marymac
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Posts posted by marymac
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I live in the SF bay area and though it's been several year since I drove to Mono Lake from here I believe it's about a 5-6 hour drive to Mono depending on the time of year (snow in the winter over the Sierras).
Death Valley is quite far south of there. I haven't driven that trip but mapquest shows 237 miles, 5.5 hours of driving. From Death Valley to SF is 529 miles 9.5 hours of driving. Keep in mind that both Mono Lake and Death Valley are on the Eastern side of the Sierras and any mountain passes are subject to snow in the winter months. Death Valley should be much more tolerable in the winter though!
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The rule about apertures and TCs is based on the largest aperture possible when using the TC. So, with a 1.4 TC the 70-200 f2.8 will be an f/4 so autofocus will work fine, regardless of what aperture you are using. Only the max aperture matters so if the AF works at the max aperture (5.6 or less) then it will work on all the other apertures on the lens (f/8, 11, 16 etc). With a 2x teleconverter the 2.8 becomes a 5.6 so autofocus will still work. I use the center focus point all the time so I'm not sure if having a TC on it affects which points are available.
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Again regarding the portable storage, the PD70X from http://www.eastgear.com/shop/index.php?cPath=17_66 comes in several capacities. The 40gig is $211, 60gig = $241 and 80gig = $272. These units get good reviews all around. They don't have a nice screen on them like the Epson P-2000 but they are much cheaper for the same storage. I would not take less than 10gigs of storage per week but that's me (I'm actually taking 20G/week for my upcoming vacation). Have a great trip!
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Hi Sonny -
First of all, the camera and lenses you bought are all first rate. You should go out and do a few thousand shots with those instead of worrying about what lens to get next! I speak from experience here - I'm a gadget hound myself and I bought many lenses in the first few months of shooting, many of which I hardly use.
That said - here is what I know about the topics you asked about:
1. Don't know.
2. Again, don't worry about getting another lens! I have the 24-105 but not the 24-70 so I can't compare but I like the IS on the 24-105.
3. This is where you can still make an investment if you want to spend some more money. Get Photoshop CS2 and a couple books on how to use it - then spend some hours working with the program. Start shoooting in Raw and using Adobe Raw to convert your photos to JPEG. Photoshop can make a big difference in the prints you ultimately produce. You can't make a mediocre photo into a great photo but sometimes you can rescue a really good photo with a fatal flaw using a little (or a lot of) editing.
Also, a good flash like the 580EX is a nice addition. There is a lot of Canon flash info on http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ Read the whole thing, and read some of the other articles on there as well: http://photonotes.org/articles/
There are tons of good books on photography out there but Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is terrific and will give you lots of ideas.
You may also want to invest in more hard drive space and a CD/DVD burner for image backups. Also, an image cataloging application like iMatch or ACDSee will be useful in a very short time.
I don't mean to give you a hard time but really - don't get any more lenses. There are a lot of other aspects to this hobby that you can learn first. You've got a great set of lenses for a pro, much less for a hobbyist!
Maybe it would help if you make yourself some assignments like you do in school? Both FredMiranda.com and dpchallenge.com have weekly assignments that you can participate in and submit photos to. Even if you don't submit your efforts at first try doing the assignments and you'll learn a lot in a very short time. Good luck!
- Mary
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I don't know anything about the 1228 or 1228LVL but I used to use a Markins M10 and a Sidekick (on a Gitzo 1325 with 1321 leveling head) to support my 500mm f/4. The Markins is a great ballhead and I highly recommend it. The combo is definitely sturdy enough for your 300 f/2.8 at 6 pounds; the 500mm is 8lbs and had no problems. I still use the Markins for all my lenses except my 500 (which is now on a Black Widow Gimbel mount)and would buy another one in a heartbeat.
I do agree with Gup that it is a challenge to haul all this stuff up a mountain though! Make sure you buy from a reputable dealer with a good return policy and return the tripod if it does not seem sturdy enough for your purposes. You might want to take it on a "test hike" to ensure that it is not to heavy for you. If it is, it will end up being left behind and all that money will have been wasted. Good luck!
- Mary
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Take your lenses to a local camera store and try them on a *ist there.
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Hi Jason,
What lenses are you using on your 20D? I use a Gitzo 1325 for my "howitzer" lens, the Canon 500mm f/4 (an 8lb lens), but I find the Bogen/Manfrotto 403 Carbon Fiber works great for all my other lenses. It's lighter and and somewhat cheaper, though not actually cheap.
The head you use is a trickier question. I use a Markins M10 ballhead with everything except the howitzer and I highly recommend it. Other highly rated ball heads are the Kirk BH1 or BH3, the Really Right Stuff BH55 and the Arcatech Ultimate Ballhead. For a pan head I have a Bogen 701RC2 that is wonderful, but it only takes Bogen plates, while all the ballheads I listed above take interchangeable Arca-swiss style plates.
Regarding filters - I use Hi-tech filters in a Lee holder but my cousin uses the Cokin P style and he loves them. They are vastly cheaper too. Try the cokins until you get a feel for how to use an ND filter and whether you'll actually use them. You could also get a Cokin 0.6 soft edge Graduated Neutral Density filter for taking sunset pictures.
Go to the bookstore and look through the books on Nature Photography since many of them discuss the usage of Grad ND filters. Try John Shaw's Nature Photography for starters. Good luck!
- Mary
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James - Kinesis makes this Journeyman pack for this purpose. I have one of their long lens packs and it's very well made but they're not inexpensive...
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Definitely the coast - Pt Reyes as mentioned is stellar. Also Bodega Bay. If you like wine the Somona and Napa valleys are very close and you could take some nice vineyard shots.
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Steven -
Do you have a reasonably lightweight head you can use on it? We have two Velbon Ultra MaxiSFs and I replaced the heads that came on them with better heads: my Markins M10 on one and a Really Right Stuff BH25 on the other. The Ultra tripods are somewhat shorter than the 343E with flip locks but I would bet the head on the 343E can be replaced as well. The Ultras would probably be straining under the weight of the 70-200 2.8 IS though. I have to tighten the twist legs down hard when I put my 20D and 400 5.6 on them and I think the 70-200 2.8 is much heavier. The 343E with flip locks would probably be sturdier with the 70-200 but you would not be able to extend the center column with either of them I would think. It's just too heavy. That said - I love the combo otherwise. I can carry both of our tripods in one backpack easily and MUCH lighter/smaller than my Manfrotto CF. No comparison really.
Hope this helps -
Mary
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I was lucky enough to get one of these from Pro Photo in Portland last Friday and had a chance to test it out over the weekend.
At first I was having focusing problems with it on my 20d but it seemed perfect on the Rebel XT we have. So I changed the settings on the 20d to match the Rebel and it now works fine. The problem was C.Fn 4 which I had set to the * key on the back of the camera. When I moved it back to the shutter - no focus problem! Basically this means that I must have been shifting my hands between pressing the focus and pressing the shutter. Definitely a wetware problem and not one with the lens ;-)
Anyways, once I got beyond that concern I really love this lens. I returned a 17-85 that I had for a couple weeks once I ordered the 24-105 successfully and I am SO glad I did. In addition to being an EF instead of an EF-S mount this new lens will last me through many camera bodies. The build quality and smooth, silent focusing is equivalent to my 200 f/2.8L and the IS is great addition. I can take sharp pictures at 1/25, 105mm that couldn't have taken with my 100mm Macro. It isn't quite as sharp as the 200 but practically nothing is, even an L zoom.
I've added a few photos to my portfolio here on photonet and will try to get a better gallery up soon. I have not done exhaustive teting on a tripod at every focal length and aperture since I bought this as a carry-around lens and if I can't take sharp pictures with it handheld then there's no point in keeping it. In any case, it passed MY handheld test and I'm keeping it! Just in time for my trip to France next month. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=525446<div>
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Cleaning the sensor is not that big of a deal. Get the Sensor Sweep brush from http://www.naturescapes.net/store/product.php?productid=102&cat=14&page=1
If the spot is stubborn you may have to use a Sensor Swipe (like a spatula with a Pec Pad on it)with Eclipse solution as mentioned above which is a little trickier but again, not a big deal if you're careful.
Risk to the sensor is low if you follow the instructions and take your time, and it's much less time consuming to use a clean sensor than clean the photos up in Photoshop.
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I'm looking at insurance for my equipment as well but I'm really hesitant to add it to my homeowners insurance. We've heard lots of horror stories about people's homeowners insurance being cancelled for making any kind of claim on it and I don't want to endanger my home insurance if a piece of gear gets stolen on vacation. I'm thinking of getting a policy with a completely different company to cover my gear.
There are comments from people here about it:
http://www.photo.net/learn/insurance
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Jeffery -
I haven't been to any of these spots but if you want to ensure some good pictures you might want to contact a local birding or photog guide in the areas you are looking at. They would be able to tell you the best time to come and you're more likely to get good spots with a local who knows where to go. Even if you only spend one day with the guide it will give you a good idea of where to go in the area. The cost of the guide for the day could make your whole trip a lot better than if you just go and hope for the best.
For example, googling for "Point Pelee bird photography guide" I see that Point Pelee Tours has half-day, full-day and multiday bird photo tours.
Good luck! - Mary
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You might want to post this on the Buy/Sell forum on the Fred Miranda site and specify that you are in the UK. I would guess this trade will be appealing to many people.
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I haven't used Norton Systemworks in a long time but I recall having to right click on the Recycle Bin and select "Purge Protected Files" (or something like that) to get the bin to empty.
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Andi -
Thanks for sharing these photos - we don't get Purple Martins much in the SF Bay Area and certainly not 30000 of them at a time! I like the shots without flash best (2nd and 3rd shots) though it's good to have flash for that last shot so you can see how densly packed they are in the tree. One thing you could try would be to take some prints of these pictures to the businesses right there and see if they would let you get up on their roof to take more pictures this evening. Or you could try wearing a jacket and getting under the flock and shoot straight up as they pass (bird silhouettes against the dusky sky). If you don't like the colors you're getting you can probably do color corrections in Photoshop (or whatever software you use) to get the look you're trying for. Good luck! - Mary
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I have the Katz Eye screen with Hi-Lux coating on my 20D and it works well. I've held off getting the one for our 350D because when you replace the focusing screen on the 350D you lose the red square focus points in the viewfinder. You can still see which AF point is active on the back LCD, and AF is supposed to work just fine but it's something to consider before buying. If you manual focus with all your lenses this won't matter in any case. I would assume the ebay screens have the same limitation as Rachel Katz's screens.
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You can also download PTLens - a free Photoshop plug-in that lets you correct for lens distortion. http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/
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I use Exhibit Engine on a couple of my sites. Like Gallery it requires PHP and MySQL to be running on the server but it has lots of nice features and is customizable, free, and supports Paypal purchasing via the site. The current version is 1.5 RC4 and there haven't been any major updates for about a year. The guy who authored it, Pekka Saarinan, really supports it though. He runs the Canon photography-on-the.net site (a great resource for Canon users).
Here's a link to the current download:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29266
Here's the main Exhibit Engine forum:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=16
Here's a site I made using EE:
http://www.californiabirder.com/gallery/
For throwing up simpler galleries I use Web Album Generator or jAlbum (both freeware). Both work great and are much easier to use than any database backed site. (see http://www.californiabirder.com/owls/ for a sample from Web Album Generator). If you use Photoshop or iMatch you can create web galleries with either of those programs too, but neither is free.
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Here's a note on the Naturescapes.net site about the 420 with Better beamer:
"* No "Better Beamer" has been manufactured for the Canon 420EX flash unit. A number of photographers have been able to make the FX-1B unit work with that flash unit but it has not been approved by the manufacturer for that use."
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Put it in Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color. It will then show up as an available profile when you print. I suggest you read through the sections in Photoshop Help on Color Management, Proofing and Color Profiles. I just read through all of it last night and it clarified a lot of stuff about color management and profiles for me.
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Is it broken?
in Canon EOS Mount
Posted