daryl_sullivan

<p>I've shot for many years, in the newspaper industry. I shot the EOS1, 1n, 1v, before going digital.<br>

I did a lot of research before going digital, as the company I work for does not supply the photographers<br>

with equipment, we are expected to supply our own. Some things I learned:<br>

1: The megapixel race is just a race. In order to double the resolution, you have to quadruple the<br>

pixels. For example, going from 4 mp to 16 mp will double the resolution.<br>

2: The reason a DSLR has better image quality than a powershot, is because of the sensor size.<br>

A larger sensor has less chromatic aberrations, because the light doesn't "bleed" over other sensor<br>

sites. And it records more image detail.<br>

3: The post processing of the images in-camera.<br>

That was of course then, and this is now.<br>

Now cameras have much better noise reduction, and post processing is much better.<br>

But considering what I have read from previous posts, you are doing a lot of landscape type of<br>

photography.<br>

For that reason, unless you are looking to do HD video as well, I would suggest the original 5D.<br>

It will give you the same view on your lenses.<br>

I'm certainly not giving the 7D a bad review, as that is the camera I'm currently looking at for my<br>

job. The type of photography I do, for the paper, is based on speed. I've gotten used to the<br>

1.3 FOV from the 1D series, although I'm not really sure I can get used to the 1.6 FOV. But with<br>

todays economy, I can't really spend the $5k for the 1v MKIV. And I really need to update due to<br>

the current CPS standards for membership. And I have to supply the equipment I use.<br>

I hope the information I've supplied will help you in your decision. But I can say that Canon is<br>

pretty much ahead of others in digital photography. Some Nikon users might disagree. :-)</p>

 

2500 is the highest I've seen, but would really like for some 3000's to hit the market. :-)

Night events look like their lit up like the daytime, to the human eye, but not to film. You want a shutter speed of at least 250th of a second, and you can still get blur of motion. One thing to consider is the direction of the light, higher ISO's can give you a good exposure on the field or the track, but the subjects can still look backlit if the lights are high and close to the subject. I shoot high school football at 250th of a second at f2.8, with fill flash. Otherwise, only the tops of their helmets and shoulders are properly exposed. The only way to see the numbers on their jerseys and their faces is to use fill flash.

Interesting how a thread that started with a problem of a screw turned into a lens discussion. I'm guessing you have small, precision screwdrivers that you were using on the screws. A little trick, take the one thats the size you need and put it on a strong magnet, like on the back of car stereo speakers. Let it sit for a bit, and the driver will become magnetized. It may not be as strong as a commercially produced magnetized driver, but it should do. Put the driver into the head of the screw, and carefully wiggle it back and forth as you pull the screw out. Hopefully that will work for you.

If your not planning on changing your bodies any time soon, the 550ex will suit your needs just fine over the 580ex. The newer flash has some upgrades that only work on the 20D, 1D and 1Ds MkII's, and probably the new rebel digital. You can save a hundred bucks that way. As far as the focal length of the lenses, that is up to you. You know what you need, better than the rest of us. But I can tell you the 300mm f4L (non is) is a great lens, nice and sharp. I did a lot of wide open shots while covering sports with that lens, before I was able to upgrade to the 2.8. One thing to consider, if your shooting a mixture of digital and film, you might want to stay away from the EF-S lenses, as they will get in the way of the mirror on film cameras, therefore not working on them. As far as lighting gear, Alien Bees are hard to beat, for the features, power, recyling times and the price. They are made by the same company that makes White Lightnings. As far as changing lenses on a DSLR, its not really a problem unless your shooting in dry, dusty conditions. Thats when the sensor is more likely to pick up dust.

Sorry, its Yaron instead of Yakim who said the optics were cooler.

I started with Canon, years ago. In the early '90's I switched to Nikon when I went to autofocus, as the EOS line was still in it's early stages. But it wasn't long before I switched back. In the FD line, the Canon lenses could be hit or miss, testing two identical lenses could give different results (in the standard line, as I was young and couldn't afford L lenses at that time). But when Canon went to their AF system, the optics and consistancy on all lenses improved. As far as sharpness, Nikon and Canon both make great optics, and I wouldn't say one is better than the other. What brought me back to Canon was the bodies, the way they operated, and their ergonomics. I just like the Canon bodies better. I shoot my Canon lenses wide open all the time, and get great results. And as far as I'm concerned, the Canon DSLR's provide superior results over Nikon. My staff is split 50/50, Nikon and Canon. One photog (who shoots Nikon) consistantly turns in photos that are on the red side, including flesh tones. Would you want to see a friend or relative in the newspaper who looked like they were badly sunburned? Or wearing a pink shirt instead of a white one? One poster said the Canon optics are cooler, I think its the Nikon bodies are too warm. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some like it one way, some like it the other. But I can tell you this. Most who shoot Nikon in the newspaper business do so because that's what the paper supplies them with, and a lot of papers are switching to Canon. Most freelancers, newspaper, magazine and AP, shoot Canon. And they are buying thier equipment. Sports Illustrated stopped using photos from Nikon DSLR's, except the D1x, some time ago, because "the Nikon bodies didn't have the resolution they needed". Yakim says the D2x will be better than the 1Ds MKII, because it will shoot faster. The D2x still has the 1.5 field of view crop, compared to the 1Ds full frame, and will only shoot faster when it's at 6 mp, using even less of the sensor. Good glass is good glass, and is usually more important than the body it's attached to. But what's better? Attaching high dollar glass to a camera with 3200 ISO film, or a slightly less dollar lens attached to a body with 100 ISO film? There are some variables, but in the end it works out to what you have, how well you know how it works, to give the best results.

Servo tracking speed will vary, depending on the movement of your subject. Something moving in a straight line right at you at a constant speed will track easier and give you a higher frame rate. Something moving erratically, changing speed, can give you a lower frame rate. But on the plus side, the booster not only gives you a higher frame rate, but speeds up the AF as well. When I was still shooting film, I could use an EOS 3 or a 1v for about a month on a set of alkaline AA's, shooting five days a week for a newspaper.

The newer rechargeable batteries don't develope a "memory" like the older NiCad batteries, but can still lose capacity. It's best to completely drain them, or refresh them about every 10 charges to keep them at thier best capacity. As far as other brands, some are better than others. But one thing to consider as far as life on a charge, is the milli-amp rating. The higher the rating, the longer the battery will last on a charge.

Also take into consideration: downloading images directly from the camera to the computer will drain the batteries, more so probably than operating the camera itself. It's best to use a card reader, if you don't want to recharge as often, as it draws its power from the computer. And as with all rechargeable batteries, it will have a number of charge cycles, and then will diminish in the amount of power it will hold.

I'm with Aaron. I've shot with a 1D MkII for almost a year, and the original 1D for a year before that. All I've ever used to clean the sensors is a blower bulb, that I got for about $5. So far, it's cleaned the sensor in both bodies every time.

Yes, the 1v shutter is rated for 150,000 cycles. The camera also has a non-changeable film counter. Look at the number of rolls, multiply by 36 (for max number of frames on a roll). This should give you a ball park figure on the shutter actuations. As I recall, shutter replacement is part of a class C repair, which I think is around $300.

I don't recall seeing an article on 10D focusing, but I do remember Chuck Westfall putting in a link to a focus pattern for the 10D. The link was to a diagram he posted on pbase. The pattern showed that the actual focusing sensor area was larger than the patterns in the viewfinder. If you do a search for his name on pbase, you could find the diagram chart. I hope this helps.

I'm with you Topher, I've been waiting for this lens for years. I've had the 50mm macro, and I've constantly wished Canon would come out with a more ruggedly built, USM motor, 1:1 macro.

Now its announced, ands it's a !*@%#$^ EF-S?

It does me no good. Won't work on 1D's. I'm very P****D with Canon on this one.

Personally, I am very P'O'd with Canon for their decision to make this an EF-S lens. This is the lens I've been waiting for them to produce since I bought the 50mm macro. 1:1 without a special converter, USM motor to make it fast and quiet. I'd buy this lens in a heartbeat if I could use it on my Mark II's.

In one of the old Canon pro services Update magazine (which they no longer do), according to Canon, it stood for Electromagnetically Operated System.

ALL of my lenses have protective UV filters on them. And they all have hoods.I use the B+W UV filters. I admit they can seem expensive, but you have to take into consideration: which is cheaper, a $25 filter, or $100 to repair or replace the lens? I've seen lenses rammed into brick walls, and once the shattered filter is removed, the lens is fine. You may not have the protective filter on your lens at that point until you replace it, but you CAN still use the lens. You can't if the front element is shattered.

 

Also take into consideration the Grand Canyon is in the desert, where there is lots of sand blowing around. When your out shooting, and notice dust on your front element, you of course want to clean it off. But if its sand and grit on your element, the minute you use a lens cloth to clean it off, the multicoating and possible your front element can be scratched.

 

If I were you, even with the lens hood, I would have a UV filter on the front of the lens.

I can't say I know anything about the Promaster lenses. But I do know that Tamron lenses are a good quality third party lens. Tamron has been around a long time. Ritz is right that the Canon 17-85mm will be a good all around lens when you only have one. Is the Canon worth the extra money? Yes. One thing you might want to take into consideration is that a third party lens my void the warranty on your camera. The second thing to consider is that some peope get the error 99 code on their cameras with third party lenses. If it should happen with a Canon lens, it's usually because the contacts are dirty, and if not, Canon will fix it no problems, and probably without cost to you. If its a third party lens that causes the error, you might have to pay for any repair. Another thing about the third party lenses is how old the particular lens is. Newer lenses are electronic, with chips in the lens to communicate with the camera. Some of the older design third party lenses may need to be updated with a new chip to insure proper communication with the camera.

 

If you decide to try a third party lens, with a guarantee that if it doesn't work on your camera you can return it, I would go with the Tamron. I have used Tamron lenses (although older manual focus, not the newer AF ones), and they are of quality construction. If the Promaster is considerably cheaper, you might want to take into consideration the old adage "you get what you pay for".

 

Just my 2 cents. I hope this is useful to you. If you really respect the store that suggested a Promaster, ask them about guarantees they can give you when you buy in the event the lens doesn't work well on your camera. If you have the camera already, ask them if they will let you take some photos with the various lenses in the store, then download your images at home and look at the photos. Make sure to photograph the same scene with the lenses for comparison. When you blow up the images on your computer screen, look to the corners to compare sharpness. I'm guessing you'll find the Canon might be a little sharper than the others, and possibly have better color and contrast compared to the Promaster.

I was curious about it also, to use on my G5. I broke down and bought one, and it does a good job. I was looking at it because of its compact size, carrying a small camera with a 550ex kinda defeats the purpose. The only problem I have with it, is since it only uses two batteries, it has slower recycle times. The batteries are doing well as far as life, but with alkalines it takes 10 seconds or longer to recycle after a full power dump. I plan to pick up some nimh AA's to go with it for faster recycle times.

 

But when your shooting in auto, it doesn't use all of the power, so it's ready to go for a few frames before you have to wait on the longer recycle time. But it does work well, it doesn't swivel but it does bounce, and I prefer bounce flash to straight on flash. But it does have a tendency to underexpose a little when bouncing in manual mode. You just have to make sure you have it angled right, and to shoot at the wider apertures with the lower ISO speeds, and that the ready light is solid instead of flashing.

I once sent in a 1n for servicing, and when it came back, it was doing the very same thing. I sent the camera back, and it was returned with the statement saying they worked on the contacts in the camera that line up with the booster. If you know someone else that has an EOS camera that you can attach the booster to, try that and see if it happens with their camera. If so the problem will be in the booster, if not it will be in the camera.

 

Also try some alkalines in the booster. You said the nimh batteries are new, I've sometimes bought rechargeable batteries that had one in the package that was bad.

Angelo,

If I read your question correctly, your wanting to balance the exposure of the flash with the ambient light? If that's the case, you first take a meter reading of the available light to see what your aperture will be. Then, set the flash mode to where the auto flash will shoot at the same aperture. For example, if you available light exposure is f2.8 at 30th of a second, then set the flash to the fixed parameter setting for f2.8. As long as the exposure isn't above 250th of a second, the flash will sync no matter what the shutter speed is. The flash will have a short duration, and will freeze anything that is moving during the exposure. Since the flash is not a dedicated to the camera, it will fire at the beginning of the exposure, and second curtain sync will not be possible.

It sounds like a problem known as "shutter bounce". And you are correct in that the shutter isn't opening all the way on some of the frames. The first curtain is catching in the rails, and the second curtain is closing the shutter before it fully opens. I'm afraid, if that is the case, then the shutter has a lot of wear and probably needs servicing or replacing. Not something one wants to hear when they just bought a camera. If you bought it from a local camera shop, my advice would be to take it back. If you bought it from an individual, then either have them take it back or send it in to have the problem corrected.

Can you see if the specks are white? It's my understanding that the focusing elements, the ones that move, ride on a substance inside the lens like felt. And the felt can "dust". I've seen many Canon lenses with the white specks, that I'm told is the dusting from the felt, that appararently this is common among Canon lenses. As long as it doesn't cause problems with the images taken, it shouldn't be anything to worry about. I've had lenses that have had these little white specks, and they have never caused any problems with the images I have taken with these lenses.

I have a standard B+W UV filter on the front of my 16-35mm, and I see no vignetting in the viewfinder or in the negatives when shooting with my 1v, even at 16mm. I'm sure if I stacked another filter on top of this one, I would probably get vignetting, but haven't tried it.I remove the UV before putting on a polarizer.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a 1D in a camera shop right now, new ones are pretty much nonexistant. You might want to wait for the announcement, and if it's more than you can pay, hold out for it to hit the stores. I'm guessing there will be a ton of used 1D's hitting the market.

I use UV filters for protection on my lenses. Usually only the bigger more expensive lenses have glass "filters" built into the front of the lens. I have never liked skylight filters, my photos have always looked "pink" when I have tried those.

 

The petal shaped hoods are found on zoom lenses, and they are shaped that way for functionality. The shorter sections of the hood will shade the wider zoom settings, without causing vignetting in the photo. The longer sections help to give more shade at the longer zoom settings. If a "straight" lens hood is used, you have to use one that will cover the wider setting so you won't get vignetting, but then don't have the extra coverage. Zooms need this, as they have more elements than prime lenses, and therefore are more prone to flare in the images.