Marcus Ian

Have you tried locking up the mirror and observing (down the throat) the action of the shutter when those speeds are selected? It's possible a mirror fault could be causing the same symptom (by virtue of it being slightly out of sync), but it's likely that the shutter is just dying...

From everything I've seen when an OSS (sony) lens is used with an a (IBIS) body w/ the 5 axis sensors on the current generation of Sony cameras, the lens is handed the 'Pitch' and 'yaw' axes, and the sensor retains control of the X, Y, and Roll axes. When used with a 3rd party lens (say an EF) or lens w/o any OSS, the sensor handles all 5 axes. One would assume that doing so is advantageous to the overall effectiveness, as controlling pitch and yaw from further down the optical path could hypothetically yield improved results (vs. those axes controlled solely at the end of the optical path). This of course would require the lens and body talking to each other... Interestingly, Sony doesn't seem to claim any improvement in effectiveness... everything is conveniently 5 stops... ...Using a long EF IS lens though, I'd imagine that you def want to turn the IS off...since it's controlled completely in the lens, and could easily cause diminished results since the sensor and the lens are separately detecting movement and likely either cancelling the stabilization, or making things worse. Of course maybe the metabones is smart enough not to turn it on when the IBIS is on? IDK - but curious...

You can get a replacement T3i kit for $250+. For your use ("I have barely used my T3i in the last 6 year or so. Meaning I can literally remember most of the times I have used it, and its not much at all"), I don't see any reason to upgrade at all, nor even keep a DSLR. Most mirrorless cameras can do as much or more than your T3i for example if you must keep a camera... If you were to buy a nice camera, it is NOT going to mean you will suddenly start using it more. Thats not how it works. It's going to be a nice toy which spends it's life sitting in a closet... Sorry, but putting it on a card that you are paying money to pay off makes zero sense to me. With your use, it's a waste of money (especially as your phone likely fulfills most of your photographic and video needs) IMO. If you feel compelled to 'keep' a camera, given your use, absolutely go with the cheapest route possible. That is probably the $193 repair. For an extra $50 of so, you can pick up a 'new to you' T3i (or perhaps even a generation or two newer). That may be a better choice - especially given your lack of confidence with that particular unit... Either way, IMO, you've no need for the 'latest, greatest'...

LOL, yes, yes I know. ;) Ahhhh, yes, I see. That also explains why my few attempts to shoot a full (and nearly full) moon resulted in imagery that was miserably soft looking. Naturally I blamed myself ... Really the moon is just a dramatically low contrast subject ;) (ie. somebody else's fault!) ... maybe I should try again

Why is only the front of the moon in focus? At this subject distance (~384,000 km, aka inf ;) ) the entire moon should be in focus... Is this an example of equipment fault (obv not operator error given how sharp the front rim is), or did you intentionally blur the back (and if so, why?)? I'm having trouble thinking of what would cause this fault (aside from some problem at the edge of (or lack of of proper) infinity...)

If camera shake were the issue, then ALL the flowers would likely be smeared. You shouldn't have sharp ones behind the plane of focus. That makes zero sense. unless a random breeze puts those particular flowers moving in the exactly the same direction as the camera at that particular moment... possible? yes. but also extremely highly improbable? yes. That center point one shot was used means that it is likely there is a fault. Redoing w/ a tripod seems the obvious next step. Also redoing at f2 would be a good idea, since shooting at f8 covers up any faults by a good degree. At 135mm I often have no problem (even w/o IS) pulling crisp shots out @ 1/125. However, putting it on a tripod is critical to do an objective measurement of AF accuracy, as well as shooting near and far stationary subjects.

I have a few of the Yongnuos I have a 565 EX / EX II which take an external battery pack, though the 568 EX II does not. Both are fully ETTL II. I have sacrificed one Yongnuo flash to the flash gods, but in general (IME) their reliability and durability is on par w/ 580s (of which I've sacrificed two to the flash gods). As far as I know (I don't have one), the battery packs for these flashes take 8x AAs.

"Thank you for your responses. I did run a film and the photos came out blurry. I've been told to send it to Canon for repair but I'm wondering if it's worth going through and paying for?" Since you can get one on ebay all day long for under $150, the short answer is that it's not likely you'll be able to have a qualified tech look at and repair it for that or less. ... Maybe at an independent shop in a 3rd world country, but yeah, not likely... I could be wrong, but were I in your shoes, I'd just pick another up on Fleabay - at least you have some protection/return capability should that one be non-functional too...

It looks like a wall full of bricks to me... even at 100%. The red bit doesn't look quite right, but it's a chunk of missing brick, so there's no real telling how textured the surface is (or isn't)... Of more concern might be image 2, especially if the point of focus was the center flower.

Yup, sounds to me like there's a problem w/ the AF system. While 1 calibration run was never enough to get reliable ECF focus, with the system off, you should be able to get AF that's pretty reliable and speedy - especially in good light. The only other possibilities for something that is user serviceable is either the dioptric being either broken and floating free, or something wrong with the focusing screen. Neither is very likely, but you are working with a 20-25yr old camera. Unfortunately you are not able to gimp, but It might be worth it to run a test roll through the camera to see if what you are seeing through the viewfinder is accurate in terms of the plane of focus on the film. Not that this particularly helps in diagnosis and repair, as, regardless of the diagnosis, repair would likely be required.

BIF always seem pretty 'spray and pray' to me. While my experience is much more limited than yours, from your description of how you acquired some of those awesome shots, it seems that's par for the course (1 of 80), and the a9's capabilities only seem to compound that. I mean, w/ the a9, couldn't you just record a 4k video of the bird going by and pick a 'perfect' frame out? @20FPS, which is obv great for BIF, there doesn't seem much difference. When I shoot sports, while there are similarities, there is much more reliance on observing the action and waiting for the decisive moment. The subject matter is a whole lot more complicated than a BIF. IME, shooting sports and BIF are two different skill sets, and two very different goals... In fairness of course, the same technique of essentially filming the action in 4k and picking a perfect frame would work there too - assuming the video/photographer had the correct skillset (and equipment) in tracking the correct subject and incorporating the action into the frame while predicting the movement and action...

Is your ECF on ? If so, turn it off, and try again. I found that even with the last generation of ECF cameras, calibration was an absolute must do to get reliable focus out of the system... (and It's GOT to be OFF if you don't want to use it, or are having issues) On my last Elan 7e, it took several subsequent calibrations, but once it was locked in, it's focus system literally read my mind - IMO moving away from that system was one of the worst decisions Canon ever made ...

'Third-party' lenses is a term which ALWAYS refer to lenses NOT made by the Camera manufacturer (whoever that is). Thought you were aware of that. my bad. In some cases the output of Tamron/Sigma lenses outperforms (sometimes by a surprising amount) the top of the line lenses made by the camera body manufacturer - to deny that is absurd. Admittedly however, this is usually only the case in circumstances where optics are the limiter, and not usually AF function - something which is obviously critical with your shooting - though obv. not so much with other shooters who have different subjects... It seemed obvious that he was NOT considering an a9 - because of the high cost of the lenses he thought he would need. That's how I interpreted the quoted statement.

Wow. I suppose this is certainly a possibility if you've never had a camera which used CF cards before. Maybe Canon should put a big yellow warning sticker on it, or the camera should come w/ a 'blank' pre-inserted? (like my Dell laptops always come w/ in the SD and EC slots)... Personally I can't imagine choosing to use only the SD card, as the slower write speed handicaps the camera... but of course YMMV and if you are just shooting jpegs at low ISOs you might never notice(?)

DCstep Your posts ignore what the OP said... "Lets keep the A9 aside since its lenses are not affordable to me $!." Especially after you've pointed out that using 3rd party lenses for high-speed AF tasks results in less than ideal results (in YOUR experience).

The 6D's IQ is vastly better if you are shooting in low enough light that you would benefit from anything higher than ISO 3200. Even @ f2.0, at 85mm, that covers a LOT of ground... especially if travelling in unfamiliar territory (w/ questionable lighting)... if that enables you to bump (for example) the ss from 1/60 to 1/100 w/ an ISO bump from 3200 -> 6400, I can virtually guarantee that (if hanheld) the result will be better. IDK though... If it's a once in a blue-moon type trip, I'd seriously consider upgrading the body for it... If your only option currently is the 85/1.8, there is a lot of cheap modern prime glass out there that will blow you away...

I like the handling of the 5D/5D2/5D3/5D4 better in almost all respects than the 6D. Aside from that the 6D is a substantially better camera than the 5D. Of course it is, it was released 7yrs (!!) later. vastly improved low light focusing (even if the AF 'style' is largely the same). ISO goes far beyond ISO3200 (the hard limit for the 5D). High ISO IQ output substantially improved (to be expected w/ a jump from 12.8 -> 20.1 MP + 7yrs ;) )... Faster... 4.5FPS vs 3FPS... The list goes on...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, then consider fixing it. How much did you pay for it? If you got a horrendously good deal (and with a count of 630k, I'd expect a good deal), even with the cost of a new shutter, you still may have made out well... It's a very very good camera.

Personally I've had success in the past in recovering images (off a CF card) from formatted (in camera) cards - NOT a 6D, although the principles are pretty much the same. I've used older versions of 'Image Rescue', but, if you've tried some decent quality software and haven't been able to recover anything then... yeah... you're (in practical terms) pretty hosed. Remember that these cards essentially store data in a series of switches (think light switches). Switches don't remember what position they were in before you mucked around with them (unlike a magnetic disk). While a quick format usually only mucks around with some of the 'switches' at the top, essentially 'telling' the controller that the memory can be allocated completely as desired (as opposed to after data has been written (and it's location recorded), which is why you can often recover imagery, if any given 'switch' has been flipped, the knowledge of it's prior position is lost. While there are a couple of theoretical ways to try to recover this data, it's nothing thats translated into a reliable or cost effective method.

If this is happening with multiple cards, especially in the same way, and at the same time, the problem is undoubtedly (or at least very very likely) within the camera. The first thing I would do is reinstall the camera's firmware. Then I would do a hard format on each card in computer, then in camera. Then see if you can replicate the problem. I think it's very possible the firmware has become corrupted, and fixing that is very very free.

I was also hampered by heavy overcast. Only 15-20min after maxima did the clouds thin enough to get anything. This was about the best I could pull out. 5D3 - 70-300/4-5.6 IS - 2x TC - Variable ND - 600mm / ISO 200 / f16 / 1/200 I think I'll have to run through post again and see if I can crisp it up.

I was extremely dissatisfied with all 3 copies I owned of the EF 50/1.4. I replaced my 50/1.8 with the 1st because I wanted FTM focus (especially necessary at the time due to low light wedding receptions and weddings) 1) it was largely unusable at f1.4 - f2.0 - the contrast was so low that it made images seem washed out. No way to get crisp shots at those apertures on any of my copies. 2) I owned 3 of them. Guess why. AF failure. One just quit (FTM focus still worked, thank gawd) the other locked up tight (as in you couldn't physically move the focus ring)... The 3rd one I sold when the Sigma 50/1.4 EX DG HSM came out. That was a vast improvement. I could shoot WO and get crisp sharp portraits. The edges were horrendous (on FF), but this was of minimal impact due to framing and subject position. As a portraiture choice it was a vast improvement over the EF50/1.4. I've also used the new Sigma 50/1.4A several times now though, and, despite the cost, it blows everything else (including the 50/1.2L and my old (now) Sig 50/1.4 HSM) out of the water. In a nutshell, if you decide on a 50, the EF 50/1.4 is about the worst lens on the market (IMO). If you've the budget (and arm strength ;) ) go for the new Sigma 50/1.4 A. The EF 85/1.8 is also very good, and the of course the 35/1.4L is a legend.

The Tamron 28-300 exists because there are lots of people who own DSLRs who want a single lens to cover all their needs. These consumers don't really care about optical quality in the same category as the people who frequent this forum. There is a place for a 'vacation zoom' such as this, and I've used one before - they ARE helpful when you can't carry a bag, or don't have time to switch lenses. In this case, the reason it's being updated is because it lacks VC. This makes a huge difference in long slow lenses (300mm @ f6.3 is long and slow) especially when your market is already people who don't know how to shoot. As far as your list goes... Just because they are designed for APS-C cameras does not mean they won't work fine on your 5D2. For example I have an old Tamron 10-24/3.5-4.5 which is (obviously) designed for use on crop cameras. Guess what? It work(ed) just fine on my 5D2s. Granted, at anything wider than 14mm, you got some rather...ahem... severe... vignetting ;) but the lens worked fine and didn't interfere with the mirror. Some of these lenses will likely do that through significant portions of the zoom range. However, only the Canon EF-S lenses are guaranteed not to work (since they are designed not to mount to the camera). Please be advised, I do not know if the lenses you have listed will work or not, and if they do not, it will be because they interfere with the travel of the mirror... That will definitely give you pause even if it doesn't ruin your day ;) That said, as james_elwing says, old EF glass is uber cheap. you can get some of these for under $20 from KEH. Personally, I'd shoot for something a little 'wider' in range - especially given your budget - Something like an EF 28-135/3.5-5.6 IS can be had for ~ $100+, and in the $150-200 range for one that is in excellent condition. I get the desire for a WA capability, but, just to be clear, there is ZERO difference in testing the camera's functionality between a 50/1.8 and a 28-80 (or 28-135). the change in focal length is entirely in the lens.

LMAO! G-d_it YES! Damn the logic full narrative ahead! Seriously though, my point is that if you are shooting weddings/events professionally (and lets face it, why else would you want to be shooting events or a wedding? It's not like it's 'fun' or a 'good time' - it may be creatively satisfying, but it's work), you've GOT to have as comprehensive a backup for your core kit as possible. When bad shit happens (and it isn't always preventable), that's all that stands between you and a VERY unhappy client. In a couple of respects I was extremely lucky. It didn't happen when I only had a Rebel and a couple of lenses (albeit that was only once), or a single 35mm camera and that Rebel (trying to straddle film and Digital). - as well, I didn't injure anything but my pride. In fairness though, it's more akin to swapping magazines (or the barrel?) and pulling off the broken bayonet (afterall, lenses and flashes are interchangeable...one even has a 'bayonet' mount ;) ), the weapon survived intact.

It assumes you do not know what you are doing, and typically picks a subject distance which gets the most AF points simultaneously in focus w/n the 'subject area'. The algorithm is a bit more complicated than that, but not incredibly. Kind of like 'center weighted average' metering - only w/ AF.