greg_tan

<p>I understand how Eric feels.<br>

I use the 5D Mark 1 and a 40D together with the 17-40, 35 1.4, 50 1.4, 100 2.0, and 24-70.<br>

I love the 5D, but as a part time wedding photographer there were 2 improvements I wanted to see.<br>

1) even better low light performance which it seems they accomplished<br>

2) 1D autofocus<br>

Even with brides slowly walking down the aisle in a low lit church, I have a hard time keeping focus on them with the 5D. Incidentally, I have no problems using the 1D mark 1.<br>

The problem then is that in the Nikon D3 they have a full frame camera with pro level autofocus, awesome low light performance with dual card slots (which by the way are both compact flash. I never understood why Canon had to use a compact flash and an SD in theirs). And in the D700 the EOS 3 that we never got.<br>

With all that said, I still would not change over, however, since I love Canon primes especially the 35 1.4.</p>

 

<p>OK. So I am really looking at the 17-55 lens myself compared to the 24-70.</p>

<p>I shoot a fair amount of weddings througout the year.<br>

I shoot mainly with primes with the 35 1.4 L, 50 1.4, and 100 2.0 on a 5D, 40D, and 1D Mark 1.<br>

While I have been impressed with the primes and even my 17-40, the 24-70 has left me wondering if I should sell it. While colors and contrast are great, sharpness at all apertures faster than f7 are definitely below my 4 other lenses. So I am thinking about getting the 17-55 for use on my 40D. Maybe I have a bad copy of the 24-70, but I don't think so as it was sent in to Canon once before. Also I think I would benefit a lot from the IS.</p>

<p>I'm with Pup.<br>

I normaly expose twice in DPP and blend in Photoshop.<br>

"Getting the exposure right the first time" is all relative.<br>

For example, I took a shot yesterday where someone was seated in the mall with the entrance of the mall and strong sunlight in the background. You can expose properly for skin tones but not for the backlit sky in the background.<br>

By exposing twice in DPP and using layer masks in CS2, I was able to get the result I wanted.<br>

Even with highlight recovery and using curves in Camera RAW the result in my experience is much poorer, at least in very contrasty scenes.</p>

I have both. I would suggest the 5D.

Both are excellent though.

The one cool thing the 40D has over the 5D that is not mentioned often is that depending on the Canon lens, distance information is kept. So the lens corrections within DPP are automatic as it knows the distance.

My favorite prime is the 35 1.4 L used on the Canon 5D.

My second most used prime is the 50 1.4.

My third prime is the 100 2.0 lens which I use for portraits.

 

I find the image quality from primes is much better than what I get with the 24-70 2.8.

The 5D would put you way out of budget. Since you have two crop bodies in the 30D and XT, I would get the 17-55 2.8 lens. Then get a 40D body with the other $1200.

 

By the way, the XT is still a capable camera.

I would not have it as a main camera now, but still very capable as a backup.

 

I would also probably sell the sigma lenses if I were you.

(Canon's DPP does lens correction for the majority of Canon lenses you have, but not the sigmas).

I'm with Bruce. I bring three cameras with me to a wedding. You can get a rebel xt in the $300 range. Double that you can get a refurb 30D for $650. For a P&S I like the G9 and S5IS as they both have hotshoes. Low ISO with good use of flash can get you some good shots if needed. I went to my cousin's wedding a few months back. I was not the photographer for the wedding,so I planned to bring just my 5D with me. When I got there I looked in my bag and realized I left it at home. I drove off to Office Depot and bought an S5IS. It worked well.

 

For weddings I bring my 5D, 40D, and 1D. I also have an EOS 3, Elan 7, S5IS, 570IS.. oh wow... so that's where all my money went...

"Some facts though: you can't request rush service - you must have CPS account for that. Aside from the loss of paperwork I don't think you can expect rush service on warranty work. Everybody would request rush service :)

..."

 

Actually since it is a 5D, normally you do qualify for CPS rush. Normally you have to affix the stickers on the outside of the box. If you register online they send you a packet with them in the mail. I just xerox mine and tape them on the rare instances I need service.

I have 2 CPE3 packs. It's best to attach it to your belt loop. The screw to attach to the tripod hole on the camera doesn't work very well, and the pack sticks out on both sides making it cumbersome.

Canoga Camera is a great place. I go to their store often in the San Fernando Valley.

Yes, everything is U.S.

..."The macro lens hunts for focus in low light from near to infinty and back. It drove me crazy when I tested it."

 

This is why we have all mentioned the focus range limiter switch. The situation you describe is user error...

 

Uhhhh, no. The 100 2.0 still focuses much faster even with the focus limiter switch.

I use the 100 2.0 on the 5D. I routinely produce 13x19 prints for clients so I can vouch for the image quality using an HP B9180 printer.

 

The macro lens hunts for focus in low light from near to infinty and back. It drove me crazy when I tested it.

 

In the past I used both the 50 1.4 and 100 2.0 lenses for portraits.

I now use the 100 2.0 on the 5D and a 35 1.4 L on the 40D.

 

I owned both the 50 1.8 and 1.4. To me the image quality on the 1.4 was much better. But the AF mechanism on it craps out intermittently.

I am planning on getting the 50 1.2 for that reason.

The results I get from my 50 1.4 are better than my 50 1.8. Contrast, color are better. Thus, I never use the 1.8.

But I have had AF issues with the 1.4, soooo someday I will get the 50 1.2L to match my 35 1.4L.

 

Of the telephoto lenses, I like the 100 2.0 better. More reach than the 85 and faster AF than the 135 2.8.

 

The 50 1.4 and 100 2.0 are the two lenses I use for outdoor portraits.

They both use 58 mm filters. Normally I have to use ND filters in the California sun.

I have the 50 mm 1.4 and 1.8. The image quality from the 1.4 is better than the 1.8. But the AF of the 1.4 lens has gone out on me several times.

 

So I normally use the 35 1.4 lens during weddings not only because of the superb image quality, but the AF is totally reliable.

I would love the 50 mm 1.2 but it is really expensive (oh, and I just got a BMW X5, so the wallet is really hurting now).

 

With a 5D and 1D mark 1 I use the 100 2.0, 50 1.4, and 35 1.4 lenses for the majority of my events. I have a 17-40 for some wide angle shots. I have the 24-70 but have never really liked it much. It's not as sharp as the primes, there's a big difference between 2.8 and 1.4 in low light situations, and oddly seems to be more prone to flare and ghosting than should be. In fact I'll probably throw it up on ebay soon.

I would personally like to see them do a 24-70 IS lens. It's kind of odd that they have the equivalent in the EF-S mount(17-55 2.8 IS) and not on their EF mount. I shoot low light a lot with my 5D, weddings, etc. I tend to use the 35 1.4 lens more than the 24-70 so I can get the shutter speed to where there is no blur in the picture.

 

BTW, is it just me or the 5D has a mean mirror slap that seems to also shake the camera a lot more than my other SLRs (even more than the EOS 3 film body). I would use MLU except... there's no damn easy button to get to it.

I meant an S3IS (I'm sure to get an S5IS when it comes out though).

Hmmm. I'm kind of scared of the monopod thing with the slrs. I might just throw up an S5IS or something. It's bright (it's over 100 degrees here in Southern California right now), so I would be using ISO 100. There's no remote for that camera, just a timer.

 

There is a large backwall. I could likely lean up a ladder against it.

I have that clamp, but that is used to place a flash and umbrella. I actually need to put a camera up high.

I currently use a Canon 5D and 1D for weddings. The next wedding I will be

doing is an outdoor wedding in the afternoon. The bride asked for a bird's eye

panoramic shot of the ceremony. I have seen this before but have not done this

myself. I have a Bogen lightstand, but no way to attach a camera to it. How

would you guys do it?

I was also weary of the quality control issues specifically with the 24-70. Sooooo... I bought it refurbished from Adorama and it works perfectly. They still have one available also (which kind of tells you again about the QC with this lens as I do see it frequently in the refurb bin). The reason I got a refurb is that someone has gone through it with a fine toothed comb to make sure it is within specs. I shot a recent wedding and engagement pics with it. I have some pictures on my website (OK I have minimal skills when it comes to making a webisite, also it still is under construction, but hey it works). It's tanweddings.com. The pics from the 24-70 are under portfolio and they are the Jay and Jamie wedding.

I use Photomechanic to download all my files. It is the fastest way to view raw files as it uses the embedded jpeg to view them. I apply IPTC data on download. It is blazingly fast to rename images. It can view and name raw+jpeg pairs together. You can sort using any sort of criteria such as time taken. Slide show is also very quick, and I use this function to quickly go through several hundred photos from a wedding and discard or tag the ones I want.

I have not had a camera lost by UPS but I did buy a bunch of videos from a company that used UPS. Well, I got a box stuffed with old magazines in it. Someone had stolen the videos in transit and repackaged with magazines. It does happen although not often.

I use the lightsphere (cloud) with amber dome with great success. Indoors with tungsten lighting, I set the camera on tungsten and put the lightsphere/amberdome combo on a 580ex with CPE3 pack. Flash and ambient lighting match perfectly. No more yellow background from flash/tungsten mismatch. Only problem of course is that some venues use an odd mix of tungsten and fluorescent which really messes everything up. Even using an expodisc will not completely solve the problem as different parts of the room will have a totally different white balance. Usually then I'll try to overpower all the lights by setting up one or two 580ex flashes aimed at the ceiling, and use the white dome on the lightsphere.

 

But, uh, I don't think I'll be going for that whaletail thing though.

Heard a lot of horror stories regarding Canon rebates. Sent my rebate for

Canon 5D and 580ex flash ($630) just under 4 weeks ago. Prequalified online

and sent everything by certified mail. Got the rebate check today.

No problems whatsoever.

I use Energizer batteries from Best Buy. I highly recommend the MAHA (powerex) charger as well. With the Canon 580ex flash (4AAs) and CPE3 pack (8AAs) I shot 800 shots at a wedding/reception including fill flash outdoors, the entire reception with flash and never had to change the batteries. No perceptible delay in recycle time.