Jump to content

Ken Katz

PhotoNet Pro
  • Posts

    2,191
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation

432 Excellent

2 Followers

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. While Canon started to produce the EX line of Speedlights around 1995, which will work on all DSLRs, the performance was mostly based upon the camera it was used on. My 550EX plus the D60 (not the 60D) was a PITA, requiring flash AE lock and flash exposure comp to work decently. The 5D mk I provided much better consistency.
  2. "But you lose a lot of light at those speeds" Absolutely, but the camera can shoot at around 51,000 ISO, so it may work. Frankley, I have no need for such capabilities, but thought your comparison to the performance of leaf shutters was interesting. I have shot my granddaughter (and some bears at the Bronx zoo roughhousing) at 10 fps using an E shutter on my tiny Olympus EM-5iii, but I think I will pass on the new Sony global shutter (and the $15K investment including a few lenses) for now.
  3. Sort of, since a leaf shutter can sync with flash at all shutter speeds and I believe is not subject to rolling shutter distortion. Of course the Sony has a maximum shutter speed of 1/80,000 second with 120 frames per second bursts. That is of course you need this kind of performance, but since I missed my chance to photograph Taylor at the Super Bowl last Sunday, I think I can wait on buying the new Sony, at least until next year.
  4. Perhaps you will get lucky and person who actually used the lens will respond on PN, but given the lower traffic and more limited EOS users (than previously on PN), that may not happen. My thought is that it is likely to be quite sharp for a superzoom, and it is surprisingly light, about 3 lb, similar to the 70-200 f2.8L. Unless you plan on using it on a tripod or only in bright light, the lack of IS would have a significant impact on its usage. Alternatives would be the Canon 70-300 f4-f5.6 IS, 70-300 f4-F5.6L IS, or the 28-200 IS. All have IS and the 70-300 lenses are very good optically, the EF 28-200IS has a less stellar reputation. There is an EF 28-300 f3.5-f5.6L IS, but it likely to be more expensive and it is quite heavy.
  5. The 80D and 90D appear to use Canon's latest APSC sensor tech and they are clearly the last of the Canon DSRLs that will be developed, so I don't know why they would not be viable for long, long time. Besides some specific feature differences, the 90D's resolution is certainly a standout, at a somewhat higher cost (used?). Used 6Dii are also being sold at attractive prices if you wanted to have all FF cameras, but no pop-up flash and I don't think the build is any better than the 6D. If you wanted be a little adventurist, the Canon R50 sells new for about $650 (plus about $130 for the EF adaptor), and you can see how Canon's latest AF tracking and subject recognition works. I believe the rear screen is fully articulate and it has a pop up flash! I would expect the image quality to be similar the 80D.
  6. I can’t thank of any reason why that lens shouldn’t work on your 70D. Try it on the D Rebel, and if you get the same result then it’s definitely the lens that’s the problem.
  7. Its been a few decades since I used Tri-X (or any film), but I would probably meter the darkest area that you would want to see detail and let the latitude of the film take care of the highlight areas. Obviously, printing will require appropriate dodging and burning in. You may have a dense negative but all the detail should be there.
  8. What type of film? How will you display the images (printing / web / screen?), how will you process the images (wet darkroom, third party lab, scan negatives and use imaging software?). I'm not an expert on all this stuff, but it may help getting an answer you can use.
  9. The EF 70-200 f4L is an excellent lens. The IS version is even better optically than the original, even when using the Canon 1.4x converter. I have owned both, but I don't have an opinion about the Mk II version of this lens. For me it's not the price that mattered between the f4 and f2.8 L lenses, but mostly the weight difference.
  10. I would think that if you have subjects that are moving, and you don't have enough DOF to cover the likely focus error (old school), then if your camera is sufficiently capable, why not.
  11. You are probably aware that Canon is no longer developing DSLRs or EF lenses, as the market has moved significantly to mirrorless cameras. That said, DSLR's are still available, and there is no reason why you can't buy one and use it for a very long time. To replace a 600D, I would look at the Canon EOS 850D/Rebel T8i, 2000D/Rebel T7 or 800D/Rebel T7i. All similar to your 600D, with 24mp with better performance all around. The xxx models have more features and may have a somewhat better sensor than the 2000D, but look at DPreview.com for specifics and of course price differences. Going with a mirrorless replacement would not be very painful since with an adaptor, your EF lenses work just fine. The advantage of getting an Canon R50 instead of a DSLR is that Canon included a really good version of its subject recognition and AF tracking tech in this camera, if you are shooting things that move. The adaptor is about $130, and you need it to use EF lenses. Again, spending some time with DPreview.com would be helpful. Also, while EF lenses can be used on R bodies, RF lenses cannot be used on Canon DSLRs.
  12. In September 2023, my EM-5iii fell about 1.5 feet inside a camera bag. The IBIS module was damaged, and the camera was inoperable until fixed by OM. My well padded camera case fell out of an aircraft overhead bin, and the Canon 70-200 F4L's AF module was damaged, and never actually fixed correctly by Canon USA. Anything mechanical, electronic, and made with glass can break. I have never broken a phone, and they have been dropped a few times (never fell out of my hands.) Every digital camera has plenty of plastic inside notwithstanding the exterior finish. Canon "L" lenses have plastic inside. Most smartphones are well made, from quality materials, and are not a plastic POS or flimsy, as has been described multiple times in the PN forums. We actually use our phones in actual bright sunlight, in really sunny places, including beaches in San Diego (where the sun almost always shines). Sometimes you have to shade the screen a bit if the sun is shining at a difficult angle. Not a big deal at all. Your photos of Iphone users struggling with their screens would be most welcome! Like it or not, the people who are not professional photographers or serious amateurs will not be buying dedicated cameras. Pros and serious amateurs also take great images with them, as displayed in PN and elsewhere. I am not ready to give up my so called "real" camera yet.
  13. I spend a plenty of time in sunny San Diego visiting my grandchildren, and with a modern (glare resistant) Iphone screen, only occasionally do you have to shade the screen to see. It sure helps my ageing back to hold the phone at a 2.5 year old level instead of bending down and trying that with a viewfinder. I have had Iphones for about 12 years and have never broken the phone. Get a case with grippy sides, or one of those knobs on the back if you need it. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but the latest top of the line Iphone (and Samsung I believe) main camera sensor is 71 sq mm. Compact p&s cameras used to have sensors between 25-45 sq mm and the big sensor in Sony's RX100 series is only 116 sq mm. My m43 sensor is a whopping 225 sq mm. I guess you have not recently picked up an Iphone. Try titanium and ceramic (gorilla glass?). Rated water resistance is 6 meters for 30 minutes. 3 Iphones in 12 years. No plastic in any of them. I don't really care what anyone thinks of smartphones. I use them along with my "big" (m34!) cameras including pro zooms and primes. I have used EOS DSLR's and SLR's previously and of course film for about 40 years . After a trip, I load the files from the EM-5iii and 2 phones into LR. Sometimes the phone images are better (more appealing, more interesting, more spontaneous) than images from my "big" camera. Sometimes the Olympus images are better.
  14. With respect to smartphone's takeover of photography, for most people (who aren't a PN member or read DP Review), this has occurred. Late generation phones are capable of taking really good images when used within their performance envelope, which is increasing each year due to improvements in the hardware and computational advances. While an experienced photographer may be able to exploit the benefits of a high end compact zoom camera, like the Sony RX100's, the current top end Iphone has focal range coverage of 13mm to 120mm (FF equivalent), and the main 48mp camera has a sensor size of 71 sq mm, which is larger than most compact zoom cameras, except for the 116 sq mm Sony 1" sensor used in the RX100's and other high end compact cameras. Most consumers are quite happy with the output. A few years ago we were taking our granddaughter for a stroll on the La Jolla Coast Walk (where the sea lions are), shooting on a bright sunny day with my Olympus EM-5 and now obsolete Iphone 12. Both cameras provided very good images, but with the Iphone 12 images, with its auto HDR mode, a light touch of levels in LR was all I needed to do. The Olympus images had milky white backgrounds, for which the blue sky could be extracted, but needed far more processing and masking in LR to get them to look as good as what the Iphone produced without any intervention. Not a bad performance for the vast majority of parents and grandparents.
  15. Sitting at the Thanksgiving table last month and talking to my sister-in-law's cousin, who is a lawyer in reasonably large NYC law firm, we discussed the impact of AI. His law firm uses AI extensively as a cost cutting aid and to enhance analysis of cases and testimony. With respect to the inevitable copywrite infringement issues, he did not know how the law would settle this, or more likely, will need additional laws enacted in order to address these types of issues. Certainly changes in the licensing agreement that users agree to when reading (or a computer scanning) NYT articles would also be likely. Also found out that my doctor uses ChatGPT daily. Says it's like having the most brilliant doctor sitting right next to you, unless it is having one of it's hallucinations.
×
×
  • Create New...