alvaro_buitrago

I use the 50.mm 1.4 almost exclusively. Sometimes I open to 1.4 but often use 1.8 as the DOF can be very narrow. I avoid using flash, so a fast prime is useful. Only drawback is that this lens has a slow autofocus mechanism, and somtimes it needs help (moving the focusing ring manullay) because at times it just wonders off searching for the subject. The 50.mm 1.8 has a much better autofocus mechanism. I like the 1.4mm a lot.

I have an XTi and the manual indicates that "with a fast lens from 1.0 to 2.8, high-precision focusing takes effect with the center AF point". So it has HPF but only with the center AF.

I have the tamron 28-75 and a Maxxum7 and can say that the lens is D compatible as far as providing distance information for DOF. I think that the flash works using ADI, but I cannot be certain because I do not know how the thing works. I can say that the performance of my flash is better with this lens than with my other one, 50mm 1.7

I am curious to see your results, so keep us posted.

 

It would help if your lens can be stopped down manually. In other words, does it have an external button that you can press to get the desired aperture, does it change apperture whenever you dial a new number on the apperture ring?

 

I saw a similar posting a while back on the EOS forum where someone bought a screw mount lens and corresponding adapter only to find out that his lens could only be stopped down by pressing a pin which could not be reached externally once the lens was attached to the camera. The set up worked -metering was actually good, but the lens was always wide open.

 

If you are spending so much money on the new digital body, you should also consider getting at least one or two new lenses. Everyone recommends the 50m 1.7 as a great deal, and there are several options for zooms.

 

Do not forget to share your results

I also have the Elan7e and Maxxum7.

 

If you are comparing these two the advantage goes to Maxxum7 by far.

 

Elan7 is quiter and possibly has a faster focusing (usm lenses). It also has eye control, and its built quality fells very good.

 

Maxxum is much better in many other areas. It is smaller, has more custom functions which actually tell you what they are for in plain English, PC connector for flash, data bank, honey comb over/under exposure view, and the built in flash can be used as master for wireless flash. It is also easier to focus manually because of its brighter screen.

 

You really need to compare the Maxxum7 to the EOS3. The Elan7 is a great camera but not in the same league as the Maxxum7 if you only compare the bodies.

 

You really should compare both the bodies and the system (Canon, Minolta)

 

What are you using now?

If you are a member of Sam's club (belongs to Walmart) you cannot beat their prices. Premium processing which includes index print and high resolution internet download is about 4.75 for a 24 exp.

 

I recently ordered the plain vanilla service by mistake (no index prints nor digital copies) on a roll of Fuji film and was totally surprised by the good quality. It costed 2.75

 

PS I am not referring the their in store one hour service but the drop off and pick up after three days

I can speak as a customer. I got married in late 2000 and my photographer promised to give me the negatives, medium format, one year afer giving me the album. He was true to his word. We actually got them a little later only because we ended up ordering a few extra copies when we first went to pick up the negatives. He gave us some basic instructions on how to keep them, and told us that if we really wanted re-prints from him, he could always do them, but he is not really in the business of making re-prints. I noticed that some of the negatives had scratches, but they were barely visible on a couple of 5 X 7 we ordered last year.

 

As a customer getting the negatives was very important but waiting a year was not. I did not want to "cheat" the photographer of the additional revenues from the re-prints; on the contray he did such a good job that we bought extra copies and upgraded the album. My wife and I wanted him to handle everything.

 

I suggest that you give the negatives or digital copies but take your time. Give them after you have completed your work and delivered all re-prints.

The 5 is a great little camera. Its size is a blessing for those who get used to it. I use it for travel or whenever size is an issue.

 

Also look at the the 7. I wish I had one.

Yes.

 

You can buy a SunPak 355AF or 433AF which will give you automatic TLL but no manual settings. when new, they run for about 60-90 US Dollars.

 

They are not as good as the Canons, but they are good and much better and powerful than the built in flash.

 

Also, get a difuser since it is very useful to avoid strong shadows.

I have the 50mmm 1.4 and the 28-105 3.5II.

 

The 50mm is much better and is my preferred lens, but it has a flaw because sometimes the autofocus fails and seems to get stuck. I fix it by rotating the manual focus ring. Other users have reported the same issue.

 

The optics of the 50mm is much better than the prime. This is the lens I really trust.

 

I do not own the 50mm 1.7 but have heard only good things about it.

csab,

 

Good to know that for the Maxxum 5 what Minolta calls "spot" is really partial metering. I was not aware of that but will keep in mind for the hard to measure circunstances.

Make sure that the Canon lenses you have are EOS, meaning compatible with an EOS system. If you have old manual Canon lenses they may not work with an EOS system.

If your budget is under $100 then get a third party; otherwise, go for the 420EX.

 

If I had to buy a new flash today I would choose the 420EX. It will suffice most of your needs and can be used as a slave if you get more sophisticated later on. As it is, I currently use a SunPak 355AF with an Stoffen diffuser, and it does the job. I suggest that you get a flash with bounce capabilites and you also get a diffuser.

I have not tried Walmart one hour, but I can tell you that the four day service at Sam's club Miami is very good. I use them for most of my development. I still use a prolab for reprints, enlargements, and development of really important rolls, but for normal development Sam's club is a real bargain.

Andrew,

 

This is NOT the first posting related to this specific problem on this specific lens. I also have a 50mm 1.4, and it is my favorate lens because of its optical quality. And yes, my lens also freezes once in a while. My two work around solutions are two focus manually or try to focus into well lit simple subjects. Once the lens is no longer stock/frozen it works fine.

 

In spite of this problem, I continue to use this lens because it has great optical quality.

This board has helped me a great deal, so I want to share with you my

development choices and hope that it will be useful to those of you

who are in a budget. I recommend finding a good but inexpensive lab

to process regular stuff and a pro-lab to do enlargements and process

your really good shots.

 

For normal color prints I use Sam�s club in Miami. Not the one hour

service but the three day which includes 4X6 prints and high

resolution downloads from the web. The quality is very good and the

price ($5.7 for 36 prints) is excellent. I take most of my color

prints to them. I do not recommend the one hour service, only the

mail in.

 

For enlargements, reprints, and for full service of rolls from

special occasions, I use Pitman Photo. It is a pro-quality lab with

excellent service. At Pitman the quality is never an issue, but the

higher prices and less convenient location is.

 

I also develop my slides at Pitman -they actually send it out to some

Kodak lab and have it done within a week- and have them print the

nice shots.

 

Recently I found out that Walmart prints from slides and their price

is very low (0.29 cents vs. 1.49 at Pitmans). I tested them once and

found the quality acceptable. So from now I will use the pro-lab to

print the really good slides and Walmart to print the ones that are

nice to have.

 

My current options help me keep costs down but allow the flexibility

of using a pro-lab when it matters most.

I have three recommendations for you:

 

Per Ben's advice do not open the 28-105 higher than 5.6; I have this lens, so I know it can be rather soft.

 

Have a plan of the pictures/moments you must take. During my own wedding my photographer went over a sequence of the pictures we (wife and I) wanted and so on. This turned out to be of great help for both the photographer and us.

 

Go a few days earlier to the place of the wedding and measure the light, take a few pics, and test your equipment. It is always better to experiment early.

 

I hope you do well. Please keep us posted.

I have the same lens and have had the same problem. My other lens, 28-105/3.5-4.5 has never had that problem. I use a 7e.

 

This seems to happen more frequently when the focusing object is close and there is a large background (as taking close ups of people on the beach), or when taking pictures in low light. My solution to is to switch the lens to manual, focus manually, and then put it back to automatic. After this the lens works fine until the next time it gets stuck.

 

I have never had this problem with the slower zoom, but I value the quality of the 50mm more, so it is my preferred lens.

 

By the way, This issue is specific to this lens since this is not the first posting refering to it.

I suggest the Elan 7e. The only advantage of the Ti is that it is smaller. In everything else (including the extra benefits you get for the additional cost) the Elan7e is a clear winner. The "e" will be useful to quickly change focusing points without having to turn any knobs. If you cannot afford the 7e go for the 7 or get a used body. If you use B&H or Adorama be sure to use the link at this site since those two sponsor this site.

 

The 28-105 lens is just OK. I have it and have found it too soft for my taste, so I also have the 50mm 1.4 prime. I encourage you to buy the less expensive 50mm 1.8 prime because it has much better optics than the zoom and is relatively inexpensive.

I believe that the Elan7e is the closest match. However, there are several significant differences. Maxxum has partial metering, Elan has partial. Maxxum has data storage Elan does not. Maxxum has built in flash with wireless capabilities, Elan requires 550EX or ST???. Elan has eye control (focusing points), Maxxum does not. Elan has 45 sensors (or individual areas that the camera evaluates for metering), Maxxum has 14. The size of both cameras is about the same (I think the Minolta is smaller).

 

Of course, I have the Elan 7e and I like the way It handles, and the fact that I can easily change the settings in a way I could not do with the rebel 2K. I do not own a Minolta, but would like it if my Elan7e had spot metering and data storage. It would also be nice to have a built in flash meter with wireless capabilities. Of course Cannon has an impressive and possibly more flexible set up for wireless flash, but it is expensive, so I have not bought it yet.

 

I hope this helps.

This film was rated the top color film by Photographic Magazine in their March 2003 edition. But I also read the article at photo.net which recommends to stick with Kodak and Fuji, so I am now a little confused.

 

I purchased a few rolls of Ultra 100 but have only developed one, and with mixed results because I used it for indor portraits. I shoot my little one mostly indoors, and in my opinion (I am not a pro) this film is not the most appropriate for portraits. I like Agfa Portra 160 which I have bought based on recommendations from the same article.

 

http://www.photographic.com/showarchives.cgi?167

I recommend Agfa Portrait 160. I have a similar set up as yours and a have taken about ten rolls of my little one with this film. I decided to try this film because it was recommended by Photographic magazine in their March 2003 edition. If you buy it on line you will probably get a good price, I get mine from B&H.

 

I have tried Kodak Royal Gold 200 and 400 (very good general film), Fuji Previa 400 (sharp colors and very inexpensive), but for skin colors Agfa Portrait 160 is my choice. I have not tried portrait films from Kodak or Fuju, but I would guess that they must also be very good.

 

Film is just part of the equation, and flash, aperture, speed, etc. also play a key role. I would recommend that you read the flash article from NK Guy. I now use a diffuser on my flash, and that has made a big difference. I believe that having the right light is more important than the film. I also have the 28-105 lens, but I do not get great results from it because I have not yet figured out how to control depth of field. So, I usually shoot with the 50mm.

 

I hope you take great pictures from your little ones. Keep us posted on your progress. Regards,

 

Alvaro Buitrago

Steve,

 

I also have this lens and have found the same problem. It appers that the lens gets stock and cannot focus. The LCD display blinks indicating that the lens is out of focus.

 

I noticed the problem in both my old rebel 2k and my new Elan 7E. As far as I can tell the problem happens during low light. I fix it by first switching the lens to MF and focusing manually. I then swith it back to AF mode, and the lens works fine until the next time I have the problem. I thought I was getting this problem because I bought a used lens, but I also suspect that It may be due to lack of sufficient light.

 

My other lens is a 28-105mm 3.5, and I have never had this problem with it (I bought it new). However, the 50mm 1.4 is so much better than the 28-105mm 3.5 that it has become my primary lens.

 

Regards,

 

Alvaro Buitrago

Everyone,

 

I just placed an order with B&H for the 7E. Thank you very much for your responses; you really helped me make the decision. I am very glad to hear that most people with glasses do not have much of a problem with the eye control. I am looking forward to using the 7E this weekend.

 

Regards,

 

Alvaro Buitrago

I am planning on upgrading from a rebel 2K to an Elan 7 but wonder if

I should upgrade to the 7E instead. I will give my Rebel 2K to my

brother, and I will get myself an Elan. Initially I thought of

getting the 7 because it is cheaper. But now that I getting ready to

place the other I wonder if the extra cash (about 100$) is worth the

benfit.

 

I primarily take photos of family gatherings and of my little baby

girl. I generally select the focusing point manually. I read that

selecting a focusing points on the Elan is much easier than on the

rebel 2K, so I will get an upgrade either way. Will the 7E be worth

the benefit? Is there any other difference between these two models?

 

One final note, I normally wear glasses and sometimes wear contacts.

 

Regards,

 

Alvaro Buitrago