zakslm

When I look at that bug, I think of the movie "Men in Black"!

29 minutes ago, ajkocu said:

This guy was patient as I was blinding him with the flash. He couldn't get out of the tub so I released him after the posing session.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS II

T7, EF 85mm f1.8 USM, 1/60th @ f1.8 w/flash (430EX), ISO 400

Back story:

This shot is a test shot.  I just received an EF 85mm f1.8 USM that I purchased from KEH in "Ugly" condition at what I considered a "too good to pass up" price.  I had an 85mm f1.8 that I sold years ago when I sold my EOS film gear.  It was my favorite lens and I wish I had kept it.

When I opened the multiple layers of bubble wrap, the barrel and rear element of the lens looked great!  But the front element is another story.  It isn't obvious to me what happened to the lens - but a guess might be the marks/flaws were caused by a pretty rough cleaning or two or maybe the result of collision or abuse of some sort.  There are some pretty noticeable marks in a few places on the lens nearer the edges but not in the center of the front element.  The location of the marks might be described as follows:  Think of the sun as the middle of the lens with the planets orbiting around the it.  The marks are at about 10 and 5 o'clock (ish) in Saturn and Uranus' orbit with maybe a bit if the largest one touching Jupiter's orbit.

The mechanics function perfectly and the focus is quiet, fast and spot on.  From the few dozen test shots I've taken, the marks on the front element do not seem to affect picture quality and images appear sharp and well exposed.  The shot of my dog is from a raw file of a shot taken at f1.8/wide open with a little editing in post.  Since I have a crop sensor camera, that may make a difference as well with the outer part of the image circle created by lens not hitting the sensor. 

I haven't had a chance to take any shots in outdoor/sunlight but will do so tomorrow to see if I get any unusual flare or ghosting which I think may happen.

It's still too early to definitely say the lens is a keeper, but if the images I take outdoor are acceptable the lens may stay in my bag.

Thoughts, comments, observations and advice are certainly welcome!

9 hours ago, Trigger_Happy said:

The app works somewhat well for me. Sometimes when I use it in the studio, I trigger the camera but the camera doesn't trigger the strobes. Why it does this sometimes is still unexplained. I've restarted the app and the connection and then usually it works again. I've not found a setting that will turn the hot shoe on or off. I have a Mark IV and I think I have a remote somewhere... 

Interesting.  I've played some more with it and I think it will suffice for a PDQ solution for a remote release.  A wired remote release is a probably a more reliable solution.  

I used to have an EOS film camera that would work with a wireless remote trigger and used it alot with the camea on a tripod.    

I was considering getting a remote release for my Rebel T7 and started researching my options from Canon and 3^rd party suppliers.  I thought that since the Rebel T7 does not have wireless remote release capabilities, a wired plug in remote is the only option.

As it turns out, a wired remote is not the only option.  I remember that the Canon Camera Connect iPhone App has a “Remote live view shooting option”.  I use the Camera Connect App as a PDQ way to upload photos from the card in the camera to my iPhone where I could quickly edit and/or share those photos.  I had not used the Remote live shooting feature and thought I’d give it a try.

Although I’ve only tested the feature and not used it for routine shooting, I found that it is a viable option.  My observations and comments are as follows:

1)      The App works and it works well.

2)      To my surprise and delight, using the App essentially turns my iPhone into a reasonably large touch screen electronic viewfinder/information display with a shutter release. 

3)      When using the App, the iPhone display becomes a touch screen for focusing.  In other words, when I touch the screen anywhere, the white focus box moves to where I touch it.  Then touching the shutter release on the iPhone screen the white focus box moves to wherever I touch.  Touching the shutter release on the iPhone screen causes the camera focuses on whatever is under the box and when after focusing, the box turns green.  A second touch of the shutter release button releases the shutter, taking photo.  I assume the camera selects the closest focus point to where that box is on the screen and that designates the active focus point.  In my brief test, using the App and my iPhone as a touch screen well!

4)     The App does not work while the camera is in Video mode.

So, other than finding out that I don’t need to purchase a remote release for occasional use, I found out that I can use the App as a touch screen display and that touch screen works in a similar manner to rear touch screens of cameras that have built in touch screeens.

This may be inconsequential or old news to some, but I thought I might share it with others who could benefit from my “discovery”. 

Great photo, great technique, great explanation of the setup but that bug give me the willys!  

This was a grab shot.  I was walking the dog back home and ran and got the camera and took a few shots - handheld.  

T7, 55-250, ISO 3200,  1/30th sec, f6.3,  -1 exposure compensation at 146mm.  Uncropped and more or less straight out of the camera.

Self critique:  Too grainy, should have shot at ISO 800 or below on a tripod at f8 or so and should crop the houses and porch lights out of the photo.  There is dust on the sensor (at about 3 o'clock) that I cleaned off after seeing the shots.  I'm not sure why the orange at the center of the shot look like layers instead of a smooth gradation.  

Suggestions and advice would be welcome and appreciated.

More Retail Tourism.

Unlike the other animals that are shown, the puppy is a live animal!

More Retail Tourism.

Unlike the other animals that are shown, the puppy is a live animal!

Retail Tourism.  A visit to the new Scheels location in Chandler, AZ (formerly a Nordstrom store).  

Rebel T7, kit lens and EF-S 10-18

Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM

My wife bought some new plants at Home Depot yesterday.  I thought I'd photograph some of the flowers before we plant them.

T7, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM & EF-S 24MM f/2.8 STM

Rebel T7,  EF-S 55-250.  ISO 3200, f5.6, approx 1/500 with -1 to -1 2/3 exposure compensation

43 minutes ago, mike_halliwell said:

We seem to have some new Nikon friends....🙂

That makes you a valid commentator........?

So switch..!

I don't know if makes me an commentator, or just an intruder!  

When considering my first SLR, I had narrowed my choices down to a Nikkormat, an Minolta XE-5 (had a black prism like the F2) or the recently introduced Canon AE-1.  The camera store owner suggested the AE-1 and I bought it and have been Canon ever since.  Had the Nikkormat been suggested, I'd probably still be a Nikon guy.

I got out of film photography about 15 years ago and sold most of my camera equipment and lenses.  So when I decided to get a DSLR early this year, I considered both Nikon and Canon and almost ordered a refurbished D3500 kit from Nikon.  However, the Canon cameras felt familiar in my hands and I went back to Canon and slid back down the slippery slope of cameras, lenses and accessories.

At one time, I worked with a couple of wedding and event photographers who shot Nikon N90s (or something like that) for their 35mm work and loved them.  One even switched to Canon when he went to an AF camera, but went back to Nikon as soon as he felt that Nikon's AF was "good enough".  

In any case, I do find some of the discussions on this forum enlightening, informative and entertaining even if I am intruding!  Also, many of the images you post on this forum are really nice and I enjoy looking at them!

Not being a "Nikon" person and not knowing the iterations of that model, I refering to this one:  https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/f.htm

As far as the F2, I was referring to this one or one of it's variants (chrome body, black prism):  https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/f2.htm