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bill owens

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Posts posted by bill owens

    Canon DPP for Lens Correction then ACR?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    For the Canon 18-55 IS kit lens, DPP works GREAT for lens correction (distortion, CA, vignetting and color blur).

    Unfortunately, I much prefer ACR for all other editing functions. Most of my other lenses are either non-Canon

    or very high quality Canon so I don't bother with DPP and go straight to ACR.

     

    When I use the 18-55 (like I did yesterday for my kid's field trip), I (1) do lens correction in DPP on raw CR2

    files, (2) save them as TIFF, (3) edit the TIFF in ACR, (4) save as JPEG, then (5) delete the TIFF (I don't

    want/need the large TIFF files). I don't like this because I lose the xmp file (for preserving the ACR edit

    selections). Any suggestions for a better workflow?

    Tamron 17-50 how good compared to L's

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    Tommy,

     

    I've enjoyed the heck out of my 17-50. It is sharper than the Canon 17-40 I had (which was stolen), but distortion is the one thing I find myself correcting in Photoshop more than I did with the Canon. Anyway, here's a link to about 400 travel shots I took recently, mostly with the Tamron:

     

    http://billowens.smugmug.com/gallery/5814398_BqwtK#P-1-12

     

    Password is pineapple (I'm too lazy to remove it).

     

    These are just family travel shots (little time for bracketing, tripod, etc.) with a modest level of post-processing, but I hope they will give you a "real world" feel for the lens. There are a mix of other lenses in there (11-16, 70-200, 85, 135, 400), so hover over a photo and click the "Photo Info" icon to be sure.

    5DII My "Last" Camera?

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    I used to own an Olympus OM-2 35mm film camera and was happy as a clam with it (and with the tiny, sharp Zuiko

    lenses). I was planning on keeping it forever...until the digital age dawned. Since then I've let myself get caught up

    in the DSLR "trade-up frenzy", enjoying the improved resolution and other features with each upgrade (and enjoying

    the nice resale opportunites afforded in this eBay age). I am reasonably confident, however, that once I can justify a

    20+ MP camera with truly low noise and good durability (like the 5DII), I will not feel compelled to trade up for many

    years to come. I'm curious how many amatuers like myself will also reach similar buying decisions, and if

    consequently the volume of sales might start to decline signiificantly for EXISTING amatuer DSLR owners--especially

    as the xxD models move into the 20+ MP range (as competition will force them to quicker than most might predict).

    Higher frame rates, better autofocus, improved dynamic range, etc. certainly will keep many trading up from the 5DII

    down the road, but we've clearly reached the point of diminishing returns on the BIG TWO: resolution and noise. I'll

    probably wait about a year to see where 5DII prices end up and buy my "last" digital body (well, maybe for a

    decade). Have any of you other posters on this forum from the xxxD or xxD worlds been "waiting" for the

    right "permanent" xD camera to show up before paying the big bucks?

    Noise Level

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    I agree with Martijn and think this is noisy (relative to say, a 20D I had in the past) especially for ISO 200. Enlarging the segment above really shows chroma noise. This was RAW to jpeg with essentially no modification in ACR by me. I have several images of the same subject with better exposure but I picked this one because the whites were already strong (and the noise evident). I took a slew of photos on this Hawaii trip with my just-purchased XSi and the noise seems high in general, but I don't have another camera to compare with objectively.

    70-200 IS 2.8L or 4 L

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    My 2 cents:

     

    A. Get the f4 for ease of portability. I think it gives you 4 stops with IS, making it a more even match with the 2.8 in

    low light, and the DOF difference at 70mm (the more useful zoom for street) is only about a foot at a subject distance

    of 20 feet on the XTi.

     

    B. THEN get the $350 85mm 1.8, and bring it along only if you expect low light or need smaller DOF.

     

    The result? You've saved a couple hundred bucks, your total weight for the 2 lenses is lower than the 2.8 alone, and

    you get a "discreet" street lens option and a killer portrait lens.

    Tokina 11-16 f2.8 in stock :)

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    Just picked one up at Penn Camera in Virginia. Super lens. Talk about a different level of service. They let me shoot with it on my camera in and just outside the store. I brought my laptop with me so I could view the images carefully. There is a big brick wall outside for checking distortion, a silver-cornered backlit roof-edge perfect for checking CA, and plenty of subjects around for checking sharpness. A clear blue sky for checking vignetting didn't hurt either. I was amazed by the lens performance across the board. Athough they will often match B&H and other internet prices (after shipping and pretax), I did not haggle since they let me check the quality of the lens before buying. They let me do the same on an earlier Tamron 17-50 purchase. With quality control an issue on even Canon L's, testing before you buy at the store is a nice convenience, especially if you don't want the hassles of return shipping and restocking fees.
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