ian_hobday

January 10, 2006

Larry Hample wrote: "They list the 300/2.8 non-IS as having either a gel filter holder or a 48mm drop-in. Which is it? Or both?"

Actually these are the same. There are three different drop-in units for these lenses:

1. The original drop-in gel filter holder that comes with them.

2. A drop-in screw-type filter holder that you can screw standard 48mm filters into.

3. A drop-in circular polarizer.

The newer IS lenses are the same as far as I know, except they use a larger 52mm size instead of the 48mm size in the 200/1.8 and non-IS versions of the longer lenses.

Ian

January 10, 2006

The joy of time differences, I've been sleeping the last few hours. Thanks for the replies everyone.

There are at least two versions of the lens, but I am not sure if they differed optically or not. The tripod mount and the trunk case changed, but I am not sure what else. I have seen them for sale here (Osaka) marked as "I" and "III", but never as "II".

The 200/1.8L had two versions with the second one being labeled II by Canon. As far as I know they were optically identical with a few cosmetic changes to the lens barrel and a different lens trunk. (You can see a photo of an original Canon box for the II version here: http://hobday.net/ebay/200_18/sn16480/ The II is blocked on the front of the box, but if you look at the top you can see it says "EF 200mm f/1.8L set II").

Thanks again for the replies. Any further info would also be appreciated!

January 10, 2006

Not that I can find. They list the 300/2.8L USM, but don't say anything about Mark I, II, III models. Unless I have missed it somewhere. Have a link?

January 10, 2006

I'm looking at Canon EF 300mm 2.8L non-IS lenses, and have seen that

there are three versions of this lens, Mark I, II, and III. I've

searched Google but have not had any luck in finding the differences

between these different editions.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me, especially any differences

in the optics? Is any one of them much better than the others?

Thanks in advance!

October 31, 2004

As everyone knows, FD glass can not (easily) be adapted to the EOS/EF

mount. It can only be adapted with either a loss of infinity focus, or

by using the extremely rare and expensive Canon adapter which contains

a glass element.

The reason for this is that the rear element of FD glass needs to be

42mm from the film/sensor surface. The EOS/EF mount places the rear

element 44mm from the film/sensor surface.

This leads us to EF-S. EF-S lenses also place the rear element of the

lens closer to the sensor than the EF mount does. Although I have

googled this, I can not find the exact distance. However, from the

look of EF-S lenses, I'd say it is slightly more than 2mm closer.

So.... Is there any reason that an FD to EF-S adapter couldn't be

made? There is a *lot* of very cheap and very high quality FD glass

around, especially here in Japan. I'd love to be able to buy some of

this glass!

Anyone have thoughts or ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Ian

--

Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos"

target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 20, 2004

I was in Germany for New Years 1991/92. There were machine gun toting troops on the tarmac of Frankfurt too. Was quite a weird experience.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 16, 2004

Yes, the rebate expires in Jan 2005. Best guess is that the DRebel will be replaced soon after that -- after they clear through all the stock they currently have.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 16, 2004

Sigma quality varies widely between individual lenses.

Find a good local camera shop and tell them that you want to buy a Sigma 20mm 1.8 but that you'd like to test a few first. My regular shop here in Osaka has no problem with this and is going to order in 5 or 6 for me to test and choose from.

One thing that seems constant with the Sigma though is that the quality of Bokeh is quite low.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 14, 2004

I bought my D60 in 2002, and kept an EOS 3 film body.

I hardly ever used it though, so I sold it along with the D60 and upgraded to a 20D last week.

I think it depends more on how you use your cameras than what we have done...

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 13, 2004

The age of the battery is not important. It is the number of times it has been charged that counts. Typically a Lithium Ion battery can take about 500 charges.

If you feel they haven't had many charges and nothing unusual has happened to them, they might be faulty.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 12, 2004

I just sold my D60 and EOS 3 and bought a 20D. Since buying the D60 in 2002 the EOS 3 has not seen much use at all.

If you are an absolutely top-notch photographer who has already spent years going through the photography learning curve, you will still be able to get better pictures with low ISO professional films in some situations.

For the rest of us though, a digital body such as the 20D cuts the learning curve by huge amounts. It also raises the average level of your shots far faster than film ever will. The quality of the 20D @ ISO 800 and 1600 is better than what I experienced with film.

Finally, digital offers some things that film never can. If you are moving back and forth between brightly lit and dimly lit areas, move the ISO back and forth as you need it. No more worries about light temperature changing or using filters to compensate for it. Instant review of your shots to let you know what works and what does not. Freedom to experiment without worrying about cost. No more time-consuming scanning to get images into the PC.

Get the 20D. You won't regret it!

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 10, 2004

Kent Lee wrote: How was the "undokai"?

Too hot! It was 29 today in Osaka. But the event itself went off well. And I got some interesting pictures of other spectators as well as the typical pictures of my daughter running around.

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for it?

I got it for 160,000 plus tax at <a href="http://www.mapion.co.jp/c/f?grp=all&uc=1&scl=5000&el=135%2F30%2F31.731&pnf=1&size=500%2C500&nl=34%2F39%2F46.768" target="_blank">Tokiwa Camera</a> in Nipponbashi. They are just south of Exit 5 of Nipponbashi station. The service and selection at Tokiwa are excellent! I strongly recommend them if you are in Osaka. Unfortunately they do not have a homepage and do not do online/phone/mail sales. Old fashioned kind of place I guess, but they really are fantastic.

Are you in Japan at the moment?

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 10, 2004

Well, I decided to trade in my D60 and EOS 3 and get a 20D. My

regular camera shop had some 20Ds in stock yesterday so I went down

and did it. Selling the D60 at such a huge loss was painful...

Today my daughter had her yearly sports festival at school. This is

not at all my normal type of shooting but it was a good chance to take

a variety of types of photos and make my wife happy at the same time.

:)

So, my first impressions, likes and dislikes:

Overall I am happy with the camera. It came with the 1.0.5 firmware

and I had no lockup problems. I swapped lenses with the power on (as

I always do) and nothing "weird" happened.

I think a big part of my list of good things matches what everyone

else has said:

- Faster and more intelligent focusing

- Ability to review images in the buffer

- Immediate power-on

- Joystick for scrolling through zoomed images

- Clean high ISOs

- Great battery life

Beyond the above that everyone says I have a few to add:

- I have large hands, but I would say the 20D with grip is more

comfortable than the D60 with grip

- The ability to really zoom in on the thumbnail is far better

than what the D60 offered

- The neck strap included with the 20D is far better than the

one that came with the D60

- Being able to use AA batteries in the vertical grip is great!

Apparently only about 80 shots from a set of AA, but still useful if

"stuck".

In the "different from what I've heard" department:

- Some people say they are worried about mirror slap from the

20D. Although it is certainly a faster and stronger movement than the

D60 was, it is also way weaker and quieter than the EOS 3. I

don't think this will be a problem at all.

And in the "things I miss or dislike" department:

- Being unable to change the ISO using the Set button. I think

this is mostly habit though, I will get used to using the button near

the LCD.

- Single battery charger included. Good for travel, but

annoying for use at home. I will buy another charger.

- No camera power adapter in the box

- The weird texture in the viewfinder bothers me

- Because the VG takes AA batteries too the overall design of

it is blocky and too big. I dislike this.

- Scrolling through full-size thumbnails is too slow. On the

D60 you could scroll full-speed through a "draft" view of the

thumbnails. Pausing for a brief time would bring up the sharp

thumbnail image. In this way it was possible to zip back and forth

through the thumbnails and I really miss this on the 20D.

Finally the things I wish Canon had included:

- Better TFT! It's too small Canon, and needs better

resolution.

- ISO in the viewfinder! Even a "1" for ISO 100, "2" for 200

etc, maybe "L" for 50 and "H" for 1600, and "U" for 3200. This

wouldn't take up much space and would be very helpful.

- Spot meter! Come on Canon, give us a spot meter.

Of course there is a list as long as my arm of things I want... But

most wouldn't be realistic for a 20D, unfortunately.

Overall very happy with the 20D. I feel it is a large and worthwhile

upgrade for a D60 user, and I am happy with my decision.

Now to get some fast primes and do more night-life street shooting!

Ian

--

Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos"

target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 5, 2004

Hi Thierry! Good to see you're around here these days.

I used to be able to write about 1000 characters as well. Alas with my constant use of email and computers in general I have all-but-lost this ability. Sigh, all that time spent studying. :(

As for reading, I can read complex articles such as this to get the general "gist" of what is being said, but reading for translation is much harder. It took about 3 hours for me to translate and proof-read the text a few times. I guess lack of translation practice is one reason, but overall I just need to read more I think. Lazy! I am sure there will be errors in what I have done too.

Glad you enjoyed reading through it!

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 5, 2004

Sadly machine translation still has a long, long way to go.

The "person under the rock" is, believe it or not, the machine translation of the name of the guy being interviewed, Mr. Iwashita!

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 5, 2004

What pushed me to do the translation in the end was that I read somewhere that the poster thought Canon was interested in the new Adobe format... But clearly that isn't the case!

As for the different layers, I think it is mentioned in the interview as follows:

Pro: "1" level 1DsM2 & 1DM2

Mid: 20D

Basic: 300D / Kiss / Rebel

Glad that people are enjoying the translation. Translation is not something I enjoy at all! Very tiring work. Probably good for my brain though!

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 5, 2004

There is a lot of bad informaton and even worse translations of the

recent interview with the Canon Japan executive. My Japanese is

certainly not perfect, but I have translated the article into English

and <a href="http://hobday.net/canon" target="_blank">posted it

here</a>.

I do not promise that the translation is perfect! But I am sure it is

much better than has been available so far.

Hope someone finds it interesting.

Ian

--

Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos"

target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 4, 2004

Michael Willems wrote: Enough flaming I think. It is clear that you do not like me, and I certainly do not like the way you talk to me. Another difference: I always try my very best not to be rude.

If you feel this is flaming then I suggest that you have not been on the 'net long enough, and perhaps have never taken part in Usenet discussions and seen a real flamewar take place. Anyway, I digress. I do not dislike you. I do feel that you are blaming Canon for your own simple error, and I do feel that this whole thing makes you look childish. (Especially posting the lens card and claiming it covered the body as well.)

I will grant you that Canon should have one warranty card in the box that discusses the warranties for the lens and DSLR body. It does not seem like an overly complex or expensive thing for them to do, and it would avoid confusion such as this.

Anyway, as you said, you will not listen to anything I say and you will continue to behave in the way that you are... Certainly no skin off my back.

Good luck, I hope you are happier with Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, or another company.

Ian

October 3, 2004

Michael Willems wrote: Well, you are entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to mine.

Sure, you're entitled to your opinion. But the simple fact is that you goofed when you bought the camera. Stop whining and accept that it was your own mistake.

I figure that if Canon says in the box that cameras are covered worldwide, that means what it says, namely that cameras are covered worldwide.

Canon put their standard warranty card in the box for the lens. You'll find that warranty card in the box of every lens and non-digital SLR that you buy. I have a nice collection of them here. It is clearly marked as being for the lens. There was a second card in the box to cover the camera, also clearly marked as being for the camera. Why would you assume that the lens card covers the camera? Or that the camera card covers the lens, for that matter?

The additional local warranty does not invalidate that, as far as I am concerned.

Correct. The international warranty for the lens is not invalidated by the limited local warranty for the body. And of course the international warranty for the lens has no "extra" effect on the camera either...

Canon suing me for pointing that out? THAT I would love to see...

I doubt it would be worth Canon's time to sue you. But your whining and complaining, continuous insisting that you are not wrong, well, it makes you look like a spoiled child.

Personally I have the opposite view to this that you do: Canon has decided to only offer local warranties for DSLRs. I would guess that this is due to the high cost of repairing these products if they break. They could have decided that for kit setups that include a lens that the lens would also only have the local warranty. Instead they decided to maintain the international warranty on the lens and only limit the warranty on the body.

If you push hard enough and make enough noise, you might be able to get Canon to change this policy -- DSLR kit lenses will have a local warranty as well.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 3, 2004

The D60 has a much smaller than full-frame mirror. I know this because I was recently very suprised when I had my D60 and EOS 3 side-by-side on my desk!

I can't say if the EF-S mount lenses will work or not, but I would be very interested to hear the results of your testing!

Good luck, hope it works well.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

October 1, 2004

I'd be careful about your "active campaigning" if I were you.

You didn't read the warranty card for the camera and now you are whining and complaining (resent this wording if you wish, but facts are facts) that you only have the warranty that Canon originally told you that you had! It is not Canon's fault that you were not careful enough in the shop in HK.

Although IANAL, your "active campaigning" against Canon is likely libelous. You are claiming Canon ripped you off. The reality however is that you didn't check your facts properly.

Although I have not worked in as many countries as you, I do travel for business and I have worked in several places. I have bought camera equipment in HK. And I have had business travelers buy equipment on their visits to my company here in Japan. Anyone who travels and buys things in multiple countries should know well enough to check and double check warranties. Look at ALL the papers on the box, read the fine print, flip everything over and check the back... This is normal practice. You should know better.

Ian

September 30, 2004

You don't mention your body or budget.

If you are going to go zoom then the 17-40 4L is an excellent choice. Most say it is sharper than the 16-35 2.8L, and it is certainly lighter and cheaper. I am extremely happy with mine.

Canon has a good selection of wide primes, both L and non L. Buying a couple of L primes is certainly going to cost you more than the 17-40 though, but you might find some good deals on non L primes. I am sure others here will have some ideas for you about this.

Good luck with your hunt!

Ian

--

Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

September 28, 2004

I've had my D60 since November 2002. About 10,000 shots in that time, indoor, outdoor, in typhoons, dust, back of a ski boat... Just about everywhere.

I have yet to clean my sensor and have not noticed any dust related problems. I always wonder what everyone is talking about when it comes to dust problems! Is it really so bad?

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

September 28, 2004

There is a 5,000yen rebate (about US$45) happening in Japan right now.

Not helpful in this case of course, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the rebate appear elsewhere too.

Ian

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Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

September 22, 2004

Lee Shively wrote: I don't use digital at all and don't ever intend to.

Ohhh you will. It might take 20 years, but you will.

Back on topic...

I chose my EOS 5 over everything else because of Canon's fast and quiet focusing. I've since had an EOS 3, and now a D60. Still very happy with everything.

If I had it to do over I would do the same again, but for additional reasons:

1. Same reason as above -- fast and quiet focusing + FTM focusing on all USM lenses.

2. Canon is a huge company compared to Nikon. Many times bigger. Canon is profitable overall and also in their photographic division. Nikon is bleeding red ink badly at the moment.

3. Canon's larger size will allow them to spend more $$$ on R&D thus maintaining their current technology leadership position.

4. For the cameras I would be interested in right now (20D, 1DM2) Nikon has no comparable cameras available. If I was looking at the 300D/Kiss/D-Rebel then I would consider the D70 carefully if I had no Canon glass. Still though, I think I would get a 300D/Kiss/D-Rebel and use the Russian firmware hack. Why? See reasons 2&3.

5. Nikon seems stuck at APS sensor sizes while Canon is using both 1.3x and FF sensors on their upper models.

6. Canon glass: Huge selection. Wide range of prices. Excellent quality.

Good luck with your choice, I hope you find a camera that suits your needs well!

Ian

--

Ian Hobday

Osaka, Japan

<a href="http://hobday.net/photos" target="_blank">http://hobday.net/photos</a> (Opens in a new window.)

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