I won't try and talk up any knowledge of external lighting I may have.

I have none.

But what I do know is that I have a couple weddings on the books with receptions in dimly lit restaurants and the 50D has laughable ISO qualities when it gets that dark, so I'd better start learning and move away from my comfortable world of natural light.

My budget for a single flash unit and any necessary accessories is about $400, but I can go higher if need be. Currently I'm considering a 430EXII and some sort of wireless/off camera trigger and on-flash softbox.

However, anyone in this section of the forums knows more than me, so I am very open to suggestions.

Hello everyone,

For my 5D Mark 2 I'm currently using either the build in line-of-sight flash (with a 580EXII and two 430EXII) or all manual with a bunch of cheapo Chinese triggers. The latter work pretty reliably up to about 1/160.

Since I've started doing more of this I've been thinking about getting a different set of triggers. And with the current price structure I'm not ready yet to move to 600EX flashes ( 3 or 4) and the Canon remote as nice as it all looks.

And with that in mind there still are a bunch of options. I've actually started to see that I may end up in the manual-over-ETTL camp. So a few solid Pocket Wizard Plus III would probably do the trick. What I'm not so thrilled about is that I'd end up with more cables and adapters then now. And even when setting things to manual it would be nice to be able to control things from the camera menu. So that would get us to PW minis (etc) or the Phottix Odins. Issues with both of these as well. PW with the reported issues on the US model with interference and blowing out of 580s. And Odins have the preflash even in manual which makes them problematic for later use with studio strobes.

Then there are the YN622C triggers from Yongnuo. Read some good things about them, price is great and features should work with what I'm looking to get at. Question is how sturdy they are and if they have the preflash issue as well. And that they are no Pocket Wizards, meaning no industry standard that would work with other stuff or in rented studio etc.

Any one any first-hand experiences with these and in comparison to the Plus III?

How much easier is it to create the 'toy effect' with a longer tilt shift lens? Anyone have any examples?

What monopod / head combination do you recommend for shooting soccer. I guess I am more concerned with the head attachment. I want something that moves smoothly. I have a cheap monopod that I used this weekend and I am thinking I may need to upgrade. I did not have a head on it, so it did not move very smoothly.

I am deciding whether to go for the 6D when it becomes available. Not having a pop up flash was a bit dissapointing so now I am trying to figure out what the true cost of the camera would be. Considering that I do own a 430EXII, currently my greatest use of a camera is on holidays and travel, but there is kids on the way and thus potraitures and candids would become more important.

So to add fill flash to my 6D (or 5DIII) without lugging the 430EXII around which one will be best.
270EXII 90EX
+More Power +Small and light
+Titable head +Optical Master for 430EXII
-Larger +Wider @ 24mm
-No optical master -Low power and no tilt

At first this was an easy decision but the Optical Master is intriguing as it would allow me to start experimenting with off camera flash. I do want to limit my cash outlay, so if the 270EXII is, in your opinion, overwhelmingly better for the intended main use, what "cheap" offbrand controller would you recommend. Maybe something that goes beyond line of sight.

I know most will say it depends on yout intended use, but if this is not clear, qualify your recommendation then

Thanks alot

Between the wife and myself we have 5 Canon bodies and 18 lenses of which only the 15mm fish eye and an old 100 macro are not L glass, with 7 series 2 lenses, so there is a sizable investment in Canon kit.

But the dissatisfaction with Canon’s tardiness is steadily mounting.

On a recent leopard safari the Nikon D4 crowd simply ran away with shots compared to the best our 1D Mk4s could deliver. We are not only talking sensor performance, although we lived like lepers with only ISO 1600 max, the most frustrating feature is that the fitting of a flash to the 1D Mk4 forces Auto ISO to fix at 400. Damn nuisance if you are doing night work, want to work Manual at ISO 1600 with a fill flash and the clever Canon firmware decides that it is time to override your settings. The 1DX has the same problem feature. This could explain why 7 out of the 10 photographers that joined the leopard safari shot Nikon.

Then there is the long wait for the release of partially sorted equipment.

I waited almost 2 years for the 24-70 Mk II lens. The 200-400 lens, as staple for wildlife shooting in the Nikon stable, is yet nowhere in sight. Would also love a 14-24 for landscape work….

All recently released bodies had significant problems and required post release upgrades and firmware replacement.

A lot of noise being made about the 1DX, probably the best copy of a Nikon 3D that Canon ever produced, and is probably marginally better than the D3, I seems a capable camera but only if compared to the previous Nikon model. It is the probably the very best Canon camera but that is a bit like being the most beautiful girl at an all-male party.

IMHO it seems that the constant release of superior Nikon products is forcing Canon’s hand. Canon has since the release of the D300 been in catch up mode and are being forced to announce products that are still on the drawing board, and then have to rush half-baked stuff to market, at prices that exceed the Nikon range.
Has Canon fallen terminally behind?

My concern is the rate at which the local photo community is switching to Nikon. With profitability already down Canon is yielding significant market share to innovative and high quality Nikon products and that means less money, also for R&D, resulting in less capable kit, resulting in less sales, resulting in less money…..

Should they rather focus on the point and shoot consumer market and leave the high end stuff to professionals?

Um. There's this fadish black dot on the bottom right quarter on the picture every time I take one. I cleaned the front of my 24-105 and it was still there. So I changed it to my 50mm, took a picture it was still there.
My dad used his air blower thingy on the mirror and it still didn't work.

Any advice? x-x Thanks

Just thought I would post a bit about my water drop setup progression. These photos were all taken with two Stopshots from Cognisys.

This first shot is an example of what I could do before I rebuilt my setup. The orange is from food coloring while the background is construction paper. The shot is relatively simple. I use one drop to get the column then hit it with a second drop to create the splash.

Ending with a Splash by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

In this next shot I rebuilt the siphon system to support three configurable siphons. This allows me to use three different colored drops in a single photo. The rest of the system is similar with the same plate holding the water. I illuminated the background slightly, but otherwise didn't do anything there.

The Well of Souls by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

In the next shot I moved to illuminating from underneath. I used a Tupperware container and a glass dish. Although I could use three siphons, I only used one siphon here and the shot is similar in complexity to the first one. The difference in shape is due to the makeup of the liquid. There are a number of problems with this shot and I realized after taking it that the Tupperware was not very practical.

Watercolor by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

The last shot I took yesterday. I built a small light table and rested the glass dish on it. One flash was used to light from below while another was geled and placed behind the table to create the background. Another flash illuminated from the side. Two siphons were used.

Drop Playground by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

I am getting there, but more work needs to be done.

• The table shook a bit and was not level. This is the reason for the unlevel background and harsh transition on the side. I have since fixed this with leveling legs.
• I need more flashes for the setup. In particular I would like at least two for the background, another one on the other side, and two for underneath (to light up the water behind the drop more).
• I bought polarized filter paper for my flashes and have a polarizer for my lens. I just need to brave up and cut it ($50/sheet) and use it on the side flashes to see the effect - which I hope removes some of the glare I spend time in PP removing

Dear Forum Readers who uses the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

The Canon 5D Mark III is the first Canon full-frame DSLR that has Chromatic Aberration Correction feature built into the camera firmware (vignetting and distortion correction have been available previously).

Just in the moment of receiving this camera - I would appreciate answer to this one question first; - are you using this feature IN CAMERA as "Enable",

OR

are you instead using .CR2 - RAW files but WITHOUT this feature and set to "Disable" and doing the correction in DPP?

Is there any benefit of using NR for long exposures IN CAMERA when using .CR2-RAW files?

I would appreciate your advice and take on these two questions.

Happy Shootings!

C

I'm looking for some info on how well different lenses Af in low light conditions. I haven't been able to find much of anything on the net thus far. I know much depends on the camera body, but i'd still like to get any info i possibly can. Anyone got any thing? I'm even thinking about getting my gear out and running it threw a bit of testing in my kids playroom while slowly dimming the lights to see what can be learned. but i have only a small lens collection, and most of the lenses I'm curious about I don't own. Thanks

When I was putting my kit together a few years ago (5DMKII, 70-200/2.8II, 24-105, 8-16, 16-35) I beat around the bush for awhile trying to get a good range of focal lengths with primes. For whatever reason I like the simplicity of a few good primes and in the old days I enjoyed my AE-1 immensely with its 35mm and 50mm lenses. But now in the electronic age it seems Canon was letting their primes languish with only these really old designs. So I bought the zooms.

But now Canon seems to be coming out with a refreshed line of high IQ primes, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 40mm and a rumored 50mm. All of them with similar high quality (and price). If I knew they were coming out with a 20mm (my favorite) that would cinch it.

Thoughts on ditching my present collection for a set of primes? I'd probably keep the 70-200mm/2.8.

Here is my first post, hope you enjoy

Rugby Leinster vs Newport Gwent Dragons

1.)


2.)


3.)


4.)


5.)


Thanks for looking

Managed to catch this beautiful Fish Eagle mid-flight, taken at Bujugali Falls, Jinja, Uganda from my bedroom window

Canon 7D with Canon 70-200mm L @ 200mm


Fish-Eagle by Richard Davies Photography, on Flickr

Hi guys,

what do you think about putting a 300 2.8 L IS I on a 5D mark III for wildlife photography in the tough conditions of the tropical forests ?

Have you tested this combination ? with which results ? Do you think i still can have good results with the TC 1.4 III with this combination ?

thanks, Vincent

Hey there, I was just on Amazon.jp and noticed the 6D kit is now available for pre-order. see price list below (the USD prices are just a straight conversion to make it easier to see the difference and is not the price of the kit in the US) -

6D body only = ¥178,201 ($2,242)

6D + 24-70 f/4 IS = ¥328,997 ($4,139)


The 24-70 f/4 IS on it's own is ¥146,526 ($1,843) pre-order so the discount there is non-existent! In fact at the moment it's cheaper to buy them separately!

For comparison the 6D + 24-105 kit = ¥268,200 ($3,375)

And also the 5D mk II + 25-105 kit = ¥224,341 ($2,823)

Interesting.

While AFMA my lens, it occurred to that I might be making matters worse based on how I was testing zooms.

Here is my scenario: I setup and test my 24-105 for the telephoto end first. I determine that +5 is my ideal focus position at 105mm. I set the value +5 in the camera. Now I setup my camera for testing at the wide end. Common sense tells me I should change the telephoto value back to 0 while I test for the wide end at 24mm. Then once I determine both values, I enter them in the camera.

So is it best to test one end while the opposite end is set to the new value or to zero? My guess is zero or maybe it doesn't even matter. The manual does not specify anything this specific so I though I'd bounce if off the CR community.

Thanks

Note: I doubt it matters but I am using the LensAlign Mk II tool, plan to switch to FoCal in the near future.

Edit: The 5D3 can store 2 AFMA values (wide and tele) for zoom lens.

Testing out a new 24-70 II (after running it through Fo-Cal three times, thanks again for everyone who helped with that ), and some of the photos are sharp. But those where the camera is steeply angled down, often aren't.

Is that expected? Do others see the same thing?

I don't notice any lens creep, but could it be so miniscule that I wouldn't?

Sorry for my ignorance :/

Cheers.

Shawn L.

I have used yahoo for the past 5 years, but they have dropped ftp support so my website is still live but I no longer have the ability to update it. I have a flash site that I have been managing with Front Page 2003. I can keep what I have and move it to a new host or start from scratch, but I do want to retain the ability to manage it myself. Anyone have any good ideas? Thank you in advance for your input.p,Debbie

I know dead pixels could be a pain in the a__... But i never got this very clear and explained.

I am looking for an official Canon link where they clearly explain:

* How many dead pixels should have a Sensor or the LCD to be accepted for sensor/camera replacement?


By the way... I know a dead pixel could be mapped when it appears just on a photo, but what happens when it appears in video? Can Canon service remap it?

Anyone knows if the remaping software is available anywhere?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yesterday I stumbled on a city wide hip hop dance battle in Calgary. For those who say the 85L is too slow for fast paced shooting... check it out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctpcheng/sets/72157631978274913/

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice about upgrading my current camera. Here's what I have at the moment:

Canon 550d, 50mm f1.4, 70-200 f4 L IS, 430EX II flash, Sigma 17-50 f2.8 OS

I am interested primarily in portraits / people (maybe 80%), about 3/4 of which is of my 3 year old daughter. The rest is mostly travel. I do not do any wildlife, sports etc, that have special requirements. A 3 year old is a fairly high-speed object with erratic movement though.

There are two reasons for upgrading. The first is that the autofocus of the 550d struggles with fast moving subjects (i.e. children). The second (less important) reason is that low light performance of the camera could be better. I am generally happy up to about ISO 800, but after that it degrades rapidly. I have also found the performance of the 17-50 disappointing, but I think this is because the AF system is particularly ill-behaved with this lens; the keeper rate is lower (maybe 60%), and there is fairly consistent back-focus which I can't correct. I generally do not print anything larger than 8x10. I will occasionally shoot video, but nothing serious.

I am trying to decide between the 7D and a 5D III. In the 7D case, I would stick with the 17-50 and hope for improved performance given the better AF system and AFMA. In the 5d III case, I would sell the 17-50 and replace it with a 24-105 f4. I live in central Europe and hope to buy something on my next trip to the US in about a month (delivered to a friend's house to collect). For this reason, the 6d and 7d II / 70d (if they ever appear) are not options. Prices here are much higher, and I will not be back to the US for at least a year after this trip. I also tried a Nikon d600, but really didn't like the ergonomics, plus I don't want to dump everything and start again.

The 5d III offers everything I want of course and is FF, but the price is very high and the camera is basically overkill for my purposes. I don't care so much about the super robust build, dual card slots etc, and would gladly pay less to give up these features. In this case I only have sufficient budget to buy the kit with the 24-105, which would leave me with a 3 lens configuration (50 1.4, 24-105 f4 and 70-200 f4), which will not actually be taking advantage of some of the camera's AF capability, and moving from the 17-50 f2.8 to the 24-105 f4 partially offsets the ISO improvements. I can get the 5dIII + 24-105 kit for about 3750 USD. That's not from an authorised dealer, but I don't care because I won't be in the US to return it anyway if it breaks. I can recover ~450 USD by selling the 17-50 in this case, so say 3300 USD net.

The 7d is maybe a more logical choice for me, since it is a lot cheaper and addresses the more important AF concern. However, I am not keen on buying something that is about to be replaced by a newer model. It also has the same sensor as my 550d, so presumably the same low-light performance. The video capability is somewhat worse. Refurbs go for about 1200 USD on occasion. Given that that is about 2000 USD cheaper than the 5d III option, I would also consider buying some additional lenses; probably the 24-105 f4 anyway (I realize not a popular crop choice, but the range I like most on crop), and an 85 f1.8 or 100 f2. Even with those two added to the purchase, the total cost is several hundred dollars lower.

I'm grateful for any advice or other ideas.

I have read the lists and charts written a couple years back that AF was only available on 1D series bodies when using a Canon TC with a compatible lens.
Has this changed with the 5D3?
I have zero experience with TC's and am interested in using one with my 70-200 f/4 and 200 2.8.
Can anyone point me to a list or chart of compatibility and AF with the 5D3?


Also, do the Kenko's AF with all lenses and bodies where the Canon's do not?

TIA

Looking to buy a 1dx but wondering about a price drop for the holidays. Does anybody remember from past experience how long after release the 1 series bodies price declined?

are they worse then fixed ND filters?

i dropped my 10 stop filter and now i need a new one.

im thinking about buying a variable filter but if the quality of fixed ND filters are visible better then i go for the standard model.

any first hand experience?

Hello,

I'm an amateur photographer and i'm new at this forum. I think that I can know a lot with yours comentaries .

I'm from Barcelona, so my english isn't very good.

Here I put some photos like a presentatnion of me.


Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Ferrari 312T - Giancarlo Casoli por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Fernando Alonso - Ferrari por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


IMG_0311 por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Valentino Rossi #46 - Ducati Team por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


IMG_8893 por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


IMG_8126 por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham F1 por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


Kimi Räikkönen - Lotus F1 Team por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr


IMG_9602 por Xavi Bonilla, en Flickr

best regards