petec

<p>Thanks for the recommendations guys!<br>

Pete</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I am collecting 60s/70s rangefinders like the Olympus 35RC/RD, Canonet QL17 etc. As some of these are now fetching astronomical prices once serviced on ebay, can anyone recommend a place in London that will overhaul these cameras? I would rather buy cheaper ones and get them serviced myself!<br>

Pete Cutter</p>

<p> </p>

Have you considered the 100mm f/2? I bought this in preference to the 85mm f/1.8. At the time it was said that the 85mm was a classic portrait lens, but that the 100mm was better if you wanted a more 'modern' portrait approach- for example where head shots may be cropped.

I've seen reviews that say it is not as sharp as the two you mention, but you don't necessarily want a super-sharp portrait lens.

All,

thanks for your feedback. On closer inspection it turns out the lens won't focus past 1.5m. I didn't notice initially because I was more keen on testing the image stabilisation! Doh!

It's going back to Canon.

Cheers

Seliman,

I have a 40D and several lenses, and I agree with many of the above observations, especially:

- you don't have a really wide zoom like the 10-22mm EF-S, which is the equivalent of the 16-35mm on a full-frame body

- buy at least a 50mm or 35mm prime first for low-light situations

- don't discount the 17-55mm f2.8 IS, as an alternative to the 16-35 range. I have a 17-40mm f/4 which I love, but I am thinking about getting the 17-55 for more range, f2.8 and IS. By all accounts a cracking lens.

- also the 3 f/2.8 L zooms are real heavyweight pro kit. I would seriously consider looking the the f/4 zooms instead - the 17-40 (or 17-55 as above), the 24-105 f/4 IS, and the 70-200mm f/4 IS, which is next on my list! All the f/4 L zooms are smaller, lighter, some are also better than the 2.8 versions. Also they probably balance better with a 40D body. Unless you need f/2.8 all the time they are definitely worth considering.

So in summary I would recommend:

35 or 50mm prime

10-22mm EF-S

17-55mm EF-S or 17-40mm f/4L

24-105mm f/4L IS

70-200mm f/4L IS

That just leaves a macro lens...

I just purchased a refurbished 24-105mm f4L lens direct from Canon. It all seems

to work OK, but I noticed that when I turn the manual focussing ring through the

first part of its travel (the macro mark visible through the window), it always

makes a clicking noise.

I'm guessing that this is intentional, but perhaps someone who has a copy could

tell me if theirs does the same?

Cheers

Pete C

I would like to buy a good quality circular polarizing filter in 77mm size for

my L lenses like the 24-70L and 17-40mmL.

I have an EOS 20D at the moment, but will probably upgrade to a full-frame 5D

in the future.

I looked at B+W filters (having always used Hoya before), and there are

several options...e.g. Circ Polarizer SLIM, CP Kaesemann MRC, CP Kaesemann MRC

SLIM etc.

Can anyone with experience of these offer any advice?

Pete

I was in Spain recently, trying to photograph some bull-running through a

small village street with an EOS20D.

Because of the subject matter I switched to Servo AF focus mode to track the

bulls as they were running towards or away from me. It was then that I

realised I didn't know which focus point setting to use. My old EOS3 obviously

had many more focus points that the 20D.

Is there an optimum setting for this situation? Is is best to turn on all

focus points? Or just use the centre point? Are there any custom functions

that affect this?

I have a 20D, and the 17-40 f4, 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f4, and 50mm f1.4. I find the 24-70mm to be very cumbersome with the 20D body. I had it on an EOS3 before, which it was a better match for.

I like the 17-40mm as a walkaround lens, but it is a bit short. I suspect for your subject matter you would need a longer lens like the 70-200mm. Have you considered the new 24-105mm, or is it too slow? I am considering replacing my 24-70mm with it.

I agree with other posters that you cannot beat primes if low light is your problem. I love the 50mm f1.4 for low light or portraits. If you need more length, what about the 100mm f2 or 85mm f1.8? These are stunning lenses that would also be great if you upgrade to full frame in the future.

Thanks for all your answers. I don't have a 35mm lens, but I do have a 50mm 1.4, so I guess that would be the best option, and just live with the contract issue.

I would also be tempted to try a Ricoh GR digital at some point...I have a GR1, and it has proved useful for this kind of application in the past.

Hi,

I had an interested challenge at the weekend, when I tried to take some

pictures at the Brick Lane (london) Festival. This is a street festival, so I

was mainly wandering down the street trying to get interesting shots of

stallholders or passers-by.

I was using a Canon EOS 20D with the 24-70mm lens, which is pretty large,

especially with the lens hood fitted, and also a 420EX Speedlight for fill-in

flash. The trouble with this set-up is that it is very conspicuous, and you

look like a pro (I am not), so people don't like being photographed much.

I have smaller, less conspicuous lenses, but I had wanted to use a longer

focal length than my 17-40mm based on previous outings when I couldn't isolate

subjects very easily.

Anyone got any words of wisdom? Best to use a nice compact lens? Is there any

way round the contrast problem?

Cheers

Pete

Hi,

can anyone who is lucky enough to have a 20D tell me how big RAW

files are when converted to TIFF format?

The reason I ask is that I use a stock agency that insists on 48Mb

files (24-bit), and the 20D may just meet that threshold without

having to upsize the files.

Thanks

I have an IIyama monitor with the high brightness feature, but as Stephen says you have to turn it on. When I first received the monitor I was confused about when to use the high brightness setting, and whether to profile with it on or off.

I have always left it off, and only use it occasionally as an editing aid.

However I would be interested to know what IIyama & Gretag think the problems are with these monitors, I have always found it difficult to set the Brightness on mine when using Photocal to calibrate it. I always end up setting it to 100%, which I am not that comfortable with.

I will be on vacation next week in Umbria, and I am after a film

recommendation. I will be taking Velvia and Provia for some

landscape work, but what would anyone recommend as a slowish neg

film for candid people shots, probably in sunny conditions?

In the past I have always used Fuji Superia 400 for general snapshot

usage, but I would like to try something maybe slower and/or more

suitable for skintones.

Hi,

I am using Photocal to calibrate my IIyama 19" monitor. When I go

through the initial process to set the monitor brightness, I have to

turn the brightness right up to 100% to be able to differentiate the

4 different grey shades displayed. And I am uncomfortable with the

idea of leaving it running at 100% (perhaps needlessly).

The monitor is quite new (about 1 yr old), and there is no problem

setting a suitable luminance value later on in the process.

I have tried different levels of ambient light (I know some suggest

calibrating monitors in the dark), but it makes little difference.

Also, I think this was not such an issue with my previous PC, so

perhaps it is related to my upgrading the system unit, and therefore

the graphics card.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, or can suggest what might

cause this?

Thanks in anticipation,

Pete

Hi,

I am planning to buy an EF 17-40mm lens on my next visit to the US in

a few weeks time, and I shall want to buy a UV filter, and possibly a

circular polariser to use with it.

Does anyone who owns this lens have advice about the best filters to

avoid vignetting? I usually buy Hoya filters, and on my 28mm 2.8 I

have the slimline UV filter. I have also used a standard 58mm

polariser on that lens without problems, but the 17-40 is obviously a

lot wider. I would be interested in any practical experience.

Thanks

Pete Cutter

I have just purchased a new 19" CRT monitor (Iiyama Vision Master

Pro 454), and to my surprise it is not possibly to the RGB gain

settings individually, as it was with my old NEC C900 monitor. I

used this feature when calibrating the old monitor with Photocal and

the Colorvision CRT Spyder. However, the new monitor does not have

controls to modify RGB gains individually, although you can set the

colour temperature to any value.

How valuable is it to be able to adjust RGB individually? I had

assumed that it was mandatory in order to get an accurate colour

balance. Is any imbalance compensated for when Photocal creates a

monitor profile?

It also seems quite difficult to find a monitor with RGB controls

these days. Eizo to one (at a cost), but many of the other

manufacturers don't seem to provide this feature any more.

I would be happier returning the new monitor and getting a

replacement that has RGB controls. Do you think this would be

worthwhile, or is there another solution?

Hi

As my EOS 5 has just packed up on me, after several years service, I

am looking to get a more up-to-date body and keep the 5 as backup.

The obvious candidate is the EOS 3, but I guess I am a bit

intimidated by the 45 focusing points etc. I never really used the

eye-controlled focus on my EOS 5. Having graduated from a 1000F, I

tended to just use the central focussing point most of the time.

I am mainly interested in shooting portraits and landscapes, so fast

autofocus tracking is not really that important to me.

Things I would like about the EOS 3 are the E-TTL flash, 97%

viewfinder, and ability to use my EF 70-200mm f4 with a teleconverter

(doesn't autofocus on my EOS 5), plus spot & multi-spot metering. For

those features it is probably worth buying, but I think maybe a

lesser model would be sufficient.

I already have quite a few good lenses, so I don't mind spending the

money on a good body.

Can anyone with practical experience of using an EOS 3 comment on the

usability of the autofocussing and metering mechanism? I have read

that on auto settings it can easily focus on the wrong area, and it

is cumbersome to choose focussing point manually. How manageable is

it scaled down to limited number of points?

Comments?

Pete Cutter