about to take the leap and finally upgrade my beloved and trusty 40D after 4 years. I won't buy a 50D (not really an upgrade) or a 60D (weird plastic super rebel). I buy used for several reasons - it's cheaper, I get to wait and see if the hot new products live up to the hype or not, and I'm a bit anti-consumerism. But I do love my cameras. I shoot mostly action (wildlife, some sports every now and again) and a bit of landscape as well as long-exposure night photography. I have a lot of 'uses' covered by my EOS-3 and by MF film gear, so thinking mostly about action and ISO performance, things that don't play nice with film. With that in mind, would you buy with a ~$1200 budget:

1) Used 1D Mark III (yeah, submirror AF blah blah)
2) Used 5D Mark II
3) Used 7D
4) Stretch and buy a 6D (a little against my grain, but...)
5) Something else?

I have a good handful of L glass to cover ranges in different sensor sizes (and I'm obviously used to APS-C with my 40D) so I'm not too worried about APS-C vs. APS-H vs. full frame.

I'd greatly appreciate any inputs, flames, thoughts, criticisms, or rants. Thanks.

My wife and I are joining some friends for our first trip to Belize this summer. Some of the time will be spent around jungle ruins, some on the beachfront of a small island off the coast. There will likely be some SCUBA involved and it will be our first big dose of that also.

Right now I have a Rebel XSi, the original 18-55 and 55-250 kit lenses that I will most likely leave at home, an 18-200, 20mm 2.8, 35mm 2.0, 60mm macro, and an 85mm 1.8. I also have a Panasonic TS3 that I bought originally for snorkeling, and would need a housing for anything deeper. I shoot mostly with my primes, though I have used the 18-200 as a walk-around.

So here's my question: I was thinking of using the trip as an excuse/reason to upgrade to a new camera. Either go full-frame with a 6D and 24-105, or go lower budget and stalk eBay for a 5D2 (though to be honest I keep watching marginal looking bodies going for upwards of $1200). While I'd love to blow a bunch of money on a 5D3, I really can't justify it with my current finances. As it is, I'd be waiting for a deal on the 6D.

Here is my concern: I've never been to Belize, but I have read some reports of crime there. Nothing that would make me fear for my personal safety necessarily, but there definitely seems to be a lot of reports of theft. Is this something that concerns those on the board when travelling with their gear? Part of me thinks that I'd have better peace of mind taking my old rig and not worrying about it getting stolen as much, or accidentally destroying it in the rain-forest. I would hate to take a brand new camera on a trip and either have it stolen or broken. I know that probably sounds paranoid.

I've also thought about getting a dive housing either for the XSi or new DSLR, but it seems like another giant item to cart around and a substantial added expense. I'm thinking now that I will either look for a small housing for the Panasonic, or rent something while we are there.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

It just arrived today. Her name is "Little Monster" ;D

Updated, Feb 12th, 2013: These pictures were taken at Chuck E. Cheese with RX1 by my wife and her friend.
http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/fPRlYszx/1/5948895

Hey guys,
Anyone in the north Devon area that wants to do a meet up?

I'm looking into Tamron's 70-200 f/2.8 and my current debate is whether or not to go with the IS version or non IS version.

For a bit of context, I do mostly video work, narrative shorts and the like. I'm looking into getting into more photo work like weddings and similar events. My main body is a 7D and I'm looking to a full frame body to that somewhere along the line.

What are everybody's experiences with IS, especially pertaining to video?

Some of you may remember my little poll a while back asking what to replace my 70-300 IS EF lens with after a barter trade with a buddy. Well, I finally did the deal and I decided to get the 70-300L. So now I have a nice Thinkpad X301 all tricked out (from the trade) and a new 70-300L.

What's interesting is this...

- Slap that 70-300L on the 5D3 and point it all over the place, AF performance is fast and smooth, fairly quiet and nice.
- Add a Tamron 1.4x TC (140F-CA) and the AF slows a bit. Not unexpected. Still works pretty good. HOWEVER...

... when the TC is attached, the IS tends to JUMP from time to time and makes a CLUNK NOISE. You can feel the clunk too. It still autofocuses on the target but the IS going CLUNK is weird. I haven't been able to detect a clunk or jump when the TC isn't connected. Anyone have some thoughts?

I've had the Tamron TC for quite a while and from what I have read around this forum, the Kenko 1.4X DGX is (I guess) the ideal TC but I don't necc want to buy another TC. Anyone have a Tamron 1.4X TC like mine and like it just as much? Curious how they compare.

An interesting point of view.
The lens can't do all the job. Canon has to wake up and sell better SLR. The best zoom lesn (Dxomark) underperforms on Canon SLR vs Nikon's.

"But if you want to look at it another way, the Tamron on a D800E is about the resolution equal of a Canon Mk II "on a 5DIII — a bit sharper in the center, not quite as sharp in the corners, but pretty even. The Tamron-Nikon combination (for a guy like me looking at shelling out some major bucks soon) is $1,000 cheaper than the Canon-Canon system."


http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/01/a-24-70mm-system-comparison

I decided to do a test to see how many frames it would take to fill the buffer of the camera in various recording modes.

Camera used 60D, 1000th of second shutter speed, manual focus, high shutter rate (5.9 frames per second)... The list is of how many shots it took before the buffer filled and the frame rate dropped.

RAW and Ljpeg (5184x3456) - 6 frames

Ljpeg (5184x3456) - 8 frames
Mjpeg (3456x2304) - 8 frames
S2jpeg (1920x1080) - 8 frames

RAW (5184x3456) - 14-15 frames
MRAW( 3888x2592) - 15 frames
SRAW(2592x1758) - 15-16 frames

Before the test, my assumption was that smaller files would mean more files dumped to the memory card before it stuttered, and that small jpegs should allow a much larger number than full sized RAW files. In fact, the opposite happened.

I interpet the results to mean that my assumption of writting the files to the flash drive being the bottleneck was wrong. It seems obvious that the internal memory becomes filled with RAW data waiting to be converted to Jpeg... the bottleneck is processing to Jpeg.... get rid of that process and the number of pictures before stuttering doubles. The next bottleneck is processing the raw files (including reading them off of the sensor), changing the output RAW size has almost no effect on the buffer, so once again, the flash card is not the bottleneck.

So the limitation is computing power.... not card speed. Anyone care to try this test on a different camera model?

Have owned a 60D since December 2011, first DSLR. Have become addicted. Want a second body now to have a different lens available at some shoots, but also for taking on camp outs where I am worried about ruining the 60D. Thinking that T3i is the best choice because the body alone is so cheap and still get a similar IQ to the T4i and the 60D. What is your vote?

Hi everyone!

I started doing photography roughly two years ago. At the beginning I had a 550D and some beginner zooms but one day I made the mistake of getting an L lens, and the inevitable happened to me -> I got infected.
Aside of the 50 1.8 I only have L lenses now which are the 70-200 4 L IS, 100L and 16-35L II, and somewhere in between I also got a 5D3. So now you have an idea of my current setup.

About one year ago I started developing the idea of getting something bigger because my favorite type of photography is wildlife and my 200mm doesn’t cut it (by far). So I was looking into the 300 f4 with 1,4x and the 400 5,6 and … well that are pretty much all the alternatives you have with canon if you want to stay in a reasonable price range.

Suddenly it appeared absolutely clearly in my mind – What do you want with this chickens**t??? If you wanna do something you gotta do it right!

So 500mm f4 L IS II it is! If I get a telephoto lens – this will be it.

BUT there are some serious issues that keep me from going to the shop and ordering one:

- PRICE: Although I’m only 28 I could afford this lens. I have to work for about six months ONLY saving up for it but hey, I’m already at about 5 1/2 right now 8)! I don’t have a car, I go by bicycle everywhere, I really spend very less money regularly and I do not have any other expensive hobbies.
Additionally I believe that if I spend €9500 (which is the current price here in Austria) on this piece of equipment and use it a LOT of years (let’s say 10) I still can resell it for maybe €7000 (if I treat it well of course, and I darn sure will treat it very well!!). So the total cost of ownership will be “only” about €2500 or €250 per year which is pretty reasonable. There are more stupid ways of spending €250 per year I guess (smoking for example :).
Please note that I’m a total amateur and I’m not expecting to make any money out of it.

- WEIGHT AND SIZE: I know that this thing is a BEAST. I saw it once in real life in a shop window with the hood on and I couldn’t imagine myself lugging this thing around. As already mentioned I don’t have a car so I usually go by bike or by foot everywhere. I would get an appropriate backpack for it (Lowepro 500 or something) and carry it on my back all the time (So 600 II and 500 I were not an option from the beginning). Additionally I do not have a tripod, monopod or tripod head hat supports this kind of weight, and for financial and backpacking reasons I will not get these things anytime soon, so I’m planning to use the lens exclusively handheld. 3.2 kg doesn’t actually sound like so bad but holding it to the eye for an extended period of time … I’m not so sure about that. I’m not really a strong guy, but I’m also not the “only shooting from eye-level” kind of photographer, more like the “lying in the dirt most of the time” photographer – so a bean bag or resting the tripod foot on the knee or on the ground is an option.

- CONSPICUITY: Sometimes when I use my white 70-200 and my gripped 5D3 I can notice people watching and I really dislike that. I like to work alone and undisturbed and when people watch I cannot concentrate so well on making my pictures. Compared to the 500, the 70-200 f4 is a BABY TOY lens so how will it be when I walk around with the beast? I myself have never seen such a lens “in the field” so I would be watching too if someone else had it! When I think about it I believe that I wouldn’t use it so much when there are other people around. I am living in a not too big city but I would still have to travel a bit to get to a quiet place (you do remember the no car thing do you? ). This would further increase the necessary effort for using this lens. Together with the weight and size issue I have the fear that I wouldn’t use it so much than I should to justify its price.

OK, after so much negative things I should state some good things I expect, otherwise every one of you will just advise me against getting the lens .

The pros:
+ This lens would be AWESOME.
+ IQ is absolutely as good as it gets at this time.
+ This lens would be totally AWESOME.
+ I don’t need to spend money on fitness studios when lugging this thing around (which I wouldn’t do anyways to be fair)!
+ It would give me the reach I need for all my wildlife and birding needs (I would surely get the 1,4x III after a couple of months and maybe also the 2x III).
+ It would be AWESOME in combination with my 5D3, AF- and IQ-wise!!

WOW, if you read until this point then TANK YOU! But although it helped my decision making process to write down all the advantages and disadvantages there is one more thing I would ask you to do. Please tell me your opinion:

- Did I make some serious errors in the arguments I stated above?
- Do you have experience with this kind of gear and can tell me something in general and especially about the handholdability?
- Does it really make sense for me to make such an investment or should I simply convert to Buddhism and seek my joy in meditation?
- Should I pull the trigger or not? Please do not encourage me for the sake of it but really tell me what you think. It would be cool if you could put a +1 or a -1 at the end of your post for buying or not buying respectively.

At the end I would also like to share some of my pictures with you so that you can get an idea of my skills and what I like to do normally. Due to the lack of a good tele, I concentrated on macro work during the last year. Most of those were taken with my old 550D. Critics are also very welcome!

Pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ipu4mdfjxdgo11a/HBqDdcHUYi

Hope to hear your opinions!
Greetings!

Hi, in a couple of weeks I'm going down to Saigon to shoot street portraits of my friend's daughter and her friend. They are Vietnamese girls and will wear the traditional dresses. It will take place in the streets of Saigon. This is on my initiative as I want to include pictures like this in my portfolio.

I have never done a planned photo session before. My experience stretches to planning my street walks, planning on how to shoot golf courses and similar.

With actual people in the picture I really want to make good use of their and my time and hopefully catch some great pictures.

I know the city fairly well having commuted to work there for two years and I do have some good sites in mind, but she has promised to take us to a couple of other sites that are a bit further away and that I haven't visited before.

We are likely to meet about after lunchtime and go on until sunset. The weather this time of year gives a good chance of clear skies, but obviously the afternoon sun will not help in making it easier. The late afternoon we will spend around the cathedral and the adjacent park. At least that's my idea now.

I have done some homework on direct a portrait shoot, I am a fairly relaxed person and I know my friend's daughter quite well. I do speak Vietnamese reasonably well which will hopefully help to make things more fun and relaxed. What I do need to understand is how to structure this. Do I take notes of sites I want to go to? Poses? Angles? What more?

Of course on this forum I have to ask about gear, I don't have a proper flash, only the 270. I could pick up a 430 just for this session if it makes sense and if I understood how it would help me. In terms of body and lenses I'm covered.

Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

thanks
J

Let's see how well this thread holds up!

We've got lots of threads here with various sides arguing the merits of read noise and banding in files, fixed pattern noise (FPN), dynamic range (DR), some on annoying lens aberrations and plenty more.

INSTEAD OF RE-HASHING THE TIRED OR UNFINISHED ARGUMENTS, POST YOUR IMAGES HERE THAT SHOW THE FLAW THAT RUINED THE SHOT FOR YOU.
If it's subtle, tell us what it is (and where) versus what you hoped for or expected.
Avoid posting images that started with poor technique or other major problems that are user errors rather than equipment flaws. If you were close but couldn't fix it in post... Show before, after, and describe what you wanted to achieve.

We have a lot of good people with good advice on good equipment here. A BIG HOLE IN THE INFORMATION, in my opinion, IS WHAT ARE THE WEAKNESSES OF A PARTICULAR CAMERA OR LENS or other bit of equipment that can make it impossible, difficult, or frustrating to get the shot you wanted.

LET'S SEE THE BAD STUFF SO WE CAN LEARN TO AVOID IT OR WORK AROUND IT and not miss any more shots because of it. I, for one, had been a little too remiss in the past and I accepted of a lot of positive reviews on equipment only to find out shortly after buying and using it that it had some significant flaws that hindered its usefulness to me.

POST YOUR REMEDIES OR WORK-AROUNDS. If discussing the issue, please EDIT YOUR QUOTING TO MINIMIZE THE QUOTE TO ONLY WHAT'S REALLY NEEDED instead of quoting everything including all the graphics.

Let the bashing, and learning, begin!
Have fun, keep it civil, make it EDUCATIONAL.

Addendum - to give you an example, here's a scaled shot taken with a 5D Mark II and EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II
The image is basically ruined by garish, multi-outlined bokeh. This is not a crop, this is the full frame.
200mm at f/4.0

hasty typo fixed, supposed to be 200mm, not 20mm.

I'm curious. What does it mean to be a professional photographer?

I don't exactly consider myself a pro, but I'm not a fan of referring to photography as just my "hobby".
I've invested quite a bit of money (for me) in photography equipment- bodies, lenses, strobes and other studio equipment. But I know the gear I have doesn't make me a professional.

I'm not super technical in my photography, but I consider myself knowing more than just the basics. I spent 5 years working as an assistant at a photography studio. I learned a lot and got some great experience. I also spent those 5 years in the back room retouching and post-producing photos. I consider myself technically intermediate and enjoy learning and trying new techniques from others.

I don't make my living off of my photography, but occasionally I will do small paid jobs.

I consider myself an amateur- not in the sense that I'm new or inexperienced, but in the sense that for now, I do photography because I love it.

So what exactly does it mean to be professional in your opinion? We know it's not the gear alone. Is it the making money off of your skill? Paid jobs? Making a living? Is it simply having skill and experience? What do you all think?

I have a Canon T2i with just the 18-55mm kit lens, and also a 50mm prime I was given. I'm a beginner film maker, and plan on shooting a video for my step-brother this summer of motocross. I want the style to be similar to Moto: The Movie series, Kickstart or Epic (all motocross films), kind of a documentary/stylized look at the sport. I noticed most shots have a very deep depth of field, where as everything is in focus. How do I easily pull this off, and what lens would you recommend for doing such a film?

Again, I'm a beginner, so sorry if this is a stupid question.

I appreciate any response.
Thanks!

I'd like to get into remotely controlling flashes, but I need a decent and reliable trigger that doesnt cost an arm or a leg. I was looking around and the Yongnuo st-e2 kept popping up. Does anyone have any experience with it? Do you like it? If you have another suggestion around the same price i'm open to that too! Thanks!

Hello everyone,

First time poster here, though I do skim the home page almost daily. I thought I would finally join and contribute. I don't have the best camera on the market but this is a portrait of my horse. Shot with a Canon 1000D and 18-55. Pretty much as basic as it gets.



Please feel free to comment and critique, I have some pretty tough skin. Particularly how do you like the processing? I bought a new monitor and I think I have it finally calibrated.

- Thomas

**EDIT**

I took the suggestion and tried again with the post processing.