eric_lawson1

Cost difference is due to the exchange rate in Australia.

I dont own a 5D either (30D) but for this example there is no difference. Landscape picture style enhances the blues & greens. this effect is more or less in different situations but in the example image it is one of those "More" situations. I find that setting the picture style to "standard" gives the most accurate tones on my 30D and "neutral" seems a little muted to me.

 

You really have to try raw though because all of these things can be changed after the fact. Even if you only shoot raw to learn how your camera processes the different settings it is worth while.

 

The thing is that the image is going to get processed one way or another, either you let the camera do it and give you a .JPG or you do it with a raw file and convert it to a .JPG. I only shoot raw now "no .JPG at all" because it's so easy to convert larg groups of them and I usually throw away the camera produced .JPG's anyway because they dont look as good as what I can do with my own brain "and a raw file".

Then don't buy one and stick to your great MF

40D has some awesome new feature if you can wait just a minute "basically".

I live in Long beach and know the accurate representation. Great image but I see what you mean. Did you also shoot a raw of this? I like to shoot in standard picture style and use the white balance that most accurately describes the scene "not auto". This will get you close , if not right on in most situations. After that it is a raw conversion to make corrections if needed.

 

I like the Digital Photo Pro that comes with our Canons. There are fancier and more expensive softwares for this but DPP does a great job once you learn it. There is also an update coming shortly due to the new 40D & 1Ds MkIII accidentally announced today.

Mark Man - What 5DMkII page? I haven't seen that.

Those scam artist camera stores are terrible. They will tell you ANYTHING to make another nickel. I would be willing to bet if you tried to buy the 2005 version you would never be able to actually get it. Before the sale went through they would tell you it does not come with a battery, does not have a warranty, requires special filters, requires a special flux capacitor... All of which they will sell you to bring the price back up to par. If you don't buy at least some of that ridiculously priced crap they wont actually complete the sale.

 

Run!

No, not offended. Some here just really hate and deny these kinds of posts. You were not actually who I was responding to Ray, sorry

Just because it is still available online does not mean it is not being discontinued in the store. At Best Buy there is a disconnect between one and the other. Why do we tear down posters like this? It is just his little observation that as we all know probably means the end of the month is coming and probably a new camera or two "or is it August that happens". We get so negative here at the prospects of leaked information, do we work for Canon? Did we sign the NDA?

My 24-105L has been to Canon 3 times for softness in the longer end of the lens. I was ready to give up and get a 24-70L when it came back the last time. Glad I didn't give up because it is the best lens I have now and I have a bunch of goodies in my bag. It shouldn't have to be that way but now I am happy and this thing is VERY sharp from F4 wide to tele. For what it's worth.

Shoot in RAW or RAW+JPG, use the white balance that is closest to your shooting conditions "avoid auto W.B. if possible", use the "standard" picture style. This will get you close on most of the JPG's. Any shots that you need to tweak use Digital Photo Pro to alter the raw mainly for picture style, white balance, and exposure. Any other edits can be done in Photoshop. I don't edit the RAW in Photoshop because it usually interjects a slightly off color cast "at least in my CS2". If I edit the RAW in DPP it's always perfect. Then I can edit the TIF or JPG further in CS2 and be safe as long as I don't mess with the color to much.

 

White balance makes a BIG difference, if it is cloudy outside use that setting for the WB and you will be amazed at the difference. Likewise if you try to use cloudy and it is bright sunshine it wont look good "or natural at all" Auto WB works fine for bright sunlight or flash but not so good for other scenarios. I just avoid it all together now.

My experiences with Canon - Irvine have all been very positive. Very professional staff there.

Canon put a special custom function right on the main dial for folks who want to spend tons of money on something they wont begin to understand because they don't bother to take the time to learn. It is a little green box. All you do is set it to that and within a month of crappy pictures you can put the expensive toy in the closet and find something else to amuse yourself with.

 

Now go have fun being a photographer!

Shoot raw and use Canon's Digital Professional Pro. You got that software with your camera also. This will net you many times more gains in quality than investing in Photoshop now. Once you have learned more about post processing then you can invest in Photoshop and see even more gains. It is a somewhat complicated learning curve though and it takes a fair amount of time to get close to what to do with Photoshop.

I have both the 24-105mm L and the 85mm 1.8. The 85mm 1.8 works better in this situation for me without a doubt. I can only assume the 1.2 version of the 85 would be better yet.

Yes the bad copy thing is not a myth. Took Canon 3 tries to figure out there was a lens element not properly seated on my 24-105 F4L. It is an awesome lens now but prior to the last trip to Canon - Irvine, Ca. it was terrible. I also had a 70-300mm (non DO) just die all together after 6 months of use. Fortunately it was still under warranty and it only took one trip to Canon to clear up. And before someone says it, I NEVER buy lenses off e-bay or the rip off camera stores in NY. Mostly Samy's but some from Dell.com. In all fairness though, I do have numerous other lenses that have been sparkling out of the box and have never had any issues with them that couldn't be chalked up to my own experience level.

"If you have kept all the images it happens with it would be good to investigate the EXIF of each to analyze any identical detail."

 

This is why I keep coming back to these forums, what an intelligent suggestion to identify the problem.

I have the Slik with a Manfrotto 486 RC2 ball head and couldn't be happier. I also use a 30d w/grip but usually with a 24-105L.

Do you have another lens to test against? Process of elimination is a good tool for this kind of issue to me.

No response from the OP on the battery issue or what was finally determined? Hmmmm? Operator error downing canon's rep?

They do those adjustment upgrades silently. Version 1.0.0.0 of anything has some little glitches. there is a tremendous amount of wisdom in holding off for at least the second batch because you can bet there will be some minor "hopefully" tweaking going on behind the scenes after the first batch is out.

The gear is not the problem, you have a lot of learning to do. We have all been there, most of us are still learning no matter how long we have been at it but it does get better.

I woudnt use an expodisk for a telephoto lens like that. I cant beat my expodisk for indoor portrait work and getting accurate skin tones but outdoors or with long lenses it doesent work so great. You should be using raw and probably a white or gray card.

You hit a lot of no contrast skin there in that focus point also, if I had to guess based on my own shots like this I would say that is the culprit. The center of the focus point is not really on the eye and those points are actually larger than the red box also.

The shadow / highlight tool in Photoshop will make your pictures look unnatural if you use more than just a little bit. You have to be careful with it.