jim_simon6

Thanks, Kris.

 

We are staying at the campground in our travel trailer, so I'll just throw everything in my Lowepro Minitrekker and probably that's where most of it will stay;-) I will try to sneak away to do some bird photography on my own while we're there.

 

Oh, by the way, how is the African Safari thing - worth taking a camera or a waste of time?

 

Thanks again, Jim

Opinions, please.

 

Going to Disney (Florida) with the family in October, haven't been

since I was a kid. Going to take almost everything (photographically)

that I own, probably. So far that includes Canon A2e, 20d, 18-55efs,

28-105, 85/1.8, 50/2.5 macro, 100-300/4.5-5.6, and 300/4.

 

Planning on a lightweight kit for in the park. Probably going to pick

up a sling bag, either Lowepro or Tamrac. Also, while the 18-55 is a

competent enough lens, I just don't use it very often, haven't really

warmed up to it I guess. I've been trying to decide what's more

useful to me (in general and more specifically for this trip) - either

ultrawide like Canon 10-22, Tokina 12-24 or wide like Canon 17-40 or

Tamron 17-35.

 

I'm kind of leaning towards something like 12-24 plus 50 macro plus 85

for lightweight kit inside the park (with 20d) or 17-35/40 plus 85 or

12-24 plus 28-105. Anyway, does anything in Disney really scream for

ultrawide - of course, if I get the 17-40 I could always slap it on

the A2e for the same effect, but I know that most of the time I'll be

carrying the digital.

 

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated as always.

 

Jim

Karen,

 

Which of your "all Canon" lenses do you use on your Nikon? ;-)

Just kidding, not really trying to give you a hard time.

 

Jim

OK, yeah it's probably cheesy but they're gonna love whatever you do (or at least he will). How about the idea with the groom and groomsman stalking with their bow & arrows (preferably in a wooded area) and the bride standing in the clearing with big, innocent eyes (picture Bambi).

 

Jim

Try http://photography-on-the.net. Once you sign up you can check out member activities in your area. There are alot of informal get-togethers between members. This is a group that is mainly geared to Canon users, although all are welcome.

 

Jim

you could also try the XT with battery grip, some people like it much better this way - fits their hands better and feels more substantial

 

Jim

As far as a multi-purpose low light lens, your 24-70/2.8 is probably your best choice. Multi-purpose suggests a zoom lens and you won't find any faster than 2.8 or image quality much better than the lens you already own. That said I know you're looking for something with a faster aperture, which means prime lens. Any of the primes you listed will do fine , but you have to decide what focal length is most useful to you as a "multi-purpose" lens. You should already have some idea of what focal lengths work best for you as you have a decent range covered.

 

Jim

Anybody that would suggest selling one brand of camera and buying another just so you can use a $50 Sigma lens is either joking or just crazy!

Based on what you're telling us, the info on the side of the box states that this lens was made with a mount for Nikon cameras. It will not even fit your camera. If you try to force it on, you will probably damage your camera and lens in the process. Did you tell the salesman what camera you intended to use this with? If you did, he should have known better and not sold it to you, which would make him either extremely un-knowledgable(not sure if this is even a real word) or dishonest. In any case, try returning the lens and getting your money back or you might have to ebay it and hope for the best.

 

Jim

Ronald,

Canon 500D in 77mm is fairly expensive. I have both Nikon 6T and Canon 500D (in 58mm). Both produce very good results. Nikon has slightly more magnification than Canon. Nikon 6T is also more affordable. 67-62 step-down should not have a problem with vignetting. Remember that DOF at these magnifications is very shallow and you will often be shooting at f8-f16 would should also minimize the likelihood of vignetting.

 

Jim

As Mark stated, get the Canon or Nikon 2-element diopters for best quality. Best choice is probably Nikon 6T (62mm thread) or Canon 500D (77mm). For Nikon 6T, you'll need 67-62 step-down ring for 70-200 lens, 58-62 step-up ring for G6. For Canon 500D, 67-77 step-up and 58-77 step-up (probably can't do this in 1 step, get 58-67 ring and stack your 67-77 ring on top).

 

Jim

f11@1/30th in a "dark church" at ISO 400 or less is probably several stops underexposed (based on ambient light). Your strobes can put out enough power to compensate, but you're just too far off your exposure to get any lighting in the background. 1/30th second is only 1/2 of the equation for determining your exposure, it doesn't automatically mean you'll pick up any background lighting. As someone else already mentioned, f5.6 should cover your DOF enough and it gains you 2 stops of ambient. Again, meter for ambient, determine what aperture you need for the desired DOF, and set shutter speed 2-4 stops under-exposed(for ambient). Experiment sometimte to see what results you like best (only don't do it at a wedding;-))

 

Jim

I've had an A2e since 1994 (love it!) never had any problem loading film - and I'm sure I was never that particular about how far I pulled it. Maybe it's just been sitting too long unused. Once you run a couple of rolls through it, maybe you won't have anymore problems. Now, if only we could get a digital with the same performance as the A2e(sigh).

 

Jim

Just wondering if you posted this twice because they're twins;-)

 

Jim

Shutter-dragging is also very useful (maybe more-so) in static shots. Think about the altar formals you do. Often-times you're using flash as the main source of illumination, either because ambient levels are too low, or for the extra "pop", or just to have control of the lighting, but you don't want the dark "cave" backgrounds. Dragging the shutter allows the ambient light to take care of the background exposure, but because it's a static posed situation, you don't have the secondary ghosting issue. It's different with a picture with motion (like dancing), if you aren't fond of the look, try upping your ISO to start. This will allow a higher shutter speed while still retaining a decent background exposure. Also, your ambient exposure doesn't have to match your flash exposure. If you keep ambient 2 stops below flash, you should still pick up enough to keep your background from going dark while reducing the ghosting effect on you main subject.

 

Jim

I wouldn't worry too much about a lens that stops down to f32 or f64, although some people seem to obsess over it. Depth of field is very limited at macro distances and stopping down does of course increase DOF, but for most macro shooting f16 or f22 is sufficient. Lens performance at f32/64 is usually pretty dismal and lighting at these f-stops is pretty well non-existant, unless you're blasting away with flash. It's not unusable and I guess it's nice to have as an option, but it's certainly not as important as some people seem to insist.

 

Jim

There is a 250 or 250D diopter made by Canon, there is also a 500 and 500D. The two diopters with the D designation are dual-element, those without are single-element. I would suggest using dual-element diopters for maximum quality.

 

Jim

On photo #3 (B/G kneeling/sitting) backgroung is too distracting - overexposed bottom half with dark trees in the upper half. If you had lowered your shooting position somewhat you could eliminate the bright lower half and at least have a somewhat even-toned background. Don't know that I would even call this backlighting per-say. It's just that the exposure on the backgrounds are blown out. Problem with using fill-flash is sync speed of flash unit - means that to balance with bright background exposure you probably need to stop down your aperture too much which isn't usually what you're trying to do with portraits. Not sure if high-sync speed mode on your 580ex would help here as I understand that it cuts down the power quite a bit, but maybe it would be enough for fill.

 

Jim

In addition to all the responses above (all valid opinions,even if they vary alot), I would add that if you do decide to get the 70-200/4 and want to do macro, look at picking up a Canon 500d or Nikon 6t 2-element diopter. The Canon is available in a 77mm thread and the Nikon as a 62mm so you will need the appropriate step-up or step-down ring (70-200 is a 67mm I believe). I don't own this lens (it's on my wish list) but macro with either of these combos should be more than decent - don't think you'll have a problem with vignetting with the 67-62mm combo - I've read of people using their 70-200/2.8 with the 6t with no problems and it's a 77mm filter thread. Also, Nikon should be cheaper than the Canon (at least in 77mm, it's also available as a 58mm) and gives slightly more magnification. Good luck and enjoy the trip.

 

Jim

go to canon's website (www.usa.canon.com if you're in the states) go to consumer products and you should be able to find a link to expired promotions - better hurry, i think rebate forms have to be postmarked by feb. 6th - best to pre-qualify online, print out the form and take it to your nearest post office to make sure it gets post-marked on time - good luck

 

Jim

If EZ series flashes worked with 20d in TTL mode, I would be a very happy person. Unfortunately they do not. EZ flashes work with 20d in full manual mode only. Mnaual mode can be adjusted (on 540ez at least) in full stops from full power down to 1/128th. Using the LCD and histogram and fine-tuning by adjusting aperture, you can make this combination work, but it isn't very convenient. If you already own an EZ flash, it's workable until you can save up for an EX series. If you don't own a flash yet, make sure you get an EX flash and save yourself alot of trouble.

 

Jim

If you are willing and/or able to do a "staged" shot (i.e., put someone in a baseball uniform and have him pitch at a target) you could certainly set up something in a controlled environment. Your 580ex flash probably has a stroboscopic mode (I know my old 540ez does), if you were to set up - say in a darkened warehouse or similar - where your flash becomes the main source of illumination, try a 1 or 2 second exposure with the flash set to strobe 4 or 8 or 16 cycles, you might get something usable. You can certainly experiment with the digital and get immediate feedback to what works and what doesn't. It will looked staged of course, but not sure whether or not that matters. In any case, once you find something that works and get the hang of it in a controlled environment, you can take it out in the field and even try mixing it with ambient light for a different effect. Lots of luck, Jim.

One of the biggest reasons not to use an EF extender with a lens which it isn't designed for is because of the protruding front element. All of the big Canon glass has a deeply recessed rear element which allows for clearance of the extender. I imagine that your 400/3.5 may be similar in this respect. Be careful which lenses you try to use this on. If the rear element on the lens isn't recessed far enough, you could ruin both extender and lens.

 

Jim

I would think black and white might be effective in this setting. Jim

another vote for ECF!