mcgarity

<p>Michael<br>

You mentioned that you were considering buying a 5D2 and a 17mm TS-E. That would cost you a ton of money and wouldn't solve your problem. With the setup you have now, the 10mm focal length yields the same perspective as a 16mm lens would on a 5D2. In other words, you would be in just about the same boat you are in now. If you are having trouble composing effectively with the ultra wide setup you already have, buying a new one with almost exactly the same perspective is unlikely to gain you very much. You can straighten up verticals with a tilt shift lens its true, but you can do the same thing quite easily with image editing software. Why not give it a shot before you start changing out equipment?<br>

Larry</p>

 

<p>Leaning verticals are pretty easy to remedy in Photoshop using the perspective distortion transform function. Its accessible from the "edit" drop down menu. You mighty want to try that before getting rid of the 10-22mm. That's a great lens, and it would be a shame to give up on it prematurely. It takes a bit of work to capture good images at the 10mm end, but once you do, its very gratifying. <br>

<img src="file:///C:/Users/Hp/Pictures/Larry%27s/submissions/web%20size/Checking%20Me%20Out%20web%20size.jpg" alt="" width="506" height="506" /></p>

<p>Thanks Michael. Thank you Daniel. I appreciate the advice.</p>

<p>Ted</p>

<p>In my previous post, I misspoke. The moose hang out in the Kawaneechee Valley on the west side of the park and NOT in Endovalley which is on the east. </p>

<p>Also I got to thinking, that a good place to photograph raptors is in the Pawnee National Grasslands - about an hours drive east of Fort Collins. Its not nearly as scenic as RMNP, but the sheer volume of biomass is greater. Admittedly, most of that biomass is rather small. You might possibly see some Pronghorn Antelope out that way. Good luck getting close enough to photograph them though. They have excellent eyesight and are extremely wary.</p>

<p>Larry</p>

<p>Ted</p>

<p>I live in the area and raptors are all over the place; I can't give you any one best location for them. However for other forms of wildlife, the best place is Rocky Mountain National Park. Its about 35 miles West of Ft Collins. If you head to Moraine Park or Horseshoe within RMNP you can see the elk going through their annual mating ritual. I would suggest you get their about 6:30 AM for the best viewing. If you don't mind adding about an hour to your drive, you can go over Trail Ridge Road to Endovalley and see both elk and Moose. </p>

<p>I have also encountered Rocky Mountain Sheep on the way to and from RMNP on Hwy 34 between Loveland and Drake more times than I can count. More often than not, they are out and about in the middle of the day.</p>

<p>Best of luck</p>

<p>Larry</p>

 

<p>I just saw an article that listed the Peak to Peak highway between Estes Park and Idaho Springs as one of the better locations in Colorado for viewing fall foliage. If that is true, I would be grateful for any suggestions regarding good locations and whether morning or evening would be the best time to shoot along that route. Thanks.<br>

Larry</p>

 

<p>Marc<br /> I tried the procedure you described to find the shutter count in CS4. It doesn't seem to work; at least for me it didn't. I could not find "aux" or any reference to shutter count.</p>

<p>I used a 300D until I wore it out, and in my opinion the model is quite capable of delivering high quality imagery. I have some decent 20 by 30 inch prints made from photos taken with it. That said the 300D does have its limitations. As Arie pointed out, you have noise to contend with above 400 ISO. And the buffer can fill up pretty quickly, so I wouldn't recommend it for sports photography. If you are into shooting landscapes, you shouldn't have any problems. However, if you are into landscapes, I would recommend you install a Russian hack for the firmware. The hack in question came out in 2004 and was widely available over the internet. It switched on features that Canon had disabled - such as mirror lockup (which I personally could not live without). If you can't find the hack online today, I think I still have the files you need to install it.</p>

<p>If you do decide you want to upgrade to a new body, you might consider taking advantage of the Canon Loyalty program and buying directly from them. You have to send them an old camera for recycling, but the savings are considerable. By going that route you can pick up a 50D for a little over $700 and a 7D for $1119. If you are interested, the number to call is 866-443-8002.</p>

I highly recommend the Confluence of the North and Middle forks of the American River. Its right outside Auburn and is not too far from the locations you mention. Its a gorgeous area with trails that are very easy to get around on.

I grew up in Sonoma county and know that area well. This time of year its hard to beat the Napa valley for fall color. And its just a short ways off of the route you have planned. Best way to get there from 101 is to take the River Road exit just north of Santa Rosa and go right towards Calistoga. (Its somewhere in the range of 20 miles to Calistoga from 101 if memory serves.) At Calistoga hang another right and head south towards St. Helena and Napa. Thats one of the more scenic drives you are likely to encounter.

I just had a 300mm f4L IS that was out of warranty repaired by Canon. For calibration and alignment they charged $158. They also charged $15 for shipping and nothing for parts.

I have taken a few thousand photos with a Canon 300mm lens that did not have IS and an equal number with a lens that did. I'll take the IS model any day.

 

But for all its positives IS does have a down side. Higher complexity translates into an increased risk of equipment failure. I experienced the reality of that just recently when the IS in my 300mm failed. The lens was out of warranty and the Canon repair facility in Irvine California charged $173 to repair it.

You do NOT need a slim filter. I have been using regular width filters, including a polarizer, on this lens for close to two years. With two filters stacked it will vignette badly at 10mm. However Its been my experience that when using just one filter at a time, vignetting is not an issue.

If you do decide to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the best places in the park is Bear Lake. The roads can be slippery but it is accessible year round and it is gorgeous. You best dress warmly in November though. It can be very cold and windy up there that time of year. That said its still well worth the effort.

I have been using a G2220 and Kirk BH3 for several years and will give it a very positive endorsement. The answer to your question "is this still a good tripod/head setup," is yes it is.

 

With reasonable care this combination will still be going strong long after your current camera is a distant memory. As for versatility, there are not many legsets that rival the Gitzo Explorer line.

I was surprised at how tiny Picture Lake is. The name is deceptive because its really just a small pond. But it certainly does wonders for the view of Mt. Shuksan. It really is a spectacular sight.

You could go with the 17-40 f4L. It is very good but is not all that wide on a 1.6 crop factor body. If you want a real wide angle lens, the Canon EF-S 10-22mm is hard to beat.

I don't remember the exact price but I seem to recall paying somewhere around $350 to $400 for an FD 50mm 1.2L. Thats was in Japan somewhere in the 1983, 1984 time frame. It was a beautiful piece of gear but to be honest if I had it to do over again I would not have purchased it. It was not better optically than the FD 50mm f1.4. At least not in my opinion. It did hold its value though. I sold it two years ago for more than I originally paid for it.

 

As for paying $1600 for an EF 50mm f.2L? For me personally thanks but no thanks, not in this or any other lifetime

I have not used the Hoya Pro 1 Digital ND filter so am in no position to evaluate it. That said I would not pay extra money for it.

 

In general I favor multicoated filters and unless there is a huge price differential thats what I buy. But I don't believe its worth agonizing over either. I own and am perfectly happy using a Hoya 2 stop monocoated ND, a B+W 6 stop monocoated ND, and a B+W 10 stop monocoated ND. I got the first two out of Hong Kong at a price I could not refuse and the 10 stop is not available in multicoating.

First question is how many stops of light reduction do you want with the ND filter? If you want 2, 3 or 6 stops you can go with either Hoya or B+W. Both make excellent filters. If you want more than that B+W sells both a 10 stop and a 17 stop ND filter. You might have a bit of difficulty finding the latter two. B&H does not currently stock them but Adorama does.

 

A 10 stop reduction may sound like overkill but its not really. On a bright sunny day where ambient conditions would dictate 1/500 second exposure at f8, a 10 stop ND filter would will get you a 2 second exposure at f8. Depending upon what you are shooting thay may not be nearly enough.

Scott what do the acronyms NP and NRA stand for? NP could mean National Park I suppose. But I can't even come up with a good guess for NRA.

You can easily spend a great deal more than 3 hours in shooting the Great Sand Dunes National Park. And you can walk till your feet fall off. But neither is mandatory. I shot this image in mid afternoon five minutes after I arrived.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3240984

I am a nature photographer and use the G2220. When I first got it a couple years back I was concerned about the clicking sound of the legs being locked. But it hasn't been as big an issue as I thought it might be. Even though you can't dampen the sound out completely, it is possible to quieten it a bit by holding a cloth over the clamp when you lock it.

Thank you Alan. Muir Woods it is.