• Locked
Upgrade from 400d to 50d

Looking to upgrade my ageing 400d to something slightly higher. On a tight budget just now and have been waiting for the 70d, but as thats probably not going to happen this year and the launch price will no doubt be way to high, thought a 50d would be a good option.

Is it a good upgrade option and how much would you expect to pay (GB£)?

  • Locked
5D3 - problem?

OK. I will admit I don't know if this is a problem.

I just bought a 5D3 yesterday, and when I pulled it out of the box last night, I noticed I could not turn the mode dial. Is this a problem? Or, is it designed that it won't turn if the camera is not turned on? I did not even put a battery in the camera last night, as I'm not going to start playing with it until the weekend.

I have never had a camera where the mode dial DIDN'T turn when it's turned off, so that's why I'm asking.

Thanks.

  • Locked
Dynamic Range & Camera IQ

I'm a 550D user who has just yesterday ordered a 7D. I've never even looked through the viewfinder on a FF camera, let alone held one.

I do know my way around my camera, but on these boards I keep hearing people talking about Dynamic Range when comparing cameras or making wish lists of improvements.

Can somebody please point towards a good explanation of DR and also comparisons between similar cameras (e.g. D800 and 5D M2/3) so I can understand it better and how it impacts me? Also any explanation of camera IQ would be helpful.

Cheers.

  • Locked
No compact 'standard' L zoom?

With the announcement by Canon of the 6D, it appears that they've at least acknowledged (are hoping) that there is a (big?) market for a FF camera, but in a smaller, lighter package. So, wheres the lens to go with it? There are currrently only 3 [out of 10] FF standard zoom lenses. Of the two L offerings, the 24-70 is by all accounts very good, but quite pricey and still not light [the brickette], the 24-105 is also pretty good, but still looks large on the 6D, especially as a walk around zoom. Canon makes FIVE versions of the 70-200!!! Why not something like a lighter, more moderately priced 24-70L /4?

and how about 35/2L and 24/2 or 2.8L :)

  • Locked
  • Poll Poll
85 mm Lens

Which would you choose for portraits on a full frame?

  • Canon 85 1.8

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Sigma 85 1.4

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Canon 1.2 L II

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • Zeiss 85mm 1,4

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Canon 135L

    Votes: 4 30.8%

Hey,

I am not a professional photographer, but I would like to buy a nice portrait lens. I have a full frame body (1ds mk3) so I am considering the following lenses:

Canon 85 1.8
Sigma 85 1.4
Zeiss 85 1.4

Which would you recommend and why? Do you think it is better to go with the 135L ?

85L is over my budget and is to slow...

Thanks

Tomaz

  • Locked
B+W GND (grey) filters for the Cokin and Lee filter holder

Good news from the Photokina.

B+W announce two new GND (grey) filters that can be used with the Cokin Z-Pro and Lee filter holder.

number 701 (- 1 stop soft)
number 702 (- 2 stop soft)

Glas with MRC sealing, 10x15 cm, delivered in a tin box

Press text:

B + W graduated neutral density filters are often used in landscape photography in order to avoid an overexposure of the sky with a correct exposure of the ground. As in overexposured areas of the picture image information is normally lost the effect of this filter can hardly be simulated by electronic image processing.

The filters are coloured neutral gray with a smooth transition into the neutral filter half. With screwed filter the rotatable mount allows an exact horizontal alignment.

The glass substrate of the B+W ND filters 701 and 702 are absolutely plane and parallel and finely polished. This guarantees a long lasting high optical quality. By means of thin layer technology the ND gradient is evaporated. The below values refer to the darkest filter glass parts:

701 +1 stop (50% transmission)
702 +2 stop (25% transmission)

The graduated ND filters are provided with a high quality MRC coating. MRC (Multi Resistant Coating) coated filters have an MC layer ensuring a high transmission and maximum anti-reflective surface. Furthermore, MRC is dirt and water repellent and makes cleaning much more easier.

  • Locked
One for Canon Europe - Canon Ireland or Canon Retailer

Maybe if Canon read the forums or a retailer could answer this one:

Prices in Europe for the Canon EOS 6d are pre-ordering at €1,999 why in Ireland are we 'EXPECTED' to pay €2,200?

I would appreciate a reasonable answer as this sort of pricing I hate to say deters me from buying in Ireland. and instead importing from e.g. Germany.

It cant be the VAT difference as Germany are on 19% i believe so the difference doesnt come to €200 more.

Lenses are also more.

Forgive my tone but it is annoying to say the least and not good for Retailers if this RRP pricing is governed by Canon.... anyone?

however if I was to walk into a Canon retailer in Germany and buy a 6D with say a 16-35mm L II
example from www.pixass.de as a random German Site also you can check www.idealo.de for same products:

These would cost €1,359 for the 16-35 L II and €1,999 for 6D Total €3,358 + shipping was <€20
Compared to a retailer in Ireland it would be €3,708 why is there a €340 odd euro difference this equates to a little over 9% price difference - so would a shop say ok so we'll take a bit of that if someone was to haggle a bit?

Thanks
n

  • Locked
  • Poll Poll
POLL: How much $$$ will the high-mp eos cost?

The release price of the high-mp eos will be...

  • $2500 (Canon is our friend!)

    Votes: 1 0.7%
  • $3000 (that'll show Nikon!)

    Votes: 3 2.1%
  • $3500 (bye bye 5d3)

    Votes: 2 1.4%
  • $4000

    Votes: 14 9.9%
  • $4500

    Votes: 26 18.3%
  • $5000

    Votes: 29 20.4%
  • $5500

    Votes: 15 10.6%
  • $6000 (sell your car)

    Votes: 16 11.3%
  • $7000 (use kid's college funds)

    Votes: 9 6.3%
  • $8000 (use old age savings)

    Votes: 12 8.5%
  • $9000 (sell your house)

    Votes: 15 10.6%

Saving for the 3d (if that's the name)? Then predict here what the price of the high-mp body will be!

  • Locked
GP-E1 Time Accuracy

I just measured the time accuracy of my newly purchased GP-E1. The advertised accuracy as shown on the Canon USA website is +/- .01 sec. I installed an NTP time app on my iPhone (Emerald Time), which claims a corrected time to the nearest tenth of a second. (I verified Emerald Time's accuracy by calling the NIST time recording at 303-499-7111.) Below is a photo of Emerald Time and the associated exif time data. The GP-E1 was more than a second off. I force-updated the camera's clock off the GPS multiple times and the results were consistent and repeatable.

0aicZ.jpg

  • Locked
Current state of 5Dmk3 compatibility with triggers and strobes

I am going to add better triggers and strobes to my kit. This would support real estate, events, weddings, other interior and outdoor work. I have a Mk2 and a Mk3 so want to do HSS. I like the look of the Phottix Odin as ratio control from the camera sounds good. I still believe I will need to use on-camera-strobe often so may need a mix of Stratto and Odin.

I was thinking about the 550EX as a cost effective way to add three units BUT many of you like your Yongnuo flashes. These are more modern than the Canon 550EX, can use a battery pack (good idea) and save as much money over the Canon 600. (I do have one Canon 580EX not II) But I realize I have never seen anyone write in that they trigger their Yongnuo units with Phottix Stratto or Odin.

I would use these in softboxes at times. Nice to do ratio control without reaching into a box.

jonathan7007

  • Locked
Who said Canon cameras suck?!?

D800. Its the name of the camera on everyones mouths these days. In all the blogs. In all the reviews. Its the thing raving Nikon fans rave about. Canon's taken a solid back seat to Nikon these days, particularly to the D800. I've said many times that Canon cameras have some pretty amazing highlight recovery, as Canon tends to tune their cameras to favor highlights (either intentfully or simply as a byproduct of their manufacturing process, I can't say...although I'm inclined to think its intentional given Canon popularity among wedding photographers.)

I regularly repeat that anecdote in many of my posts...but I just came across a couple accidental overexposures of some of my own photos that I think clearly demonstrate the point. While out photographing birds with a rental Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L II IS and Canon EF 2x TC III, I kept coming across dragonflys. A telephoto lens with a TC is a great way to photograph some frame-filling insect "macros" (more like pseudomacro) without scaring the subject off. I accidentally set my exposure wrong and totally blew the first few shots:

kp93T.jpg

1/100s @ f/5.6 ISO 100

The exposure should have been around 1/1000s @ f/8 ISO 100 (which I proved with some subsequent shots, which ended up being 1/1000s @ f/7.1 ISO 160)...so my exposure above was almost four stops overexposed. Thanks to the power of Lightroom 4.1 and its amazing highlight recovery, the above image, with -4 EV exposure correction and 60% highlight recovery, turned into this:

bkKdv.jpg


I'd experienced Canon's amazing highlight headroom when photographing the moon. I REALLY push my moon exposures...to the point where once exposed the moon looks like a nearly uniform almost-white disc in the in-camera preview. Once imported, its clear that there are actually few parts of the moon that are actually white. I'd never actually overexposed something so much that on import it really DID look almost entirely white. The histogram of the dragonfly was all bunched up in two peaks near the very far right...with a small gap between the second peak and the actual right edge...a gap maybe 1 or 2 pixels wide. With 100% highlight recovery in LR 4.1, even the specular highlights on the wings still retain a lot of detail:

8zSTR.jpg


Since this image started out way overexposed, there is zero color or pattern noise in the shadows. There is also minimal random (photon shot) noise in the shadows as well...they look as clean as a D800 at ISO 100! ;-)

So, the next time someone tells you Canon cameras suck...send 'em here. While Canon cameras may not be able to achieve 13.2 stops of DR or allow noiseless shadow recovery like the D800 can, they really do know how to pack in the highlights, and maintain full color fidelity while recovering. The next time you need low noise shadows...expose to the right....then, try exposing farther to the right. 8)

  • Locked
I'm mulling over 2 lenses (70-200mm f/2.8L USM or the EF 200mm f/2.8L USM II)

Obviously there are similarities in focal length and aperture. Neither have image stabilization. I have heard the 70-200 is tack sharp between 70-135... which raises the question, is the additional range I will get worth the additional 400 dollars. I've already bought the 70-200, so I've answered my question, but I got it as such a good price, that I could sell it within a matter of days and then just get the 200 prime.

At the moment, I am shooting a ton of football games (pee-wee level). And I imagine I will be shooting indoor girls basketball games here in the next few weeks.

I already have a 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, and 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro.

Any advice is appreciated. If the 200mm prime is incredibly sharp wide open... or isn't head and shoulders better than the 70-200mm... I'll stick with the zoom. But I also don't want to use the 135-200mm range and be so disappointed that I never bother to use the lens.

  • Locked
Options for 60D upgrade/replacement?

So, here I am with a 60D (great camera), and several lenses I've invested in over the period I've gotten into photography. While I've gotten great shots and achieved results with what I currently have, I do have some money saved up and I'm currently evaluating options, including perhaps stepping up to a better body. Ever since I've started, the ratio of money I've spent on bodies (T2i -> 60D) vs. lenses (24-105, 17-50 Tamron -> 17-55 2.8, 35 1.4, 70-200 f4 -> 70-200 2.8 II, 70-300 L, 85 1.8, 100 L Macro, 40 2.8 ) is obviously heavily biased in favor of the glass. (Also have a 580ex II flash unit) I've been starting to think about perhaps paying more attention to the other end to get the best IQ that I can.

Couple of notes:

1) Hobbyist (not a pro, don't make $$ off this stuff so don't need top-performing equipment, nor do I have that kind of money to spend)
2) General photographer here (i.e. don't specialize in anything particular, although I'll tell you what I do NOT do: studio work/portraits, weddings, tripod work. Have done parties though, probably the closest thing to a wedding-type setting)

I've been debating whether to step up to FF - I have to say I've really become accustomed to and utilized the reach of APS-C on the 60D (and the T2i before it) with lenses like the 70-300L and I love how far back I can stand at events and still get nice close-up shots. I've shot some ice-skating performances - reach has come in handy there as well. On the flip side, when shooting an event (book) signing with the 60D and 70-200 2.8 I often find 70mm to be too long when I have an opportunity to get to the table, and I have to back up. However, the 200mm end is nice during the actual reading when I can be in the back of the room and still get closeups. And, at events where I have the 70-300 people on occasion will ask for group shots and 70 is too long on the 1.6x camera. There are times where I've been wanting more in terms of IQ, especially indoors where I dislike using flash and have to crank up ISO. Also, outdoor landscape shots (even with a quality lens like the 24-105), while not bad, don't seem as sharp as they could be. I looked at some sample landscape shots from a 5D in a review the other day and was blown away at how much more detail was in the images.

I've heard about this new 6D, and it got me thinking whether it is worth it. In many ways, though, it's not a TRUE upgrade to a 60D because it does step back in a few respects and step forward in others. The 5D3, OTOH, is a definite upgrade but after handling one yesterday at the store, although I was amazed and couldn't put the thing down, I'm wondering whether it is really a tad too much camera for what I do (coming from the 60D, it seems so complicated!). But, I feel like the 6D is the opposite- might leave me wanting just that little bit more, although I'm tempted to wait for a review first. As an aside, I've also been eyeing the new EOS M as an eventual replacement for my SD950IS P&S...want a capable compact camera to complement the DSLR and be able to get good shots in venues, etc.

So- what to do? This is something I might do over the next few weeks or months. There's this 6D...the prospect of a possible 7D Mark II next year, the 5D3 now (although a bit cost prohibitive, I CAN squeeze it out if I can get a good deal for under $3K). Only issue would be the 17-55 (only EF-S lens I have) which I'd have to give up for a 24-70 that is 2x the price...and no IS...although I would like to keep the 60D if I can as a 2nd body.

You guys have helped me out before...I'd appreciate any thoughts, etc.

  • Locked
Sigma 70-200 OS

Probably most of you here swear by Canon's 70-200L IS II, and for excellent reasons. From numerous forum posts here I can understand this is one of the best zooms produced, period. But I am not looking for any more info about Canon's offering. What I am looking for is personal experience of those of you who might be using the Sigma 70-200 OS. It would be great if any of you actually used both the Canon and the Sigma. Would you please care to share your opinions and experiences? I am not a professional photographer, so justifying buying the Canon is almost impossible for me. The similar offering from Tamron does not yet have OS/VC/IS. So it would be a great help to learn from your opinions and experiences about the Sigma lens. Thank you all in advance.

  • Locked
Cokin ZPro vs Xpro

i just purchased a ZPro with a 82 mm adapter ring for my 16-35 mm and so far been happy with the way it fits except the vignetting at 16-20 mm.. I am thinking of returning it and get a XPro filter kit. seems crazy expensive to get the adapter and filters but question is will the XPro universal adapter ring fit any lens ?

also will the 100 * 100 filters fit the adapter ring for ZPro ?

how do you like this filter kit against the Lee filter kits ? issue is availability of Lee and hence the reason why i m looking at Cokin..

Please share any information if you have used these kits before..

TIA

  • Locked
mhm... open letter to canon?

with all the complains about canons 6D autofocus why is no website, that cares about canon in one way or the other, writing an open letter to canon... demanding a statement?

i mean.... dpreview wrote it´s a rather dissapointing camera and i have yet to read a preview that is not puzzled by the low-tech AF.

if we complain here in a forum .. canon cares a sh*t.

but if a popular and frequented website writes something and is not afraid to tell the truth... maybe canon will take notice and feel obligated to react?

or maybe it´s to late here and im just bored and tired.....

  • Locked
  • Poll Poll
Why would you get this lens?

Let's say a magic ginie arrives at your door, granting you 1 of 2 lenses.

  • canon 70-200mm f2.8 L II IS USM

    Votes: 56 96.6%
  • canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM

    Votes: 2 3.4%

let's assume you have non of these or any equivalent lenses. He will give you one, but only if you give him the reason why, which one would you choose?

(Sorry got a little bored trying to make this question interesting :P, basically which one would you choose if you would not look at the price and not asking me what I shoot the most, just tell which one would be more handy in what situation)

  • Locked
More Big Megapixel Talk [CR1]

HTML:
<div name="googleone_share_1" style="position:relative;z-index:5;float: right; /*margin: 70px 0 0 0;*/ top:70px; right:120px; width:0;"><g:plusone size="tall" count="1" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/?p=11396"></g:plusone></div><div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin:0 0 70px 70px;"><a class="tm_button" rel="&style=normal&b=2" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/?p=11396"></a></div>
<strong>A bit more information


</strong>I’m told that the coming big megapixel camera is a very new sensor design/overhaul. The emphasis is in the dynamic range of the sensor. Performance is said to be on the level of medium format, even better than the impressive D800.</p>
<p>The same person also says the camera won’d be a “3D” or any other “D”, it will get an all new naming scheme.</p>
<p><strong>EF 35 f/1.4L II


</strong>This is apparently also ready for an announcement, now that the manufacturing issues with the EF 24-70 f/2.8L II have been solved. This lens could come at PhotoPlus along with the new EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x.</p>
<p>Most of the information lately has been through third parties and from new sources, so keep the salt shaker beside you.</p>
<p><em>thanks for the info</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r </strong></p>

  • Locked
New Lenses in January [CR1]

HTML:
<div name="googleone_share_1" style="position:relative;z-index:5;float: right; /*margin: 70px 0 0 0;*/ top:70px; right:120px; width:0;"><g:plusone size="tall" count="1" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2012/09/new-lenses-in-january-cr1/"></g:plusone></div><div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin:0 0 70px 70px;"><a class="tm_button" rel="&style=normal&b=2" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2012/09/new-lenses-in-january-cr1/"></a></div>
<strong>Two f/4 Telephotos Coming


</strong>I’m told we can expect two new f/4 telephotos to be announced in January, 2013.</p>
<p>The first will be an EF 300 f/4L IS II, you can obviously expect better coatings, IS and a slightly lighter weight.</p>
<p>The second is said to be an EF 400 f/4L IS, no mention of it being a DO lens. With the price of the coming EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x, mixed with the also expensive 400 f/4 DO IS, there is probably a big market for a 400 f/4 prime that is “affordable”.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
37,279
Messages
967,162
Members
24,636
Latest member
kapalabhati

Gallery statistics

Categories
1
Albums
29
Uploaded media
353
Embedded media
1
Comments
25
Disk usage
982.4 MB