2015 wishlist

AcutancePhotography said:
My fear would be that if Canon detected non-canon lenses that something would happen to them. Not shut them down, but how about affecting the autofocus just enough to discourage people using third party lenses.

Who says they don't already? They slow down my use of 3rd party batteries every time I put one in.
 
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martti said:
I have seen the spirit level on the back screen of various Canon DSLRs but never in the view finder.
Maybe I have not been looking hard enough?

OK so you have to activate the function by assigning it to the M-Fn button in the 'Custom Controls' menu.
And then the exposure spot indicators tell you which way your camera is tilted. Good to know.
Might come in handy.

I find the optional, superimposed gridlines in the 5DIII sufficient for horizontal alignment.
 
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I am sorry, you do not have to activate anything if you do not want to. It was just a figure of speech.
For instance with Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 there are no horizontal straight lines. Everything is curved.
Wearing multifocal glasses also reduces the occurrence of straight lines –vertical or horizontal– tremendously.
Yeah, spirit level function is not there for nothing though I find the one that flashes up when I push 'INFO'-button twice more useful than the one in viewfinder because I can actually see it.
 
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Here's what I'd like... and I'm not a first adopter, and I usually buy used, so I have a wait until the new ones are purchased... and people decide they don't like the gear ENOUGH and then they elect to sell it. That doesn't mean the lens is bad... but maybe just needs some afma and the person selling it has a rebel body sans afma. That's my hope at least.

What I suspect I'll buy this year is as follows:

135mm f/2L
200mm f/2L
8-15mm fisheye
2x teleconvertor mkiii
600ex-rt

I have about $3000 and i supsect that will grow to around $5500 by the end of the year...

If I get the 200, I won't get the 135L... but I'll get the 2x, because I really like the idea of shooting at 400mm @ f/4.

As for the fisheye, when I had a 60D, I had a 8.5mm Rokinon Fisheye and I liked it... I don't know that I loved it... but I liked it. When I went to full frame, I stopped liking the 8.5 which was semi-circular... Give me a fully round image or what it looks like at 15mm. 9-14mm... probably wasted on me.

The flash... it's a 3rd flash for me, but I want to be able to do somethings like using gels to create a feathered backdrop while still have sidelite peripheral lights...

That's about it for this year... If the 5d mkiv comes out, I probably won't buy it... I may hold off until the mkv, or I may wait a year for the price to drop $1000 and buy grey market...

I really don't want to swallow the depreciation pill when I sell my current 5d... right now I'm only down a few hundred if I sold it today... but when the mkiv comes out, that number jumps to $1000+.
 
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I was shooting icy waterfalls today, and a chunk of ice fell at the place I was shooting. Unfortunately, I was adjusting the ISO setting and totally miss an interesting shot.
So, my wish is to have a Canon system with voice recognition built in. Shouldn't be too difficult, commercial GPS devices have them already.
This would be like:
Camera, set ISO 500,
Camera, set aperture 5.6
Camera, set shutter 250
Camera, focus 4 by 20 (in a 50 by 30 grid).
You get the idea, the user won't have to take eyes off the view finder.
Hope Canon does that!

Now, you hear it here first!!
-r
 
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My Reasonable requests (at least I think they are reasonable and have some chance of coming out in 2015)

Bodies

5D Mark IV (resolution 36+MP, better DR by at least 3 stops)
Announcement of 1Dx M2 - 24 MP, better DR, builtin GPS, otherwise similar to current model but $1,000 lower price
1Dx Crop - incremental improvement over 7D M2 in 1Dx body

Lenses

12-24 F2.8 zoom (though would settle for F4)
24-70 F2.8 IS with 77mm Filter
 
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CaptureWhatYouSee said:
Lee Jay said:
I'm not remotely interested in any of those lenses or in either an M of any sort or a full-frame mirrorless of any sort.

I'm interested in full-frame dSLR offerings.

The path of least resistance to me seems to be 6DII = full-frame 70D and 5DIV = full-frame 7DII.

If they can come up with something better than those, have at it. I'm watching for something to pair up with the 7D2 I'll likely buy next year.

I like this: 6D II = 70D FF .

+1!
 
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lion rock said:
I was shooting icy waterfalls today, and a chunk of ice fell at the place I was shooting. Unfortunately, I was adjusting the ISO setting and totally miss an interesting shot.
So, my wish is to have a Canon system with voice recognition built in. Shouldn't be too difficult, commercial GPS devices have them already.
This would be like:
Camera, set ISO 500,
Camera, set aperture 5.6
Camera, set shutter 250
Camera, focus 4 by 20 (in a 50 by 30 grid).
You get the idea, the user won't have to take eyes off the view finder.
Hope Canon does that!

Now, you hear it here first!!
-r

I'm not completely sure what you mean. But if I read you correctly, that's not good idea.

For one, I don't need to take my eye from VF to change settings.

Second, although the voice recognition has gotten much better over the years, it's still struggling with foreign accents.

Sometimes when we're bored, I'll start asking stuff from Siri or the Android-Siri (can't recall the name at the moment). I've lived only 9 years in Usa, so I still have some accent. It's hilarious how wrong the Siri can guess what it thought I was asking.

So especially if it's busy moment, I DON'T want to try to change settings with voice commands. I'm sure 90% of the time I can do the change faster with the dials, plus 95% of the time it'll be set correct for sure.
 
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tpatana said:
lion rock said:
I was shooting icy waterfalls today, and a chunk of ice fell at the place I was shooting. Unfortunately, I was adjusting the ISO setting and totally miss an interesting shot.
So, my wish is to have a Canon system with voice recognition built in. Shouldn't be too difficult, commercial GPS devices have them already.
This would be like:
Camera, set ISO 500,
Camera, set aperture 5.6
Camera, set shutter 250
Camera, focus 4 by 20 (in a 50 by 30 grid).
You get the idea, the user won't have to take eyes off the view finder.
Hope Canon does that!

Now, you hear it here first!!
-r

I'm not completely sure what you mean. But if I read you correctly, that's not good idea.

For one, I don't need to take my eye from VF to change settings.

Second, although the voice recognition has gotten much better over the years, it's still struggling with foreign accents.

Sometimes when we're bored, I'll start asking stuff from Siri or the Android-Siri (can't recall the name at the moment). I've lived only 9 years in Usa, so I still have some accent. It's hilarious how wrong the Siri can guess what it thought I was asking.

So especially if it's busy moment, I DON'T want to try to change settings with voice commands. I'm sure 90% of the time I can do the change faster with the dials, plus 95% of the time it'll be set correct for sure.

I didn't want to say anything, but I agree... Not to mention that you can have your eye in the optical view finder and you can hit the shoulder buttons and adjust the settings accordingly... and there is a dot on one of the buttons to help you orient your fingers... so you can change on the fly if you practice so it is 2nd nature.
 
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tpatana and jdramirez,
I have trouble with Dragon Voice and Siri, too. I'm a naturalized citizen myself, so English accent is not like native speakers here. However, the voice recognition programs are fairly sophisticated these days that they "learn" the users' speech well enough.
I know the buttons on the camera well, but I still have to look at what I'm doing. Adding voice system shouldn't be detrimental, it should help. I am against having dictation on computers, especially in a crowded room, if everyone starts to dictate to their computers, imagine a classroom situation. But, the camera is held against the face, an inch from the mouth, a whisper of the command would be adequate.
That's my humble thought.
-r


jdramirez said:
tpatana said:
lion rock said:
... a Canon system with voice recognition built in ...

I'm not completely sure what you mean. But if I read you correctly, that's not good idea.

For one, I don't need to take my eye from VF to change settings.

Second, although the voice recognition has gotten much better over the years, it's still struggling with foreign accents.

Sometimes when we're bored, I'll start asking stuff from Siri or the Android-Siri (can't recall the name at the moment). I've lived only 9 years in Usa, so I still have some accent. It's hilarious how wrong the Siri can guess what it thought I was asking.

So especially if it's busy moment, I DON'T want to try to change settings with voice commands. I'm sure 90% of the time I can do the change faster with the dials, plus 95% of the time it'll be set correct for sure.

I didn't want to say anything, but I agree... Not to mention that you can have your eye in the optical view finder and you can hit the shoulder buttons and adjust the settings accordingly... and there is a dot on one of the buttons to help you orient your fingers... so you can change on the fly if you practice so it is 2nd nature.
 
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1. An M3 similar to but better than the Sony A6000, with a built-in EVF and a hot shoe. (I'd never use an inboard flash.)

2. A tiny but optically-superb 15-85 f/3.5-5.6 M-mount lens.

3. A Canon response to the Metabones Speed booster, except EF-to-M mount and 1-1/3 stops instead of 1 stop. The optical quality I want it to have is probably going to be expensive, maybe very expensive.
 
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1. More time/opportunities to shoot.
2. A better M body. Some decisions (both FF and APS-C) hinge on this.
3. A macro lens for the M might be nice.

Otherwise I have most of what I need/use today. Great whites and TSE are still down the road for me. I can always upgrade, but I'll wait to see what my daughter needs/borrows (hand me downs) before I upgrade. I have my eye on a few things like the UWA zoom or the 100-400 II, but no rush. I can wait for sales/refurbs down the road.
 
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Obviously the usual non-gear-related aspects of photography:
Time. Ideas. Better editing skills. Critical viewing of other photographers' works - what works, what doesn't work, do I like it, why, etc. Better physical fitness and hiking/camping skills to get me to locations I want to explore. Occasional evening or day-long seminar in town.

Gear:
1. Some flash and other light modifiers, a cheap radio trigger. Learn to use the 580 EX II that has been languishing in its case. This is on order.
2. If #1 is successful, a set of three manual flashes and a on-camera transmitter that allows remote power changes and at least 3 groups (probably the Yongnuo 560 line). A few more stands and grips.
Bigger ticket items:
3. I'd love a 1DX. However, a 7D2 is more on my price level, and will complement my current Little White 400 f/5.6L nicely. 7D2 accessories: L bracket, CF card and reader, neoprene strap, and I can't resist the little 24mm pancake lens, since I like and use its big brother 40mm lens on the 6D.
4. Rent a Big White for several days in a row of birding. I haven't handled one - likely I would try a 500 f/4L IS II. I would also have to rent or buy a gimbal and a lens foot.
5. Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 calls my name....I tried it, and it is really good, has decent bokeh too. I have several good old film-era manual 50mm lenses, have thought about getting a really sharp modern 50 with AF. I keep wondering if Canon is going to bring out a really good smaller 50 f2 IS, tack sharp at f2, decent bokeh.
 
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P.S. my 2016 wishlist: a full frame camera with much-improved dynamic range, moderate increase in pixels (don't need more than 36 MP, and 24 MP would likely be fine with really good pixels and in-camera electronics) - something to rival the Nikon 810 sensor but work with my lenses.
 
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